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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1.23.2019 Parks Commission Agenda emailed NOTICE OF MEETING City of Lake Elmo Park Commission 3880 Laverne Avenue North January 23, 2019 6:30 PM AGENDA 1.Call to Order 2.Swear in new Commissioners 3.Select a Chair and Vice Chair for the Parks Commission 4.Approve Agenda 5.Approve Minutes a)December 17, 2018 6.Review Sunfish Lake Park Mountain Bike Proposal 7.February 2019 Meeting Agenda 8.Communication 9. Adjourn ***Note: Every effort will be made to accommodate person or persons that need special considerations to attend this meeting due to a health condition or disability. Please contact the Lake Elmo City Clerk if you are in need of special accommodations. Our Mission is to Provide Quality Public Services in a Fiscally Responsible Manner While Preserving the City’s Open Space Character MINUTES City of Lake Elmo Parks Commission December 17, 2018 Members Present: Commissioners Ames, Frick, Mayek, Nelson, Nuenfeldt, Olinger, Steele, Weeks and Zeno Members Absent: None Staff Present: City Planner Prchal, Public Works Director Weldon The meeting was called to order by Chair Nelson at 6:30 PM. Approval of Agenda Frick made a motion to approve the agenda, seconded by Nuenfeldt. Motion passed. Approval of Minutes Frick made a motion to approve the September minutes as written, seconded by Zeno. Motion passed. Olinger made a motion to approve the October minutes as written, seconded by Weeks. Motion passed. Frick commented that she was absent from the November meeting. Nelson made a motion to approve the November minutes with the correction, seconded by Nuenfeldt. Motion passed. Central Greenway Trail Plan Conner from Washington County presented the Central Greenway Trail Master Plan and the process. He requested the Commission provide a recommendation or letter of support. Frick asked about the cost sharing between the City and the County. She also asked about who would be responsible for the construction of the bridge across Highway 36. Conner explained that the County requires a 50 percent cost share with the Cities. He explained that a lot of the paths are installed when road work is being done to reduce the cost of constructing the trails. He also explained that the bridge would be tied into the overall plan for the Highway 36 interchanges and that in the past the State has contributed to the construction since it is part of the State transportation system. Weeks asked about the trail crossing the railroad. Conner explained that since this is a Master Plan, the railroad does not want to commit to a plan until the trail will be constructed, so that is why it is left open-ended. Frick made a motion to approve the plan as presented, seconded by Olinger. Motion passed. Parks Work Plan for 2019 Prchal explained the items on the Parks Work Plan. Weldon spoke about getting City water out to Pebble Park at some point in the future. Currently the well at Pebble Park needs to be tested monthly. He asked that the Parks Commission consider running the connection this year. Running water further into the park and sealing the well could be done in the future. Prchal said there is some money still available for this in the budget. Frick made a motion for Pebble Park to install a 4 inch water service at the time of road construction and look into sealing the existing well at an approximate cost of $20,000, seconded by Zeno. Motion passed. Nelson made a motion to approve the 2019 Parks Work Plan, seconded by Weeks. Motion passed. January 2019 Agenda Select Chair and Vice Chair Communications Zeno asked about the progress of Lion’s Park regarding the Pickleball court and if the grading was completed. Weldon explained that with the early onset of cold weather they could have installed temporary pavement. The opted to wait to keep the drainage and base that were installed and not void the warranty on the hockey boards. The final grading and paving will be completed when the paving of the road is completed in the spring. There will not be a hockey rink for the winter, but there will be a skating area once the weather cooperates. There is not a rink attendant but there is a functional restroom. Frick commented about the good work of the Friends of Sunfish Lake Park buckthorn removal at Sunfish Lake Park. Frick asked if the piles of brush would be removed and who was responsible. Weldon explained that Public Works was removing the piles as time permits. Nelson asked about the sign that was removed from one of the parks. Weldon explained that it was removed from the Tana Ridge Park due to a resident complaint about visibility. The sign was saved when it was removed and if it is in good condition will be reinstalled. New signs will also be added to the new parks and to Lions Park, that sign was not salvageable. Meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Tanya Nuss STAFF REPORT DATE: 01/23/2019 REGULAR TO: Parks Commission FROM: Ben Prchal, City Planner AGENDA ITEM: Mountain Bike Trials within Sunfish Lake Park REVIEWED BY: Ken Roberts, Planning Director BACKGROUND: The City of Lake Elmo Parks Commission and City Council approved a Capital Improvement expenditure of $120,000 for the development of mountain bike trials in Sunfish Lake Park. Staff was then directed through the 2019 parks work plan to further explore trail development and gather information on what it would mean to build the trails. While the City was reviewing the trail design for Reid Park, a trail consultant (Trail Source) was used to provide a draft