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, July 24, 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, July 24, 2018. 1. Chair Bird called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. Roll Call Staff Present: Nate Monahan, Recreation Manager and Jerome Krieger, Recreation Manager Present: 8 - Chair Bird, Commissioner Lester, Commissioner Das, Commissioner Varian, Commissioner Walsdorf, Commissioner Markle, Commissioner Lizakowski, and Commissioner Paulseth 3. Approval of Minutes 3.-1 APPROVAL OF THE MAY 22, 2018 PARK BOARD MINUTES Attachments: 05-22-18Pk Commissioner Das asked about on page two there were some statements that were inaudible. Chair Bird stated there may have been something wrong with the recording. Mr. Monahan will research and attempt to fill in the blanks. Also on page 2, Commissioner Paulseth’s name was misspelled. Motion by Commissioner Das, to approve the minutes of May 22, 2018 meeting as amended. Motion seconded by Commissioner Lizakowski. Motion approved City of Blaine Page 1 Park Advisory Board Minutes July 24, 2018 unanimously. Aye: 8 - Chair Bird, Commissioner Lester, Commissioner Das, Varian, Commissioner Walsdorf, Commissioner Markle, Commissioner Lizakowski, and Commissioner Paulseth 4. Open Forum for Citizen Input Chair Bird opened the Open Forum at 7:07 p.m. No one appeared to address the Commission. Chair Bird closed Open Forum at 7:08 p.m. None. 5. New Business 5.-1 RECOMMENDATION OF A PROPOSAL FOR LONDON PARK PLAYGROUND NOT TO EXCEED $100,000 Attachments: LONDON REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL Recreation Manager Monahan presented three proposals for a new replacement playground at London Park. This playground replace has been moved up a year because the Blaine Baseball Complex playground has been pushed back a year so the Miracle League Association can fundraise to help pay for the new playground in 2019. Mr. Monahan reviewed the details of the RFP. The details of the three proposals were provided for Board review. Proposals were submitted by MN/Wisconsin Playground with Gametime Equipment, Flagship Recreation with Landscape Structures Equipment, and St. Croix Recreation with Burke Equipment. The deadline for proposals was July 23 due to the short turnaround from the project being moved up. Staff presented displays, handouts and electronic versions of all three proposals. Flagship Recreation - Landscape Structures Design - Mr. Monahan showed drawings of the proposal from Flagship. Two designs were provided from Flagship. St. Croix Recreation - Burke Design - Drawings were shown. Commissioner Markle asked about the bench-like pieces and asked if they were climbing structures or benches. Mr. Monahan stated it is a table with benches for sitting however they could be climbed on also. Commissioner City of Blaine Page 2 Park Advisory Board Minutes July 24, 2018 Lester asked about the tire swing. Mr. Monahan stated that piece goes up and down. There may be some maintenance issues with that piece. The ropes need to be replaced. MN/WI Playgrounds - Gametime Equipment - Mr. Monahan stated this design would give the most bang for the buck. All pieces connect which is a cool feature. Chair Bird stated his granddaughter enjoys the equipment at the Lexington Athletic Complex. Commissioner Markle questioned the handicapped accessibility on all the proposals seems very limited. He asked if these are the same structures at other parks. There does not seem to be a lot of access or activities for wheelchair bound children. Mr. Monahan reviewed this one is typical of a neighborhood playground. There is access to the playground area but there are no ramps. The plan is to have a fully accessible playground at the Blaine Baseball Complex next year. Commissioner Markle asked about the budget difference between these designs and the designs that have more accessibility. Mr. Monahan stated Aquatore budget was $200,000 and this park is $100,000. Commissioner Markle stated none of the designs offer much for handicapped children. Mr. Monahan stated the swings would be probably the only things. Commissioner Markle asked if the tic-tac-toe or matching games could not be included. Mr. Monahan stated those are not seen as much as in the past in the newer playgrounds. Commissioner Markle stated he would be in support of the MN/WI Playgrounds at this point and if the Board would suggest adding some more ground level activities he would support that. Commissioner