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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes for March 10MEETING MINUTES Monday, February 10, 2014 6:30 p.m. City Hall City of Falcon Heights Parks & Recreation Commission 1. Call to Order Meeting called to order at 6:36pm. No public comment was offered. Attendance X=present; AB=absent X Gordon Strom Chairperson X Christina Erickson Secretary X Michelle Tesser Staff X Tim Pittman Staff AB Chuck Long Council Liaison X Mary Hannon Jacobson X Dave Thomas AB Liz Asmus X Michael Breen AB Cari Lee 2. Approval of Meeting Minutes Christina Erickson asked the commission if her appointment of Secretary was approved by all since no official vote was performed during the January meeting. Mary Hannon Jacobson confirmed the sole role of the Secretary is to take meeting minutes and forward to Michelle after compilation. The commission agreed to both of these and the January 9, 2014 were approved. 3. Welcome New Commission Leketta Troupe Michelle Tesser informed the commission that Leketta is unable to make the Park & Rec commission meeting time/dates and withdrew her application as commissioner. 4. Presentation of Searchability of Laserfiche database Michelle Tesser reviewed the website with the commission. Clicking on the City Government\City Commissions\Parks and Recreation Commission menu option displayed the Park and Rec Commission page where an Archive was specified at the bottom. Clicking on the “this link” hyperlink in the Archive section brings the user to the Laserfiche WebLink system. A hyperlink into the Laserfiche WebLink system can be found on the City Council tab or any of the City Commision tabs. Using the Laserfiche WebLink system, a user can search criteria and access information on a specific topic that has been captured in previous meeting minutes or agendas of Park & Rec meetings. The Archives go back as far back as minutes/agendas are found in 1987 and are open to the public. Meeting minutes and agendas are automatically moved into laserfiche for searchability. Meeting minutes and agendas are also listed by date of the meeting. 5. Update on the Park Improvement Open House and Survey Michelle Tesser said there were 165 online responses to the Park Improvement Survey that was on the city website. 20 people attended the open houses. Candace Amberg (Project Manager & Landscape Architect from WSB) got a lot of feedback and will present WSB’s findings and recommendations to the Park and Rec Commission at the March 10th meeting. On March 26th she will present the information to the Falcon Heights City Council. Gordon Strom requested that the Park & Rec commission see a draft of her findings and recommendations before the March 10th meeting so that the commissioners have time to review/absorb the information and come prepared with questions/comments to the March 10th commission meeting. Michelle Tesser said she will ask Candace if this can be provided and emailed to the commissioners. 6. Recap on Winterfest Event Michelle Tesser reviewed the Winterfest event held on Sunday, Jan 26th from 1pm-4pm at Community Park. The activities (animals, snowshoeing, ice skating and the hayride) all had participants. However, the weather was very cold and played a factor in the lower turnout than usual – too cold for outside activity. The Medallion was found in the usual amount of time, 1.5 hours. Gordon Strom asked how do we determine plans for future years and is the event evaluated for future improvements or consideration. Michelle recaps that the City Council strongly supports the Winterfest event as a community builder and budgets are built knowing some events may not be as successful some years as they were in previous. 7. Presentation on 2013 Budget and Rec Data Analysis Michelle Tesser presented a Powerpoint review of the budget and analysis data (*attached*). Connected to budget, as revenue in rec programs has increased over the years. Michelle explained the budget on specific activities in relation to costs to provide the program versus revenue made. Comments made during open discussion: Gordon Strom asked: Will there ever be a maximum reached on ability to offer programs? Michelle stated that we are reaching that maximum now (with 101 programs in 2013.) Lauderdale residents are charged a resident rate per our agreement with them. Question was asked why there were not more winter programs. Michelle replied that it is hard to have winter programs as there are no staff that time of year to run them and Michelle’s other administrative duties become very busy with license and permit renewals. Families like Falcon Heights Park & Rec summer offerings for the younger kids. Revenues are good. Draw from other cities has increased, though Michelle has not done advertising differently. What happens if we go over budget? There is a parachute system built in, programs do not have to be dropped. Budget for supplies and material are very low. Most of the budget goes for staff salaries. Also costs for specialty instructors. The city earns 20% on specialty instructors. The extra revenue earned over