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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNRRCMinutes-20080212 City of Hastings Natural Resources and Recreation Commission Minutes Parks & Recreation Conference Room February 12, 2008 – 6:00 pm 1) Roll Call at 6 pm: Commissioners Miller, Nelson, Rohloff, Schommer, Vandehoef and Vaughan, Parks and Recreation Director Bernstein, Superintendent Smith. 2) January meeting minutes: Approved January meeting minutes. Motion by Miller. Seconded by Nelson. Passed unanimously. 3) Department Updates were passed out and reviewed. This has been a very good season for warming houses. Vaughan asked what happens to the turf under the rinks. Smith responded that the longer the season/ice lasts, the more kill with turf grasses. Knotweed tends to flourish and is hard to get rid of. It is fairly normal to have poor turf where rinks are located. We try to not put rinks where we need to have good turf. Vaughan asked if we could consider adding another attraction, like a skating track, at one of our parks to draw more people. Smith said that a skating track would be possible with our equipment. The City Forester has been very busy working with Street Department on boulevard trimming; notices have been posted and Paul has been following up on concerns with residents. In the past, the city has received complaints about tree trimming, but more training has been given and things are looking good. The Lions shelter heating hasn’t been working as good as it is supposed to – it would max out around 62-63 degrees. Smith had everything checked out by the technicians and it was found that the company that installed the furnace didn’t put a damper in the intake 5” pipe from the outside. They will be coming back this week to put the damper in according to the specs. Bernstein mentioned that vandalism has gone down since we put the new building in down at Lions. The lighting is a lot better now and that no doubt has helped to curb the vandalism. 4) Mississippi River Overlook Update: Bernstein updated the NRRC on the overlook. On February 4, the City Council granted staff authorization to seek proposals for the redevelopment. Staff is working with Hoisington Koegler on this project to seek bids. Bernstein hopes to bring the bids forward to the NRRC at the March meeting before he goes to Council. This project will be funded from the $50,000 reimbursement SEP grant that the City received. Bernstein says the costs are currently estimated to be about $47,000 for construction plus about $12,000 for engineering costs. Hopefully, the bids will come in lower than anticipated or else staff will possibly cut back on the project to reduce costs. We have to use or be able to show adequate progress on the project by June, 2008 in order to receive the grant money. This would apply to the $75,000 SEP grant the City received for the Frietag property as well. Bernstein is hoping to have the overlook project completed by June or early July. Miller asked about the public boat dock. The dock is currently sitting on the barge and Portable Barge will be delivering and installing it in early April. Staff would like to have ribbon-cuttings or open houses this summer for the boat dock, Lake Isabel, and the new Mississippi Overlook. Schommer asked if staff is planning to have a Parks & Recreation booth at Rivertown Days. The commissioners thought it would be a good way to promote what the department has to offer, as well as a good way to get feedback from residents. Vandehoef said Inver Grove Heights Parks & Recreation does something similar and has good success. 5) Arena Bid – New Floor: There was a public bid opening on Thursday, 2/7. The cost estimate for the project from our consultant was $394,000. Rink Tech International was the low bidder at a base bid of $386,500. There were 3 alternate bids also included. Alternate bid #1 in the amount of -$10,500 requires city staff to remove the dasher boards and then Rink Tech will reinstall them. Alternate bid #2 in the amount of $7,000 will install 3 new motors that will make the floor more efficient. Alternate bid #3 in the amount of $12,500 is for the cement sealer which makes the floor white as well as sealing it. Staff is not sure if the bid on #3 includes the red and blue painting and will clarify. Bernstein would like to recommend to Council to accept the base bid plus all three alternate bids from Rink Tech International. He will also include a 5% contingency and engineering costs in the project. Bernstein estimates that the total of the project will be about $434,000. The dasher boards were installed in 2002 or 2003 with a Mighty Ducks grant and are expected to last at least 15 years. The boards will be stored in locker rooms, hallways, etc. Turf will be placed in West rink in early spring and then ice will go in about August. Becker Arena Products is coming to examine existing turf to see if it could be sold. The total budget for this project is around $536,000 and if there is money left over, Bernstein is going to recommend purchasing new turf. Vaughan voiced concerns that due to the 6-month timeframe, the contractor might feel this is a “rainy day project” and not complete it on schedule. Bernstein spoke with our consultant and both feel that this won’t be a major issue. Miller questioned whether the turf would be missed by HYAA in the fall. Bernstein said that spring is time for heavy turf usage and that staff has been very forthcoming with the HYAA about the timeframe and when the turf will come up. The School District has committed to pay 30% of the new floor costs due to the Joint Powers agreement. MOTION : Rohloff motioned to bring the bids from Rink Tech International forward to City Council. Seconded by Schommer. Passed unanimously. 