Nat'l Resources Conservation Board

10801 Town Square Drive 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, November 18, 2014 7:00 PM Council Chambers 1. Call To Order 1. The meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. 2. Roll Call 1. Roll Call - Staff Liaison Hafner called the roll call. Those present include: Boardmembers Anderson, Castillo, Perkins, Rafferty, Truchon, Villella (Arrived at 7:27 p.m.), Chair McKinley, Staff Liaison Jim Hafner and Recording Secretary Debbie Wolfe. Absent - Boardmembers Gunter and Ruth Others Present - None. Present: 7 - Chair McKinley, Villella, Rafferty, Perkins, Truchon, Castillo, and Comissioner Anderson Absent: 2 - Ruth, and Gunter 3. Approval of Minutes Chair McKinley requested on item 6.b. the first two paragraphs should be switched in order. Motion Aye: 7 - Chair McKinley, Villella, Rafferty, Perkins, Truchon, Castillo, and Comissioner Anderson City of Blaine Page 1 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final November 18, 2014 Board 4. Open Forum for Citizen Input No one appeared to address the Board. 5. Approval of Agenda Chair McKinley requested item 7a. Addition of Proposal for Recognition for Open Space be added to the agenda. Staff Liaison Hafner stated he had two items to add to the agenda. Motion Aye: 7 - Chair McKinley, Villella, Rafferty, Perkins, Truchon, Castillo, and Comissioner Anderson 6. New Business 6.a Update on Park Board decision for a dog park at Aquatore Park Staff Liaison Hafner reported the Park Board at their meeting did agree with the proposal to locate the dog park at Aquatore Park. The Park Board will be taking their recommendation to the City Council at their November 20, 2014 meeting. The Park Board did speak with the Blaine Festival Committee and they had no issues. Boardmember Truchon asked if Lochness will also remain a dog park. Staff Liaison Hafner stated he will mention it to the Park Board. 6.b Update on List of Concerns Staff Liaison Hafner stated the repair items on the list will be moved to Spring. The policy type items will be reviewed with the Park Supervisor and develop a plan to address the concerns. City of Blaine Page 2 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final November 18, 2014 Board 6.c NRCB Event for Blaine 50th Anniversary Chair McKinley stated Boardmember Villella had emailed all Board members with his comments on the event. The date is planned for May 30, 2015. Chair McKinley asked if the Board would prefer to plan the event at their regular meetings or should a subcommittee be formed to work on the details. Boardmember Villella had expressed his preference to keep the discussion at the regular meetings and Chair McKinley stated she felt the same way. The consensus of the Board was to keep the discussions and planning at the regular NRCB meetings. Boardmember Perkins asked if there would be a NRCB meeting in December and Chair McKinley stated generally there is not a meeting in December but if there are items to discuss a meeting may be held. Boardmember Perkins suggested 30 minutes be set aside for discussion at the January NRCB meeting. Boardmember Villella stated the event will be May 30, 2015. The Committee will provide $250 for refreshments. Staff Liaison Hafner suggested the location by moved to outside East Lake Park. The Birthday Party is December 3rd for the City. 6.d 2015 Goals Discussion Chair McKinley requested the Boardmembers start thinking about goals for 2015. Each member should think of something they can be involved with. Boardmembers Anderson and Ruth will be participating in adopt-a-park. Some suggestions for goals would be Groundbreaking of the Wetland Sanctuary, the NRCB History being researched by Boardmembers Truchon and Rafferty, Earth Day, Green Expo, Blaine Festival, World Fest, Hiking Our Trails Program, and Video and brochure for the Wetland Sanctuary. This will be discussed at the January 2015 NRCB Meeting. City of Blaine Page 3 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final November 18, 2014 Board 6.e Update on Blane Wetland Sanctuary Improvements Staff Liaison Hafner stated the approvals and permits are being obtained. 11/19/14 is the 60th day of the 60-day period when the DNR would delist the Wetland Sanctuary as a wetland. The Core of Engineers has requested more detail about what is proposed prior to submitting an application to the COE. The Core process can take a while. They have no limitations. They have put out a notice of at least a year on permit applications. Built into the schedule is 2 years to get through the permitting/authorization process. Jason Husveth suggested some work that could begin without permit. Stantec completed the concept design, which was approved by City Council. The RFP for final design was put out with three firms responding. Staff agreed all three were good and the consensus was Stantec will be recommended to be awarded the project. Boardmember Villella arrived at the meeting at 7:27 p.m. Staff Liaison Hafner stated one of the first steps would be for Stantec to meet with the NRCB. A 3-D model for the May 30th event would be arranged with Stantec. Meetings with residents for input would also be held. Boardmember Castillo asked if work could start before permits were received. Staff Liaison Hafner stated the groundbreaking or kickoff could be held just by placing a shovel in the ground. The project would most likely begin winter 2015-2016. Some work could be done without permit such as removing wood debris. Boardmember Perkins asked if the COE permit was for the wetland credit. Staff Liaison Hafner stated the COE covers the wetland area. Watershed has also been contacted. Boardmember Truchon asked if it would be one permit and Staff Liaison Hafner stated they