Parks, Arts & Recreation Commission

PARKS, ARTS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES JULY 22, 2021 MINUTES PARKS, ARTS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING THURSDAY JULY 22, 2021 - 8:00 A.M. “To enhance community pride through developing and maintaining City parks with a high standard of quality.” Members Present: Lynn Anderson, Julie Jelen, Janine Kopff, Adam Leiferman, Nancy McCaffrey, Sam Murdoff Members Absent: Brian Stoll, Mercedes Turner Staff Present: Josh Berthiaume, Sara Cahill, Beth Green, Tricia Handorff, Tom Pawelk, Jennifer Schreiber 1. Call to Order. Vice-Chair Lynn Anderson called the meeting to order at 8 a.m. and declared a quorum. 2. Approve Minutes of Regular PARC Meeting from May 27, 2021. JULIE JELEN MOVED TO APPROVE THE REGULAR PARC MEETING MINUTES FROM MAY 27, 2021. MOTION SECONDED BY ADAM LEIFERMAN. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY, 5-0. 3. Approve Minutes of Special PARC Meeting from June 2, 2021. NANCY MCCAFFREY MOVED TO APPROVE THE SPECIAL PARC MEETING MINUTES FROM JUNE 2, 2021. MOTION SECONDED BY JANINE KOPFF. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY, 5-0. 4. Consideration of adding to or removing items from the agenda. None. 5. Citizens requests and comments. Nancy McCaffrey said that she met two visitors biking from coast to coast from Seattle to Connecticut raising money. They travels took them through Monticello, and they were ecstatic about all the things going on in Monticello. They stopped and visited some of the artwork and really were amazed by the shimmer wall, the swan sculpture, the otter sculpture, etc. Nancy said that she has followed their blog and they posted pictures of artwork they saw in Monticello. She encouraged others to visit their website and will email the link. Page 1 of 6  PARKS, ARTS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES JULY 22, 2021 When the East Bridge Gardeners were working in the gardens this week, a bike rider stopped to take pictures and said how beautiful the gardens were. He was on his way back to his campsite, camping from Kentucky to northern MN. This bike ride was his morning exercise routine, and he said he loved the gardens in the parks in Monticello and thanked everyone for all their work. McCaffrey thanked the Monticello Parks Department for their support of the gardeners. Lynn Anderson said she had friends visiting from South Carolina and they were also amazed at the number of parks in Monticello and how well they are all maintained. 6. Motion to approve renovation of 4th Street Park ballfield into greenspace for winter skating. Tom Pawelk said that he reached out the Baseball Association and they are not using the baseball field at 4th Street Park. The ballfield location would make a good expansion area for future ice skating. Pawelk said the green space area could be graded to include a slight ditch to hold water but still allowing the area to be easily mowed. The maintenance access will be from Ramsey Street to hook to the hydrant to flood the rink. The plan is also to flood West Bridge for recreational ice skating this winter. With both hockey rinks in high demand at 4th Street, flooding this area will work for general recreational skating to cater to families looking to get out and ice skate. The area could also be used for pond hockey tournaments occasionally. Previously, there was a request from the hockey association to cover the hockey rinks and Lynn Anderson asked if there could be any conflicts if that roof gets installed. Pawelk noted that there wouldn’t be any conflicts if a roof is installed in the future. There is a parking lot at the park plus additional on-street parking as needed. While there have been requests in the past for adding neighborhood skating rinks, Pawelk said he feels it’s important to keep the rinks in the community parks where there is access for everyone in the community. It also makes more sense from a maintenance standpoint to keep the rinks in one or two locations rather than scattered throughout the community. A lighting upgrade is being planned for the park, which will keep the same fixtures but transition over to all LED lights. Adam Leiferman asked about the potential of putting in a future ice trail in the community. Pawelk said an ice trail could potentially be installed at Bertram around the pond at the athletic park, or possibly at 4th Street, and in the future on the ponds at Chelsea Commons. JANINE KOPFF MOVED TO RECOMMEND REMOVAL OF THE BASEBALL FIELD AND TO REGRADE THE AREA FOR TWO ADDITIONAL ICE-SKATING RINKS. MOTION SECONDED BY NANCY MCCAFFREY. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY, 5-0. Page 2 of 6  PARKS, ARTS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES JULY 22, 2021 7. Discussion of recreational motor vehicles within city limits. Tom Pawelk said this item is being brought back to the PARC for clarification. Some residents are using their golf carts for transportation to and from the golf course. While the language includes Class 2 vehicles (ATV’s & UTV’s) golf carts fall into a different area in a permitted process. Nancy McCaffrey said she has noticed two residents in her neighborhood that use golf carts on the pathway to access the golf course. Pawelk said he is asking the PARC to determine if golf carts should be included across town or if it should be limited to only certain streets or neighborhoods that adjoin the golf course. McCaffrey said her biggest concern is safety and too much traffic. City Clerk Jennifer Schreiber said it could be very specific and just include neighborhoods near the golf course. “No Golf carts except for use in neighborhoods that adjoin the golf course”. The language could also include the name of specific developments. Discussed modifying the language in the ordinance to include golf carts as well as ATV’s and UTV’s. This would be a multi-year permit required to be renewed every three years. It should be defined where golf carts have access from city streets and specific neighborhoods. NANCY MCCAFFREY MOVED TO RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE ORDINANCE MODIFICATION PERTAINING TO RECREATIONAL VEHICLES, INCLUDING GOLF CARTS. MOTION SECONDED BY JULIE JELEN. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY, 5-0. 