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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-01-28 Parks Minutes CITY OF MAPLEWOOD PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, January 28, 2009 700 p.m. COUNCIL CHAMBERS - MAPLEWOOD CITY HALL 1830 COUNTY ROAD BEAST 1. CALL TO ORDER - Chair Peter Fischer Chair Fischer indicated eight commissioners were present so there was quorum. 2. ROLL CALL Present Chair Peter Fischer Commissioner Julie Binko Commissioner Craig Brannon Commissioner Donald Christianson Commissioner Carolyn Peterson Commissioner Bruce Roman Commissioner Kim Schmidt Commissioner Therese Sonnek Staff DuWayne Konewko, Director of Parks and Development Doug Taubman, Parks Manager 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chair Fischer asked if there were additional agenda items to discuss. Commissioner Peterson asked to discuss "applying for grants". Commissioner Brannon made a motion to approve the agenda, seconded by Commissioner Peterson. The motion carried by a unanimous vote. 4. LETTER OF RESIGNATION, COMMISSIONER JULIE BINKO Commissioner Binko came forward and said she would be resigning from the Parks and Recreation Commission as of January 28, 2009. She said the key issues of concern were . the level of transparency in the city; . dissent from the commission was seen as an "affront" and open mindedness is only entertained when it fits the group. . Was disallowed from a task force by a city council member because she did not fit his idea of what group processes should be. He said he had hired commission members based on geographical locations; however there was no one representing her neighborhood. . She felt there were no democratic processes vvthin the city, and . she had received personal verbal threats and accusations. She requested that her letter and attachments would be included in the meeting minutes. Commissioner Schmidt asked about the verbal threats Ms. Binko was referring to. 1 Commissioner Fischer replied he sent a letter, which had been recommended to be sent by the commission the previous year, to Ms. Binko regarding a sensitive issue about a resignation. Ms. Binko had e-mailed a number of people about the issue, and was information to the commission and was sent private clarification as to the accuracy of the information. Chair Fischer asked Director Konewko if he would circulate Ms. Binko's letter to the commission. Director Konewko said he would include the letter as part of the minutes, it would be reflected in the record, and the commissioners would receive a copy. Chair Fischer said he wanted to be sure this information was forwarded to the city council so they would send a letter of appreciation to Ms. Binko. 5. OPEN MEETING LAW Mr. Kantrud, the city attorney, was present to answer questions regarding the open meeting law He said Shann Finwall had assembled a packet of information for the commission members. He said public meetings were covered by the open meeting law, and that decisions of government were to be made available to the public. He said Maplewood had done well in providing public access to city business. Commissioner Brannon asked if the commission park tours were included under the law Attorney Kantrud indicated whenever there was quorum it was considered public information. Commissioner Christianson asked whether transportation for the public should be arranged for park tours. Attorney Kantrud said they should do whatever they could to assist, whether it be carpooling or arranging other alternatives. Commissioner Sonnek asked if the law required meetings to be televised. She requested that changes in meeting times be updated on the city's website. Attorney Kantrud said televising meetings was not required; however meeting times were to be posted in public view Commissioner Peterson asked if e-mails should be treated the same as telephone conversations. Attorney Kantrud stated e-mails were not the same as telephone calls, in that e-mails started as conversation between two people, and could possibly move into "serial e-mails" where many people were involved in conversations. If something was discussed relating to public business, it would technically be a meeting or quorum. Commissioner Schmidt asked if public e-mail comments should be forwarded to all members of the commission. Attorney Kantrud said this wouldn't be any different than someone posting a comment at meetings, so it was not covered under the law He suggested the Chair of the commission reply to e-mail messages. Commissioner Schmidt asked whether social gatherings between commission members constituted a meeting. 2 Attorney Kantrud said the document was referring to public functions, such as basketball games or concerts. Attorney Kantrud suggested having additional informational materials available at meetings. Director Konewko said they always had agendas and extra copies of packets available at meetings. Commissioner Brannon said overhead screens could be used for public viewing to reflect the information if not enough handouts were available at a meeting. Commissioner Sonnek asked whether board and commission interviews were considered open meetings. Attorney Kantrud said interviews would be considered open meetings. Interview finalists, however, were covered under a different law Commissioner Schmidt was concerned about applicants having unfair advantage if interviews were televised. Commissioner Brannon suggested distributing questions to candidates so they could prepare for their interview before the meeting. Commissioner Peterson said she attended a city council meeting where the council began their meeting before the 700 p.m. start time. Attorney Kantrud said she should have the city manager investigate this. Commissioner Peterson asked whether subcommittees were subject to the open meeting law Attorney Kantrud said if subcommittees were made up of citizens and a few members of a commission they would not be liable under the law Commissioner Sonnek asked about "quorum". If a commission has none commissioner seats, is a quorum four or five members when there are seven commissioners at the meeting? Attorney Kantrud said an empty seat would not be counted as part of a quorum. 6. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS Will Rossbach, 1386 East County Road C, Maplewood, Minnesota Mr. Rossbach indicated the need to treat the open meeting law seriously. He said there may have been e-mail exchanges where the law was violated, and so it was best "to err on the side of caution". He then referred to Commissioner Peterson's question about city council meetings. He said the meetings started at 630 p.m., and the only items on the agenda they could not discuss at that time were "public hearings". He also suggested that the commission develop new interview questions. John Nephew, 628 County Road BEast, Maplewood, Minnesota Mr. Nephew said the e-mail problem was covered in training for council members. He suggested the city manager notify the council and the item could be included on the next agenda. In the case of a commission, he said it would be appropriate to copy Director Konewko and/or the Chair of the commission. 3 Attorney Kantrud said these were good comments. He suggested using common sense and conscientiousness regarding the law, and if they had additional questions, he would come and speak again. 7 APPROVAL OF MINUTES The corrections and additions for the December 17, 2008 minutes were Commissioner Peterson said the minutes read "you can add trees on the eastern edge of County Road D as a buffer". She said it should have been "the northern edge". She also said that Chair Fischer said "the trail option through the preserve was dropped because of the wetlands". She did not understand that it was dropped; she thought it would be investigated by staff. Commissioner Peterson said the minutes stated that she would like to "run all this by the advisory task force". She said she had suggested that they meet with the advisory task force. She also said the phrase about "meeting with the neighbors" should be removed. Chair Fischer suggested the phrase"run this by the advisory task force", and "we should schedule a meeting with the technical advisory task force" be combined into one sentence. Commissioner Schmidt said Commissioner Brannon indicated they would have to "talk to residents about crime incidents... there was some intimidation involved"; it sounded as though Commissioner Brannon was intimidating the residents. She said she was quoted to say that... "only for neighborhood use" should have been... "mostly for neighborhood use". She also said that the phrase "on July 23, 2007 the city council considered the petition and the Parks and Recreation Commission moved forward with placing of a tot lot in the area". She said it was a "potential", not a certainty. Lastly, the phrase "the sculptures tend to be more interactive if they have a modern design", she requested this to read "modern designs lend themselves to be more interactive". Chair Fischer said they had not done any park planning as part of placing a tot lot on Mississippi Street, so that needed to be very clear. He also was quoted as saying "Roseville is exploring a sculpture park"; he had said "Roseville has a sculpture park". Commissioner Roman said the paragraph about the dog park subcommittee said they nominated Therese Sonnek, Kim Schmidt, Julie Binko and Bruce Roman as members of the committee. He said their names should be included in the minutes. Commissioner Christianson made a motion to approve the minutes as amended, seconded by Commissioner Brannon. The motion carried by unanimous vote. 8. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS No visitors were present. 9. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN PRESENTATION Chair Fischer said Jennifer Haskamp was present to explain the Comprehensive Plan process and how they moved forward with the Parks and Recreation and Environmental and Natural Resources chapters. On December 8, 2009 the document was submitted for adjacent jurisdictional review to the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), the Watershed District, the county, and other entities. There was a six month review process in which jurisdictions were allowed to examine the document. The city council had directed the Park and Recreation, Environmental and Natural Resources, and Historical commissions to inspect the document to make sure it reflected their goals and objectives. Once the six month period ended, it was sent to the Metropolitan Council. If the jurisdictions returned their comments within one month, the six 4 month period could be shortened. Follovvng the Metropolitan Council's sixty to ninety-day review process, the document would be sent back to Maplewood for review Depending on whether there were major or minor changes, it would be settled at the planning commission or city council level. She said the document should be in place by September, 2009. Commissioner Peterson stated they planned to meet vvth the Environmental and Resource Commission tonight and she had not studied the document. Ms. Haskamp said there was a six to nine month period when they would be able to discuss the document. Ginny Gaynor spoke about the Environmental Commission's dedication to Maplewood's commitment to protect natural resources in the city. The vision for this