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, July 16, 2013 7:30 PM Council Chambers 1. Call To Order The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. 2. Roll Call Others Present - Josh Bostrom Absent: Boardmember Gunter. Present: 7 - Chair McKinley, Rafferty, Schrunk, Castillo, Truchon, Villella, and Perkins Absent: 1 - Gunter 3. Approval of Minutes Chair McKinley requested under Other Business, paragraph 3, first sentence to read: Chair McKinley asked if the Boardmembers wanted copies of Jason’s and Matt’s reports from the tour this evening. MOVED by Boardmember Truchon, seconded by Boardmember Rafferty to approve the minutes of the June 16, 2013 Board Meeting as amended. The motion carried unanimously. City of Blaine Page 1 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final July 16, 2013 Board 4. Approval of Agenda Chair McKinley stated she had some items under Other Business. MOVED by Boardmember Schrunk, seconded by Boardmember Perkins to approve the July 16, 2013 Board Agenda. Motion carried unanimously. 5. Open Forum for Citizen Input None. 6. New Business: 6.a Report on NRCB Booth at the Blaine Blazin' Festival Chair McKinley stated that it was a great weekend with a good turnout on Saturday 6.b Report on Kiosks Joshua Bostrom stated he had built the kiosks at Pioneer Park and Laddie Lake. He showed pictures of the kiosk to the Boardmembers. He stated the total man hour time 105 man hours with a total price of $805.24. He stated he had done some fundraising to reduce the price. He indicated he had contacted the VFW, State Farm, and the Ham Lake Alliance Club. He stated he did not have the fundraising information yet, but he believed it would be around $600 in donations. He stated he also returned some of the materials he did not use. He noted Boardmember Gunter had stopped by when they were working on the kiosks. Boardmember Truchon requested whoever helped with the project should maybe get recognition. MOVED by Boardmember Rafferty, seconded by Boardmember Truchon to put plaques on each of the kiosks recognizing Josh’s work. Chair McKinley stated the kiosk at Pioneer Park needed some adjusting. Mr. Bostrom stated he was going to reinforce the kiosk along with some other minor repairs. Chair McKinley asked how would they post things on the kiosk. Mr. City of Blaine Page 2 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final July 16, 2013 Board Bostrom stated staples could be used, or he could put on corkboard for thumb tacks. He stated corkboard would add to the cost though. Chair McKinley stated if things were stapled on the board, it would be difficult changing the notices. She recommended corkboard be put up. Boardmember Schrunk asked if there was plastic over the area. Mr. Bostrom stated there was Plexiglas covering the open area. He stated he was hoping to also glue the screw hole to prevent someone from vandalizing the kiosks. Boardmember Perkins asked what was the greatest challenge to the project. Mr. Bostrom responded it was difficult getting the people to help him and getting the posts to line up. Boardmember Schrunk stated Mr. Bostrom might want to use fiberboard instead of corkboard. Mr. Bostrom stated he would look into the options. The Board thanked Mr. Bostrom for all of his work on the kiosks. Boardmember Perkins requested Mr. Bostrom’s picture be taken also. Staff Liaison stated he would also like to arrange recognition of Mr. Bostrom by the Mayor at an upcoming Council meeting at which time Mr. Bostrom could present the keys for the kiosks to the Mayor. Motion approved unanimously, at the end of discussion. 6.c Update on Information Boxes Chair McKinley stated she has not done anything on this over the past month, but hoped to have it completed for next month’s meeting. Boardmember Schrunk stated she could not improve of what Boardmember Gunter did last year for Pioneer Park as she did not have a camera that would let her do what was done in the past. Boardmember Castillo stated he had presented his idea at the meeting last month and he believed his brochure was ready to go. He recommended switching back and forth between his brochure and Chair McKinley’s brochure. Staff Liaison asked where they wanted to boxes to be placed. Chair McKinley responded they should be at Oaks Savannah and Hidden Ponds. City of Blaine Page 3 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final July 16, 2013 Board 6.d Discussion on Trails Boardmember Perkins stated he has not had the chance to connect with the Staff Liaison, but he hoped to get in touch with him in the next couple of weeks. 6.e Finalize Group Tour for August Chair McKinley noted the group tour would be held next month. She asked what type of tour did the Boardmembers want. Boardmember Villella stated maybe they should go to the two hard to find open space/park areas and then see whatever parks/open space are around those two areas. Boardmember Truchon stated they could also look at Pioneer Park to see the kiosk. The Staff Liaison recommended they meet at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall for the group tour with keeping the August meeting set for 7:30 p.m. Chair McKinley requested the Boardmember have their individual group tours ready for presentation at next month’s meeting. 6.f Groundwater Presentation Boardmember Truchon stated with the digging of three new wells in the City, this now brought the City wells up to 20. She stated it would be nice to understand the groundwater availability, the aquifers, etc. The Staff Liaison updated the Boardmembers on the status of groundwater and wells in the City. Boardmember Villella left the meeting at 8:45 p.m. 7. Other Business Chair McKinley noted the Staff Liaison stated the public dedication for the Blaine Preserve Scientific and Natural Area (SNA) would be July 25 starting at 6:30 p.m. Chair McKinley thanked Boardmember Villella for his article in the City of Blaine Page 4 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final July 16, 2013 Board newsletter. Staff Liaison stated most of the information Jason and Matt passed out at the last meeting was available electronically. He recommended putting the electronic information and pictures on the website. Boardmember Perkins stated he was reviewing the numbers on the Management Fund and it appeared there was almost $100,000 difference between what was shown and where they should be at. He recommended this be put on for discussion at next month’s meeting. 8. Adjournment MOVED by Boardmember Truchon, seconded by Boardmember Rafferty to adjourn the meeting at 9:00 p.m. City of Blaine Page 5