Nat'l Resources Conservation Board

10801 Town Square Dr. City of Blaine Blaine MN 55449 Anoka County, Minnesota Minutes - Final Nat'l Resources Conservation Board The Natural Resource Conservation Board is an advisory body to the City Council. The Board is charged with recommending acquisition of lands for open space and developing a Natural Resource Plan which includes environmental policy and guidelines for the maintenance and preservation of Blaine’s existing and future opens spaces and trail corridors. One of the Board’s functions is to hold public meetings and make recommendations to the City Council. For each item, the Board will receive reports prepared by City staff, provide the opportunity for public response, conduct Board discussions and make recommendations. The City Council, however, makes all final decisions on these matters. Tuesday, May 21, 2013 7:30 PM Council Chambers 1. Call To Order The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. 2. Roll Call Absent: Staff Liaison, Jim Hafner. Present: 8 - Chair McKinley, Rafferty, Schrunk, Castillo, Truchon, Gunter, Villella, and Perkins 3. Approval of Minutes MOVED by Boardmember Schrunk, seconded by Boardmember Truchon to approve the minutes of the April 16, 2013 Board Meeting as written. The motion carried unanimously. 4. Approval of Agenda Chair McKinley combined Item 6b with 6d. Chair McKinley stated under Other Business, Boardmembers Perkins, Schrunk, Truchon, and she had comments to make. MOVED by Boardmember Rafferty, seconded by Boardmember Truchon to approve the May 21, 2013 Board Agenda. Motion carried unanimously. City of Blaine Page 1 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final May 21, 2013 Board 5. Open Forum for Citizen Input None. 6. New Business 6.a Joshua Bostrum - Eagle Scout Project Chair McKinley stated Josh Bostrom had been in contact with the Staff Liaison. She noted he had received a price quote from SLP Lumber and for the lumber the cost would be approximately $215.00 per kiosk. Mr. Bostrom figured for two kiosks including all materials the cost would be $500.00. He was trying to get some kind of financing, but so far he had not received any donations. She noted Mr. Bostrom was under a crunch as he turned 18 on July 20 and this needed to be completed prior to him turning 18 in order to get the credit for the Eagle Scout project. She asked if the Board was willing to pay for the materials if Mr. Bostrom could not obtain donations up to $500.00 or for whatever shortfall there was in funding. MOVED by Boardmember Truchon, seconded by Boardmember Perkins, to allow the Board to financially back the effort for $500.00. Motion carried unanimously. 6.b Report on Earth Day activity Chair McKinley stated Earth Day was not a success this year due to the ground being covered with snow and with the ground still being still frozen no trees had been planted. She stated the willow trees were not removed either due to the weather. She stated she was applying for a booth at the Blaine Blazin’ Festival where the material she had for the Earth Day activity would be handed out. She stated the Festival was held on June 28, 29, and 30 at Aquatore Park. She asked if anyone had time on June 29 to assist her with the booth, it would be appreciated. She noted the booth had to have someone in it the entire three days of the Festival. 6.c Trillium transplant update Chair McKinley stated she had gone out to the site approximately 10 City of Blaine Page 2 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final May 21, 2013 Board days ago and the plants were looking good and were visible. She indicated the brush had not come up yet. She stated she would be out there on this coming Thursday to plant/transplant. She asked for a volunteer to help her with this project. 6.d Blaine Blazin' Festival 6.e Update on Information Boxes Boardmember Truchon handed out a sample of a triple-fold brochure she had prepared as a sample for the information boxes. She asked for any recommendations and/or suggestions. Chair McKinley stated she liked Boardmember Truchon’s brochure. She handed out a sample of the brochure she had prepared. Boardmember Perkins stated he liked the tri-fold idea also. 6.f Assignment Reports Chair McKinley asked if any Boardmember had any questions. Boardmember Schrunk stated she had taken picture of snow at her park. Boardmember Villala asked if he could make his presentation digital and send everyone a link. He noted he would give Boardmember McKinley a hard copy. Chair McKinley stated the presentations/reports should be done no later than August, but she would prefer them in July. 6.g Suggestions for articles in the City newsletter Boardmember Truchon asked if anyone wanted to write an article for the newsletter. She stated she wrote some articles last year. Chair McKinley stated the next issue was the July/August issue and any article needed to be done by the end of May. The next issue would be September/October and that deadline was before the end of July. Boardmember Villala stated he would write an article on Loch Ness City of Blaine Page 3 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final May 21, 2013 Board Park encouraging people to use it. He stated he would talk to the Staff Liaison for information. 6.h Alternate dates for Open Space tour Chair McKinley stated last month she had asked for a tour of the wetland/weir and restoration project from Jason Huseth, who was at the meeting last month. She stated Mr. Huseth wanted to schedule a tour for the June 18 meeting. She stated they would meet at 6:30 p.m. and come back here to City Hall for a short meeting afterwards. She indicated she did not know how long the tour would take. She noted she would have Staff Liaison send more information on this tour. Boardmember Truchon requested Staff Liaison check into if a notice of this tour needed to be published. Chair McKinley asked if the Board should arrange for an Open Space tour as there were new Boardmembers. She stated this tour could be scheduled for the July 16 meeting with the official meeting starting after the tour. 7. Other Business Chair McKinley stated on the Wednesday edition of the StarTribune there was a write up on a Blaine trail. Boardmember Perkins requested the Board figure out how to get a cost analysis for a sidewalks/trail on Xylite from the airport starting at 89th Avenue to 93rd Avenue to the park that was there. He noted this was a very busy road and he noticed a lot of kids going to that park. He stated he would also like a cost analysis prepared for a sidewalk/trail from Rodeo Drive to the North Oaks West Park. He noted this was a busy area also. Chair McKinley requested Boardmember Perkins contact the Staff Liaison to give him the details of his proposal. Boardmember Castillo noted if the trail was going over the airport land, getting a sidewalk/trail easement would be an issue. Boardmember Truchon stated she watched the most recent Council Meeting where the Park Board received a grant for the parks and they were proposing kiosks in those parks. She noted those kiosks would City of Blaine Page 4 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final May 21, 2013 Board cost $500 each and $150 to install them. She noted one Councilmember was concerned about the maintenance of the kiosks as well as the maps and handouts being made available. She stated one Councilmember had noted he had not heard of any new trail names lately. She stated she would like to see one of the trail names named after a unique feature of Blaine. She asked Chair McKinley if she would come up with a trail that needed a name. Chair McKinley stated she was interested in the Radisson Road trail and she believed it was a historical trail. She recommended coming up with a name for the Kane Meadows trail system also. Boardmember Castillo stated he would probably not be at the June meeting due to a family birthday. 8. Adjournment MOVED by Boardmember Truchon, seconded by Boardmember Castillo to adjourn the meeting at 8:42 p.m. City of Blaine Page 5