Park Advisory Board

10801 Town Square Drive City of Blaine Blaine, MN 55449 Anoka County, Minnesota Minutes 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, November 28, 2017 6:00 PM Council Chambers 1. Call To Order The Blaine Park Advisory Board met in the Council Chambers of City Hall on Tuesday, November 28, 2017. 1. Vice Chair Markle called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. REVIEW OF 2040 COMP PLAN - 6:00PM 2. Roll Call Staff Present: Nate Monahan, Recreation Manager Present: 7 - Chair Bird, Commissioner Lester, Commissioner Das, Commissioner Varian, Walsdorf, Commissioner Markle, and Commissioner Bingle 3. Approval of Minutes 3.-1 APPROVAL OF THE SEPTEMBER 26, 2017 PARK BOARD MINUTES Attachments: 09-26-17Pk Chair Bird noted he was not present and Vice Chair Markle would have adjourned the meeting. Motion by Commissioner Markle, to approve the minutes of September 26, 2017 meeting as amended. Motion seconded by Commissioner Varian. Motion approved unanimously. Aye: 7 - Chair Bird, Commissioner Lester, Commissioner Das, Commissioner Varian, Walsdorf, Commissioner Markle, and Commissioner Bingle City of Blaine Page 1 Park Advisory Board Minutes November 28, 2017 4. Open Forum for Citizen Input Chair Bird opened the Open Forum at 7:04 p.m. No one appeared to address the Commission. Chair Bird closed Open Forum at 7:05 p.m. None. 5. New Business 5.-1 RECOMMENDATION OF 2018-2022 FIVE YEAR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN FOR PARK DEVELOPMENT FUNDS Attachments: 2017-12-30 Parks CIP Recreation Manager Monahan reviewed the City maintains a five-year improvement plan for park development funds. The capital improvement plan is a flexible plan based upon long-range physical planning and financial projections. Flexibility is achieved through an annual review and revisions as necessary. All improvements listed in the plan are proposed and must come back to the Park Board for review and recommendation to the City Council. The City Council then makes all final decisions on capital improvements. Revenue for capital improvement plan comes from park dedication fees required of all new residential, commercial and industrial development. The residential fee is currently split 80% of the fee going to parks and 20% of the fee going to open space through 2018. Staff will be bringing this back to City Council for review this winter. All commercial and industrial fees go to parks. Revenue from park dedication fees can only be used for development of new parks and trails, for new improvements to community parks used by all residents and for improvements to neighborhood parks that serve new growth. It cannot be used for park maintenance. The first 2018 expenditure as scheduled will be the development of Glen Meadows Park in the Sanctuary Preserve Development off of Lexington Avenue at a cost of $250,000. Staff is recommending the City hire a consultant to plan and review all parks in our system to evaluate the needs and plan for future improvements to maximize the useful ness of each park. City of Blaine Page 2 Park Advisory Board Minutes November 28, 2017 Mr. Monahan noted on the 5-year CIP, Aquatore Park and Aquatore Park Playground were switched. Commissioner Varian asked about the Master Parks Plan and asked how that fits in the CIP concept. Mr. Monahan stated the City Attorney reviewed and stated this was a good item to fall under the CIP Expenditures and it would be a use community-wide. Commissioner Das asked how much park dedication is received from Industrial and Commercial. Mr. Monahan stated he will get the percentages and email his findings to the Commission. He asked what is part of Open Space and are trails included and Mr. Monahan stated trails are included. Mr. Monahan stated the City Council decided on the percentages of park dedication to go to Parks and Open Space. Commissioner Das stated he would like to see those amounts reviewed since there are many trails needed maintenance and many open space areas. Commissioner Lester asked how certain the amount for 2018 park dedication is correct and Mr. Monahan stated that is correct with all the development happening in the City. After 2018 the amounts are estimates. Mr. Monahan stated the plan is to expand the playground at the new elementary school so the residents have a larger playground to access. The school will receive a credit for their park dedication. The $96,000 would be a credit. Commissioner Lester asked how long the Park Master Plan would take to complete and when would it be actionable. Mr. Monahan stated staff is in the early stages and he is not sure on the length of the plan. This will depend on the RFP. The $250,000 is an estimate and may be high. Commissioner Lester asked how the Master Park Plan plays into the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Monahan stated it would hit one of the goals. Commissioner Varian stating since the park dedication fees will be reducing in 2019 she has heard the City Council is looking to replace some of that funding. Mr. Monahan stated the City Council discussed the CIF fund at their last work session. They are still discussing this. They are aware the parks need to be maintained. Commissioner Varian asked if the Parks Master Plan would also include financing and Mr. Monahan stated that would be included. Commissioner Markle stated the Parks Master Plan seems like a big expenditure. The area is pretty much built out. He suggested it might be smarter right now to develop an in-house master plan for the next couple of years and then have it upgraded from that baseline. Community input could City of Blaine Page 3 Park Advisory Board Minutes November 28, 2017 be included in the in-house plan. He suggested it be moved out as a placeholder. Commissioner Varian stated she disagrees and she feels the money needs to be put at