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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-06-17 Parks Minutes CITY OF MAPLEWOOD PARK AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING Wednesday, June 17, 2009 700 p.m. COUNCIL CHAMBERS - MAPLEWOOD CITY HALL 1830 COUNTY ROAD BEAST 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Fischer indicated eight out of nine commissioners were present, so there was quorum. 2. ROLL CALL Commissioners Commissioner Craig Brannon arrived at 705 p.m. Commissioner Don Christianson Chair Peter Fischer Commissioner Dan Maas Commissioner Mary Mackay Commissioner Carolyn Peterson Commissioner Bruce Roman Commissioner Therese Sonnek Commissioner Kim Schmidt Staff Doug Taubman, Parks Manager Ginny Gaynor, Natural Resources Coordinator 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Fischer requested additions or corrections to the agenda. He asked that "2009 Capital Improvement Plan" be added under item 7a. Commissioner Peterson asked to add a Natural Area Greenways subcommittee report under item 8. Chair Fischer asked for a motion to approve the agenda. Commissioner Christianson made a motion to approve the agenda as amended, seconded by Commissioner Sonnek. The motion carried by a unanimous vote. . 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Roman stated he had a change to make to the minutes of May 13, 2009. A sentence should be corrected to read "6-0 and one abstention". Another change was requested to read Commissioner "Roman" instead of "Christianson". "Gloucester" was spelled wrong and requested to be corrected. Commissioner Peterson said a sentence stating "Dora" Slawik should read "Nora" Slawik. There was one additional spelling error There was a sentence that read "Commissioner Brannon"; it should be corrected to state "Commissioner Roman". There was a motion to approve the minutes as amended. Commissioner Brannon made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Christianson. The minutes were approved by a vote of 7-0, with 2 abstentions. 5. VISITOR PRESENT A TIONS- there were none. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 1 A Community Gardens - Natural Resources Coordinator Ginny Gaynor and Dr. Julie Binko Natural Resources Coordinator Ginny Gaynor and Dr. Julie Binko presented a report on plans for Maplewood community gardens. Dr. Binko has been working with volunteers, and Ms. Gaynor has been working with other staff with respect to preparing for gardening on city land. The volunteers and staff are focusing on the Ramsey County Extension site, and have demonstration gardens in progress. They are investigating the potential for community gardens on this plot in the future. Dr. Binko has been involved with the project since March, 2009, and she has been working in conjunction with Mr. Antonin, the new Maplewood City Manager. Mr. Antonin's wish is that community gardens be a citizen-initiated affair. City staff vvll be giving support; however volunteers and citizens vvll be the main ruling and governing factions. The project team had a meeting in April, 2009, and members from the Environmental and Natural Resources Commission and the Historical Commission set up guidelines for the gardens. There vvll be a strategic task force set up to work on this endeavor. She said Pauline Staples has been working on the rules for the gardens. The group has received a set of sample rules for community gardens which Brooklyn Park, Minnesota has created, and the city vvll create a packet for volunteers. Interested residents will register and pick up an instructional packet which will include a plot map, from which the gardeners can choose their site. They are planning to have maintenance and management by citizens and each of the plots vvll have one or two people to be "watchdogs" for the gardens. These volunteers would receive a free plot and would be responsible for watering and monitoring the gardens. The Ramsey County Barn would need one or two people to be responsible for the sprinkler system and other tasks. The city would have the responsibility of preparing and plotting gardens as they come up for review When the group met in April, 2009, it was decided that the gardens would be evenly distributed across the city, as opposed to having many garden plots in one spot The plan is to have 45 or 50 garden plots next year, and based on interest they would decide and select additional sites in the future. Dr. Binko said she is currently working with three Hmong churches in the area. They have families (at least 100-120) that are interested in gardening. She also said she is working with the Hmong Elder Center and the Hmong Association for Women vvth Mr. Antonin. Dr. Binko said because they have demonstration gardens at the Ramsey County Barn, they have access to the Ramsey County and University of