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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-20 CITY OF LAKEVILLE PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES • FEBRUARY 20, 1991 The meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee was called to order at 7:00 PM by Chairman Lulf. Roll call was taken. Present were Lovelace, Illa, Lulf, Messinger and Grenz. Larson had called and had a conflict with work. Raymond was absent. Also present were Park Director Steve Michaud and Recording Secretary Judi Ringeisen. ITEM 3. The minutes of the February 6, 1991 joint meeting between the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee and the Natural. Resources Committeewereapproved as published. ITEM 4. There were no citizen comments. ITEM 5. - STAFF REPORTS Details of staff's recent memo to the committee were discussed. The trees have begun to be pruned at Valley Lake by the Park Dept.; the Street Dept. has started to prune the trees along the boulevards in Valley Park. Some of the walking paths have been cleared with the warm • weather, making them available for walkers. The security light has been installed at Valley Lake. Several good comments were received at the Valley Lake Homeowners Association meeting. Messinger commented that two additional lights would also benefit the park. Staff showed the committee the aerial photo of the northeast sector proposed park land. Committee discussed developing a concept plan that would show interior uses of proposed park area and future ultimate boundaries. Committee also discussed possible development of passive recreational usage of the property such as walking paths and a few picnic tables. ITEM 7. Committee members had received in their packets information on two potential winter access sites on Lake Marion. Staff showed photographs he had taken and further described each site. Alternative #l is on Juno Trail and County Road 64 and is .one mile from the present access. The property, which the City owns, is gently sloping toward the lake and was .previously used as a winter access. Committee members asked about ice conditions at this site and were told they appear to be good. It was pointed out that ice conditions can never be guaranteed - no matter what the location. Staff suggested erecting signs which state a • disclaimer policy. The marshy ground leading up to the access could be a problem in the spring, but probably not until after the fish houses were off the lake. Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee minutes. February 20, 1991 -2- • Alternative #2 is south of the fishing pier at Casperson Park. Some grading and shoreline work would need to be done but it is a potentially good site. This property is also presently owned by the City and is two miles from the present access. Illa felt that people would not have a problem with driving the extra mile or two to one of the alternatives. Staff and committee were partial toward the County Road 64/Juno Trail site since it was easily .accessible from a main road and has been used in the past for the purpose of winter access. ITEM 8. Committee received a list of potential budget cuts for 1991. Among the items targeted for reduction are ranger hours, senior citizen budget, administrative assistant hours and the elimination of the puppet wagon. Bob Erickson had been at the Capitol to hear the governor speak on the State's budget. Cuts in aid to local governments will increase funds for the State but will have a major impact on the budgets of cities. The impact on the City's 1992 budget will be even greater. ITEM 9. Steve Michaud reported that the Bikeway Conference held in St. Paul had been very enjoyable and he had met a lot of people. • Lakeville received many compliments on their bikeway program. Lakeville and Shoreview are the two leaders in the field in the Metro area. Steve was impressed with Pat Grady, the founder of the Seattle Metro Mountain Bike Ranger Patrol, who told of his war on crime from the bikeways and the advantages of such a patrol. Rangers in Lakeville have done some riding of the trail system and hopefully can continue to do that. Committee member .Jeff Larson attended the conference on Friday. ITEM 10. An open enrollment period for putting portions of Ritter Farm Park into the Conservation Reserve Program will be in March. Ninety-eight acres are eligible for the program which will pay $8-10,000 per year. Potential uses of funds are planning, trail development, .prairie design and restoration and wildflower design. Other programs consistent with the City's master plan can also be accomplished. A decision needs to be made of what to do with existing buildings.. Grenz mentioned the houses could be rented out, however cheaply, in order to have a caretaker or ranger living on the premises. However, it would take a lot of expense to bring the houses to a livable standard. Committee will make this a priority for discussion this year. ITEM 11. - UNFINISHED BUSINESS Minutes from the Youth Athletic Facilities scheduling meeting • were included in the committee's packets. .Several requests for use of Lakeville fields have been received and current policy Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee minutes February 20, 1991 -3- ..will be `adhered to - teams will be accommodated to the best of .our ability with LAA teams and those teams from RAAA and VAA with Lakeville resident members given priority. A second baseball. field will be constructed in Foxborough Park this year. Tremen- dons growth in the area has brought many new registrants into the .programs.. LAA is in the process of setting a policy to deal with late registrations. Committee members suggested an expansion of the fields at Parkview or the addition of a backstop at Bunker Hill to be used as a practice field for very young teams. Messinger would like to continue to receive these minutes. Staff had received a letter from the Department of Natural Resources which explained the basis for the decision not to activate the aeration system in Lake. Marion. The DNR continues to monitor the oxygen levels and as of this time has not seen a need to activate the system. Committee discussed the proposed park site at 175th Street and Highview Avenue, south of the new elementary school site. The council had also discussed this proposal at their meeting of February 19, 1991. The engineering department will be doing an addendum to their report, making a section of the Highview Avenue extension an urbanized section with curb and gutter and with trails to be installed.. Consideration needs to be given to the • grading plan of the school site to give the most positive effect to the proposed park property. 91.4 _ Motion was made by Illa, seconded by Messinger, that the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee recommends to the City Council the concept of the school/park complex at the site south of the new elementary school, with the design and size to be determined at a later date. School grading plans should take .into consideration the proposed site. Motion passed. The Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee is excited about the potential advantages of a school/park complex such. as shared _parking, bikeways, the potential of expanding on existing ath- letic facilities and making those. facilities more programmable. Also under Unfinished Business, the January Monthly Report was discussed and Messinger asked about cross country ski lessons being offered at Parkview, with no registrations. It was pointed out that zero participants did not mean no one had been interested, but that the class was not held. Those who had signed up for the class were given the choice to be moved to the classes at Ritter Farm Park, and many of them did. Some of the .wording of the Adopt-A-Park commitment letter has • been changed and the groups will be contacted soon concerning this summer's commitment. It was pointed out that some groups may want to make a one-time clean-up commitment in the parks. Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee minutes February 20, 1991 -4- i .The Recreation Sponsorship Program was discussed at the City Council meeting and they seemed supportive of the idea. Staff proposed a multi-city Parks and Recreation Committee meeting to be hosted by Lakeville this spring, possibly at North Parka A good topic for discussion could be the State's budget cuts' effects on area park departments. A memo will be sent to communities to see if .April 27th would be an acceptable date. Staff explained the effect of the new Social Security/Medicare costs on part time employees' salaries and its effect on the proposed budget in general. This year the lifeguards will have an opportunity to work on maintenance projects on rain days. This policy will help the city stay competitive in finding and keeping good employees. Staff has asked the school district to consider the design of the pool to be installed at the current high school and look at a leisure pool design as opposed to the standard rectangular style. One advantage of such a design is that it would be enjoyed by the entire community. Similar pools have proven to be revenue-producing as people are more willing to pay to swim there. • ITEM 13. .The next meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee will be March 6, 1991 at 7:00 PM in the council chambers. Lulf will formulate a schedule for Parks and Recreation Committee members to be in attendance at the City Council meetings. ITEM 14. Since there was no further business, the meeting was adjourned by Chairman Lulf at 9:10 PM. J i Ring n, Recording Secretary Larry Lu f Chairma jr •