Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-20 CITY OF LAKEVILLE PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES • OCTOBER 20,1993 ITEM 1. -Call to order. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Chairman Ilia. ITEM 2. -Roll call. Present were L. Lulf, C. Wanless-Sobel, K. Illa, A. Raymond, and P. Messinger. G. Grenz and H. Lovelace were not able to attend. Also present were Recreation Supervisor Renee Brekken and Recording Secretary Judi Ryan. ITEM 3. -Minutes of October 6 1993. The minutes of the October 6 193 Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee meeting were discussed. There were no additions or corrections and the minutes were approved as printed. ITEM 4. -Citizen comments. There were no citizens present for items not on the agenda. ITEM 5. -Staff reports. This item was deferred until after Item 6. ITEM 6. -Reconsideration of request by neighbors of Jaycee Park to eliminate softball field. Mr. Glenn Langord, 20665 Hughes Ave.., and Mr. Robert Innes, 20675 Hughes Ave. were present to discuss the Jaycee Park ballfield. Mr. Langord stated that in the 1950's several Lakeville citizens formed a group called the Commercial Club. The group wanted to develop the property along the railroad tracks near 207th Street and Hughes Avenue in order to attract industry to the area. In order to finance the project, lots along Hughes Avenue were sold and park land was dedicated to the city. Mr. Langord stated it was the group's intention to have the park . be a buffer to the homes, not to be used for ballfields. In the quit claim deed it is stated that the park property may be used for public recreation, playgrounds or roadways. He feels the ballfields are nonconforming with these covenants. He also stated that when the ballfields were installed, the neighbors were not contacted. Although the. signs which have been installed have helped some, problems associated with the ballfields remain constant. These problems include balls coming into the yards, hitting the houses, and occasionally breaking Lass. Mr. Langord asked the committee to reconsider removing the south Meld and planting trees or flowers to prevent further use as a ballfield. Staff showed the committee a, plat of the park and adjoining lots along Hughes Avenue, consisting of nine homeowners. Attempts had been made byy staff to contact all of these park neighbors and most had been reached. It was found that the neighbors adJoining the north field had not experienced the same problems, due to much higher and thicker trees existing at that end of the park. This was also true of the three homes in the center of the block. However, those neighbors adj1oining the south field have all lodged complaints about the fields. Mr. Innes stated that he has tried to • talk to the older kids who are the ones actually causing the problem, but they have not been cooperative. Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee Minutes October 20, 1993 -2- • Chairperson Illa has discussed the possibility of closing the south field with the LAA. Although they hate to lose the Tee-ball field, they would be able to move play to an elementary school site. He stated the backstop could be taken down this fall and the .infield removed in the spring. Plantings could also be done, which would hopefully eliminate the problem. Committee member Messinger asked if this wouldn't make the area. totally unusable, even as an open space area for play. She was also concerned that it would set a precedent for removing fields from other areas, even when neighbors' complaints are unsubstantiated. She suggested that this be taken one step at a time -first remove the backsto and infield, then see if the problem is alleviated. If not, plantings cou~d be done to further discourage use as a ballfield. Committee member Raymond visited the site and discussed the situation with Mr. Ray Zweber who hues to the north of Mr. Langord. Mr. Zweber has also experienced problems with baseballs in his yard and currently has one broken window. Raymond would also be in favor of proceeding with the first step of removing the backstop and infield. Committee member Lulf stated that there are no other ballfields in the downtown area and no opportunity exists at this time to build a new, larger park for play for downtown youth. 34 Motion was made by Messinger, seconded by Raymond, to recommend City Council authorize staff to take down the backstop this fall and remove the infield next spring from the south field at Jaycee Park. The situation will be reevaluated next summer and if the problem is not solved, further measures may be taken, such as plantings in the park. Motion passed. The neighbors were told that if the problems continue, the Park Department or Police Department should be contacted immediately. The neighbors thanked the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee for their concern. ITEM 5. -Staff reports. Park Director Steve Michaud is in California attending ,the National Parks and Recreation Association Conggress. Recreation Supervisor Renee Brekken was in attendance in Mr. Michaud's absence. Ms. Brekken informed the committee that the Quigley-Sime property is about 90% complete. The sod and seeding is doing very well with the irrigation it is receiving. Over 100 trees have been transplanted from the Wren property, Tabaka proppe~rty and the Police Station with the help of Rosemount`s tree spade. 