Minnesota Extension Service, and staff there have expressed interest in enrolling the Hmong into a gardening class. They have a few staff that is Hmong, which would be helpful because language barriers are a problem. They will work with the Extension Service staff to find a plot that could possibly service 50 or 100 families. The Hmong people have transportation, however they need land, and it is a recreational and intergenerational activity for them. Dr. Binko and a drafting engineer displayed the three sections at the Ramsey County Barn; a demonstration garden, a main garden, and a rainwater natural garden, and said there was a possibility of two sites for community gardens. There will be space for compost bins. The biggest area is an 18 x 55 plot, and they want to have an ADA (Americans with Disability Act) community garden with wheel chair access. Both the Master Gardeners and Extension Service are involved, because they wanted to eventually have an agricultural park in conjunction with the programs that are running inside of the barn. All the plots in the raised bed area will be "Best Practice" management practice; using raised beds, hay bales, signage and labels, and the compost area is a partnership between the Master Gardeners and the City of Maplewood. It is a three bin paper, vegetable and waste compost demo. Near the milk house area there is a patio garden, a container garden, and the rest has been re-Iandscaped into perennials, simulating a place for a small garden. They have also been approached by Perma-Culture Research Institute to put up cold frames on the property, either by the patio garden or in the gardens so they can extend the growing season. They are currently in the process of working on composting and cold frames. She said the whole project is part of the 2 "Food to Fork" movement First Lady Michelle Obama has been gardening with middle school children, and this movement started in California. This is the Ramsey County Extension's interest in this; because they have their nutrition services at the Barn and they service schools in Ramsey County with nutrition. The idea is to get vegetable gardening and the nutrition education that goes with that out to the schools. Dr. Binko said they want to put up additional signage, because each partner has a special logo. They also have a business partner, Home Depot, which has been donating a good portion of the supplies. Discussion followed and questions were asked about the community gardens and Ms. Binko answered these to the best of her ability. Dr. Binko also discussed more about the Hmong community and what they are asking for and involved with. There were other questions and comments, and a commissioner had a request to receive a copy of the list of rules and regulations from the Brooklyn Center community garden document This will be distributed to the commission. Natural Resources Coordinator Gaynor said there will be meeting regarding the gardens on June 18, 2009 from 630 to 830 p.m. at the Maplewood Library. She said everyone is welcome to attend. It is the hope that they will have a set of rules completed by August, 2009 and they will be brought back to the commission and staff. In December, 2009, everything would be completed so that when the spring newsletter goes out a registration packet vvll be available. B. Questions on Proposed Sites for Community Gardens The commission was asked questions on which of two sites would be best for the potential community gardens. 1. Is street parking appropriate at the site? 2. Is this location convenient for the people who may want to rent garden plots? 3. How will the community gardens impact the neighborhoods and the parks? Natural Resources Coordinator Gaynor discussed the criteria used when they began searching areas for the community gardens. She said the garden plots had to be on city owned property, on flat land, and large enough to accommodate 40 plots. They were looking for soils conducive to gardening; and checked for loamy soils without excessive clay. They were looking for a site that did not impact ball fields, budgets and programming. The two sites chosen were Goodrich Park and the neighborhood Prairie Farm Preserve. Because the farm is classified as a preserve, there are issues to deal vvth when examining this site. Regarding the Goodrich Park site, they are looking at the triangle of land located there, and there would be opportunity for a half an acre; possibly expanding to an additional half acre. Both of these sites would have street parking; and potential to ask adjacent property owners for partnerships with extra parking. At the farm, they are looking into the south side off of Woodlyn Avenue. There is about an acre, potentially another half acre, with street parking. Questions and discussion ensued regarding sites, pros and cons of each, about picnicking