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, April 21, 2015 7:00 PM Council Chambers 1. Call To Order 1. The meeting was called to order at 7:06 p.m. 2. Roll Call Roll Call - Chair McKinley called the roll call. Those present include: Boardmembers Anderson, Gunter, Perkins, Rafferty, Ruth, Truchon, Villella, Chair McKinley, and Recording Secretary Debbie Wolfe. Absent - Boardmember Castillo and Gunter. Staff Liaison Hafner Present: 7 - Chair McKinley, Villella, Rafferty, Ruth, Perkins, Truchon, and Comissioner Anderson Absent: 2 - Gunter, and Castillo 3. Approval of Minutes MOVED by Boardmember Rafferty, seconded by Boardmember Truchon, to approve the minutes of the March 17, 2015 Board Meeting as presented. Motion carried unanimously. Aye: 7 - Chair McKinley, Villella, Rafferty, Ruth, Perkins, Truchon, and Comissioner Anderson 4. 2014-2015 Natural Resources Conservation Board Adjourns Sine Die MOVED BY Chair McKinley, seconded by Boardmember Perkins, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried unanimously. City of Blaine Page 1 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final April 21, 2015 Board Aye: 7 - Chair McKinley, Villella, Rafferty, Ruth, Perkins, Truchon, and Comissioner Anderson 5. Administration of Oath of Office City Clerk Cathy Sorenson administered the Oath of Office to Dottie McKinley, Mary Jo Truchon, Sam Villella and Chris Perkins. 6. Meeting Resumes: Roll Call of 2015-2016 NRCB Roll Call - Chair McKinley called the roll call. Those present include: Boardmembers Anderson, Perkins, Rafferty, Ruth, Truchon, Villella, Chair McKinley, and Recording Secretary Debbie Wolfe. Absent - Boardmembers Castillo and Gunter. Staff Liaison Hafner. Present: 7 - Chair McKinley, Villella, Rafferty, Ruth, Perkins, Truchon, and Comissioner Anderson Absent: 2 - Gunter, and Castillo 7. Approval of the Agenda MOVED by Boardmember Villella, seconded by Boardmember Truchon, to approve the April 21, 2015 Board Agenda as presented. Motion carried unanimously. Aye: 7 - Chair McKinley, Villella, Rafferty, Ruth, Perkins, Truchon, and Comissioner Anderson 8. Open Forum for Citizen Input No one appeared to address the Board. 9. New Business 9.a Report on BWS Open House An open house was held in the City Hall Atrium on March 26. Stantec, the City’s consultant on this project, provided a number of interpretive boards to describe the project. About 50 people attended the event, including most of the NRCB members. Input from residents was mostly positive in support of preserving the open space area and creating opportunities for people to enjoy the native plants and wildlife. A few people questioned the decision to not allow dogs in the BWS. One neighborhood close to the site was concerned about vandalism. They were assured that measures would be taken to prevent this type of activity. City of Blaine Page 2 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final April 21, 2015 Board Future open houses will be scheduled as situations arise for additional input from the public. These would include design and features of the nature center and other items that would benefit from public suggestions. Chair McKinley noted the Stantec displays were excellent. Boardmember Truchon stated the displays did a great job of showing the site. Boardmember Villella liked the architects being there to take resident input on the building. Boardmember Perkins asked if a list of the suggestions submitted could be reviewed by the NRCB. Boardmember Ruth stated it was good to see the residents present and asking questions that challenged Stantec and the City to provide more information. Informational; no action required. 9.b Blaine Wetland Sanctuary Kick-off Chair McKinley made a list of all the items and the work that needs to be done. Boardmember Villella stated at the last 50th Anniversary Committee he asked for volunteers and didn’t get much response. The group has reduced in size since the first meeting. The NRCB has $250 to spend on the event. The suggestion was made to go to the local stores and ask for discounts on the food items for the event. They suggested the hot dogs be boiled rather than grilled. Staff Liaison suggested the plan be for 200 people. Chair McKinley stated she visited some area stores and looked at prices. Costco’s prices were the best she found. Reimbursement will be made with receipts. Chair McKinley provided a list of items to review for the BWS Kickoff. She has reserved the pavilion. Boardmember Villella suggested Jason Husveth be a speaker. Chair McKinley will formally invite him. There is electricity at the pavilion. Picnic tables are available. Boardmembers Ruth and Anderson offered to do the grilling. Boardmember Anderson suggested a meeting be held at the site prior to the event to look at the layout, etc. Boardmembers Truchon offered to be a tour guide. Boardmember Castillo was nominated as a