04-05-07 Parks Commission Minutes

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MINUTES Parks & Recreation Commission April 5, 2007 willing to participate in the project since their employees could use the bridge to access their two campuses. The bridge would ultimately connect to the Water Works property in Maplewood to the south and to Shoreview to the north. Borens cormmented that there are grants that can be applied for that would help with a feasibility study. Enhancement funds for connectivity are also available. The Director felt this project was an important connection for Little Canada residents, especially on the west side of the city. Borens commented that a proposal is due by August. Steizzert recommended authorizing staff and Sanders to look nzto grants azzd feasibility of Little Canada's portion of the bikeway project as presented Gy Borens. Motion seconded by Davds. Motion carried S - 0. SI30REVIEW/ The City Administrator and Engineer are still in negotiations with the railroad on completing MAPLEWOOD the trail across the tracks on the Water Department right-of--way. The railroad is reluctant TRAILS to grant an easement due to liability issues. This matter does not look promising. Discussion on the Maplewood trail connection was tabled until the next meeting since Sanders was absent. v 4RK This item was tabled until the next meeting. ~STF,R PLAN SKATEBRD The St. Pau] Water Department will be checking the depth of their pipelines at the Old PARK Fire Hall property this spring as soon as the ground thaws. Once the depths are determined, we will know how to proceed with this matter. T-BALI. Little Canada resident Mario Mariani was present to ask the Commission to reconsider their Tune 1 birthday deadline for t-ball. He stated that his children have played ball in Vadnais Heights in the past, but would like to switch over to Little Canada's leagues. One of his children will not Cum five until June 3, but according to our deadline, this child would not be old enough to play t-ball. Mariani stated that he is interested in coaching and was wondering if the city would make an exception to allow his youngest child to play t-ball. The Director stated that the guidelines were set based on what Maplewood does since we play in their leagues. He felt that if we deviate from the deadline, even by a couple of days, it could open up more problems for the city since where do you draw the line? He also felt it was nice to have children exposed to one year of school before entering t-ball so that they may be easier to teach. The Director indicated that he would have Recreation Supervisor Don Bowman follow-up with the Marianis since he believes that in the past, we may have made exceptions for coaches' children if they had a child ah~eady in our program. Another possibility would be to add a "pre- tball" program next year that would allow 4-5 year olds to play together. He felt that allowing 4-5-C>-7 year olds to play together could be too much of an age difference. Page 2 of 3