6) Visitor Center Public Meeting: Bernstein said that he and the City’s HRA Director, John Grossman, have been meeting with National Park Service. The National Park Service is very interested in telling the story of Hastings. The questions that need to be answered are: What story do we want told and how do we best tell it? Bernstein isn’t sure at this point whether the National Park Service is offering any funding. But they do believe that Hastings has a unique story that should be told. With a new bridge coming in, the National Park Service thinks it may be possible to tie in some federal funding with the th into some type of project. Bernstein encouraged the NRRC to attend the public meeting at City Hall on Feb. 28to discuss a possible Visitor Center. Letters were sent out to the Chamber of Commerce, various community organizations, and nd groups involved with the Hastings to Red Wing trail. Schommer stated that Hastings is the 2 oldest city in the state of Minnesota, but no one knows it. We need to market what we have to offer better. On a side note, Bernstein mentioned that the Levee Park Redevelopment has been halted until funding is found. 7) Skate Park/Youth Center: Bernstein stated that he still receives calls from people who are interested in the skate park. He recently held a meeting with Officer Puch, who is the City’s Youth Liaison Officer, Ann Grotjohn, and Darbie Johnson about the skate park. The meeting started out discussing the skate park, but morphed into a need for a safe, productive place for our youth to go. This was just a preliminary meeting to brainstorm various ideas. It was agreed that the Tier 2 skate park would be more effective attached to another attraction. Bernstein will be holding another meeting next week discuss options further. Vaughan and Vandehoef cautioned that Teen Centers are very tough – you need to address funding, staffing, etc. Bernstein agreed that there are more questions than answers right now, but that the idea is to address some of the issues surrounding the skate park. Schommer mentioned that Hastings had a teen center in the past located behind where Graphic Design currently is. The past center was well used, but was in an isolated location and so developed problems with fighting, vandalism, etc. Also, Schommer mentioned that there are a lot of cliques among our youth and that can become an issue as well. He believes we do need some type of youth center, but cautioned that the location is crucial. Bernstein mentioned that when we placed the Tier 1 skate park equipment at Lions Park, he was surprised at the wide variety of age groups that used the equipment. The problem with that location is that the neighborhood wasn’t happy with the amount of trash, bad language, and vandalism. But for the skate park to be successful, it has to be visible and accessible to the main target users. Vaughan thinks that it is good to get a discussion started about some type of center for our youth. He personally has seen good success with family centers. Bernstein said a decision will need to be reached soon about the skate park because we need to either use the equipment or sell it. Otherwise, it will deteriorate sitting in storage and be of little value. 8) New Business: - The NRRC received a copy of the Parks & Recreation Annual Report in their packets. Vandehoef asked for further clarification about the money the City is paying to Joint Powers to run the adult leagues. It appears that we are losing money just to run the leagues. What is the School District contributing to the leagues that we should be paying these fees? Nelson asked if this money is paid to Community Education or the School District. Bernstein said that essentially they are the same, but the check is written to Community Education. The idea behind the adult user fees is to lessen the impact of recreation for the community. Bernstein stated that there is a cost breaking point where we have to keep our fees competitive with other city’s leagues. He said that paying the user fees to Community Ed limits staff’s ability to effectively manage the leagues. The agreement states that $26/player will be paid to Community Ed for any Adult Recreation League in Hastings. Bernstein would like to use the softball revenue to make improvements to Vet’s Park, but we’re not able to do that right now. Vaughan stated that sooner or later, the NRRC will need to have a meeting regarding this portion of the Joint Powers agreement. He recommended discussing this in more detail at the March meeting and then possibly inviting the Parks & Recreation Committee of Council to a meeting to have a discussion. Schommer stated that this agreement was entered into about 25 years ago in order to build Vet’s Park and it made a lot of sense at the time. However, times have changed and it is time to revisit the agreement. The commissioners agreed to have a more in-depth discussion of this topic in March. - Lake Isabel – Vaughan asked if staff has ever discussed with HRA to purchase the houses that are for sale by the Lake Isabel parking lot for future park land. Bernstein said that although it would be nice to have that property as it is right at the entrance to the park, he’s not sure if it is economically feasible at this point. 9) Old Business: - Hastings Trail to Red Wing: City Council did appropriate $8,000 for the feasibility study. No other new updates at this time. th Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 11, 2008 at the Parks & Recreation Department. Adjourned at 7:07 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Kristin Behrens