HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda for December 14 2015City of Falcon Heights
Parks & Recreation Commission
AGENDA
City Hall
Monday, December 14th, 2015
6:30 p.m.
___ Gordon Strom ___ Mary Hannon Jacobson
___ Dave Thomas ___ Michael Breen
___ Ron Eischen ___ Shawn Hubert
___ Ben Reichelt
___ Council Liaison - Chuck Long
___ Council Member-Elect Gustafson
___ Staff Sack Thongvanh
___ Staff Tim Pittman
___ Staff Tim Sandvik
1. Call to Order
2. Approval of November 9th, 2015 meeting minutes
3. Discussion on Survey Results, Open House feedback
4. Discussion on ADA Compliance
5. Brief Discussion on upcoming issues for 2016 (Tim Sandik)
6. Other business
7. Adjourn
MEETING MINUTES
Monday, Nov 9, 2015
6:30 p.m.
City Hall, 2077 W. Larpenteur Ave.
City of Falcon Heights
Parks & Recreation Commission
1. Call to Order
Meeting called to order at 6:30pm.
Attendance X=present; AB=absent
X Gordon Strom Chairperson
X Tim Sandvik Staff
X Tim Pittman Staff
AB Chuck Long Council Liaison
X Mary Hannon Jacobson Co-Secretary
X Ron Eischen Co-Secretary
X Sack Thongvanh Staff
AB Dave Thomas
X Michael Breen
X Shawn Hubert
X Ben Reichelt
2. Approval of Oct 12, 2015 meeting minutes
The meeting minutes were reviewed and approved.
3. Discussion on upcoming Open Houses, Survey
Tim Sandvik reviewed what was planned for the upcoming Curtiss Field Open House
tonight. Sack was going to open the meeting with a review of a PowerPoint presentation
talking about the last few years and changes to Curtiss Field, discuss why we are
soliciting feedback from residents, how we got the current design, why we are reviewing
it, etc. Then we’ll ask for feedback from meeting attendees. On the tables, Tim laid out
some near-to-scale layouts of Curtiss Field and some of the proposed amenities so that
attendees could see how they’d fit in the small footprint of Curtiss Field.
Tim also announced that the online survey went live this afternoon and will be available
through the end of the month (November 30th.) The city strongly encourages all residents
to participate and Tim asked the P&R Commission to get the word out any way they can.
The 2nd Curtiss Field Open House is scheduled for November 18th from 5:30pm-6:30pm
(before the city council meeting.)
Once all feedback is received (from the surveys, open houses, emails, etc.) the staff will
organize that data and bring it to the December P&R meeting for review/discussion. The
commission will reconvene in January and make decide on the recommendations they
will make to city council.
Question asked: Can the commissioners get the survey results before the December
meeting to review/consider in preparation? Tim said he would try to get a rudimentary
version out beforehand.
4. Brief Discussion on upcoming Issues
a. Larpenteur Ave Medians
Sack Thongvanh began the discussion: The Larpenteur Avenue medians are currently
unsightly and need upkeep, and are also considered a hazard. The city has received
many phone calls from residents about this. There are many issues with the medians,
much of which has to do with the median base – too much class 5 and not enough
black dirt. The plants chosen might not be as salt friendly as needed. We need to
reevaluate if we are going to maintain those plantings or do something different –
looking at what Roseville has done as well. Sack would like P&R Commission to
review these issues and come up with some recommendations for city council (the
city is doing some research on medians and will give this information to them for
review.)
Sack mentioned that Larpenteur Ave is a busy thoroughfare which many visitors/non
residents will “label” as Falcon Heights. So… we want Larpenteur to be attractive
and give a good impression, yet, be low maintenance. Additionally, with the new
Bell Museum starting construction in 2016 (and finishing in 2018), there will be
many more visitors to our area and addressing the issue sooner rather than later is
vital.
Side note: Ramsey County and MN Dot will be changing the intersection of
Larpenteur & Snelling Ave which may also affect plans for these medians.
b. Zero Waste Events
Sack also discussed the Zero Waste initiative that has been brought up to the city in
regards to sustainability and resiliency. Zero Waste events produce no waste or
minimal waste. Other committees will be looking at elements of this initiative but
Sack asked the P&R Commission to consider what events we could attempt a Zero
Waste Event (ie: Ice Cream Social?) and how to work together with other
commissions to make this happen.
Sack informed the P&R Commission that at the city council retreat in
February/March, he is going to be asking the council to determine their priorities for
the next few years, and to determine what direction they would like to take the city so
that they can manage and prioritize new topics and issues as they arise over the years.
Currently, issues/topics are handled individually as they are come up without an
overall plan or prioritization by the council.
5. New Business
No new business was discussed.
6. Meeting Conclusion
Meeting adjourned at 7pm (followed by the Curtiss Field Open House #1)
a. Summary of Decisions Made
i. No decisions made during this meeting.
b. Summary of Action Items
i. No action items came from this meeting.
c. Next meeting date: Monday, December 12, 2015
d. Submitted By: Mary Hannon Jacobson