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, October 15, 2013 7:00 PM Council Chambers 1. Call To Order The meeting was called to order at 7:08 p.m 2. Roll Call Also Absent: Staff Liaison Jim Hafner Present: 6 - Chair McKinley, Rafferty, Castillo, Truchon, Gunter, and Villella Absent: 2 - Schrunk, and Perkins 3. Approval of Minutes Chair McKinley requested the following changes. Beginning on page two the word “Commissioner” was used in referring to Boardmembers. These need to be changed. MOVED by Boardmember Rafferty, seconded by Boardmember Gunter, to approve the minutes of the September 17, 2013 Board Meeting as amended. The motion carried unanimously. 4. Approve agenda There were no changes to the agenda. MOVED by Boardmember Gunter, seconded by Boardmember Castillo, City of Blaine Page 1 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final October 15, 2013 Board to approve the October 15, Board Agenda. Motion carried unanimously. 5. Open Forum for Citizen Input None. 6. New Business 6.a Discussion on display materials for kiosks Chair McKinley stated she reviewed the suggestions with Staff Liaison Hafner. The Board needs to determine what they would like to have posted on the kiosks. Mary Jo Truchon arrived at the meeting at 7:17 p.m. A large colored trail map of the City was a good suggestion. Posters regarding restoration work being done by Critical Connections Ecological Services at Pioneer Park and the Laddie Lake restoration work (Prairie Restoration) could be included. Another suggestion to create a flyer was made. Chair McKinley showed a mock-up of the size of the area in the kiosk. A presentation on the bat houses installed in the park along with the park history and a map of the city - open spaces, etc. Chair McKinley stated she has history documents on the parks which could be included in the kiosk. Boardmember Truchon stated she thought the ideas were fabulous. Chair McKinley suggested the trail maps be available as flyers at Pioneer Park. Boardmember Gunter suggested the flyer have a brief history along with trail maps. Boardmember Villella arrived at 7:22 p.m. Boardmember Gunter suggested pictures of what might be seen in the park would be nice to have on the handout. Chair McKinley stated she will meet with Jim to discuss the Board’s suggestions. Boardmember Villella stated he visited the park last week and found one of the bat houses had fallen down in Pioneer Park. Chair City of Blaine Page 2 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final October 15, 2013 Board McKinley will bring it to Jim’s attention. Boardmember Gunter suggested the website link be referenced on the information board. Chair McKinley stated upcoming events within the park should be announced. Boardmember Villella asked how often the information would be updated. Chair McKinley recommended some of the information be permanent and other information updated seasonally. Chair McKinley suggested a form for feedback be offered to visitors to the park. 6.b Discussion on CIP Fund updates and revised CIP spreadsheets were distributed at the last meeting. With the work currently contracted with CCES and Prairie Restorations, we are approaching the extent of improvements that can be made with revenue from Park Dedication fees. A few amenities and some cleanup work may remain but the majority of the work will be completed over the next 3 years under these contracts. The one area that has not been improved, with the exception of the wetland restoration for banking credits, is the area we refer to in the Management Plan as Site 7. The conceptual plan for this area has been to design a trail system, provide at least two trail head parking lots, include some amenities such as benches, bird watching platforms, interpretive signage and possibly a nature center. Staff recommends that a request for proposals (RFP) be published and a consultant chosen to design this project. The RFP could be completed by the end of this year with a consultant chosen in the first quarter of 2014. Council approvals would follow with bids for design and construction to follow. Actual work would probably begin in 2015, perhaps as early as the winter of 2014. A revised Fund update showing some ballpark figures for a project like this was provided. The total is an estimate and could well end up being a little low. However, it would likely consume the balance of the fund as it stands today. There will be additional revenue over the next several years and expenditures for the Site 7 improvements will be spread out over a period of time. Discussion on this project will continue at the November meeting with some additional financial numbers available at that meeting. Staff requested that Board discussion tonight be focused on 1) is this the type of project they want; and 2) what would they want included in such a project. No final decisions are required at this time. City of Blaine Page 3 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final October 15, 2013 Board Boardmember Truchon stated she has reviewed the Management Plan and one of the goals is to keep the quality of the habitat in Site 7. Boardmember Villella asked if there would be a name for Site 7 and Chair McKinley stated that would be determined down the road. The phased approach for the development of Branch 3 Open Space would include the trailhead and parking, trails, bridge over ditch, benches, bird watching platforms, nature center, etc. Boardmember Truchon asked that whoever is hired by the RFP refer to the Management Plan to make sure everything is according to the Plan and on track. MOVED by Boardmember Gunter, seconded by Boardmember Villella, to go ahead with the RFP for Site 7 for concept development of $15,000 - $20,000. Motion carried unanimously. 7. Other Business Critical Connections Ecological Services (CCES) has been doing restoration work in Pioneer Park for several years. Some of the proposed work on contracts approved for 2010 and 2011 has not been completed due to weather or other circumstances. There was no contract in 2012. The contract for 2013 is scheduled to be implemented over the next several months. CCES proposed to complete all of this work by the end of this year. They will be starting this month and finishing in December. Dollar amounts for this work are itemized on the Fund Update under the Encumbered section. Chair McKinley stated the website has been updated per the Board’s request. Thank you letters were sent to Josh Bostrom along with the donating agencies were sent by Chair McKinley. Blaine Central Lion’s Club has adopted Fort Lion Park and has already worked the chips in the berm areas. They have adopted the Park on an ongoing basis. Boardmember Truchon suggested that be added to the website. 8. Adjournment City of Blaine Page 4 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final October 15, 2013 Board MOVED by Boardmember Castillo, seconded by Boardmember Gunter, to adjourn the meeting at 7:55 p.m. City of Blaine Page 5