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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNRRCMinutes-20080812 City of Hastings Natural Resources and Recreation Commission Minutes Parks & Recreation Conference Room August 12, 2008 – 6:00 pm 1) Roll Call at 6 pm: Commissioners Miller, Nelson, Rohloff, Schommer, Smith, Tessmer-Tuck and Vandehoef, Parks and Recreation Director Bernstein (via conference call), Superintendent Smith. 2) Vote for Chair: Commissioner Schommer will serve as Chair of the NRRC; Vandehoef will serve as Co-Chair. 3) Approved May meeting minutes. Motion by Vandehoef. Seconded by Miller. Passed unanimously. 4) Setting Agenda: “Eagle Bluff Update” added to Old Business. “Hwy 61 Construction” added to New Business. 5) Departmental Updates were passed out and reviewed. Superintendent Smith showed the NRRC one of our Memorial Tree Plaques. There are two plaques that are usually on display at City Hall. Due to the remodel, they had to be moved and will find a new home somewhere at City Hall or the Parks & Recreation office. Our summer seasonal employees are going back to school. We have one seasonal employee who will be staying on as long into the fall as he is able to. Director Bernstein mentioned that the HFAC attendance is down this season – we lost pretty much the whole month of June due to weather and bridge work. Safety Camp was a huge success and a great collaborative effort between the Fire, Police, and Parks & Recreation departments, the YMCA, and Community Education. The Rivertown Days Youth First Teen Night at the pool had an attendance of over 200. We are looking at ways to improve that event for next year. Superintendent Smith also mentioned that we made an effort to collect recycling at Rivertown Days this year and Waste Management reported 1,780 pounds were recycled. Commissioner Rohloff asked about the new floor at the Arena. Director Bernstein explained that the work is basically done, but we haven’t made ice on it yet. The project is on track for budgeting purposes and staff is still looking into purchasing new turf. 6) HFAC Letter – A nice letter from Marisa and Paul Novak was received commending the staff at the HFAC. 7) MN Recreation and Parks Award of Excellence – The City of Hastings received this award for the Lake Isabel Park nd Redevelopment Project. This is only the 2 time that the City has ever won this award. Director Bernstein mentioned that this award validates the overall scope of the Lake Isabel project. The award was presented to City Council. Commissioner Schommer mentioned that whenever he has been down to Lake Isabel since this project was finished, there are always people there and the fishing has improved. A question was asked as to how much it would cost to dredge the entire lake. Director Bernstein said the dredging just the one acre cost around $40,000-$50,000. The East Hastings Improvement Association was looking at dredging another acre this year, but construction fees have gone up due to fuel costs. They’re not able to complete more dredging this year and will look at raising more money to do it in future. The original Lake Isabel project involved a water treatment to make water more blue, drawdown project to remove water from the lake and let sediment condense, and dredging the whole lake – all three of these issues were cost prohibitive. We completed what we could afford at this time. Commissioner Miller asked if we need to dredge again within a certain number of years. Director Bernstein said that the engineers aren’t sure how long this dredging will last due to numerous variables including flooding. 8) Tier 2 Skate Park Equipment – Director Bernstein gave a brief history of the issues involving the Tier 2 Skate Park. Anything over 48” tall at its peak is considered Tier 2; less than 48” at peak is Tier 1. We have about 8 pieces of Tier 2 equipment and about 8 pieces of Tier 1 equipment. Director Bernstein asked the NRRC for a recommendation to sell the Tier 2 equipment, as we have not had success locating such a park in Hastings with the proper accessibility and supervision. Many residents have called Director Bernstein requesting that the skate park be reinstated, but “not in my backyard.” If the Tier 2 equipment is sold, staff could look at reopening the skate park as a Tier 1 park out at Vets. The park could be free, which would hopefully lessen the amount of vandalism, and the City wouldn’t have the liability issues of a Tier 2 park. Commissioner Schommer asked if staff felt we might draw a younger crowd that wouldn’t be as into vandalism without the Tier 2 equipment. Director Bernstein explained that Tier 2 parks have to be enclosed, staffed, and open during certain hours only. Tier one parks are open to the general public, not staffed, and not secured. By selling the Tier 2 equipment, we hope to avoid the vandalism that involved cutting the fences to gain access. We can’t reopen the park at Vet’s without first selling the Tier 2 equipment. It is stored out there and staff doesn’t have the proper equipment to move it. Director Bernstein also mentioned that the economics of the skate park never worked. In staff costs alone, the Tier 2 skate park cost the City about $17,000, while only receiving $2,500 in season pass sales. Superintendent Smith stated that there are opportunities for more difficult skate parks outside of Hastings. There are very few Tier 2 skate parks in the metro area. Most of these are privately operated, but very few are publicly operated. Commissioner Nelson asked where the skate park has been placed in the past. The City first placed the park at Vet’s Park, but when vandalism became a major problem, the park was closed. In the summer of 2006, staff tried putting the Tier 1 equipment out at Lions Park, a very accessible part of town. The park received excellent attendance by both younger and older skaters, but we experienced a lot of vandalism, litter, and noise issues