Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-05 . CITY OF LAKEVILLE PARK AND RECREATION COMMITTEE MEETING SEPTEMBER 5, 1984 7:00 P.M. Roll. Call: Lovelace, Olmsted, Gramstad, Grenx and Anderson were present. Lewis could not make the meeting- and Chairman Cramer would be to the. meeting a little bit late. Council member Bob Nelson was also in attendance. Citizens visiting the meeting included Laon Hammer, Ed Mako, Dan. Bale, Jerry Lejchar and Richard Kiefer. Also attending the meeting was Tim Erkkila of Erkkila and Associates. 84.43 The first order of business was the approval of the August 15, 1984 Park and Recreation Committee minutes. It was moved by Olmsted, seconded by Lovelace, to approve the minutes as read. Motion passed. Under the Park Director's report, the following information was offered by Park Director Steve Michaud. Grading and the preparation of the land at Oak Shores Park had started. It should be completed by the week of September 15th. • Development at Foxborough Park has also begun. Bud Alich, Park Super- intendent, had arranged with a local farmer to have some heavy equipment brought into the park and the park had been completely plowed and disked two or three times. After at least two diskings, the condition of the soil was still very bad. A couple more diskings are going to be tried and if the soil does not break down, the land will have to sit for one year and decom- pose. If this occurs, seeding will then take place in the spring of 1985. In the meantime, additional landscaping will continue, hopefully a parking lot and a skating area will be developed prior to this winter. As of September 12th, the Parkview Elementary playground equipment project had been completed. The hauling of sand has been scheduled for Fri- day, the 14th of September and the final landscape beams will be installed to complete this project. The holding pond at Independence Park has been filled and the final landscaping for that project will also be taking place. A pool deck area around Bunker Hill Park has been removed and was dumped in the hole at Inde- pendence Park and covered over. Additional grading and landscaping will have to be completed at Bunker Hill. Park before the rebuilding of the hockey rink can commence. The maintenance department, during rainy days, has costructed all rink panels in preparation for the installation at both rinks.. Starting on September 17th, the installation of Parkview rink and the • installation of equipment at Independence Park should begin, weather permitting. Park and Recreation Committee minutes September 5, 1984 • Page -2- The maintenance department also was able to remove both beach fronts and store away rafts, barrels, etc. and other equipment at Valley Lake Beach and Orchard Lake Beach. Lakeville hosted its final state tournament at Aronson Park on the weekend of the 8th & 9th. All reports showed it to be a very successful tournament. The senior .citizen center project is well underway. Most of the foot- ings have been installed. Landscape grading for the parking lot area is .almost complete. The framing aspect of the project should begin shortly. The committee was informed that notice had been received from .the State of Minnesota informing Lakeville that the Antlers Park grant did not score enough points to be .funded this year. The committee was informed of Council action relative to the purchase of Leonard Bentson's property. At this time the committee wished to move to item six to allow time for citizen input relative to the Ritter Farm Park master plan. Mr. Tim Erkkila of Erkkila and Associates updated the committee and the citizens relative to the planning process now in progress for Ritter Farm Park. Mr. Erkkila explained the variety of potential uses in special areas throughout Ritter Farm Park and basic criteria to be used in the planning process. After critiqueing his prospective of the planning process, citizen input was received starting with Mrs. Laon Hammer. Mrs. Hammer explained that "she had lived across from Ritter Farm Park for many years, her involvement with the acquisition of the park and her special attachment to all the ammenities o£ Ritter Farm Park. .Mrs. Hammer generally agreed with the basic concepts being planned and emphasized the need for special nature programs and continued management and development of ski trails, bringing back cross country citizen races and lessons, development of nature camps and the potential of a youth hostile. The next citizen to speak was Dan Bale. .Dan, being a science and biology teacher with the Lakeville School .system, had been a veteran user of Ritter Farm Park. He stated he moved to Lakeville as a result of Ritter Farm Park's purchase and encouraged the development of an interpretive center and has very strong concerns about the environment and its uses and emphasized the need for additional nature study programs to be developed in .the future. He thought we should develop natural prairie areas, install a natural berming area to separate use areas and property lines and also suggested the potential of a blacktop trail, an all weather trail for handicapped access and access by the general public during inclement weather, the potential for an historical renovation of the entire farm area, with a need for additional loop trail • systems, camping, and other passive activities. Park and Recreation Committee minutes September 5, 1984 Page -3- Citizen Ed Mako commented, stating that he basically agreed with all the ideas and potential plans stated at the meeting. He emphasized the need to maintain the integrity of the park in its natural state and