8. Discussion of pickleball court proposal at Groveland Park. Tom Pawelk said that in doing some research, Groveland Park stands out as a very good possibility for a future pickleball court with the large flat greenspace area and requires the least amount of grading. There is also a potable water supply at Groveland so there is the option of putting in a restroom there and a drinking fountain. There is also room to grow at Groveland Park with the site amenities. Another option could be Par West Park, and both parks have a parking lot. To get a better understanding of the project cost, Pawelk met with the City of Otsego as they have just recently installed a pickleball court. They have four courts, and the cost was around $200,000. The courts are 64’ wide x 150’ long, so it does not take up a very large area. Pawelk shared the design from Otsego with the PARC. This project is not in the budget for next year, but after previously meeting with the pickleball group that originally proposed the idea, he is hopeful that they will work like the dog park committee did in fundraising for the project to show a good faith effort to the City Council to help pay for the project. Getting the group to buy in and help with fundraising will be critical. Other funding sources may be an outdoor recreation grant. Page 3 of 6  PARKS, ARTS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES JULY 22, 2021 Lynn Anderson said there is a group from the University of Minnesota, an age friendly group, who could help with funding as well. Pawelk will get more information from her about that. JULIE JELEN MOVED TO RECOMMEND RESEARCH AND PLANNING FOR A FUTURE FOUR-COURT PICKLEBALL COURT IN GROVELAND PARK. MOTION SECONDED BY JANINE KOPFF. MOTION CARIED, 5-0. 9. Discussion of disc golf course installation at Pioneer Park. Tom Pawelk said that the city kept the equipment and baskets from the disc golf course that was removed from Par West Park. The larger disc golf course in Montissippi Park is very popular and use all the time. The smaller course was removed from Park West as it was just in the wrong location. Pawelk said that he is looking into the possibility of reinstalling a 9-hole disc golf course in Pioneer Park on the south side of the parking lot in the large open passive area around the grassy wetland. He met with the disc golf designer out at the park and there is very good possibility that it would work well. With the parking lot and restrooms on site, Pioneer Park offers a good location. The proposed area is nice and open so there wouldn’t be as much opportunity for mischief. Today Pawelk is asking for direction from the PARC on installing a disc golf course in Pioneer Park. This will not interfere with any future planning of a splash pad at the park. Nancy McCaffrey said that if the city already has the baskets and needed equipment that offering a smaller course at Pioneer Park is a good idea and it is a great location, and convenient with the parking lot. Pawelk noted that everything would be set away from the homes. The maintenance required by staff would be constructing concrete pads for the t-boxes. That is an estimated cost of $5,000 to do that work in-house with Park staff. The city would purchase the design from the course designer and use Park staff to construct the course. This will add just a small amount of maintenance to staff’s workload and require a few more waste receptacles. It would be a middle of the road course, not real technical, so more of a beginner course. ADAM LEIFERMAN MOVED TO RECOMMEND APPROVAL TO PLACE A 9-HOLD DISC GOLF COURSE IN PIONEER PARK USING THE EXISTING EQUIPMENT FROM THE PAR WEST PARK COURSE. MOTION SECONDED BY JANINE KOPFF. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY, 5-0. 10. Discussion of Bertram Partnership Program. Tom Pawelk said that the Bertram Partnership Program Policy is a plan that we started working on in 2016, once we started seeing the cost of $20 million and how we could get fundraising and donations to build out the athletic park. The original document was Page 4 of 6  PARKS, ARTS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES JULY 22, 2021 drafted by local associations and members of the Athletic Park Subcommittee. It was set aside while we were in the development phase of the park. Pawelk explained that this policy is being brought up now as there was a tragic accident in the community and there is a group that wants to build a baseball field at Bertram in honor of the victim. There is a GoFundMe set up by this group to cover the costs of funding a baseball field. This policy will help us guide how this donation is made possible and will be a tool going forward to help when somebody wants to donate to the Bertram Athletic Park. This policy is still in draft form and needs some minor revisions. Pawelk said it is important to look at every donation not just for today but 50 years from now, and not to develop something sooner than what is needed which may adversely affect the long-range plan. Pawelk’s recommendation is for little league fields to be constructed first to take pressure from Freeway Fields as he has been getting complaints from neighbors and things are getting pretty congested out there. While Monticello could use another adult baseball field, it’s a 5-year plan for that. Ultimately this policy will give the city full control of where the dollars go. Changes and revisions were discussed and will be made prior to bringing anything to City Council. NANCY MCCAFFREY MOVED TO RECOMMEND APPROVAL BY THE CITY COUNCIL FOR THE BERTRAM PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM POLICY WITH THE DISCUSSED REVISIONS. MOTION SECONDED BY JULIE JELEN. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY, 5-0. 11. MontiArts Update. Tom Pawelk reviewed the MontiArts update included in the agenda. 12. MCC Update. Sara Cahill reviewed the MCC Update included in the agenda. 13. General Park Updates. a. Riverfest follow up: Kept track of all hours to put together for Riverfest seasonal/city staff 530 hours! Those hours from moving tables, cleanup, assist volunteers, etc. Feedback from committee, Riverfest overall had smaller record beer sales and adoptions, but 2nd highest revenue. 5,000 ducks adopted and $10,000 worth of prizes. b. State Soccer Tournament follow up: Will email to PARC. 14. Next regular meeting scheduled for September 23, 2021. The next regular PARC meeting is scheduled for September 23, 2021, at 8 a.m. Page 5 of 6  PARKS, ARTS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES JULY 22, 2021 15. Motion to Adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 9:20 a.m. RECORDED BY: Beth Green ___________________________________ DATE APPROVED: ______________9-23-2021_____________ ATTEST: ___________________________________________ Page 6 of 6