Nat'l Resources Conservation Board

Blaine City Hall City of Blaine 10801 Town Sq Dr NE 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, March 21, 2017 7:00 PM Council Chambers 1. Call To Order 1. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. Roll Call Others Present: City Clerk Cathy Sorensen, Recreation Manager Shari Kunza, and Recording Secretary, Amanda Staple Present: 10 - Chair McKinley, Villella, Rafferty, Ruth, Perkins, Truchon, Gunter, Castillo, Wilder, and Lizakowski 3. Approval of Minutes 4. MIN 17-10 APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chair McKinley noted on page three, the second paragraph, it should state, “Boardmember Perkins stated the boundary that was to be in place was not adhered to requested verification that the boundaries were not adhered to and received none.” On page three, the fourth paragraph, it should state, “…March 22nd 29th…” On page four, the last paragraph, it should state, “…Councilmember ___ Hovland was referring…” Chair McKinley and the Board commended the secretary for the thorough minutes she submitted for the meeting. MOVED by Boardmember Rafferty seconded by Boardmember Truchon to approve the minutes of the February 21, 2017 Board Meeting as presented. Motion carried unanimously. City of Blaine Page 1 Nat'l Resources Conservation Board Minutes - Final March 21, 2017 Aye: 9 - Chair McKinley, Villella, Rafferty, Ruth, Perkins, Truchon, Castillo, Wilder, and Lizakowski 5. Com 17-01 NATURAL RESOURCE BOARD ADJOURNS SINE DIE MOVED by Chair McKinley seconded by Boardmember Perkins to adjourn the 2016-2017 Natural Resources Conservation Board sine die. Motion carried unanimously. Aye: 9 - Chair McKinley, Villella, Rafferty, Ruth, Perkins, Truchon, Castillo, Wilder, and Lizakowski 6. Com 17-02 ADMINISTRATION OF OATH OF OFFICE City Clerk Cathy Sorensen administered the Oath of Office to Chairperson McKinley and Boardmembers Villella, Perkins, Truchon, Theisen, and Genet. 7. Com 17-03 MEETING RESUMES: ROLL CALL OF NRCB APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Call to Order - 7:10 p.m. Roll Call - Recreation Manager Kunza called the roll call. Those present include: Boardmembers Castillo, Genet, Lizakowski, Perkins, Rafferty, Ruth, Theisen, Truchon, Villella, and Chair McKinley. Absent - None. Others Present: City Manager Cathy Sorensen, Recreation Manager Shari Kunza, and Recording Secretary, Amanda Staple. Approve Agenda MOVED by Boardmember Perkins, seconded by Boardmember Villella, to approve the March 21, 2017 Board Agenda as presented. Motion carried unanimously. Aye: 9 - Chair McKinley, Villella, Rafferty, Ruth, Perkins, Truchon, Castillo, Wilder, and Lizakowski 8. Open Forum for Citizen Input There was none. City of Blaine Page 2 Nat'l Resources Conservation Board Minutes - Final March 21, 2017 9. New Business 9.-1 Com 17-04 WELCOME NEW MEMBERS AND INTRODUCTIONS Chair McKinley welcomed the new members of the Board and had all Boardmembers introduce themselves. Informational; no action required. 9.-2 Com 17-05 2017 NRCB GOALS WITH NEW IDEAS MOVING FORWARD Chair McKinley stated that she distributed a document with a list of goals that was provided to the Board in January. She noted that a number of the goals are ongoing items. She highlighted some of the upcoming events the Board could be involved in and encouraged interested Boardmembers to attend, providing a brief summary of each event. Ms. Kunza stated that the Earth Day event in Blaine recently received an award. Chair McKinley continued to review the list of upcoming events the Board could choose to participate in. Ms. Kunza provided an update on the work the is taking place in the wetland sanctuary and noted that the boardwalk should be complete by the end of May. Chair McKinley continued to review the list of events the Board could choose to participate in during the year. She noted that she is not interested in participating the in Blazing Festival this year. Boardmember Perkins stated that he recently attended a City Council meeting and overheard that the City will be updating the entire website for the City of Blaine. Ms. Kunza stated that she does have the necessary access to update the webpage for the Board. Boardmember Perkins stated that he would be willing to work with staff to update the Board webpage. Chair McKinley referenced conducting the open space and special use park tours for the year and confirmed the Boardmembers would report on the following open space/park: Chair McKinley would do Pioneer, Boardmember Castillo would do Lochness, Boardmember Rafferty would do Laddie Lake, Boardmember Perkins would do 131st and Lever Street, Boardmember Villella would do Kane Meadows, Boardmember Ruth would do Hidden Ponds, Boardmember Lizakowski would do Oak Savannah, and Boardmember Truchon and Boardmember Genet would work together to development a brochure for the wetland sanctuary. City of Blaine Page 3 Nat'l Resources Conservation Board Minutes - Final March 21, 2017 Chair McKinley stated that she would like to meet with Boardmembers Theisen, Genet and possibly Lizakowski to provide them with some background information on the Board. She asked the Boardmembers to provide their report on the open space/park prior to the July meeting. Boardmember Villella stated that perhaps Jason Husveth could give his tour and presentation to the Board again. Chair McKinley stated that she would verify if his schedule would allow as that would be helpful to bring the new Boardmembers up to speed. Boardmember Perkins noted that it would also be nice to put some of that information on the Board webpage if he is willing to share that information publicly. Boardmember Truchon stated that has heard that meetings will be televised in the future. She stated that at the Park Board meetings, during each meeting, they provide a report on one park. She stated that it would be nice to have a similar schedule and report on one of the open space areas during each meeting. She stated that the report could be simple and include some history, the trail locations, and photographs of the property. Boardmember Genet stated that perhaps wetlands as habitats can also be discussed in the future and the elements that would not be possible without the wetlands. Boardmember Truchon stated that during May for American Wetlands Month perhaps it would be nice to have a frog