and recreating at Goodrich in the playground areas, and discussion about satisfactory room for gardening. There was concern about safety. Regarding the preserve, the intent originally had been to keep it a preserve, and there were concerns about overhead wires. They discussed water sources at each of the sites, and potential problems vvth parking. Chair Fischer discussed the "80-20" rule, which determined that no more than 20% of the land in an open space would be active and 80% was to be restored to a natural state. With the trail there, he felt anything beyond that would be encroaching what was established as this 80-20 rule. He said Goodrich may have challenges, however they could be overcome. It is centrally located for people coming from south Maplewood. The commissioners discussed other possible sites in Maplewood and Ramsey County. Natural Resources Coordinator Gaynor ended the discussion by stating staff will listen to 3 all of the discussion and will look at the additional sites requested, and vvll come back to the commission at their next meeting. C Fish Creek Natural Area Greenway Grant Update Natural Resources Coordinator Gaynor stated the City Council submitted an Expression of Interest form for a Metro Greenways Protection Grant in May, 2009. She said they were invited to submit a proposal and they are currently working on this. The amount of grant money is $200,000 and the city would have to match this amount In addition, they have an LCCMR grant which the Council finished a resolution on and it is currently before that granting agency. They are continuing to look at how they would manage the match, and will be submitting this at the end of June, 2009. She said at this point they have to commit to a match, however, do not have to identify what pocket of money this will come out of Environmental and Natural Resources Commissioner Yingling stated she knew something about the grant process and explained some of the process. Natural Resources Coordinator Gaynor stated the city has requested 1.5 million dollars from the LCCMR and they suggested the city match with $100,000 They want to be assured the community is contributing something. This process may continue until September, 2009. Natural Resources Coordinator Gaynor announced the Beaver Creek Neighborhood Preserve representatives will be meeting with neighbors and walking along the trail to look at options for re-creating this preserve. The public is welcome, and this event vvll be held on June 23, 2009 at 630 p.m. She will put this information on the Web site and they will meet on the bridge of the preserve. She said anyone can call the Maplewood Nature Center or herself at the city for more information. 6. NEW BUSINESS A Capital Improvement Plan for 2010-2014 Chuck Hall, Assistant City Manager in Maplewood, and the Maplewood Finance Director were at the commission meeting to give a presentation on the Capital Improvement Plan. He said this is a planning document, and it is also a document about funding. He stated this document is what they will use for funding projects and capital expenditures over the next five years. It is a plan, and it mirrors what they hope to do, however it is not a budget document so it doesn't appropriate funds. It doesn't place money in certain areas, it makes assumptions. He said he will present the report to have the commissioners understand the assumptions they have made for funding that will be available and how it is going to be used They hope to have a public hearing at the Planning Commission level, and that will be on July 7, 2009. They will present to the Council on July 13 or 27, 2009. He went through the Plan vvth proposed projects and ideas for each year regarding the Park Development Fund, and discussion and questions ensued. One of the commissioners requested that the commission receive a copy of this report, and that request will be granted. Chair Fischer moved that the commission recommend this document to the City Council and the Planning Commission as they have outlined. Commissioner Christianson seconded the motion, and the motion carried by a vote of 9-0. B. UPDATE ON 2009 Capital Improvement Plan Parks Manager Taubman asked the commission to help staff identify how they vvll spend the $60,000 which is available to the Parks and Recreation Department for 2009. He listed the projects 1. Replacement of lights at Goodrich Park with replacement of light fixtures on fields two and three; 2. Replacement of backstops at Goodrich Park; 4 3. Fields replaced at Goodrich and Wakefield Parks 4. Resurfacing tennis or basketball courts in area parks He stated the Goodrich Park lights were installed in 1977. One of the biggest problems vvth these lights is that they cast a yellowish tint, making it difficult to see the balls. When the lights were installed they were playing with