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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNRRC Minutes 08-2005 City of Hastings Natural Resources and Recreation Commission Minutes August 9, 2005 6:00 pm 1) Roll Call at 6 pm: Commissioners Brown, Christenson, O'Melia, RoWoff, Popp, and Vandehoef, Parks and Recreation Director Bernstein, Superintendent Smith. Absent: Commissioner Vaughan 2) Approved July meeting minutes. Motion by Vandehoef. Seconded by Rohloff. Passed unanimously. 3) Director Bernstein handed out departmental updates to the NRRC members. He mentioned that after the skate park closes for the season, he has some alternatives that will be brought before the NRRC. 4) Bess Freeman, President of the East Hastings Improvement Association, addressed the Commission with some various questions. A $50 donation has been offered for park plantings at Lake Isabel. The plantings will be done in May, 2006. Superintendent Smith requested that the money be donated to the City after the fIrst of the year and then the Parks department can purchase the plants for the park. People are dumping trash on the west shore of Lake Isabel. There have been many cleanups organized, but it continues to happen. Ms. Freeman wondered if the City could do anything to deter the dumping. Possibly by posting signs? The property mostly belongs to CP Rail with some of it being federal and city property. Director Bernstein volunteered to contact the railroad and notify them of this issue. Commissioner Brown requested that Councilmember Alongi also be notified of this problem. Director Bernstein will contact him as well. MOTION: Commissioner O'Melia motioned that this issue be followed up and placed on the NRRC agenda for September. Commissioner Popp seconded the motion. Passed unanimously. Ms. Freeman next asked if the basketball court at Lake Isabel Park can be resurfaced. Director Bernstein advised that it is on the bituminous study for 2006 and will be done, subject to 2006 budget approval. Is the pea gravel and spongy mat going to stay at the Lake Isabel playground? Director Bernstein responded that it will. Superintendent Smith clarifIed that the spongy mat is not worn, but is rather that way by design. It is to make the area handicapped accessible. Ms. Freeman wondered if there could be some benches placed by the warming house to be used year-round. Superintendent Smith voiced concern that the area is close to the ball fIelds and that there would be a chance of injury if benches were placed there. The other concern is that the ice rink is close by and there could be space issues. Director Bernstein advised that if the East Hastings Improvement Association would like to contribute funds towards the purchase of benches, the Parks & Recreation Department would be willing to go to the Park with an EHIA representative to evaluate possible sites. Ms. Freeman next asked if Lake Isabel has a separate account for park dedication funds. Director Bernstein responded that there is a separate budgeted fund for maintenance to Lake Isabel Park, but there is no separate account for park dedication funds. Director Bernstein mentioned that the sediment study for Lake Isabel recently came back and that there are no contaminants that we would have to worry about disposing of in a dredging situation. The issue is how to dry it out and move it. Director Bernstein will send a copy of the sediment study to Ms. Freeman. 5) Lions Parking Lot: Two representatives from Hope Lutheran Church, Greg & Pete, attended the meeting to propose a new parking lot in Lions Park to be used jointly by the church and the City. The issue came up because the church wants to expand and by city ordinance needs one off-street parking space for every 3 chairs. The lot would be placed on city property and would only be utilized by the church for 1-2 hours on Sunday mornings. Director Bernstein advised that, at this time, the City would not be able to contribute fInancially to the installation of the parking lot, but if the church covers the costs of installation, the Parks & Recreation Department would be willing to handle the maintenance. Greg from Hope Lutheran Church mentioned that the Lions Club is also interested in donating some money towards this project as they would also like to see a parking lot at Lions Park. The lot is proposed to be placed in an open area of the park, so that it wouldn't disturb anything currently there. Director Bernstein mentioned that there is a drainage sewer and manhole cover on the northeast comer of the proposed parking lot. He also advised that no snow removal would take place on Sunday mornings by the Parks & Recreation Department. Commissioner Vandehoefbelieves that if a parking lot is put in Lions Park, the proposed site is really the only spot it could go. Commissioner Christenson mentioned that he feels the lot could be a real asset, especially if a new warming house is constructed. Director Bernstein added that since the new warming house will possibly be used as a picnic shelter, the parking would be an asset year-round. Superintendent Smith reiterated that the parking lot wouldn't be plowed on Sundays - Pete from the Church advised that this lot would actually be overflow