Park Advisory Board

10801 Town Square Drive City of Blaine Blaine, MN 55449 Anoka County, Minnesota Minutes Park Advisory Board Chair Jeffrey Bird, Prad Das, Jeff Lester, Tonya Lizakowski, Rex Markle, Kristofer Paulseth 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, March 27, 2018 7:00 PM Council Chambers 1. Call To Order The Blaine Park Advisory Board met in the Council Chambers of City Hall on Tuesday, March 27, 2018. 1. Chair Bird called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. Roll Call Staff Present: Nate Monahan, Recreation Manager Jerome Krieger, 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 FEBRUARY 27, 2018 PARK BOARD MINUTES Attachments: 02-27-18Pk Motion by Commissioner Varian, to approve the minutes of February 27, 2018 meeting as presented. Motion seconded by Commissioner Walsdorf. Motion approved unanimously. Aye: 7 - Chair Bird, Commissioner Lester, Commissioner Das, Commissioner Varian, Walsdorf, Commissioner Markle, and Commissioner Bingle 4. Open Forum for Citizen Input Chair Bird opened the Open Forum at 7:03 p.m. City of Blaine Page 1 Park Advisory Board Minutes March 27, 2018 No one appeared to address the Commission. Chair Bird closed Open Forum at 7:04 p.m. None. 5. New Business 5.-1 RECOMMENDATION OF A PROPOSAL FOR A PARK SYSTEM MASTER PLAN Attachments: BLAINE Master Parks RFP WSB_Park System Master Plan and Aquatore-Happy Acres Master Plan SRF Proposal for Blaine Park System Master Plan and AquatoreHappy Acres ... Recreation Manager Monahan presented the two proposals for the first City of Blaine Park System Master Plan. He provided the RFP that was sent to each firm. The two proposals were received from: WSB & Associates, Inc. $89,981 SRF Consulting Group, Inc. $97,586 Staff is recommending the proposal from WSB & Associates, Inc. be accepted Mr. Monahan stated there was $125,000 in the CIP budget for this plan. The WSB proposal came in at $109/hour and SRF came in at $108/hour. WSB came out to see Happy Acres and Aquatore Parks. SRF had a few questions which were answered during telephone calls. Breanne Rothstein will be assisting as part of the team. Mr. Monahan spoke with other communities about their experiences with WSB & Associates. All were very positive. Chair Bird stated in comparing both, in the case of SRF they were not going to do a physical site visit to each park. They both would have 3-5 pop up meetings to gain resident input. Mr. Monahan stated they would utilize the City events to gain input along with some digital input. Chair Bird noted he wants to make sure the right representation is present at the meetings with the consultant. Commissioner Varian stated she compared the two proposals and saw some pros and cons with each of them. She asked if the trail system is supposed to be part of the plan and noted she did not see the trail system mentioned in the WSB proposal. She did not see funding structure identified in the WSB proposal. Mr. Monahan stated those were included City of Blaine Page 2 Park Advisory Board Minutes March 27, 2018 in both proposals. The City Engineering Department rates the trails and the consultant will also look at them. Commissioner Varian asked if there would be a recommendation for the senior center. Mr. Monahan stated there is currently a consultant working with Council and that will be part of this. They will receive information from the 529 Group which has a concept plan for $4M. The preliminary location just south of the current senior center has been identified. The policies need to be ironed out. Commissioner Varian noted the SRF proposal noted a number of things not seen in the WSB proposal. Mr. Monahan stated partnerships and collaborations are in place. Commissioner Varian thinks this should be looked into further. She liked the community engagement proposed by WSB. Mr. Monahan stated the City has an internal GIS site and that has already been completed in-house. Commissioner Das asked if soil will be checked in the parks and if the soil conditions are good. Mr. Monahan stated they will look at the Community Gardens and looking at an alternative site. Soil samples will be done at an alternative site. He would like soil testing at current parks. Commissioner Walsdorf asked about the costs for the proposals and how long the plan is for. Mr. Monahan stated this would be a 9-month process. Chair Bird stated this is for Master Plan Development and any additional work would require additional cost. Commissioner Bingle asked about the social media optional service and would that be separate and Mr. Monahan stated that would be above and beyond and our in-house communications department will handle. Commissioner Markle asked what the lifespan would be for the plan and Mr. Monahan