Das stated he agrees with Commissioner Markle’s comments. He asked about the piece under the slide and Mr. Monahan stated it is a spider web type rope to connect to the other pieces of equipment. Commissioner Das asked about another piece of equipment and Mr. Monahan stated it is a lower level monkey bar type piece. Commissioner Das doesn’t think this is well design for handicapped children. He would like to see some other equipment added with low level activities. Commissioner Walsdorf asked if there has been a cost over-run for any of these projects and Mr. Monahan stated there hasn’t been an overage on any projects he has done. Commissioner Walsdorf asked if the plans were amended to add some ADA equipment would there be a price increase. Mr. Monahan stated they will work with the City to exchange pieces. Commissioner Walsdorf asked about a zipline and Mr. Monahan stated ziplines take up a lot of room in the container and the vendors chose not to include a zipline. The ziplines are usually part of the community playgrounds. Commissioner Walsdorf stated he prefers this option. Chair Bird stated the shade issue may need to be discussed. Tonight’s review is of the equipment only. City of Blaine Page 3 Park Advisory Board Minutes July 24, 2018 Mr. Michael Simons, 2008 119th Avenue NE, lives across from London Park. His concerns are related to lack of shade. Where the equipment is currently there are no trees for shade. He is concerned with access to the slides in the MN/WI Playground plan and is not ADA compliant. He likes the number and variety of slides in the plan. There are a number of toddlers in the neighborhood along with pre-teen kids. Chair Bird asked if there is a ground feature that could be added and what would need to be removed for that to be added and are there alternate areas for small children to reach the slides. Motion by Commissioner Markle, to recommend Council approve the MN/Wisconsin Playground with Gametime Equipment design for London Park Playground with City Staff researching additions as mentioned. Commissioner Walsdorf seconded the motion. Motion approved unanimously. Aye: 8 - Chair Bird, Commissioner Lester, Commissioner Das, Varian, Commissioner Walsdorf, Commissioner Markle, Commissioner Lizakowski, and Commissioner Paulseth 5.-3 EVENT UPDATES Mr. Monahan presented an update on the Parks Master Plan to the Park Board. WSB has received input from residents at various City events. Site visits were completed in May. WSB will invite stakeholders to provide feedback on Aquatore and Happy Acres Parks. Bob from WSB will attend the August 28, 2018 Park Board Meeting to provide an update to the Board. A consultant is currently in the design phase for the senior center and WSB has been requested to look at options for location of the senior center. The new center will be 14,000 sf. with the addition of two community rooms. Commissioner Das asked if the senior center attendees will be giving feedback and Mr. Monahan stated a meeting has been set for August 2 with the Senior Center Advisory Council. Commissioner Das asked if technology advances will be put into the senior center. Mr. Monahan stated it will have cutting edge technology. Informational; no action required. 5.-2 PARKS MASTER PLAN UPDATE Attachments: Parks Master Plan timeline & tasks Mr. Monahan provided updates on the following: Safety Camp - This was conducted at Fire Station #3 and 161 kids City of Blaine Page 4 Park Advisory Board Minutes July 24, 2018 attended in July. Family Fun Night - This was held July 17, 2018. The weather was perfect. There was a record crowd of 1260 kids. The previous high was 1000. There was great feedback from attendees. Chair Bird asked that pictures be shared at the next Board Meeting. Commissioner Das commended Mr. Monahan on the event. Upcoming Kids Triathlon - This will be held this Saturday for kids 7-14 and registrations are full. There are 120 participants. Upcoming Bark in the Park - This will be the first annual event Thursday, August 9 from 5-8pm at Aquatore Dog Park. Lots of activities are planned. Informational; no action required. Adjournment Commissioner Das motioned to adjourn. Commissioner Lester seconded the motion. Motion approved unanimously. Chair Bird adjourned the meeting at 7:50 p.m. Aye: 8 - Chair Bird, Commissioner Lester, Commissioner Das, Varian, Commissioner Walsdorf, Commissioner Markle, Commissioner Lizakowski, and Commissioner Paulseth City of Blaine Page 5