tour guide. Extra tables are needed and Boardmembers will bring what they have. The NRCB will meet at Lakeside Park on May 19, 2015 at 6:30 p.m. with the regular meeting to follow at City Hall. Boardmember Villella will call Caribou to see if good prices can be obtained for coffee and/or hot chocolate. Chair McKinley will check with McDonalds on orange drink. Boardmember Rafferty will check at Cub on prices/donations if possible. Jenny & friends will provide entertainment with a tip jar for the group. City of Blaine Page 3 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final April 21, 2015 Board Chair McKinley spoke with the Mayor who will speak at 11:30. Jim Hafner will provide a talk on wetlands. Boardmember Villella suggested the Board have matching shirts. Chair McKinley will ask Jim Hafner. Boardmember Ruth suggested shirts be provided for other volunteers. Chair McKinley will invite the Park Board and past NRCB members. The consensus was no games would be needed. Grace will do the photography. Chair McKinley asked the Boardmembers to invite their family and friends to volunteer. No transportation will be provided for people to get to the tour. Email or call Chair McKinley with any additional thoughts and with the number of volunteers each member is able to get for the event. Clean Up will be done between 1-2pm and a recycling bin will be there as well as garbage cans. Chair McKinley submitted an article for the newsletter. Boardmember Truchon suggested signage be made such as yard signs. Boardmember Truchon will check into signage. Chair McKinley will ask Jim Hafner to put information on the website and possibly the digital boards in the City. Discussed. 9.c Green Expo - NRCB Booth The Green Expo will be on April 25, 2015 at the National Sports Center. Boardmember Anderson will help with setup which needs to be done by 8:30 a.m. Boardmembers will work the event as they can. Discussed. 9.d Earth Day Event The Earth Day Event will be held at Laddie Lake on May 2, 2015. Jim Hafner is writing up something about the restoration area. A tree planting will be done. It runs from 10 a.m. - 12noon. Informational; no action required. 9.e Discuss Scheduling a Joint Meeting with Park & Recreation Board The Park Board is very supportive of the BWS. Chair McKinley suggested having a wetland tour and invite the Park Board sometime City of Blaine Page 4 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final April 21, 2015 Board during the summer months possibly in July. Discussed. 9.f 2015 Open Space Management Schedule Staff met with a representative of Prairie Restorations Inc. (PRI), the company that has been performing the management and improvements on the city open spaces since 2008. There was a balance of about $17,000 remaining on the contract approved by Council in 2014 and this meeting was to set a schedule to complete the work of that contract. Hidden Ponds: Weed management and invasive species control is the main item here. The prairie restoration area has been struggling and more attention will be paid to managing that area. Planting of tamarack trees is being considered. PRI did perform a follow-up treatment to the area that had been cleared around the pond. They also spread what they call “floor sweepings”, a mixture of spilled native plant seed. There was no cost for this and experience has shown this seed will do quite well. With the recent interest in developing land to the east of this site, we discussed the need for signage along the east border of the open space area. Boardmember Perkins agreed signage is needed in this area. Laddie Lake: Management of the restoration area is the primary goal for this location. Black locust has been stubborn in the attempts to remove it. We discussed a burn on this site followed by using the seed drill to augment the native plants. Last fall the area did receive a follow up spray to control regrowth of buckthorn. Spot spraying will be done again this fall. Chair McKinley noted she would like to see some signage at Laddie Lake. Sites 8,9,10 & 11: Buckthorn control is the main management activity in this area and will continue. Oak Savannah and 131st Ave: Both sites are doing well and will be monitored for any need to spot treat for invasive species (mostly buckthorn and garlic mustard) control. Informational; no action required. 10. Other Business Chair McKinley announced Jim Hafner received recognition from Anoka County for clean water efforts. He received a Public Health Recognition Award. City of Blaine Page 5 Nat'l Resources Conservation Minutes - Final April 21, 2015 Board Informational; no action required. 11. Adjournment MOVED by Boardmember Truchon, seconded by Boardmember Perkins, to adjourn the meeting at 8:15 p.m. The motion carried unanimously. Aye: 7 - Chair McKinley, Villella, Rafferty, Ruth, Perkins, Truchon, and Comissioner Anderson City of Blaine Page 6