Park Advisory Board

10801 Town Square Drive City of Blaine Blaine, MN 55449 Anoka County, Minnesota Minutes - Final Park Advisory Board Chair Jeffrey Bird, Jennifer Bingle, Prad Das, Jeff Lester, Rex Markle, Karen Varian and Tom Walsdorf The Park Board is an advisory body to the city council. 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, September 22, 2015 7:00 PM Council Chambers 1. Call To Order The Blaine Park Advisory Board met in the Council Chambers of City Hall on Tuesday, September 22, 2015. 1. Chair Bird called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. Roll Call Staff Present: Nate Monahan, Program Supervisor Present: 10 - Chair Bird, Comissioner Bird, Comissioner Lester, Comissioner Lester, Comissioner Pribbernow, Comissioner Das, Comissioner Varian, Comissioner Varian, Comissioner Markle, and Comissioner Walsdorf 3. Approval of Minutes 3.-1 MIN 15-26 APPROVAL OF JULY 28, 2015 PARK BOARD MINUTES Motion by Commissioner Markle to approve the minutes of July 28, 2015 as revised. Motion seconded by Commissioner Das. Motion approved unanimously. Aye: 8 - Chair Bird, Comissioner Bird, Comissioner Lester, Comissioner Pribbernow, Comissioner Das, Comissioner Varian, Comissioner Markle, and Comissioner Walsdorf 4. Open Forum for Citizen Input Chair Bird opened the Open Forum at 7:05 p.m. No one appeared to address the Commission. City of Blaine Page 1 Park Advisory Board Minutes - Final September 22, 2015 Chair Bird closed Open Forum at 7:06 p.m. 5. New Business 5.-1 PB 15-33 DOG PARK AT AQUATORE PARK Program Supervisor Monahan reported on Aquatore Dog Park site that was previously approved by both the Park Board and City Council last fall. Staff is looking for direction on which of the following amenities the Park Board would like to see: Fencing, concrete, containers for bags security light, water fountain, shelter, heaters, site clean-up/add trail. In-house items for the dog park would be picnic tables. The budget has been adjusted from previous discussion of $85,000 because of high priority improvements that have come up at other parks. The funds will still come from our CIF interest fund budget which the City Council has approved $200,000/year over the next 3 years 2016 - 2018. Mr. Monahan stated he heard today if the Community Center Task Force should determine Aquatore to be the site of the new Community Center, then the proposed dog park area would need to be parking for the Community Center. Consideration should be tabled this evening but discussion can still be held to discuss which amenities would be desired by the Commission. Mr. Monahan showed a map of the area and noted the entire area shown in red would be fenced in. He noted he visited other communities’ dog parks. He showed pictures of the bullpen entrances. Concrete would be the best option for this area. Mr. Monahan presented a Power Point presentation showing different amenities in the various dog parks he visited. Only one of the dog parks had water. Water for the Blaine Dog Park is close by so would be possible to have installed. Prairie Restorations provided a quote of $11,000 for cleanup of the site. Mr. Monahan suggested a group be formed of users to help plan and manage the dog park. The Community Center Task Force will have their site identified by February 2016. Chair Bird asked the size of the area in red on the map previously shown and Mr. Monahan stated it is approximately 2 acres. 1800 feet of fence. Twice the size of the Lochness site that was proposed. A trail would be contained within the fenced area. City of Blaine Page 2 Park Advisory Board Minutes - Final September 22, 2015 Mr. Monahan noted at the last Blaine Festival Meeting, the group is interested in fencing in the area from the corner on Hwy 65 to the ditch. They would pay for it but they wanted to know if it could be included in the bidding process for the dog park fence. That would be 675 feet of fencing. It would be a help safety wise. Commissioner Varian asked about the cost for site clean-up and adding the trail. Mr. Monahan stated that bid came from Prairie Restoration. It’s general in what the City was told. They would remove all the dead trees and any growth that is covering the current trail and finish mowing the area. Commissioner Varian asked if there was a separate cost for the trail and Mr. Monahan stated it is included in the Prairie Restoration bid. Mr. Monahan will find out the cost for the trail and report back to the Commission. Commissioner Varian stated they may not need to do the trail. Commissioner Lester stated according to the amenity costs, we would be $40,000 over budget. He asked which of the items could be added at a later date. Perhaps heaters under the shelter, water fountain, if those are removed we would be within budget. Commissioner Walsdorf asked about water availability. Mr. Monahan stated only Ramsey County had water on site since it was already there. $35,000 seems expensive to bring in water. Mr. Monahan stated it would be brought in from the Senior Center and would need to be brought in under the street. With the elimination of the water, we would be within budget. Commissioner Das asked for the location of Blaine