wooden bats, and now there are "hi tech" composite bats. He said in 1977 softball players were 6 feet, 180 pounds, and today they are 6 feet, six inches, and 280 pounds. Softball associations had moved the bases back from 60 to 65 feet, and now 70 feet for safety reasons. Pitching is done from 45 to 50 feet, and this year they are allowing pitchers to pitch from 6 feet behind the mound. The lights play into the problems of bats and balls becoming more "Iively". He explained that fencing and backstops were not a safety issue and were still functional. He talked about tennis courts and resurfacing them every five years with two courts per year. He listed the parks where the courts are unplayable. Vista I Hills is a heavily used court, and that is why they put it on the list to be resurfaced. He said he is looking for a recommendation from the Parks commission on how they can spend this money for 2009. A discussion ensued regarding these projects and issues, and Chair Fischer asked for a motion to approve to use the $60,000 budget for new lighting for Goodrich ball fields and resurfacing of Vista Hills tennis and basketball courts. Commissioner Maas seconded the motion, and it was carried unanimously by a vote of 9-0. C LEGACY TOT LOT Parks Manager Taubman gave a brief report on this project. They have received approval from the council to spend $80,000 for the Legacy Tot Lot development Parks Manager Taubman and Community Development and Parks Director Konewko will be meeting vvth a public works engineer to discuss how they will spend this money. There will be improvements to the surrounding property, and hopefully they will bring this to the commission next month, and in August, 2009 hold a neighborhood meeting to gather input from neighbors. He said there is no action required on this issue. A discussion and questions ensued regarding the project. The commission discussed planting community gardens west of the Legacy Tot Lot development Parks Manager Taubman said staff will discuss this and get back to the commission next month. 7 COMMISSIONER PRESENTATIONS A Subcommittee Presentations Dog Park Subcommittee Commissioner Roman said they had a meeting on June 3, 2009, and the subcommittee discussed Joy Park and the pluses and minuses of having a dog park there. He said after the discussion they set this park aside as a potential site for the future. He stated that Shervvood, Gloster and Harvest parks were all good sites in their opinions, and they also discussed hockey rink mini-dog parks. Commissioner Sonnek took photos of the dog park sites in Eden Prairie. They have determined that hockey rink sites should be a major consideration for a dog park. The subcommittee vvll come back with a report after their next meeting. Commissioner Roman also stated they will work on a survey for the neighborhoods involved Their next meeting is July 1, 2009 at 700 p.m. in the Maplewood Room. Chair Fischer added that he was impressed by the mini-dog park idea in the hockey rinks. Natural Area Greenway Subcommittee Report 5 Commissioner Peterson stated that the committee met a week ago, and on July 18, 2009 the members of the committee are doing a canoe tour. Five members vvll be going to Phalen Lake, Round Lake, and to Kohlman Lake to see the connections in that greenway. She stated there are historical markings along the way, and they are enthused and vvll bring back pictures and a report She said Beaver Lake is connected to the other lakes, and the trails that the Indians used when they came up the Mississippi River are along those lakes. Fish Creek had a native village there and the Indians traveled up that greenway to Phalen Lake and went to Kohlman Lake where there was another native village. There were also native villages along the east shore of Lake Phalen. Some of the older residents remember seeing wigwams along Kohlman Lake. 8. STAFF PRESENTATIONS A Lion's Park Neighborhood Meeting Parks Manager Taubman announced the Lion's Park Neighborhood meeting at the Maplewood Nature Center which will be held on June 30, 2009 at 630 p.m. Commissioner Fischer will open the meeting with a welcome and introduction of any staff and commissioners in attendance. One of the staff at the Nature Center will give an overview of the two concepts The primary difference between these is the drainage problem handled by underground storm sewers and holding pond and the other is rain water gardens and drainage. They will install basketball courts; a ball field, open play area, picnic shelter and playground equipment The top items from the survey were the picnic shelter and trails. There will be improved landscaping and a children's play area. The concept plans vvll be presented in two different areas, at the Nature Center meeting room and in the classroom center. A timeline will be provided as to when different areas of