the past years are transferred into the general funds. They are not maintained in a fund for Parks & Rec. Tim Pittman discussed facilities and grounds maintenance and estimated how much he will spend on maintenance at Curtiss, Grove and Community Parks in 2014. This cost in 2013 was $5,354. This covers things like grass seed, paint, repairs, etc. Tim showed the 5 year capital requests for improvements to parks = $126,000 would be needed in the next 5 years. $140,000 was given by park dedication from Hermes, but that will be spent quickly. Park & Rec commission will need to think of a way to get funding back into the budget for park improvements and maintenance. Roseville had to have a referendum to gather enough funds for their recent park improvements. The park improvement study being performed by Candace and her team at WSB will outline options and suggestions regarding funding. 8. Public Works Report Tim Pittman discussed public works. He said plowing is going well, with his staff doing most of the plowing (as opposed to contracting it out to Ramsey County). The county was called recently to plow (such as weekends when his staff is not always available) but not often. Falcon Heights can pay Ramsey County to plow but it is more cost effective and cheaper to do it ourselves. Tim was considering purchasing another plow and not contract to Ramsey County anymore but he is holding off on that decision because of the small size of his staff (3 person crew) and their availability. As it works now, Ramsey County calls us to see if we need the plowing, and we try to save the dollars by doing the plowing ourselves. Question was asked: When does the work in Curtiss Field begin (to resolve drainage/flooding issue)? Tim said September 2014. Part of the outcome of the WSB Park Improvement study will be what changes/improvements will be made to Curtiss Field Park so nothing can be done until that study is presented to the city (currently scheduled for March 26th) and decisions are made by the City Council. Dave Thomas asked if the pond will be removed. Tim replied that the pond will stay but structurally they will manage the piping to prevent flooding of the park (the pond will always have standing water.) Fencing will be installed around the pond. Landscaping options will be in the Park Improvement Study from WSB. 9. 2014 Recreation Programs Agenda Items skipped due to time constraints. 10. FHE Site Construction Michelle was notified via email by Kirstine Rossow of the Roseville School District that Falcon Heights Elementary school may be undergoing expansion construction this summer (2014). Therefore, there is a strong likelihood that the Falcon Heights space (school playground/park) will NOT be available for summer park & rec programming. The construction has not been approved yet but Michelle is looking into other venue options (such as Lauderdale park.) See *attached* email. 11. Recap of meeting with Potential Sponsor – Spire Michelle met with Spire in January, Spire agreed to sponsor $650 for Movie in the Park this summer which covers the rental equipment. Spire is also interested in providing $150 towards the Falcon Heights/Lauderdale 5k fun run in September. 12. Andy Hovland’s memo to Commissioners on tree update Andy Hovland was unable to attend the meeting so he sent the (*attached*) email updating the commission on his tree plan. Mary Hannon Jacobson discussed a conversation she had with Rainbow Treecare who treats her residential Ash tree. According to Rainbow, chemical treatments used against EAB (Emerald Ash Borer) are now nationally recognized by the industry as proven, recommended and warrantied treatments against EAB. In light of this, Mary was curious if Andy Hovland would support the use of chemical treatments for any healthy Ash trees in Community park whose preservation would be beneficial to the park until new trees that are/will be planted are established. Mary requested that Andy Hovland communicate his viewpoint on the use of chemical treatments for healthy Ash in our parks. Tesser discussed that Andy will present in front of the council during his usual yearly update in the next couple of months. Chuck Long, Council Liason to the Parks and Recreation Commission can ask this question at this time. The Question was also asked about timelines for the Master Tree Plan. Michelle said Andy is not working on a Master Tree Plan for Falcon Heights Parks. Instead he is addressing the trees in Community, Grove and Curtiss Field Parks and the Cleveland and Larpenteur boulevards, but no Master Tree Plan is being developed for the park at this time. 13. New Business a. Summary of previous EAB decisions Chuck Long sent an email (*attached*) summarizing the background of previous discussions/decisions regarding chemical treatment of EAB (Emerald Ash Borer) by Andy Hovland and the City Council. b. Onboarding New Commissioners Mary Hannon Jacobson requested that the process for onboarding new Park & Rec commissioners be reviewed and modified. She talked with Roseville Park & Rec who gives their new commissioners a binder of information about