Festival in relation to where the proposed dog park would be. Mr. Monahan indicated the location on the drawing. Commissioner Das asked if the Blaine Festival area would be reduced with the dog park. Mr. Monahan stated the Blaine Festival committee had no issues and their area would not be reduced. Commissioner Das agreed the water is not urgent and would be a waste of money. Commissioner Walsdorf asked how much light comes off Hwy 65. Mr. Monahan stated the trees in the area would block some of the lights off Hwy 65. The security light will be the main lighting. Commissioner Pribbernow asked if the dog park need to be closed during the Blaine Festival and Mr. Monahan stated no it would remain open and attendees to the Festival may need to walk a little further. She suggested at the entrance from the bullpen that area be concrete also. City of Blaine Page 3 Park Advisory Board Minutes - Final September 22, 2015 Commissioner Markle asked how much of the area is heavily treed. The cleanup seems reasonable. He assumes the type of clean-up wouldn’t be done with volunteers who support the dog park. Mr. Monahan stated there would be heavy equipment. Commissioner Markle agreed water would be a luxury that could be removed from budget. He would suggest it be tabled until the Community Center site is determined. He suggests residents provide input to the Commission on this matter. The idea of having group meet for the benefit of the dog park be formed. Chair Bird asked if everyone is comfortable tabling this until after the Community Center site is determined. Mr. Monahan noted if a motion is made to approve by the Commission it could be noted as contingent on the site selection for the Community Center. The amenities could be selected. Chair Bird asked if the site would be selected before approval was received for the Community Center. Mr. Monahan stated his understanding is the site will be selected, then amenities would be decided, notice to residents on tax increase and will be in the November 2016 ballot. We won’t know until after November 2016. 5.-2 PB 15-34 STAFF REPORT ON THE 2015 SUMMER RECREATION PROGRAMS Mr. Monahan presented a power point presentation summarizing the summer recreation programs. Informational: no action required 5.-3 PB 15-35 PARK UPDATES Mr. Monahan provided updates on the following: Blaine Triathlon - September 12 - 184 participants and everyone finished. It was a perfect day. It has not been decided if it will be held next year due to budget and logistics challenges. An update will be given later in the fall if this event will continue. Aquatore Park Playground Replacement Follow up: Benches, weight limit on Zip Line, distance off the ground of Zip Line. Mr. Monahan showed a drawing indicating a total of eight benches in the plan. Construction of the playground may be postponed due to weather forecast. The zip line weight limit is 200 pounds. The height off the ground is 6-12”. Harpers Park - There were some delays. Construction will begin September 28th Mr. Monahan showed the concept plan to the Commission. This park will be irrigated. City of Blaine Page 4 Park Advisory Board Minutes - Final September 22, 2015 Aquatore Field #1 - There is a small punch list left to go. They are waiting for the turf to take. He showed photographs of the infield and outfield. A shed was constructed to house irrigation and park maintenance equipment. Chair Bird noted the lights were lit on the field a week ago and also last night around 9 p.m. Informational: no action required 5.-4 PB 15-36 TRAIL DISTANCE MAP SIGN FEATURE Mr. Monahan reviewed in 2010, the City received $73,000 from Anoka County through SHIP grant. The money was to be used for promoting active healthy living. One of the projects the City used the money for was Trail Distance Map Signs throughout the City. Recreation Staff created along with our GIS department, 15 different maps. Criteria that went to selecting the areas included: trail loops, trail connections, high traffic parks, and trail distances. The City now has 69 trail distances map signs out on mail trail connections, entrances to parks and other high traffic areas of the 15 different maps. The trail distance maps can be found at: <http://www.ci.blaine.mn.us/index.cfm?id=901569#.VctRHnFVhBc> Other projects that were funded for the grant included: Virtual Park Tours on our Website, GPS Units, 2 Canoes, 2 Kayaks, Staffing and Events. Mr. Monahan showed a few of the trail maps available. Commissioner Markle asked if the Regional trails were included on the maps. Mr. Monahan stated none of the Regional trails go through currently but there is a proposal from Anoka County that the trail in The Lakes will become part of the Regional Trail. The maps will be updated at that time. The costs are approximately $100 per sign. Informational: no action required Adjournment Commissioner Das motioned to adjourn. Commissioner Walsdorf seconded the motion. Motion approved unanimously. Chair Bird adjourned the meeting at 8:10 p.m. Aye: 8 - Chair Bird, Comissioner Bird, Comissioner Lester, Comissioner Pribbernow, Comissioner Das, Comissioner Varian, Comissioner Markle, and Comissioner Walsdorf City of Blaine Page 5