walk. Boardmember Genet stated that she would be willing to lead a frog walk in May and noted that she has a lot of knowledge on frogs and can tell them apart by simply their call. Boardmember Genet stated that there are interpretive signs that her students developed for Sunfish Lake Park in Ramsey. She stated that she would be more than happy to volunteer her students to do the same type of interpretive signs for the wetland sanctuary as well. She noted that she could follow up with the staff person she worked with in Ramsey to determine the cost parameters for the signs. Boardmember Truchon stated that it would be helpful to document the animals and plants within the wetland sanctuary beginning this year. Boardmember Genet stated that she would also be willing to assist with her students for that item, as that is a great service project that will get them into the community. She explained that she is on sabbatical this school year and will be back in the classroom in August. She stated that she is also involved in the Master Naturalist classes at Anoka-Ramsey and City of Blaine Page 4 Nat'l Resources Conservation Board Minutes - Final March 21, 2017 that group is always looking for service projects as well. Boardmember Ruth stated that it would be great to use the website to publicize events, such as the frog walk. Ms. Kunza stated that if the Board would like to put information on the Blaine social media page or on the Board webpage, she would be able to assist. She stated that if the Board would like to do events on a regular basis, the best publication would be the park and recreation brochure and therefore the Board should plan at least six months in advance. She stated that if the Board wanted to limit participation they could setup a free registration. Boardmember Genet stated that the Board could copy events into the next year, such as the frog walk for May 2017 and May 2018. Boardmember Theisen referenced the building that will be constructed for the wetland sanctuary and noted that it would be helpful to incorporate solar into the design prior to the construction rather than attempting to retrofit in the future. Boardmember Perkins stated that perhaps it would be helpful to review the design of the building again with the new Boardmembers that are now a part of the Board. Chairperson McKinley noted that there is plenty of time to review the proposed design and make changes. Boardmember Perkins asked that perhaps an update from Stantek could be added to one of the future Board agendas. The frog walk was tentatively scheduled for May 6th. Ms. Kunza noted that with that timing there would not be much publication of the event as the next newsletter would not be released until May and therefore the only publication would be the City website, which would not go live until mid-April. She confirmed that a post could also be made on the City Facebook page. She cautioned the Board not to expect large crowds without being able to publicize the event more. Boardmember Theisen stated that he would be willing to further research the possibility of obtaining grant funds for use in incorporating solar in the construction of the building at the wetland sanctuary. Chair McKinley encouraged the Boardmembers to keep bringing up new ideas and opportunities. She confirmed that Boardmember Genet is going City of Blaine Page 5 Nat'l Resources Conservation Board Minutes - Final March 21, 2017 to do the frog walk and work with Boardmember Truchon to develop a wetland sanctuary brochure. Discussed. 9.-3 Com 17-06 BLAINE WETLAND SANCTUARY SIGN UPDATE Chair McKinley provided photographs of the wetland sanctuary sign. She stated that when she drove by today the sign had tipped over. She noted that she alerted public works that they would need to have a sturdier stabilization for the sign to ensure it stays upright. Informational; no action required. 10. Other Business Chair McKinley advised of an upcoming meeting that she thought Boardmembers should attempt to attend. Ms. Kunza stated that the City Council held their retreat and provided a brief summary of the discussion that occurred. Boardmember Perkins provided additional input on the buffer discussion that occurred at a recent City Council workshop. Boardmember Genet stated that she would like to have more information such as the types of trees that were removed from the wetland sanctuary so that she would have the proper information if approach by a resident. Boardmember Villella stated that he believes that education would be a big part. He noted that it seemed that perhaps some residents were confused on the actual size of their lot and thought the City was removing trees from their lot. Boardmember Ruth stated that education would be a huge factor as this moves forward. He noted that even if only a few people hear what is being said in terms of the benefits of a wetland sanctuary, that can still spread the message. Boardmember Truchon commended Ms. Kunza for her efforts in expanding the desire to clean-up one park each year to an effort for Earth Day to clean up each park in the City. Ms. Kunza stated that the idea actually came from a resident. Ms. Kunza stated that Boardmembers will now be paid annually rather than monthly, so the stipend would be paid out in January or February for the attendance the previous year. She stated that the City has started a City of Blaine Page 6 Nat'l Resources Conservation Board Minutes - Final March 21, 2017 farmer’s market this year and noted that there will be a community booth and the Board could choose to staff the booth as they desire. She invited the Boardmembers to World Fest on May 20th from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. She asked for volunteers to man the waste booths and the event is a low waste event and volunteers are needed to help direct people to the right receptacle. She noted that the Board could also staff a booth. Boardmember Castillo left the meeting at 8:42 p.m. Ms. Kunza reported that someone has been hired to replace Mr. Hafner as the Water Resources Manager and starts on April 10th. Discussed. Adjournment MOVED by Boardmember Perkins, seconded by Boardmember Truchon, to adjourn the meeting at 8:44 p.m. The motion carried unanimously. Aye: 9 - Chair McKinley, Villella, Rafferty, Ruth, Perkins, Truchon, Castillo, Wilder, and Lizakowski City of Blaine Page 7