thought all of the potential uses. were. in the realm and capability of the park. Mr. Mako thought the park had been well managed to date and the management philosophies used over the past ten years should continue into the future, maintaining the natural environment as a high priority. Mr. Lejchar and Mr. Kiefer, also citizens of Lakeville, expressed the need for a good forestry management program at Ritter Farm Park. Both gen- tlemen had volunteered their services to assist with the removal of dead elm stands and also the assist the supervision of all removal, Park Director Steve Michaud is working in conjunction with the two gentlemen to develop a wood removal program that is safe, efficient, and above all, managed very closely. Park Director-Steve Michaud then took the floor and added several ideas to those that were already submitted. It was suggested that farming .continue in, the open areas, as a preventive measure of potential fire hazards. Other ideas. for potential uses included archery ranges, primitive camping, day camp for children, continued development of ski trails and walking trails, fishing areas and canoe areas. Park Director also explained the-need to redevelop the • apple orchard areas, which are now slowly dying, the need for some shoreline development and some day the need for a live-in full time ranger. Most of these ideas are existing, some will take many years to incorporate. Of all citizens making comments, an overwhelming priority in need became evident, that being the need for a permanent type shelter with rest rooms. There were some additional comparisons to the Hennepin County Park .Reserve District and the Wood Lake. Nature Center. Steve outlined the three major existing problems, those being forest management, hunting pressure and the need for rest room facilities. There being no further discussion on the Ritter Farm Park plan, Tim Erkkila was instructed to take all the valuable information received this evening and begin to prepare same concept plans and programmatic activity planning and return to the committee as soon as possible with his presentation. The citizens were thankful for being invited to the committee meeting and in turn were thanked for their presence and information.. Moving back to item number four, which was a review of the final master plans of Cedar Highlands, Independence Park and Dakota Heights Park, Steve reported to the committee that all three master plans had been completed .and displayed the final renditions for comments. Commissioner Grenz questioned the pond at Independence Park still. being shown on the map. Steve explained the pond had been removed and that any additional renditions of this park would not show the pond being present. • Park and Recreation Committee minutes September 5, 1984 Page In all, committee members were in agreement with the final product. 84.44 There being no further discussion, it was moved by Anderson, seconded by Olmsted, to recommend to City Council approval of the final master plans for Independence Park, Cedar Highlands Park and Dakota Heights Park. Motion passed. Item five was a review of the bike trail information. Park Director provided the committee with aerial photography of all the sensitive areas being looked at for trails. Three rolls of aerial photography were passed out to three different committee members for review. Considerably more time will be spent discussing the various sensitive areas within the city rela- tive to bike trails at the .September 19th Committee meeting. Commissioner Grenz once again informed the committee that the Valley Park bike trail near the new shopping center south of 160th Street, was rather rough which he believe was caused by heavy equipment during the construction phase of the shopping center. Steve said he would visit the site and inspect the area. All commissioners agreed that some type of a trail should be devel- oped from downtown Lakeville to Antlers Park and on out to the High School. As of these minutes, an important meeting was held .with the state, the county and the city relative to a bike trail going under the viaduct at Highway 50 and 35W. The committee will be updated as to the progress of this at its next meeting. Under old business, Steve presented two plats. Both plats were older plats, but there was no record as to park dedication requirements or recommen- dations from the park committee. The first plat was Ridge .Run which is north of the Barrett`s plat on Ipava Avenue, north of the elementary school. The second was South Creek, which is located on the end of 208th Street, just east of downtown Lakeville. Steve put a:.copp of both plats on the bulletin board for the committee to review. Commissioner blmsted asked if the need for. park properties had been met by both locations. Steve informed the. committee that Dakota Heights Park the Christina Huddleston Elementary School, Hershey Park and Aronson Park should satisfy all the .park land needs for both plats. 84.45 There being no further discussion, it was moved by Grenz, seconded by Cramer, to recommend to City Council that a cash contribution be required of Ridge Run plat and South Creek plat to satisfy the requirements of the Park Dedication Ordinance. Motion passed.. Committee member Cramer requested that copies of the Natural Resources, Planning Commission and City Council minutes be sent to the Park and Rec Committee members. 84.46 There being no new business, it was moved by Gramstad, seconded by Olmsted, to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 10:30 P.M.~ Respectfully~submtted, a A Gerald S. Michaud, Parks and Rec. Director GSM:jr