stated typically between 10-15 years depending on how things progress. Commissioner Markle asked if there is any engagement with the Police Department and is it included in the proposals. Mr. Monahan stated that was not included and he will note it. Commissioner Markle would like to have them look at police department engagement in the parks. Commissioner Lester asked about flexibility and is there a cost to be flexible. Mr. Monahan stated if the hours are maintained they are flexible. If more funding is needed what is the process. Mr. Monahan stated staff can come back to the Park Board if desired. If under $20,000 the City Manager can approve it. Mr. Monahan will keep the Park Board abreast of any additions. Commissioner Lester referred to the SRF proposal that City of Blaine Page 3 Park Advisory Board Minutes March 27, 2018 they have an ADA expert. Mr. Monahan stated ADA is a standard that is reviewed. Commissioner Das’s comments could not be heard. He asked will they address the size of the facilities such as expanding or reducing facilities within parks. Mr. Monahan stated that will be reviewed. There are standards on the facilities needed for the demographics. Commissioner Das asked if they will look at maintenance costs. Mr. Monahan stated they will be providing phased approaches and give the City projections. National trends are reviewed and the consultants are very tuned in to the trends. Commissioner Varian asked how staff evaluates the proposals. Mr. Monahan stated staff sat down and read the proposals compared to the RFP. Commissioner Varian noted SRF did Commons Park and she asked how they did with that. Mr. Monahan stated they were great to work with in park development. He is more comfortable with WSB’s background. Commissioner Varian asked if programming will be reviewed. The City will keep updated on programming and eblasts will be done. Mr. Monahan stated there are not enough facilities to do programming as desired. Motion by Commissioner Das, to recommend the City Council accept the proposal from WSB & Associates, Inc. Motion seconded by Commissioner Markle. Motion approved unanimously. Aye: 7 - Chair Bird, Commissioner Lester, Commissioner Das, Commissioner Varian, Walsdorf, Commissioner Markle, and Commissioner Bingle 5.-2 RECOMMENDATION OF A PROPOSAL FOR CARRARA EAST PARK PLAYGROUND NOT TO EXCEED $80,000 Attachments: Carrara East MN Playground CarraraEast Flagship Carrara East Design St. Croix Carrara East St Croix Recreation Manager Monahan presented three proposals for a new replacement playground at Carrara East Park. Proposals were submitted by Minnesota/Wisconsin Playground with Gametime Equipment, Flagship Recreation with Landscape Structures Equipment, and St. Croix Recreation with Burke Equipment. The same parameters were given to each vendor as follows. The budget for the project is $80,000. The site will be prepped by the City of Blaine. The size of the playground area is 90’ x 75’. The equipment should be for kids ages 5 to 12 and older including 6 swings and 3 benches inside the play space. Other components the bid must include in the project are: City of Blaine Page 4 Park Advisory Board Minutes March 27, 2018 Concrete border around the 90’ x 75’ playground area. Fiber Liner under fiber Playground equipment Installation of the playground equipment, concrete, benches and fiber. Site clean up after project is done. This would be the first time using Flagship Recreation for a project. Mr. Monahan noted the shade would not need to be removed for the winter. The swings will be switching 2-3 to baby swings. Staff is recommending the proposal from Flagship Recreation with Landscape Structures Equipment be accepted. Commissioner Varian noted there were no benches in the pictures and Mr. Monahan stated there are spots for them but they were not included in the rendering. Commissioner Varian noted the picture shows only one slide and Mr. Monahan noted it is in the back side of the structure. Commissioner Das asked about what the shade is made out of and Mr. Monahan stated it is made out of nylon and will sustain winds up to 80mph. If damaged insurance will cover it. Motion by Commissioner Varian, to recommend City Council accept the proposal from Flagship Recreation with Landscape Structures Equipment for a new replacement program at Carrara East Park not to exceed $80,000. Motion seconded by Commissioner Das. Motion approved unanimously. Aye: 7 - Chair Bird, Commissioner Lester, Commissioner Das, Commissioner Varian, Walsdorf, Commissioner Markle, and Commissioner Bingle 5.