commission was a commitment to protect, connect, restore and manage their eco-system's species. They were looking at natural resources in four categories: . natural area green ways, . local habitats, . active parks and trails, . items on an issue by issue basis. They had identified four natural area greenways in Maplewood which were large contiguous areas of public or private habitat. They were the northern chain of lakes from Casey Lake to Lake Phalen, the wetland greenway near the St. Paul Priory to Beaver Lake, the Battle Creek and Fish Creek greenway in south Maplewood. Ms. Gaynor said two of the greenways connected somewhat directly to the Mississippi River I n addition to the greenways, they cared deeply about individual smaller local habitats. The neighborhood preserves and backyard neighborhood habitats protected, buffered, and managed the small isolated habitats, and there were many different types in Maplewood. Scattered throughout were neighborhood preserves and individual local habitats. They did not recognize lands with natural vegetation other than parks in the past. The 3M wetland was a local habitat concentration and there were significant other little "pothole" wetland areas in south Maplewood. In addition to greenways and local habitats, there were natural parks and trails in the city. They wanted to manage natural resources issue by issue. The city had programs for storm water management, a tree program, a buckthorn management plan, wetland ordinances, and other programs, which included impaired waters, invasive plants and animals, wetland buffering, sustainable yard care, toxic waste sites, and extreme restoration. Chair Fischer said there were four paragraphs covering natural resources in the Parks and Recreations chapter in the Comprehensive Plan. Last year these issues had evolved into a new commission. Ginny Gaynor said when they examined the parks, trails, and open spaces, they realized how important all of it was and the impact it had throughout the city. Commissioner Peterson asked where the Capstone Project ideas and comments would be incorporated. Ginny Gaynor said the Capstone Project occurred after the Comprehensive Plan was drafted. The suggestions would be incorporated after the Comprehensive Plan was approved. Commissioner Schmidt asked about the pinch points and if there was a plan for them. Ginny Gaynor said pinch points were public interest projects for the future. For example, when changes were made on a major highway, they would be able to achieve a little more shoreline; or when working on a bridge, they would allow a little more land for animal crossing under the bridge. 5 Commissioner Sonnek referred to the sentence... "man and dog spread seed". She said geese in greenways and parks were problematic. She also said developing of park spaces in the future could present problems with park development versus park wildlife preservation. Ginny Gaynor said the Environmental and Natural Resource plan had a section on active parks. They wanted to acknowledge that parks were an important part of their green infrastructure; and would only revert from turf into natural space if areas were not being used. Commissioner Fischer said there were large unused areas in parks. If we restore areas in active parks to more native areas, it should be noted that these parks are still areas for future active recreation if needed. Ginny Gaynor said the Comprehensive Plan had additional protection for neighborhood preserves, which dictated what activities would be appropriate. There was nothing in the Park plan vvth regard to natural areas, so there were no restrictions against removing natural areas to put in ball fields, for example. Jennifer Haskamp said when an active or passive park crossed into a greenway area they would cluster the active part away from the greenway. Discussions with both commissions would determine the best solution, identifying greenway areas that had ecological significance. They would then plan to integrate active parks with the greenway systems Commissioner Peterson referred to the Mississippi River Critical Area corridor and the Mississippi Natural River and Recreation area, and if these areas were discussed. Ginny Gaynor said they were strategic areas to research in the future. Commissioner Peterson said that Maplewood was almost fully developed, and south Maplewood was one of the last areas to be developed, so it was important to make decisions in this area. Ginny Gaynor said the Environmental and Natural Resources planning staff was exploring this area. Commissioner Christianson asked if privately owned properties would be developed. Ginny Gaynor said they would like to see the "big picture" in terms of natural resources; not just what the city could do, but what they could encourage residents to do. Jennifer Haskamp said before she started vvth the Parks planning piece, she wanted to note that Maplewood was the only first string suburb in the Twin Cities that had done something of this magnitude. She said natural resources were very important and warranted attention, even in a fully developed community. She wanted to commend everyone on the project. Working vvth an extensive goal setting process, they created a comprehensive set of goals followed by ideas to meet them over the next twenty years. These included ecological, restoration, and management goals focused on the parks aspect of natural resources, plan management acquisition, and development. They focused on redeveloping the parks for the future with an emphasis on trail planning; not only for recreation but also as a mode of transportation. After working on goals and objectives, they concentrated on existing conditions and different types of parks. Next they went into the plan component for the next twenty years. They wanted to have a good idea about what preserves, parks and open spaces encompassed, and organized them by neighborhood geographical areas and boundaries. They discussed different areas in terms of schools and parks that were outside the city limits, which could be used as part of a network. There was discussion about active versus passive parks and trails to achieve a good balance. There was a summary of the work that was done by the advisory panel and the Parks commission, and the plan ended with a section on how they would proceed over the next several years. 