parking for them and that it really shouldn't be an issue. The church currently has someone who plows their parking lot on Sundays and they could just have him plow the overflow lot as well. Director Bernstein mentioned the need to discuss plowing by a private company on City property with the legal department. He also mentioned that this parking lot would be like a donation to the City - City Staff would review all of the plans. Commissioner Brown thinks that we should be looking at this parking lot handling its own water run-off. Superintendent Smith said that at the LeDuc Historic Site, the curbs and gutters were modified so that the water goes to rainwater gardens. Curb cuts could be done so that the water here would get to a garden site as well. MOTION: Commissioner Christenson motioned that the NRRC send a recommendation to the City Council to accept the parking lot proposal from Hope Lutheran Church. This project will be funded by Hope Lutheran Church, with the City providing the maintenance of the lot. Snow removal plans will be worked out at a later date. Also, plans need to meet City specifications for water inf11tration and run-off. Seconded by O'Melia. Passed unanimously. 6) Flint Hills Refinery: Director Bernstein wrote a letter to the RefInery to request cost sharing on the removal of the dock. He hasn't heard anything back yet. Legally, the contract stated that the property was "as is". So, Director Bernstein recommends proceeding with the installation of the solar powered navigational lights at a cost of approximately $5,000 so that the City can be in compliance with the Coast Guard. The structure can be reevaluated at a later time. Commissioner O'Melia questioned whether barge traffIc uses the abandoned fueling station in any way. Superintendent Smith responded that he has heard they tether there, but that if it was removed, the barges could use the shoreline too. MOTION: Commissioner Brown motioned to approve the $5,000 light repair. Seconded by Commissioner Popp. Passed unanimously. 7) Levee Lights: Director Bernstein expressed frustration that Xcel Energy has not taken further action to resolve this matter. The current plan is to decrease the number of light poles. The poles would be aluminum with the Acorn fIxture, which would be consistent with the rest of the city development. We can reduce the number of lights by 1/3 due to better illumination with the new light fIxtures. We are currently waiting on Xcel Energy to get back to us with the fIgures. As a side point, the light poles from the boat launch to the lock & dam are already aluminum. 8) Levee Park Reconstruction: The HRA has money to dress up Levee Park. Proposals of concept to redo the park have been sought - two fIrms are in the running. A committee is to be formed with 2 representatives from HRA, 2 from the NRRC, and staff to determine and oversee the plan. The committee will be led by John Grossman, HRA Director. The meetings will take place at City Hall, and although no formal schedule has of yet been set, will most likely take place in the evening. Director Bernstein believes that the commitment might require a couple of meetings a month and will be for less than one year. Commissioners Christenson & O'Melia volunteered to be the NRRC representatives for this committee. Commissioner Popp volunteered to serve as an alternate. Director Bernstein added that Levee Park is a very visible, gateway park for the rest of our city parks. 9) Review Park Plans - South Pines & Riverwood: Director Bernstein passed out revised park plans along with the fmancial data for each of these parks. Neighborhood meetings will be held on August 16th, 6:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers. Both the NRRC and the Parks & Recreation Committee of Council will be invited to attend these meetings. 10) New Business: None 11) Old Business Commissioner Christenson expressed interest in helping to reinstitute the Adopt-A-Park program. Director Bernstein hopes to get this program in place next spring. Commissioner O'Melia expressed concern about the tree roots affecting the trails. Superintendent Smith mentioned that there are various things that can be done to curb this problem. One solution is to not plant species that are known to heave the trails - for example, Cottonwood trees. There are also root barrier systems that can be used - the plastic systems have been very effective. A suggestion was made to start a "Friends of the Trail" chapter in Hastings to raise money and awareness. Commissioner Christenson mentioned that he was recently on the Red Wing Trail and that there are mile markers along the trail. This might be something we could do with the Levee Trail or others. Commissioner O'Melia expressed interest in an "exercise trail" that he saw in Colorado. Director Bernstein informed the Commission that locally, these types of trails haven't seen much use and have been being removed. Bess Freeman wanted to express thanks to the Parks & Recreation Department for all the assistance provided with making the July 4th Lake Isabel party a success! MOTION to Adjourn. Next meeting scheduled for September 13th at 6 p.m. Adjourned at 7:42 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Kristin Behrens