the best use to develop the plan. Chair Bird asked about the credits back to Paxmar. He asked why this money is being returned. Mr. Monahan stated Paxmar gave the City the 38-acre park and this is to pay back for the land. This is the Lexington Athletic Complex. This plan was determined by the City Finance Director. This was to try to pay off the amounts sooner. Chair Bird asked if there was any flexibility on that. He agrees with Commissioner Varian that City Staff is not the right group to put together a Parks Master Plan. He agrees with Commissioner Markle $250,000 to spend right now would be difficult. He asked if there was a way to get some additional funds in the CIP for the $250,000. If this is delayed a year what impact would that have on the ability to do that. He asked if it would make more sense to do it closer to the census. Mr. Monahan stated a number can be set and it would determine how detailed the report/plan would be. There is some flexibility in preparing the RFP to reduce the amount. Commissioner Das stated he would like to see if there is a way the Parks Master Plan could be detailed as to what the consultant would provide. Chair Bird asked if the CIP needs to be approved this evening. Mr. Monahan suggested some research be done showing what $250,000 would give, $200,000 would give, etc. Chair Bird stated he sat in when a consultant was preparing a Master Plan for the NRCB. It is a valuable tool to help with planning. Chair Bird asked the CIP come back for recommendation in January 2018. He is not happy with the balance in 2021. He would like the balance each year to at least cover the interest and loan payments needed to be paid. He suggested the W of Lexington, N of Main be moved out. Commissioner Lester asked Mr. Monahan to find out the cost each time the Parks Master Plan is updated and what role does the Board play in the process of the Master Plan. Chair Bird stated typically a consultant would meet with the Board prior to starting. The Board would be involved from start to finish. Mr. Monahan stated the number of reports back to the Board would be included in the RFP. City of Blaine Page 4 Park Advisory Board Minutes November 28, 2017 Commissioner Lester asked what was spent when the Community Center plan was done and Mr. Monahan stated he believes it was $115,000. Discussed. 5.-2 RECOMMENDATION OF 2018 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT FUND PLAN FOR PARK IMPROVEMENTS Attachments: Park Projects using CIF funds Recreation Manager Monahan reviewed the City Council in 2014, adopted a Capital Improvement Fund (CIF) program that set aside $200,000 a year over five years to improve parks. The funding for this program is from interest earned in the City’s capital fund. A listing of the proposed improvements was included for Board review. Mr. Monahan reviewed the proposed projects for 2018. Commissioner Das asked what the rubber surface is and how the rubber surface playground is protected in the winter and Mr. Monahan stated a concrete slab has a rubber surface over it and the life cycle is 20 years. Commissioner Varian asked if there is a maintenance plan for parks. Mr. Monahan stated there is a spreadsheet and the plan is to replace equipment every 20 years. Commissioner Varian asked if there were any years coming up when more parks will be needing equipment replacement. Mr. Monahan stated the big years will be 2025 to 2027. These will be bigger playgrounds. Mr. Monahan will be a 10-year plan for parks maintenance (playgrounds). There are 50 playgrounds within the City. Motion by Commissioner Das, to recommend the City Council adopt the 2018 CIF Plan for park improvements. Motion seconded by Commissioner Bingle. Motion approved unanimously. Aye: 7 - Chair Bird, Commissioner Lester, Commissioner Das, Commissioner Varian, Walsdorf, Commissioner Markle, and Commissioner Bingle 5.-3 PARK CONSTRUCTION UPDATES Recreation Manager Monahan provided updates as follows: Happy Acres Park Building Roof - The facia and soffit were completed with the roof going on two weeks ago. It is a dark brown metal roof. The deductible has been met and staff is looking at replacing the Lexington Athletic Complex roof, Towns Square, Blaine Baseball Complex, and 3 roofs at Lakeside Commons Park. City of Blaine Page 5 Park Advisory Board Minutes November 28, 2017 Centennial Green Park Playground - This was completed two weeks ago. There was a fire in 2002 so some of the old equipment was replaced. Some of the old equipment will be used. It’s a heavily used neighborhood park. Aquatore Dog Park Trail - This was completed 6 weeks ago with the asphalt trail from the parking lot to the two entrances. There is a path between the two entrances where the porta-potty will go. It can be plowed during the winter. Informational; no action required. 5.-4 EVENT UPDATES Recreation Manager Monahan provided updates as follows: Indoor Farmer’s Market - Saturdays, December 16, January 13, 27 at Blaine City Hall Atrium from 9 - 1pm. Morning at the North Pole - Saturdays, December 2 & 9 from 9-1pm at Blaine City Hall. This is limited to 25 kids per session. Snow Day - Saturday, January 27 from 1-4pm at Wargo Nature Center. This is a free event. Many activities are planned. Motion by Commissioner Markle, to cancel the December 26, 2017 Park Board Meeting. Motion seconded by Commissioner Walsdorf. Motion approved unanimously. Aye: 7 - Chair Bird, Commissioner Lester, Commissioner Das, Commissioner Varian, Walsdorf, Commissioner Markle, and Commissioner Bingle Adjournment Chair Bird adjourned the meeting at 8:00 p.m. Commissioner Das motioned to adjourn. Commissioner Walsdorf seconded the motion. Motion approved unanimously. Aye: 7 - Chair Bird, Commissioner Lester, Commissioner Das, Commissioner Varian, Walsdorf, Commissioner Markle, and Commissioner Bingle City of Blaine Page 6