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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-02-2022 Park Board Minutes CITY OF LINO LAKES PARK BOARD MINUTES 1. WELCOME AND OATH OF OFFICE OF JULIE ANN CUTTS & DAVID TERMONT Mayor Rob Rafferty gave oath of office to Pat Huelman, Julie Ann Cutts, and David Termont. 2. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Park Board Chair Pat Huelman called the Lino Lakes Park Board meeting to order at 6:35 pm. on February 2, 2022. 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 4. SETTING OF AGENDA Agenda was approved as is. 5. OPEN MIKE One person arrived late after open mic and was able to address the Park Board and discuss Watermark Park (See Watermark Park Master Plan section for comments). 6. APPROVAL OF SEPTEMBER, 2021 MINUTES William Kusterman made a Motion to approve the September, 2021 minutes. Clark Gooder seconded the motion. Motion carried 7-0. DATE: February 2, 2022 TIME STARTED: 6:30 P.M. TIME ENDED: 8:05 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT: Patrick Huelman (Chair), William Kusterman, James Zilka, John Nordlund, Clark Gooder, David Termont,and Julie Cutts MEMBERS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Rick DeGardner (Director of Public Services) Kellie Schmidt (Administrative Assistant) 7. APPROVAL OF JANUARY, 2022 MINUTES William Kusterman made a Motion to approved the January, 2022 Minutes. John Nordlund seconded the Motion. Motion carried 7-0. 8. WATERMARK PARK MASTER PLAN Rick DeGardner, Public Services Director stated that the Park Board had discussed and finalized the Watermark Park Master Plan during the January 5, 2022 meeting and had directed staff in that meeting to solicit feedback regarding the Basketball Court (1/2 size vs full size) and Hockey Rink (place hockey rink inside loop trail or they ask HOA to clear the pond). Feedback on these two items were due back to the City by January 27th and the City received 25 responses. From the response it was clear that the residents who responded to the survey preferred the ½ basketball court and were split as to a hockey rink or clearing the pond. Watermark resident Mallory Humbert, was in attendance and discussed Watermark with the Park Board. After hearing from Watermark residents via survey, and Ms. Humbert in person, the Park Board determined that a ½ basketball court and an HOA requested pond rink would be best. This was based on residents wanting to keep Watermark a neighborhood park, not a destination park and the fact residents do have the option to create a pond rink without having to put the money and having the summer eyesore of a hockey rink. Mayor Rob Rafferty, who was in attendance, addressed the Park Board and asked if there had been discussion regarding the Pickleball Courts pointing out that Tower Park has some, and that in the design for Watermark Park it showed two. He noted that Watermark is a large development and inquired what discussion there had been regarding those hard surfaces. Pat Huelman, Park Board Chair, stated that the Park Board had discussed a Tennis Court versus a Pickleball Court and stated that the Pickleball Court served a larger range of audience.William Kusterman. Park Board Member, also stated that they had discussed that two courts seemed fair to have at that site because less than 4 miles away there was Tower Park which had more courts giving them several Pickleball options. Kusterman also stated that with the cost of a court and the space at that park he was not sure where you would exactly put more Pickleball Courts. DeGardner stated that with the parking lot that will be shared with the Watermark club house it made sense to put the courts near the parking lot. People from Watermark could easily drive to the courts and use them as well as the play structure, etc. He stated that the idea is to provide the courts in a space where it makes sense for access but also does not infringe upon the open space which will be heavily used by the residents. The Park Board also discussed the comments regarding a full court basketball hoop vs a half court. DeGardner commented that he is not opposed to putting in a full size basketball court however a full size court is very attractive to people not just in the Watermark community and could bring people from other cities into their neighborhood. DeGardner stated one way to offer a full size courts to the residents of Watermark and Lino Lakes would be to put in at Tower Park. He continued that the only other full size basketball court within the entire City of Lino Lakes was located at Rice Lake Elementary School. He also noted that if you add the full court to the existing park layout it would start to impede on the open space. Mallory Humbert, 2036 Diamond Lane in Watermark, had a chance to comment and represent her neighborhood. Humbert stated that she has spoken with many residents in the Watermark area and they have a Facebook page for their neighborhood as well for people to comment on. She addressed some of the items that had been surveyed. She stated that the Hockey Rink is not needed as there is currently three setup in their area and posts on their Facebook page inviting residents in the area to use them. She went on to address the basketball courts and a need for it versus relying on residents driveways. She stated that driveways are short and slanted. She commented that there will be a few more parks in the development that are being developed that will just be open green spaces. Kusterman addressed the Park Board stating that this is a once in a development time to get this right. They have the space, the funding, etc. Kusterman pointed out that although Tower Park is near by getting the funds to build a full size basketball court there would be difficult. DeGardner stated that it is true that obtaining the funds is difficult however he does see a full court basketball court at Tower Park when the funding is available. He did state that right now they have dedication dollars that are available for Watermark Park. Huelman addressed Mallory asking if two half-court basketball courts would be needed. She stated that yes, she believes it would get the use. She commented that many of the people moving in are 25yr – 35yrs that are moving in with young families (like babies). She said the most common comments she hears from people is they hope the money is spent on an awesome playground. Julie Cutts, Park Board Member, stated that one of the comments that really stood out to her when reviewing the feedback they received from the survey was that people asked if the playground area could be expanded and that they didn’t know how heavily used the green space would be used. Cutts then commented that the playground area did look small in relation to the open lawn space. DeGardner commented that it seemed like Watermark residents really want to be involved in the playground design and in years past they have received bids and designs from other vendors and opened it to residents to decide. The turnout was low and the cost and time associated with doing that didn’t seem to make sense. However, for this project if those in watermark wanted to go that route and volunteer to receive and look over the bids and designs they could. They would need to review the costs and what they want at the playground for the dollars that are available. He stated that staff could provide the budget and general layout and up until the actual time to put in the playground equipment the space/size of the area can be adjusted. The Park Board also discussed adding seating, having a basketball court with multiple nets/baskets, create a sidewalk that makes like a “track” around the playground, and adding a really nice shelter for the overlook area. The Park Board agreed that the overall layout looked good and that they still had the time to change the seating (add more if wanted), the playground equipment, etc. Gooder Motioned to approve the Master Plan as long as it included adding more benches, Zilka seconded it. Motion to approved the Master Plan passed 7-0 9. NEW BUSINESS A. Vote-in Vice Chair Kusterman made a Motion to nominate Clark Gooder, Park Board Member, as Vice Chair. Huelman seconded the motion. Motion passed 7-0. 10. OLD BUSINESS A. Review 2022 Parks & Trails Budgeted Items DeGardner stated he will update the Park Board on funds in budget at the next meeting. Huelman asked DeGardner how the ice rinks had been this year. DeGardner stated not good. Weather had really played a huge roll in it this year. He stated that with the warm December staff had to continually start from scratch to flood rinks. He also noted that many snow events happened during the weekends and that it is the City’s policy to not use overtime to clear the rinks. He commented with no warming house staffing this year it had been difficult to keep up on the snow. Cutts asked DeGardner if there would be warming house staff next year and DeGardner stated that staff would be under consideration during budget discussing that will start in May/June 2022. 11. NEXT SCEDULED PARK BOARD MEETING Wednesday, March 2, 2022 12. ADJOURNMENT William Kusterman made a Motion to adjourn to adjourn the meeting at 8:05 p.m. Motion was supported by James Zilka Motion carried 7 - 0. Respectfully submitted, Kellie Schmidt, Lino Lakes Administrative Assistant