6 Commissioner Sonnek asked about no net loss of acreage, indicating that it only was mentioned in the open space areas of the plan. Commissioner Peterson said the document referred to managing and maintaining only the amount of park and open space land that the city could maintain for its highest use. She did not believe this agreed with the no net loss policy and said they should not sell the park or open space plan because future generations would depend on it. Ms. Haskamp said the no net loss policy was applied to neighborhood preserves, not to the open spaces or parks; the city has protections in place for those areas. If someone wanted to change a park for another use, a Comprehensive Plan amendment would have to pass, which required a four-fifths vote by the council. They felt that this was enough protection to move forward. Commissioner Peterson asked about neighborhood service areas. The document said residents should be within a half mile of an active passive park which was not a county or state park. Jennifer Haskamp said this was an objective to have a park vvthin a half mile of resident's homes. Commissioner Peterson said the commission considered purchasing Gethsemane Park because the neighbors wanted to live within a half mile of a park. They were told the nature center was nearby; however the residents wanted a playground. Jennifer Haskamp said the plan had general parameters If a passive park existed in a neighborhood with many children, the residents would possibly still want an active park. Jennifer Haskamp said the plan was basically the same document as the commission had reviewed earlier in the year; however there was a public hearing at the end of December on the entire plan, and the Parks and Natural Resources chapters were reviewed. There was little discussion about the parks, trails and open spaces, except about how the open spaces were being classified. Commissioner Peterson said this document would be a helpful guide for their goal setting. 10. COMMISSION GOALS DISCUSSION Chair Fischer said they brainstormed, voted and consolidated goals at their last meeting, and staff had prepared a list of the results. Commissioner Peterson said some of the items on the list were policy related and could be worked into meetings during the year. The community gardens and long term funding were two goals, and the Maplewood Community Center goal could be combined with fitness and well being. Commissioner Christianson said the Maplewood Community Center goal was about how much involvement they should have. He also said they should receive periodic status reports on the center. Chair Fischer said their role in the community center would become one of their goals for the year. The top goals after each member voted were community gardens, working with other commissions, receiving more feedback from staff and other groups, long term funding and grants, the Maplewood Community Center, and the dog park issue. 7 Commissioner Peterson said green corridors should be one of their goals. She said grants from federal, state, and the Department of Natural Resources were available. Chair Fischer said the CoPar project which involved the area overlooking the Mississippi could become a park, which would protect the greenways. He asked how everyone felt about this item becoming a goal. Commissioner Christianson suggested they discuss this in the joint meeting with the Environmental and Natural Resource commission. Commissioner Schmidt said they could incorporate the green corridor concept to Joy Park or some of the other nature projects that they had discussed in the past. Commissioner Christianson suggested they work on a few of the items and aim for quality, not quantity. Manager Taubman said the goals were broad, and they needed to be more specific in their definitions. Commissioner Sonnek said they should add a goal to revise their interview questions. Chair Fischer said they should put interview questions under "other topics and projects". Commissioner Christianson said community gardens and dog parks were succinct goals. He suggested they research these topics with other communities. Manager Taubman said staff was addressing community gardens. He would report on this at their next meeting. There had been a purchase of property on County Road C and Hazelwood Avenue by a church on Hazelwood Avenue. The church was interested in starting community gardens there. Chair Fischer said the Maplewood Community Center, the dog park, and community gardens were three goals. They would define their role with the Maplewood Community Center, work with other commissions regarding common ground, discuss the dog park, and determine how they could meet their goals with the Environmental and Natural Resource commission. Another goal was to meet with other groups. Commissioner Christianson said meeting with other groups should be under "tasks". Manager Taubman said they could initially bring groups for open forums regarding programming and fitness. They could start their meeting a half an hour earlier to make time for this. Commissioner Christianson said long term funding was a problem they have had for years, and was separate from grants They would be discussing long term funding in terms of a referendum or sales tax. Commissioner Schmidt said she would like to have fund raising on an agenda for a future meeting. There were many ways they could raise extra money. Chair Fischer said they could explore different communities regarding how long term funding was done. He said grants and fund raising could be under "topics". Bruce Roman said they should leave long term funding as a top goal and put grants under "other projects and topics". Commissioner Sonnek said they could classify grants and long term funding as "recurring grants vs. individual grants". Recurring grants would be long term funding. 