with the neighborhood. Warning notices were posted that the park would be removed if the behavior didn’t improve. The equipment was moved back into storage at Vets. A skate park needs a bituminous surface (size can vary) and equipment, which we have. If the park is reopened at Vet’s as a Tier 1 facility, staff would look at some sort of security measures – video surveillance, lighting, etc. to minimize vandalism. Commissioner Schommer pointed out that the issue with Vet’s is that it isn’t very accessible to potential park users and is very isolated. Director Bernstein agreed that Vet’s isn’t the best location, but with so many neighborhood parks, we don’t have a lot of options for placement. This is the same reason the park was initially placed at Vet’s in the first place. Commissioner Vandehoef recommended using the money from the sale of the Tier 2 equipment to pour a bituminous surface if we could find an “ideal” spot. How about the Middle School property? It is in the middle of town but is still far enough away from homes to reduce neighborhood issues. Director Bernstein has already emailed Tim Collins requesting to use some portion of that property for a “Summer Only” skate park. Staff would place the equipment when school is out for the summer and put it back into storage during the school year. Mr. Collins was going to bring that proposal forward to his superiors, but Director Bernstein hasn’t heard anything back on that yet. Commissioner Tessmer-Tuck asked how much money we could expect to get for the equipment and does staff think we might ever need to purchase it again. Director Bernstein is unsure of the amount of money our equipment is worth. He plans to have Tru Ride, the company we purchased the equipment from, evaluate the pieces and suggest an approximate value. It is doubtful that the City would ever repurchase Tier 2 equipment due to the costs of running a Tier 2 park and the liability issues. Staff is looking to open the Tier 1 park next spring. MOTION : Commissioner Smith motioned to recommend to City Council that the Tier 2 skate park equipment be declared as excess property and be sold. Seconded by Commissioner Miller. Passed unanimously. 9) Sponsorship Program – Staff is attempting to consolidate all advertising opportunities in the Parks and Recreation department into one package. Currently, if the Arena, HFAC, or Parks department is looking for sponsorship or advertising, each facility is independently going to local businesses. Director Bernstein thinks we should look at one mechanism for all or our facilities, possibly a package system that businesses could purchase depending on the level of contribution. In this way, our department is only coming to the business once, and they see all of the advertising opportunities available to them. Commissioner Miller asked where staff is looking to put up more advertising. Director Bernstein mentioned some possibilities like the HFAC, Vet’s Park, the Civic Arena, the tennis courts, etc. Commissioner Miller expressed concern about sign pollution. He cautioned against going too far with advertising venues. He feels that there is a proper place for advertising, but there has to be some control. Commissioner Schommer stated that by consolidating our efforts into a system, we would have better control. Director Bernstein agreed that questions such as, “How much is too much?” have to be addressed. However, how can we fund capital improvements at our facilities without selling more advertising? Commissioner Vandehoef felt that by sending out just one letter with advertising criteria, we will look better to local businesses and the process will be much more defined. Programs need sponsorship dollars in order to run – Safety Camp is a perfect example of that. Commissioner Schommer pointed out that we can designate the type of sign, where it goes, how long it stays up, etc. in the original guidelines that are sent out. Commissioner Vandehoef suggested requesting examples of advertising programs from other cities to see get some ideas. Commissioner Rohloff reminded us that we’ll need to make sure our advertising opportunities are in line with the City’s sign ordinance. The NRRC asked to have this item brought forward again at the next meeting for further discussion. 10) New Employee – The Parks & Recreation Department did hire a new employee, Tom O’Brien. Tom will work 6 months of the year with Parks Maintenance and the other 6 months at the Civic Arena. The department is now fully staffed. 11) Advertising Application – Staff has been having issues with signs being placed in our parks and public right-of-ways. According to City ordinance, no signs are allowed to placed on public right-of-ways without a variance from City Council. A draft Parks Sign Request form was developed to try to gain some control over this issue. In the past, we have given permission to certain groups to place ads in parks, for example the Fireman’s BOOYA and the YMCA. But staff feels uncomfortable granting permission when we are in violation of the ordinance. The department’s current procedure is to take the signs down if permission hasn’t been granted. The application form would be a mechanism to allow a request to come in for a variance and allow City Council to make the decision instead of staff. Superintendent Smith mentioned that when one sign goes up, it seems to attract more. People request various time frames for how long the sign remains – one group would like it up two months ahead of time. The draft form states “no more than two weeks ahead of time” to conform with the City’s current policy for the electronic message board. The question was raised if the form should include private businesses/residents or if it should be limited to local non-profit organizations. Commissioner Schommer mentioned that a lot of people just wait till after working hours on Friday to put up signs, since they know staff isn’t around to remove them. Enforcement