the project will be worked on, and the survey summary vvll be available with comment cards for residents. Parks Manager Taubman sent out a notice to the neighbors, and he will send the notice to all commissioners and to the Natural Resources Commission. B. Lake Links Trail Parks Manager Taubman said on Tuesday, June 9th they met with ten neighbors regarding the proposed trail along McKnight and Lydia Avenue, and discussed screening/buffering options with the residents on Standridge Avenue. They walked vvth the neighbors, and John Horn from Kimley Horn Associates staked out where the trail would go along McKnight Road, and it seemed the greatest concern was traffic on McKnight Road. The residents were in favor of a two lane road there. They were satisfied with the screening options that were presented when they saw how few trees and brush would be affected. Of the two Lydia Avenue residents that were present, one was opposed to the trail on Lydia Avenue, and one was not John Horn put together a report to the Council and it vvll come before them on June 22, 2009. Staff is recommending the off road option for the trail. Commissioner Maas mentioned the portion of the trail near Hazelwood Street and asked if that portion of the trail was finished. Parks Manager Taubman had walked this trail and he stated that signage is needed on that portion of the trail, and he would address that Questions were asked about the validity of bike riding on the sidewalk on that portion of the trail. C Planning Commission Tour Parks Manager Taubman had a list of names of people they have not heard from regarding this tour. He reminded the commissioners that the tour is on July 1, 2009, and vvllleave at 530 p.m. from the city offices, returning by 830 p.m. Box lunches will be provided. He said this is a Planning Commission annual city wide tour to look at development sites and upcoming development areas. 6 9. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Commissioner Sonnek said the Dog Park subcommittee is meeting as planned so they will miss the tour on July 1, 2009. Commissioner Peterson asked if the commission had received an answer as to what their role in the community center is. Chair Fischer said this was a goal for the commission for this year. He suggested to have it on the agenda for their next meeting, and to get a list of other things that they wanted to work on. She suggested putting the Capstone Project recommendations on the list for discussion. Commissioner Roman said they need to consider time for discussion of the dog park, and he anticipated it will be a major part of an upcoming meeting. He said the final subcommittee meeting is the first Wednesday in September, 2009. He also said he thought a community garden would not be suitable at Flicek Park. Commissioner Christianson stated that he is familiar vvth the history of North St Paul; and the first residents living on the south side of Silver Lake stated there were Indian encampments on the north side of Silver Lake. He also mentioned that he had a question of whether there was an Indian mound near Century Avenue and Joy Road; he learned there were large Indian encampments there every summer in the distant past Commissioner Maas stated as he has biked and walked along the trails in Maplewood and other areas, it was nice to see benches along the trails. He said Maplewood doesn't have benches along their trails. He said Little Canada to Roseville, to places in southern Minnesota, like Red Wing; have benches with placards on them, donated by someone in memory of a loved one. He thought this would be something to discuss in the future and asked if this idea could be advertised in the city newsletter. Chair Fischer said a possible subcommittee could be formed on this item, once the dog park subcommittee is finished. He said as our trails are evolving, they should be discussing benches, signs, kiosks, mileage markers, and other logistics of having benches along Maplewood trails. Parks Manager Taubman stated they have people donating benches; there is one at Sunset Ridge Park, and he is communicating with a neighbor about installing another bench there. Chair Fischer brought forvvard a letter he had written to Community Development and Parks Director Konewko regarding the trails/sidewalk improvements around the tourist cabin sites in Maplewood. Commissioner Roman said if there is money, they should look at sidewalks on Beam Avenue, and the continuity of sidewalks in that area. He said you cannot walk, you cannot bike, and there are very heavy traffic areas there. Parks Manager Taubman said he would make note of this, however he believed this was a Public Works project. 10. ADJOURN Chair Fischer asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Brannon made a motion, seconded by Commission Maas. The motion carried by unanimous vote. 7