1Vlore plantings will be done at Parkview, Dodd Trail and other sites. Twelve residents have contacted City Forester Mick Higgins regarding receiving financial assistance through the Oak Wilt suppression grant. Several park development projects continue to make .progress.. Brackett's • Crossing Park retaining wall and grading are complete. Paving is being done at Hypointe Crossing this week also. Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee. Minutes October 20, 1993 Page -3- • ITEM 7. -Review and make recommendation to City Council on Kabot Cove final plat. Staff showed committee the plat of Kabot Cove, formerly called The Cove. This plat consists of nine single ,family lots and is located east of I-35 and the Great Oak Shores subdivision, south and west of Orchard Trail and north of Lake Marion. An 8' wide bituminous trail is proposed to be constructed from the end of Kabot Cove Lane to the northwest plat boundary between Lots 5 and 6. This trail is planned to connect with a trail in the propposed Great Oak Shores-2nd Addition plat but is not proposed to be paved untl the connection is made. The developer will be responsible for 5/8th of the cost of constructing this, trail and the City will be responsible for 3/8th. It has been mentioned in the past that staff would like to see this trail eventually continue around Lake Marion. Committee members felt that because the trail is not scheduled to be completed at this time, it is very important that the rough grading be. done as well as signage installed so that potential buyers of the lots will be aware of plans for a future finished trail. 93.35 Motion was made by Lulf, seconded by Wanless-Sobel, to recommend to City Council that in addition to the construction of the trail, a cash contribution be required to satisfy the park and trail dedication obligations. It is further recommended .that at a minimum the trail be rough graded and signage installed indicating future trail access. The trail will be paved at the time a permanent trail easement is acquired from the adjacent Great Oak Shores plat. Motion passed. ITEM 8. -Review of 1993 summer recreation program evaluations. Renee Brekken highlighted the past summer's programs, explaining how,and why the summer playground program had been replaced with week-long activity camps. Of the eleven camps offered, nine had enough registrations to run. It was felt that the change was beneficial as people seem to be interested in giving their children more choices and a wider variety of programs. More pre-school programs will be added next summer to further expand the activity. camps.. Staff was very pleased with the high quality of the staff and activities this summer. The recreation leader of the Manufactured Home Community (MHC) Recreation Program spent one hour per week this summer at each of the i~ve MHC's. Approximately a 50 % increase in participation was seen in this portion of the program saw over last summer, .however, of the nine MHC tri s which were offered, four were cancelled due to low registration. In 19~ the cost of trips was $2.00 per child with the balance being paid for by a grant. In 1993 the grant was not available and the trips were subsidized by the ggeneral fund, at a cost of $4.50 per child. Although this may have, contra- - buted to low registration for some trips,. it was felt that the difficulty of getting the information out to the residents was an equal factor. Committee member Messinger asked if the program could be further subsidized possibly by a civic organization. Staff stated that the civic groups make very generous contributions and greatly enhance many programs and activities already and , it would not be prudent to become too heavily dependent on their contributions. Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee Minutes October 20, 1993 Page -4- Five new nature ro rams were offered at Ritter Farm Park this summer, with Dan Bale instruc ing. ,Three of the five had enough registrations to run. Five nature activities will also be offered at RFP ELC this winter. Committee member Messinger asked about .extending summer beach hours, perhaps one hour during the month of July or Auggust. Staff is currently evaluating the beach program and comparing Lakeville's regulations to those of other cities and counties. Messinger asked staff to look into the cost factor to see if some increase in hours would be .feasible. ITEM 9. -Unfinished business. Committee member Lulf mentioned that he and Committee member Ra mond had attended NAC's Strategic Growth presentation on October 14th. ~e felt the material was well presented and informative. Chairrpperson Ilia discussed the October 6th meeting which had been held with the amity Council concerning approval of a task force for a potential park bond referendum. City Council subsequently approved a resolution to establish the task force at their October 18th meeting. Letters inviting organizations and individuals to become involved in the task force will be mailed in the next few days. The MRPA Annual Conference will be held at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Center November 17-19, 1993. Committee members are encouraged to attend. Eleven growps, including most members of the Parks and Recreation Committee have volunteered to help with this year's Haunted Forest on October 2~, 1993. Because the area is so wet, the trail has been wood- chipped for the event. ITEM 10. -New business.. There was no new business at this time. ITEM 11. -Announcements. The next meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee is scheduled for November 3, 1993, 7:00 PM, at the City Hall Council Chambers. ITEM 12 -Adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 8:25 PM. Respectfully submitted, ~ 1 J yan, ec ing Secretary ,~'~(.c.1Z,. ~ Kevin Illa, Chair jr