is difficult. Director Bernstein stated that staff isn’t looking at eliminating signs, but rather would like to have a process in place so that people can request a variance from Council and staff doesn’t have to make the call. Commissioner Schommer stated that event advertising and real estate signs are probably the two biggest concerns. Staff is looking for a way to say yes, not a way to say no. Commissioner Nelson stated that Council has given Director Bernstein authority to allow messages on the Electronic Message Board based on certain criteria. Could a process like that work for this as well? Possibly, but when staff approves a message on the board, we aren’t in violation of an ordinance. If we approve a park sign, we are. The application would be submitted for Council as a Consent Agenda item. The form states that it must be turned in a month in advance to allow for Council to take action. The NRRC endorses the concept of having a Sign Variance Request form, but feels that the actual application should be reviewed and revised at the next meeting. Director Bernstein will bring the concept forward to the Parks & Recreation Committee of Council and then will bring that discussion back to the NRRC. 12) Private/Public Property Border – At Tuttle Park, there were nuisance and safety issues regarding a park amenity that is very close to a private property owner. City Council approved the 5’ border fence, which was placed on park property, with the caveat that the NRRC develop some criteria to use if a similar situation comes up again. Director Bernstein suggested the following criteria: If amenity is less than 40’ from private property, and If the issue is a safety concern, and If the issue is deemed a nuisance, and If homeowner is willing to pay ½ of the cost of the fence. All factors must be met in order for approval to be given. Director Bernstein also feels that the City should determine what type of fence goes up. Commissioner Miller commented that as we design new parks, this issue won’t come up since we can make sure that park amenities are more than 40’ from private property. Commissioner Nelson stated that in the foreseeable future, there won’t be any new parks. He pointed out that at Tuttle Park, the playground is also very close to private property. Director Bernstein replied that a playground isn’t a safety risk and so wouldn’t qualify under suggested criteria. Commissioner Schommer thought that the statement “all criteria must be met” was crucial. If a homeowner believes that the park is a nuisance, he is free to put up his own fence. Commissioner Smith questioned if the two criteria about safety and nuisance issues could be combined to safety OR nuisance issues. The NRRC felt that these are two separate concerns and that they should be two separate criteria. Commissioner Vandehoef asked what determines what is an “amenity” – is right field at a ball park an amenity? The commissioners felt the wording should be changed to reflect a “physical park amenity” i.e., backstop, playground, or other physical structure. The NRRC would like to have this item brought forward at the next meeting for finalization. Please email Kristin with any other suggestions in the meantime. 13) New Business - Hwy 61 Reconstruction – Superintendent Smith attended a meeting on the project. The bridge project is potentially looking for a staging area. The area at the far west end of the Hastings River Flats area where dredging/snow piles are placed is being looked at as a possibility. Overhead power lines may need to be moved due to the movement of the crane to the river. The project might barge bridge materials downriver to the construction site from the staging area. There has been some discussion on who owns property underneath the bridge. The land that is just between the river and Hudson Sprayer is in question – does the City own the trail and the overhead power line? The original plat for the City of Hastings states that the City owns the levees. Dave Osberg will be supplying MnDot with the proper documentation. This project will take approximately 2 ½ to 3 years to complete. Some portions of our trail would need to be realigned during th construction. One portion is the section right under the bridge from Hudson Sprayer down to the Legion. 4 Street is nd considered the best option for rerouting due to the traffic lights, but as soon as construction allows the trail to go on 2 Street, it will. The other place the trail needs to be rerouted is the staging area in the Flint Hills native prairie area towards the lock and dam. Right past the overlook, the trail would need to be rerouted so that construction could have access to the river. The trail would be rerouted west of Lock and Dam Road from the overlook to where the trail comes in on the south end of Lock and Dam Road. There would still only be one trail crossing there. MnDot would restore the trail back to where it was along with the native prairie when they’re done. One question under discussion is whether we would want the new trail removed or left when they were done. The general consensus from the NRRC is that it would be good to leave the trail there. Superintendent Smith felt that the power lines that would need to be moved closer to the road should be moved back when the construction is over. Director Bernstein emphasized that this is all very preliminary, but staff will keep the NRRC posted as we learn of new developments. 14) Old Business - Eagle Bluffs Project Update – Commissioner Nelson wondered where the basketball court for Eagle Bluffs ended up. Director Bernstein has placed a request for this court in the 2009 budget, but that budget has not been approved by Council yet. The trail request for Sunny Acres Park has also been included in the 2009 budget request. MOTION to adjourn. th Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 9 at City Hall Adjourned at 7:53 p.m. Minutes submitted by Kristin Behrens