current projects for them to review and familiarize themselves with before their first meeting so they can come to the meetings prepared. Mary believes this would make those meetings more efficient/effective and give new commissioners a tool to help contribute to the meetings immediately. Dave Thomas recommended writing up a 1 page document for new commissioners outlining current projects each time a new commissioner comes on board. Mary Hannon Jacobson recommended using the Laserfiche WebLink system to combine information from various meetings to create a summary of current projects. The question was asked how often Park & Rec has commission turnover. Mary said she has been on the commission nearly 1 year and many new commissioners have joined. Michelle said the commissions are usually not like this (so many new members.) 14. Meeting Conclusion Michelle confirmed this was her last meeting before her maternity leave. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 10th where the commission will meet with Candace Amberg (WSB) to review WSB’s Park Improvement study findings and recommendations. The meeting adjourned at 8:00pm. a. Summary of Decisions Made i. Christina Erickson is Secretary of the Park & Rec Commission. The sole purpose of the secretary position is to take meeting minutes and forward to Michelle Tesser for review/forward to commissioners. b. Summary of Action Items i. Michelle Tesser will contact Candace Amberg (WSB) to request a draft of the WSB findings/recommendation for the Park & Rec commissions review before March 10, 2014 ii. Chuck Long will ask Andy Hovland at his next yearly update to the city council whether his viewpoint on chemical treatment has changed and if he would support the use of chemical treatments for any healthy Ash trees in Community park whose preservation would be beneficial to the park until new trees that are/will be planted are established. c. Documents to Attach/PDF with these Meeting Minutes i. Powerpoint Presentation of 2013 Budget and Rec Data Analysis ii. Email from Kristine Rossow re: unavailability of Falcon Heights Elementary park/playground for Park & Rec programming iii. Andy Hovland’s memo to Commissioners on tree update iv. Email from Chuck Long regarding EAB discussion history d. Incomplete Decisions which should be included on March Agenda i. Onboarding new commissioners – should we modify this process? CommunityPark Oneofmyconcernsistryingtoimprovethesafetyofthetreesintheplaygroundarea.Thankfully,there areseveralnonͲashspeciesinthisareawhichIthinkweshouldpreserveaswewillbelosingsomany treesinthenorthendoftheparkastheyaremostlyash.Irecommendhazardreductionpruninginthe nonͲashtreespecies,aswellascablingthesetreeswhereweakbranchattachmentsareevident.We havebeguntoreplantinseveralareasontheedgesoftheplaygroundandbasketballcourt.Mygoalis tocontinuethisprocess,removingadditionalashandreplantingnewtreestock.Abulkofmyefforts goingforwardwillberemovingandreplacingtheashonthesouthsideoftheparkinglot,manyofwhich areindecline.Thetreesdonotprovidemuchshadeatthispointgiventheirstate.Irecommendremoval andreplacementofalltheseash.Iwouldalsoliketoplantplentyoftreesonthenorthsideofthe parkingalongRoselawn.Carsparkedonbothsidesoftheparkinglotwouldthenbenefitfromtheshade thesetreeswilleventuallycast.MuchofCommunityParkisrecreationalspaceandweneedtoleave openspacefortheseactivities.Anyadditionalplantingwouldbeontheedgesofthesespacesoralong thewalkingpathinthepark.Safetyisalwaysaconcernandkeepingopensightlinesisimportant, especiallyinareasfurtherfromtheroad.Strategicplantingsalongthewalkingpathwillprovideshade forparkvisitors,whilestillaccountingforsafetyandthemixedusenatureofthispark.  CurtissField AnyplanningputintoCurtissFieldhingesontheresultsofthehydrologicalstudy.Residentshave requestedadditionaltreesplantedaroundtheplaygroundareaforshadeaswellasnewplantingsalong Snelling.WehavehadalotoftreelossalongSnelling,partlyduetosaltoversprayfromtheroadand poortreeselectionaswellasdroughtconditionsoverthelast5years.ThePoplarplantingsnearthe gazeboatthenorthendoftheparkareproblematicduetothetendencyofthesetreestorootsucker, whichcanobscuretheviewintothegazebo.Thissituationwasaddressedseveralyearsago,butwill mostlikelyneedtobeaddressedagain.IwouldbehappytodiscussplantingsatthisparkfurtheronceI haveseentheresultsofthehydrologicalstudy.  GrovePark Severaltreescamedowninsummerstormsthispastyear.Onewasanashadjacenttothefirelanefor 1666Coffman,whichIsuggestwedonotreplantasthespacewasovercrowdedalreadywithtree stock.TheothertreewasalongCoffman,whichIsuggestwereplantthisspring.Also,welostawhite pineseveralyearsagoatthesouthwestendoftheparkalongthewalkingpath.Itwouldbeniceto establishsomethinginthisspace,asitprovidesavisualbufferbetweentheparkandtheprivate residencesbehindit.  Cleveland ClevelandmedianwasreplantedthispastSeptemberwithPrincetonElm.Publicworksassistedin wateringthesetreesduringdryperiodslastfalltoaidinestablishment.Thisspringwewillremulchthe bedsandadjustthestakesasneeded.Thetreeswillcontinuetobewateredthisseasonifweenter anotherdryspell.  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