8 Commissioner Peterson said she would gather information on grants and they could re-evaluate this in June or July of 2009. Commissioner Peterson said she had thought about picnic shelters in parks. She indicated the city of Roseville rented out their picnic shelters, bringing revenue to the city. Manager Taubman said this was one of his goals, to build a picnic shelter for Wakefield Park. He said it would cost approximately $25,000 to $40,000 to build it in-house. There were restrooms available there. Commissioner Peterson mentioned band shells or amphitheaters; they had discussed music concerts near the Maplewood library. Commissioner Peterson said greenway corridors could be worked on after they found what grant money was available, because she thought there were grants available for greenways. Chair Fischer said the top two categories would become their goals, and they would put them in their annual report The rest of the list would be topics and projects going forward. At the February, 2009 meeting they would have a list of their goals and approve them at that meeting. 11. LION'S PARK UPDATE - RESIDENT SURVEY Manager Taubman said at the November 19, 2008 meeting staff presented two ideas for Lion's Park. A survey was included vvth their packets, and staff recommended the commission approve the survey. They were planning to mail the surveys sometime in February, 2009. The commission members discussed the survey and Manager Taubman took notes regarding the changes. Chair Fischer summarized the discussion. Question #1 would be changed to have a statement regarding number of residents in the household. Question #2 would be eliminated, and they would add a general comment line on the bottom of the form. Commissioner Sonnek made a motion to approve the survey as modified, seconded by Commissioner Christianson. The motion carried by a unanimous vote. 12. DOG PARK COMMITTEE UPDATE Commissioner Roman said they would hold their first subcommittee meeting on February 4, 2009 at 700 p.m. in the Maplewood Room. Commissioner Schmidt said they would like the Environmental and Natural Resources Commission to be involved and she suggested inviting a member of the commission to attend the meeting. Chair Fischer asked Manager Taubman to send an e-mail to the Environmental and Natural Resources Commission informing them of the meeting. They were hoping that someone would attend the meeting or respond to the e-mail and come to their next meeting. 13. APPLYING FOR GRANTS This item was covered earlier in tonight's meeting. 14. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS 9 Commissioner Christianson said she had not commented about Ms. Binko's letter. She said she sensed a certain amount of anger towards Commissioner Fischer; however she thought he prepared well for the meetings. There was a need to keep things moving, and she thought he did a good job of chairing the commission. Commissioner Roman said they had not held elections for chair and vice chair, and that should be scheduled. Chair Fischer said they would wait until February, 2009 after the new commissioners were appointed. Commissioner Schmidt had a comment about e-mails sent to commissioners and city staff. She asked if their website could devise a statement that stated citizens should follow the same rules with e-mails as when they were speaking at a meeting. She said some of the comments have been very inappropriate. Commissioner Sonnek said she would like to reaffirm that Chair Fischer had a tough job, and she said the need to move along in the meetings was hard on members, but the meetings were long. Chair Fischer said after hearing comments on e-mails, if I was sending out emails as chair, I would bring copies of the email to the meetings so the commission members could be informed regarding concerns about violation of the open meeting law He found the information from Mr. Kantrud very helpful, and it would also be helpful to new commissioners. Commissioner Peterson said e-mails about agenda items should be sent to Director Konewko or Chair Fischer. 15. STAFF PRESENTATIONS a) 2008 Park Tours Manager Taubman relayed a message from Director Konewko regarding park tours. Director Konewko reported that the commission visited Joy and Applewood parks, Lion's Legacy tot lot, Legacy Sculpture Gardens, and Bruentripp Farm in 2008. 16. PROPOSED JOINT MEETING WITH THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION AND THE PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION This meeting is scheduled for 630 p.m. on February 18, 2009. 17 ONGOING a) Mississippi b) Legacy Park c) Lake Links Trail- they would have updates for next meeting. 18. ADJOURN Commissioner Christianson made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Commissioner Brannon. The motion carried by a unanimous vote. The next meeting was scheduled for February 18, 2009. 10