Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks Commission Minutes February 2020Dr a f t MINUTES City of Lake Elmo Parks Commission February 19, 2020 Members Present: Commissioners- Mayek, Nightingale, Olinger, Schumacher and Weeks Absent: Ames Staff Present: City Planner- Prchal, Public Works Director- Powers The meeting was called to order by Weeks at 6:30 PM. Announcements Weeks wanted to take a moment to mention that at the start of the New Year the parks commission has three openings. Commissioners Nightingale and Ames re-applied and were appointed to the Commission. Mike Zeno did not re-apply and the Commission wanted to thank him for his service as he was on the Commission for at least 15 years. Selection of Chair and Vice Chair Olinger nominated Weeks to serve as the chair, seconded by Schumacher. Weeks accepted the nomination. Nomination was approved unanimously. Schumacher nominated Olinger to serve as the vice chair, seconded by Weeks. Olinger accepted the nomination. Nomination was approved unanimously. Approval of Agenda Weeks motioned to approve the agenda, seconded by Schumacher. Agenda was approved unanimously. Approval of Minutes a) December 16, 2019 No changes were made. Minutes were accepted as presented. Public Comments None. Review Sunfish Lake RFP Submission Prchal presented to the Commission on the RFP submission for the bike trail in Sunfish Lake Park. The City Council recently voted to allow the trail to be built in the park. Staff received one proposal from Trail Source to build the trail. Prchal gave some background on the company and their recent projects they have completed. The submission included references from Hillside and Lebanon Hills Parks where Trail Source performed Dr a f t work. The proposal has built time scheduled to be completed in 5-6 weeks working 5 days a week, weather permitting. July 30th is the expected completion date for the trail. The City reserved $120,000 for this project and the proposal came in under budget leaving a contingency of $8,300. Maintenance is not expected to exceed $2,500 a year. Prchal is recommending the Commission to approve the proposal from Trail Source for the construction of the bike trail in Sunfish Lake Park. Schumacher asked about the equipment that will be required for construction and how much of the parking lot that will take up. Tim Wagner from Trail Source said that the equipment will not be in the lot but it will be in the park for about 2 days then they will move them back to their own storage. They may keep one storage trailer in the parking lot depending on security of the area. Some of the equipment will be small excavators and hand tools. Schumacher also asked about properly marking the trail intersections during the construction. Mr. Wagner stated that they will work closely with City staff to map out the topography of the park to properly mark the trail. Schumacher asked about the barriers along the intersections because the proposal says they could be built and he wanted to know if they will be put it. Mr. Wagner said that will be up to the City if they want barriers and they would probably be rocks. Schumacher also asked where material would be coming from if a slope had to be built. Mr. Wagner said they do not have to import any soil, they can usually move enough dirt around to accommodate for a slope. Olinger asked about who decides if trail modification needs to be made. Mr. Wagner said that would be up to the Parks department and Commission. Director Powers said public works will be monitoring it every day as well as equipment monitoring in the park. Olinger asked Powers how often he would be meeting with Trail Source. Powers said that they would check on the construction daily and as it progresses maybe down to every other day or as needed. Olinger asked if during construction if any parts of the park will be closed to the public. Mr. Wagner said they plan on keeping the trails that are being constructed closed until the construction is completed. Olinger also asked who Trail Source taught to build trails. Mr. Wagner said he did a lot of work with Minnesota off Road Cyclists and taught a lot of them to build trails. Weeks referenced a comment Mr. Wagner made back at an initial meeting in 2017 about the walking and skiing trails being so wide and that Trail Source would not build them that way anymore. Weeks asked if any of the erosion issues on the current trails in Sunfish could be fixed by Trail Source. Mr. Wagner said they could possibly look at redesign options but that would take some evaluations before a decision could be made. Weeks also asked if the proposal included any signage because he would like to use the left over $8,300 for some signage. Mr. Wagner said it did not include signage and he would have some companies that he could recommend for signage. Olinger asked if there would be an adequate description on the City website or somewhere that people could easily read to understand the trails. Mr. Wagner said bike trails are labeled like ski trails such as green, black, and yellow for level of difficulty. They would look to get a good mix of difficulty levels built. Prchal said staff could put together a document that would describe to riders what the trails will be like. Ann Bucheck, 2301 Legion Avenue. Ms. Bucheck asked if the city spends a certain amount of money if they are required to get more than one submission. Prchal said that amount is Dr a f t $150,000 or more and this bid is under that. She asked if the hand tools and equipment being used that are up to 50 inches wide are too big which she believes according to the Minnesota Land Trust the equipment cannot be wider than 30 inches. Prchal said he talked with the Minnesota Land Trust and they had no issues with the proposed equipment in the park. She was also concerned about the width of 7-8ft wide clearings. It was clarified that would be at the intersections. The Minnesota Land Trust reviewed the RFP and had no issues with the project. Ms. Bucheck agreed with Commissioner Olingers’ point abut labeling the trails for difficulty so riders know what they are for. Susan Dunn, 11018 Upper 33rd Street North. Ms. Dunn asked if Mr. Wagner was the contractor who designed Reid Park. Weeks said the City had consulted Mr. Wagner on trail designs but it was a group up in Stillwater who did the work on Reid Park. She raised concerns that Sunfish Lake was meant to be a nature preserve and not have bike trails. She also had a concern about the time frame and wanted clarification. Week said the proposed construction length would be 5-6 weeks with construction starting in May. Ms. Dunn appreciated the points from Mr. Wagner regarding erosion control. She is concerned that people may use bikes to run down animals and she does not want that to happen. She ended by saying that she wished more people knew the history of the park and she told the commission they need to take care of the park and be careful with their decisions. Ms. Bucheck added that for the maintenance of the trails being led by volunteers is not a good idea. She thought she had heard that was also the case in Reid Park and that has not happened yet. Weeks said they have been building in Reid Park, but they ran into some water issues and they have not been completed. Her point was that the Parks Commission should consider using some of their budget for maintenance rather than relying on volunteers. Mayek motioned to recommend acceptance of the proposal from Trail Source to build bike trials within Sunfish Lake Park. Seconded by Nightingale. Motion passed unanimously. March 16, 2020 Meeting Agenda 1) No items at this time. Communications Weeks talked about the Inwood Park development. City Council discussed for a while and ended up recommending what the Parks Commission proposed. Powers said the First Lego students who came to present on the 180 acres have been in contact with him. They have more details and proposals they would like to present to the Commission. Meeting adjourned at 7:35 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Alex Saxe, Deputy Clerk