-3 RECOMMENDATION OF A PROPOSAL FOR MARY ELIZABETH PARK PLAYGROUND NOT TO EXCEED $40,000 Attachments: Mary Elizabeth MN Playground MaryElizabeth Flagship Mary Elizabeth Design St. Croix Mary Elizabeth St. Croix Recreation Manager Monahan presented three proposals for a new replacement playground at Mary Elizabeth Park. Proposals were submitted by Minnesota/Wisconsin Playground with Gametime Equipment, Flagship Recreation with Landscape Structures Equipment, and St. Croix Recreation with Burke Equipment. The same parameters were given to each vendor as follows. The budget for City of Blaine Page 5 Park Advisory Board Minutes March 27, 2018 the project is $40,000. The site will be prepped by the City of Blaine. The size of the playground area is 72’ x 56’. The equipment should be for kids ages 5 to 12 and older including 4 swings. Other components the bid must include in the project are: Fiber Liner under fiber Playground equipment Installation of the playground equipment, liner, and fiber. Site clean up after project is done. Staff is recommending the proposal from St. Croix Recreation with Burke Equipment be accepted. Mr. Monahan noted concrete curbing was not included in this RFP as the City has some pieces available if needed. Commissioner Lester asked if there any way to get bigger discounts by using one vendor. Mr. Monahan stated the three vendors wanted to bid the three parks separately and would have mentioned if there was a savings to bid all three parks. Commissioner Lester noted no ADA swings or baby swings were shown and Mr. Monahan stated they will be swapped out. Commissioner Varian stated she likes the fact we are using different vendors. She asked about the 3 pieces of equipment at the right-hand side of the rendering. Commissioner Varian asked how the equipment wears and Mr. Monahan stated there is a 10-year warranty and staff is confident with the quality and durability of the equipment. Motion by Commissioner Bingle, to recommend City Council accept the proposal from St. Croix Recreation with Burke Equipment not to exceed $40,000. Motion seconded by Commissioner Walsdorf. Motion approved unanimously. Aye: 7 - Chair Bird, Commissioner Lester, Commissioner Das, Commissioner Varian, Walsdorf, Commissioner Markle, and Commissioner Bingle 5.-4 RECOMMENDATION OF A PROPOSAL FOR SWAN PARK PLAYGROUND NOT TO EXCEED $40,000 Attachments: Mary Elizabeth MN Playground MaryElizabeth Flagship Mary Elizabeth Design St. Croix Mary Elizabeth St. Croix Recreation Manager Monahan presented three proposals for a new replacement playground at Swan Park. Proposals were submitted by City of Blaine Page 6 Park Advisory Board Minutes March 27, 2018 Minnesota/Wisconsin Playground with Gametime Equipment, Flagship Recreation with Landscape Structures Equipment, and St. Croix Recreation with Burke Equipment. The same parameters were given to each vendor as follows. The budget for the project is $40,000. The site will be prepped by the City of Blaine. The size of the playground area is 65’ x 50’. The equipment should be for kids ages 5 to 12 and older including 4 swings. Other components the bid must include in the project are: Fiber Liner under fiber Playground equipment Installation of the playground equipment, liner and fiber. Site clean up after project is done. Staff is recommending the proposal from St. Croix Recreation with Burke Equipment be accepted. Commissioner Walsdorf referred to the screens at the top and asked about their warranty and Mr. Monahan stated they are the same as the ones at LAC and they can be left up. Commissioner Das noted in front of the swing and how does that work. Mr. Monahan stated it swings. The fall zones are appropriate. Commissioner Das asked if some of the swings are wider because they seem to be used by adults and teenagers. Mr. Monahan stated they are standard and links can be removed to make the swing higher. Commissioner Varian noted the sign language sign. She asked about another piece of equipment. Motion by Commissioner Walsdorf, to recommend City Council accept the proposal from St. Croix Recreation with Burke Equipment for a new replacement program at Swan Park not to exceed $40,000. Motion seconded by Commissioner Lester. Motion approved unanimously. Aye: 7 - Chair Bird, Commissioner Lester, Commissioner Das, Commissioner Varian, Walsdorf, Commissioner Markle, and Commissioner Bingle Adjournment Mr. Monahan noted this is the final meeting for Commissioner Bingle who has served on the Park Board since 2016. Chair Bird presented her with a plaque. Commissioner Bingle motioned to adjourn. Commissioner Lester seconded the motion. Motion approved unanimously. City of Blaine Page 7 Park Advisory Board Minutes March 27, 2018 Chair Bird adjourned the meeting at 8:10 p.m. Aye: 7 - Chair Bird, Commissioner Lester, Commissioner Das, Commissioner Varian, Walsdorf, Commissioner Markle, and Commissioner Bingle City of Blaine Page 8