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, August 19, 2014 6:30 PM Council Chambers The Natural Resources Conservation Board members will conduct a tour of the Open Space trails at Kane Meadows Park (2946 Rice Creek Parkway) beginning at 6:30PM. Following the tour, they will adjourn and reconvene at city hall to conduct their regularly scheduled meeting at 8:00PM in the council chambers. 1. Call To Order The meeting was called to order at 8:00 p.m. The Board conducted a tour of the Kane Meadows Park open space trails at 6:30PM, prior to the beginning of the regular meeting. 2. Roll Call Roll Call - Chair McKinley called the roll call. Those present include: Boardmembers Anderson, Castillo, Rafferty, Ruth, Truchon, Villella (arrived at 8:30 p.m.), Chair McKinley; and Recording Secretary, Barb Suciu. Absent - Boardmembers Gunter and Perkins. Staff Liaison Hafner. Present: 7 - Chair McKinley, Villella, Rafferty, Ruth, Truchon, Castillo, and Anderson Absent: 2 - Perkins, and Gunter 3. Approval of Minutes Chair McKinley asked that on page 4, under 6F, first paragraph, to change the word ‘fund’ to ‘find.’ Motion City of Blaine Page 1 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final August 19, 2014 Board 4. Open Forum for Citizen Input There was none. 5. Approval of Agenda Motion 6. New Business City of Blaine Page 2 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final August 19, 2014 Board 6.a Discussion on Kane Meadows tour Chair McKinley stated the tour started at 6:30 p.m. Boardmember Rafferty indicated Kane Meadows is well kept and lots of people are using the trails. Boardmember Truchon stated there is a consider amount of wildlife, in the park. Also the buckthorn and purple loosestrife should be addressed Boardmember Ruth indicated it was his first time through the area and it is very beautiful and he was happy to see people using the trails. He also liked how the trail connected to the different areas. Boardmember Anderson indicated the lookout station around the lake needs to be replaced. Having benches periodically throughout the area was nice, the path around the open space was good, and he likes the open space. He added there were a lot of people and a lot of wildlife. Chair McKinley indicated she was a bit dismayed because all the willows that were cleaned out of the area in April have grown back. She thought there used to be a bench at the junction of John Henry Graham trail. She also recommends installing the benches that are in storage at the junction of the trails. She indicated she will follow up on the willows. Boardmember Truchon stated the trail still needs to be named. She suggested Swamp Milkweed Trail but was open to other suggestions. Boardmember Ruth commented on the wooden bridge by the John Graham Trail and noted that when you crossed it, it goes into a residential area. He stated the bridge is weathered quite a bit and very slippery. This might be a hazard so he suggested someone should look into this. City of Blaine Page 3 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final August 19, 2014 Board 6.b Update on pamphlets Chair McKinley stated she went out to Kane Meadows and found the pamphlets were gone so she added more to the display. She expressed her curiosity about the box being empty. Boardmember Castillo indicated the display boxes are probably not in the parks yet. Boardmember Rafferty stated he made a few changes to the pamphlet and stated Staff Liaison Hafner has not seen this version of the pamphlet, as yet. Boardmember Villella arrived at the meeting at 8:30 p.m. 6.c Update on Blaine 50th Anniversary committee Boardmember Villella reported that there will be several events that the 50th Anniversary will be piggy backed on. He indicated December 3, 2014 is the actual anniversary and there will be something small at City Hall on that day. In June, 2015, there will be an event piggy backed with Concerts in the Park. In August, there will be a pig roast. Focusing on the plan for the year, he asked how the Natural Conservation Resources Board would like to participate in the 50th celebration. Chair McKinley stated in May, there is an opportunity with the annual National Wetlands Month. Boardmember Truchon suggested a celebration in Lexington Park because that is a very historic site. Boardmember Castillo suggested a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Nature Center that is to be built 2015. City of Blaine Page 4 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final August 19, 2014 Board 7. Other Business Chair McKinley stated the Blaine World Fest is coming up and asked if anyone is interested in setting up a booth to distribute information regarding the Natural Conservation Resources Board. Chair McKinley stated Boardmembers Truchon and Rafferty will be working to create the history of the Natural Resources Conservation Board. Boardmembers Truchon and Rafferty stated they were both on the 2020 planning meeting and some of the people on the board are still around. The goal is to create the history of how the Natural Resource Conservation Board came to be. They will start working on it and bring it back to the Board. Chair McKinley commented on the TPC Championship and talking with people on recycling and organics. She asked if the Board was interested in having someone from Anoka County recycling attend a meeting to present information regarding recycling and organics. Boardmember Anderson asked how the information they will be presenting would be beneficial to the Board. He felt it would be more beneficial if the members could see the information and then determine if it would worth their while to come to a meeting. Chair McKinley stated the information would be on recycling of organics. Boardmember Anderson suggested emailing information to the Board and then determines if they should have someone come to a meeting. Chair McKinley asked about touring Pioneer Park starting at 7 p.m. before the September meeting. The Board agreed with that suggestion. 8. Adjournment Adjourned City of Blaine Page 5