may do two, one for the restoration and one for the other area. Boardmember Castillo asked if the NRCB should proceed with the kickoff plan on May 30th. Boardmember Anderson stated the kickoff could happen with the knowledge that it will start after everything is set. Boardmember Villella stated it would be tied into the 50th Anniversary. City of Blaine Page 4 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final November 18, 2014 Board Boardmember Castillo stated he would not want to get the hopes up of the residents if something should happen to the project. Staff Liaison Hafner stated this is a 5-6 year process. Boardmember Anderson stated the projected timeline could be communicated and shown with a 3-D model. Boardmember Castillo suggested different wording be used rather than groundbreaking or kickoff. He suggested “Introduction” be used. Boardmember Villella stated that was discussed at the last meeting and the consensus was to use the term kickoff. Boardmember Truchon stated sponsors are needed and this would be a good time to introduce the idea and get sponsors to consider it. Motion Aye: 7 - Chair McKinley, Villella, Rafferty, Perkins, Truchon, Castillo, and Comissioner Anderson Chair McKinley asked if distances of the trails could be calculated. Staff Liaison Hafner calculated the distances and referred to a map and gave the distances. A total of 5.5 miles is planned for the trails. This does not include the future trails. Boardmember Truchon asked about the yellow dotted trail between 1 and 2, she is concerned about the hard surface trails going east to west. Staff Liaison Hafner stated the Council wants the trails accessible by all residents and some will be hard surface trails to meet ADA requirements. Some additional geotechnical work needs to be done which will determine which type of trails will work in certain areas. Boardmember Truchon would like to see two raised viewing areas. Chair McKinley stated she shares Boardmember Truchon’s concern about the hard surface trail going east to west. City of Blaine Page 5 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final November 18, 2014 Board 6.f 2015 Open Space CIP Discussion Staff Liaison Hafner reviewed the Current Open Space Fund Balance. The beginning balance January 2014 was $739,773.00. Revenue to date (9/30/14) is $212,857.00. 2014 Expenditures to date (9/30/14) were $51,693.00 with total available funds as of $900,937.00. There were more park dedication fees received than were anticipated. Staff Liaison Hafner stated Finance Department has informed him that year-end adjustments may affect the Open Space Fund Balance. Staff Liaison Hafner provided a spreadsheet showing 2015 CIP Trail Projects and Open Space Management Tasks 2013 through 2020. He reviewed the detailed items on the list. Chair McKinley suggested two trails be considered one being the trail for the open space area on 131st. Staff Liaison Hafner stated there is already a trail there. Chair McKinley suggested a trail go through the open space area and Mr. Hafner stated the neighbors do not want a trail through the open space. The second area would be an alternate trail to serve the mobile home park in Lexington. Mr. Hafner stated that would require coordination with the City of Lexington. Staff Liaison Hafner reviewed a spreadsheet, which took into consideration that Open Space will receive 20% of park dedication fees for 2014 - 2017. These amounts do not reflect receiving any grants or funding from other sources. Boardmember Truchon stated the Wetland Sanctuary may have the potential to infiltrate groundwater. Perhaps monies can be pursued for groundwater possibly through Groundwater Management. Staff Liaison Hafner stated Stantec has people on staff to help with writing grant proposals applicable to the Wetland Sanctuary. 7. Other Business City of Blaine Page 6 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final November 18, 2014 Board Proposal for Recognition Chair McKinley proposed recognition for two individuals and a group that have done a lot of work in Open Space areas. Kane Meadows - Willows were cut down - 4 hours were spent by Pavel Baranyak Jason Hanson - Resident of Kane Meadows continued to work at keeping the willows down. Blaine Central Lions Club - adopted Fort Lions Park in Fall 2013 and cleaned up the woodchip berms. They replanted some shrubs that had died. Boardmember Truchon asked if the Park Board should be giving the recognition and it may be good to work with the Park Board on this. She believes there needs to be some criteria for such recognition. Boardmember Perkins stated he is concerned with residents doing some work and if they get hurt doing work in City parks or open spaces would the City be liable. Chair McKinley stated waivers are filled out before any work is done. Boardmember Anderson suggested the Lions Club be recognized by the Park Board and the other two individuals could be recognized by the NRCB. Motion Aye: 7 - Chair McKinley, Villella, Rafferty, Perkins, Truchon, Castillo, and Comissioner Anderson December Meeting Staff Liaison Hafner stated a decision needs to be made not to have a meeting in December for the NRCB. Motion Aye: 7 - Chair McKinley, Villella, Rafferty, Perkins, Truchon, Castillo, and Comissioner Anderson Jason Husveth On December 2, 2014, Jason Husveth will be giving a talk at the Minneapolis Audubon Meeting about native plants of the Anoka Sandplain area. He offered to give the same talk at the NRCB February 2015 meeting. City of Blaine Page 7 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final November 18, 2014 Board 8. Adjournment Adjourned Aye: 7 - Chair McKinley, Villella, Rafferty, Perkins, Truchon, Castillo, and Comissioner Anderson City of Blaine Page 8