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, January 21, 2014 7:00 PM Council Chambers 1. Call To Order The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. Roll Call Chair McKinley called the roll call. Those present include: Boardmembers Schrunk, Castillo (arrived at 7:05 p.m.), Gunter, Perkins, Villella, Rafferty, Truchon (arrived at 7:10 p.m.), Chair McKinley; and Recording Secretary, Kathy Altman. Present: 8 - Chair McKinley, Rafferty, Schrunk, Castillo, Truchon, Gunter, Villella, and Perkins 3. Approval of Minutes MOVED by Boardmember Rafferty, seconded by Boardmember Schrunk to approve the minutes of the November 19, 2013 Board Meeting. The motion carried unanimously. Aye: 8 - Chair McKinley, Rafferty, Schrunk, Castillo, Truchon, Gunter, Villella, and Perkins 4. Approval of Agenda MOVED by Boardmember Schrunk, seconded by Boardmember Gunter to approve the January 21, 2014 Board Agenda. City of Blaine Page 1 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final January 21, 2014 Board Motion carried unanimously. Aye: 8 - Chair McKinley, Rafferty, Schrunk, Castillo, Truchon, Gunter, Villella, and Perkins 5. Open Forum for Citizen Input There was none. 6. New Business 6.a NRCB 2014 CIP Presentation to City Council Chair McKinley stated staff had presented the CIP to the City Council at a workshop. She noted she had attended the workshop meeting and Staff Liaison Hafner had a very good presentation. She noted Council was supportive of the CIP and particularly the proposal for improvements to Site 7. Council recommended a second wetland banking project be looked at. She stated after contractors have been chosen for the two proposed projects, the Council will be asked to formally approve the expenditures for those projects. Boardmember Castillo arrived at 7:05 p.m. Chair McKinley summarized the revisions to the fund summaries. Boardmember Truchon arrived at 7:10 p.m. 6.b RFP for Site 7 Improvements Chair McKinley stated a request for proposal was issued for the Site 7 improvement project on January 13 with the contractors being asked to submit proposals by February 18. Staff will review the proposals and prepare a recommendation for award for the March 6 City Council meeting. She noted the recommendation for awarding the contract will not be based solely on cost. Quality of the proposal and prior experience on similar projects would also be considered. The contractor selected would prepare a conceptual plan for the overall improvements to the Site 7 Open Space area. The process would include a presentation to the NRCB for the Board’s input. The proposal would be done at a joint meeting of the NRCB and the Park & Recreation Board. The final concept plan is due to be submitted by June 6 with Council approval on June 19. Boardmember Villella asked if the Board would be reviewing the information next month. Chair McKinley stated she believed that was City of Blaine Page 2 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final January 21, 2014 Board the plan. Boardmember Villella inquired about the joint meeting with the Park & Recreation Board. Chair McKinley stated she did not have any information on that meeting, but she would make sure Staff Liaison would email any information to the Boardmembers. 6.c Discuss Process to Name Site 7 Chair McKinley stated it was time to come up with a name for Site 7 other than referring to it as Site 7. She stated one suggestion was to consider involving the public. Once the concept plan for the Site 7 improvements had been completed, a public open house could be held to kick off the project, garner public interest, promote open space and allow for some input. At the same time, the residents could be allowed to make suggestions for a name for the open space. The downside was this could be a very involved process and there would likely be a lot of nonsensical names suggested. She stated if the NRCB wanted to keep the naming process that would be acceptable also. She asked the Boardmembers what they wanted to do. Boardmember Truchon stated she would like to keep it as a private process with the Board because the Board could name it in a way it would make sense. She stated her suggestion would be naming it The Blaine Wetland Preserve. Chair McKinley stated she always thought of it as The Blaine Wetland Complex, but she agreed it was a preserve and liked the idea of Boardmember Truchon’s suggestion. Boardmember Perkins suggested each Boardmember recommend a name and let the public vote on one of those names at the Open House. Boardmember Villella recommended from now until a name is chosen, the area should be referred to as The Blaine Wetland Preserve. BOARD CONSENSUS was reached for each Boardmember to recommend a name and to allow the public to vote on the name and from now until a name is chosen, the area should be referred to as The Blaine Wetland Preserve. 6.d Assignments for Informational Items in Kiosks Chair McKinley stated the map was up in the kiosk at Pioneer Park. City of Blaine Page 3 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final January 21, 2014 Board However, staff did not have the key to the Laddie Lake park kiosk, but would be contacting Josh for it. She asked the Board what else they wanted in the kiosks. She stated a prior recommendation was to put something up about the bats and bat houses at Pioneer Park. For the Laddie Lake there was a recommendation to put information up about the Trilliums. She stated she was also working on the histories of the two parks. She stated she needed help in putting together some of the information into displays for the kiosks. Boardmember Gunter stated she would prepare the display for Laddie Lake. Boardmember Villella stated he would prepare the display for Pioneer Park. Boardmember Castillo recommended having a “Kids Corner” in the kiosks with items that would appeal to children. Boardmember Perkins asked if City announcements should also be put somewhere in the kiosks. He recommended also putting a QR code on the kiosks to pull up information on phones. Boardmember Gunter recommended a small sign on the kiosks to remind people to look at the backside of the kiosks also. Boardmember Truchon recommended in the kid’s corner to have information on animal tracks and she would gather information for that. Boardmember Perkins stated kids could also look for animal scat and he would gather information for that. Boardmember McKinley stated she would work on the histories of the parks. 6.e Review 2013 Goals; Discuss 2014 Goals Chair McKinley reviewed the 2013 goals. She noted some of the items had been accomplished. She asked if anyone had revised the NRCB website. Boardmember Villella stated he had requested the names of the Boardmembers be revised. Chair McKinley asked if a Boardmember would like to take responsibility for the website. Boardmember Perkins stated he would City of Blaine Page 4 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final January 21, 2014 Board take that responsibility. Boardmember Perkins recommended having more tours in 2014 to get more familiar with the parks. Boardmember Truchon recommended looking at and discussing one open space area per meeting, possibly by a staff report. Chair McKinley stated she would ask the Staff Liaison about this. Boardmember Perkins recommended the priority should be The Blaine Wetland Preserve and put this on as a monthly report. 6.f Report on Josh Bostrom Eagle Scout Court of Honor Chair McKinley stated she attended Mr. Bostrom’s Eagle Scout Court of Honor ceremony in November 2013. She stated it was a moving event and she was glad she went. She had the opportunity to thank him publicly for the kiosk project. 6.g Upcoming Events Chair McKinley stated Board interviews were being held again for the Boardmembers whose terms were coming due. She was hoping the volunteer day would be scheduled again this coming March. She noted Earth Day was April 26. She stated it would be held at Kane Meadows. 7. Other Business There was no other business to discuss. 8. Adjournment MOVED by Boardmember Schrunk, seconded by Boardmember Truchon to adjourn the meeting at 8:23 p.m. City of Blaine Page 5