trail plan for Sunfish Park in conjunction with the Reid Park project. ISSUE BEFORE THE PARKS COMMISSION: Which of the routes would the Parks Commission regarding the proposed mountain bike trail map for Sunfish Lake Park? PROPOSAL DETAILS/ANALYSIS: At this point of the trail development, staff would like to know if the Commission has comments about the size/length of the trail(s), location, etc. Staff has been working off of the map that had initially been provided by Trail Source. Since then Staff has met with MORC (Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists) to go over the proposed design. This was done because there were certain sections of the trail that should be re-routed to avoid trail crossover conflicts and staff wanted an educated opinion on the re-routes. MORC provided some comments on how the trail should be adjusted so there would be less cross over with existing trails and to lessen erosion. At this point the trail layout needs to be looked at with a degree of flexibility. There will be situations where the trail will need to be redirected to go around a wet spot or perhaps mature trees to avoid damaging such natural features. This means the final trail might have larger curves or maybe a tighter curve in certain spots. The intent for this review is to establish if there is consensus on the scale of trail through the park. Going forward, staff will be communicating with the Minnesota Land Trust about the trail design as they have a degree of influence over the park through a conservation easement. Such as the design and review of potential impacts. If possible, staff will bring their comments as well as more specific technical information to the next Park Commission meeting. This information will include as maintenance costs, expected level of maintenance and trail development costs. Aspects of the Trial: Number of Bike/Walking Trail Crossings 38 - Route 1 has 19 crossings - Route 2 has 19 crossings Estimated Trail Length 8 – 9 Miles - As of now the budget would only allow for one of the two sections to be built. Route 1 is around 5 miles and route 2 is around 4 miles. Staff believes there are opportunities to redesign the trail and reduce the number of crossings without substantially adjusting the design or reworking walking trails. 2 Staff also would like to encourage readers to follow the links below, which are videos of established Minnesota Mountain Bike Trails in Minnesota. Staff expects the Sunfish Trails to be similar to what is shown in the videos. Lebanon Hills – Egan MN https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QopWLljmSg8&t=170s Cuyuna – Ironton MN https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DOvDS1PD0o Carver Lake – Woodbury MN https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CE5WK4QjGs&t=202s Impact on surrounding properties: The park does not boarder a large number of residential properties. The majority of the homes are located to the North/ North East of the park with the rest being farm land or larger residential properties. The majority of the trail is kept internal to the site and Staff believes it would be difficult to see the proposed trail from the edges of the park. Staff does not anticipate mountain bikers would cause more of a nuisance than other users within the park. There is an established park entrance with a parking lot which is where we would expect users of the park to enter the park. Staff does expect the trail to receive active use and at this time believes the parking lot to be adequate for users. Impact to other users: With the added amenity of mountain bike trails, it is anticipated that the number of users in the park will increase. With the user type expected to vary, the majority of the proposed trail is designed to mitigate the speed at which a bike will cross a walking path. The design of the trail is predominately located in areas which do not have an established use, thus not now actively used. It is important that the park be a safe and useful amenity for all residents and visitors. Where crossings are going to occur they will be established in a way that will force bike riders to slow there speed to safely cross the walking trail. Clearing brush near the trail crossings would also be a method to help establish better visibility around each trail intersection. Signage: Where intersections occur, trails would be marked displaying the direction of travel and expectations. The City should expect to put up signage warning walkers and bikers of the crossings. There can also be signage placed at the entrance to further inform users of expectations as well as conditions of trails after rain events. Such as: “Riders must wait 2 hours after a rain event before trail use” and “Be good stewards remove all trash”. FISCAL IMPACT: There is $120,000 reserved for the development of mountain bike trails throughout the park. At this time staff does not have more specific information about the project costs to bring forward. OPTIONS: Staff is requesting that the Parks Commission review and comment on the draft trail design. The Parks Commission may: 1. Recommend approve the trail as it has been presented; 2.Direct Staff to amend the trail design; 3. Recommend denial of the development of the mountain bike trail(s) throughout the park; or RECOMMENDATION: At this time Staff believes that Route number 1 would be the best option for the park. “Recommend approval of the proposed Route one mountain bike trail design for Sunfish Lake Park as presented.” ATTACHMENTS: •Draft Trail Map. •Other Mountain Bike Trail Examples.