HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks Commission Minutes October 2019
MINUTES
City of Lake Elmo Parks Commission
October 21, 2019
Members Present: Commissioners- Ames, Nightingale, Schumacher, Weeks and Zeno
Absent: Mayek and Olinger
Staff Present: City Planner- Prchal, Public Works Director- Powers
The meeting was called to order by Weeks at 6:30 PM.
Announcements
No announcements
Approval of Agenda
Weeks moved to amend the agenda adding item 4.A- Public Comments and switched items 5
and 6 to accommodate the speakers and recommended agenda for approval.
Amendments were accepted and the agenda was approved unanimously.
Approval of Minutes
a) August 19, 2019
No changes were made.
Minutes were accepted as presented.
Public Comments
Bill Wacker, 3603 Laverne Avenue North. He asked the commission what other projects are
planned for Lion’s Park because he lives right across the street. Mr. Wacker is hoping for
a more family oriented park in the future and not so heavily focused on sports. The
commission was unaware of any plans, but referred Mr. Wacker to Director Powers who
said nothing is set in stone yet. Then he asked where the skating rink would be located
this year and Weeks said it will be on top of the pickleball court. Director Powers
clarified that is the hockey one and if they choose to have a second rink for pleasure
skating it would be closer to the warming house, but it has not been decided if a second
rink would be opened this year. Overall, Mr. Wacker said Lion’s Park is not very family
friendly right now and he wants to see improvements in the future.
Tony Manzara, 5050 Kirkwood Avenue North. Mr. Manzara extended an invitation to
commissioners and the public to attend the 2nd annual Buckthorn Removal Festival on
October 26th 10-1. He stated the event went really well last year and this year is
expected to be very successful again.
Susan Dunn, 11018 Upper 33rd Street North. Ms. Dunn expressed concerns at Lion’s Park in
regards to there being no shade and agrees it is not family friendly right now. She asked
for an update on mountain bike trails in Reid Park. The commission was unsure of any
updates, but think with the wet year the work will continue into next year. She stated
the proposed bike trails in Sunfish Lake Park is against the plans in the 2030 Comp Plan.
She requested to see the updated maps of Sunfish Lake Park. Ms. Dunn is asking the
commission to review their past decisions and reconsider not allowing these bike trails
in Sunfish Lake Park because they are going against the 2030 Comp Plan.
Development of Inwood Park
Prchal presented that in the CIP the Parks Commission set aside $150,000 to develop the park
in Inwood. The park has 2 acres of usable space to develop. He brought items to
consider as: parking, user demographics, proximity to other parks and the amount of
homes in the neighborhood. Ames asked for clarification if there were any restrictions
on tying Stonegate into Inwood like a connecting trail between the two parks. Prchal did
not think so and said that it could be possible in the future. The presentation had
several maps to show the land that is available for the park and proposed ideas such as:
trails, trees and pickleball courts. Prchal is asking the commission to create a list of
amenities they would like to see in the park to allocate the $150,000 .
Ames liked that this was presented as a park for all city residents. He said he likes the idea of
pickleball courts and a pavilion. Weeks agreed that this park would be heavily used by
all residents. The one concern the commission had was figuring out the best option for
parking, whether it would be adding street parking or creating a new lot.
Mark Rubbert, 8740 9th Place North. Presented on behalf of the residents of Inwood and what
they would like to see happen in the park. He said their development created a task
force to work with the city to help with the design and development of the park. They
would like to see: outdoor exercise stations, native plantings and new trees, paths to a
pavilion, open playfield, picnic area, pickleball, bocce ball and basketball courts, and
connecting path to Stonegate Park. He provided several questions for the commission,
such as: timing, criteria, meeting and review schedule, and what else can their task force
do to help the process.
Ames said the task force can help if they keep coming to the Parks Commission meetings and
voicing their opinions.
Weeks asked Mr. Rubbert what amenities are most important to the residents considering the
budget constraints. Mr. Rubbert said that they really would like to see the native
planting, the outdoor exercise stations, a pavilion, and pickleball courts.
Schumacher asked for clarification on the funding. Prchal stated that the money comes out of
the park dedication fund and is not a set amount every year. Ames like the idea of bocce
ball and said a court would be very cheap to build. The commission wants to make sure
the park will be inclusive to all residents’ not just residents of Inwood and pushed for
trail connectivity between Inwood and Stonegate.
Zeno asked if the task force has any interest in becoming adopt a park group. Mr. Rubbert said
they would be open to that so they can help in any way possible.
Cheryl Olstad, 729 Ivywood Circle North. She borders the north end of Inwood Park. Her
concerns are about a natural drainage that runs diagonally all the way through the 2
acres of land. She brought this up to help map out the land better for position ing of
proposed amenities. She suggested a rain garden would be great to help the drainage as
well as planting more trees. She wants the park to stay as natural and maintenance free
as possible. Schumacher asked for clarification on the proposed location of the
pickleball courts and that they would not work in the propose location due to drainage
issues. Ms. Olstad confirmed that is correct and she wants them in a location where the
drainage won’t affect the area.
Zeno asked to formally generate a list of proposed amenities that they would like to see in the
park. Prchal listed off: Bike rack, pavilion, electricity/water, pickleball, bocce ball,
exercise equipment, and garbage. Prchal also said he would get a cost for running atrial
between Inwood and Stonegate. The trail would lead to the loss of trees, Weeks
proposed looking into a new location for the path to run to limit the loss of trees.
Ames wanted to make sure the trails consist of the same material, noting that Stonegate is
crushed gravel, but the commission leaned more toward pavement for accessibility
reasons.
Director Powers wanted to bring up the popularity of Frisbee golf and that could be considered
for the park.
Zeno encouraged the task force to stay in touch with the commissioners and city staff to help
move this process forward.
The commission recommended city staff to gather pricing options for the proposed amenities
and to present findings at a future meeting.
Naming Savona Park
Prchal presented on some proposed names for the commission to look at. He highlighted the
policies for selecting a name. In the packet there are some proposed names provided
with some names that are Native American, historical people and random names . These
names came from the public who were interested in submitting names. Prchal is hoping
the commission can decide on one name, if not picking three and bringing them to
council would be good as well.
Weeks likes the idea of naming parks after people, but the Shiltgen farm was not located close
to Savona. So he pulled out old plat maps of the area to find historical names of peop le
that lived there. The name Hammes stood out to him because they had been in the area
the longest. Weeks recommended Hammes, Mitigomin, Goose Lake and Prairie Pond
Park.
Zeno recommend Hammes and Mitigomin Park.
Nightingale recommended Mitigomin and Acorn Park. Prchal clarified that Mitigomin means
acorn.
Ames recommended Mitigomin and Acorn Park.
Schumacher recommended Mitigomin and Reflection Park.
Weeks motioned to recommend Hammes and Mitigomin Park as park names for the Savona
development to the City Council, with notations as to why they liked the names.
Seconded by Ames.
Motion passed unanimously.
November 18, 2019 Meeting Agenda
1.) Inwood Park discussion
2.) Potential new development that might need park dedication fees
Communications
Zeno stated that he has missed a few meetings and wanted an update on the Sunfish Lake Park
mountain bike trails. Prchal stated that it cannot be approved until the updated Comprehensive
Plan has been approved, but once that is approved those trails will head to the City Council.
Prchal did say that the City received an EAW request from an environmental quality board, but
the stance for the assessment did not warrant the request and it was denied by the City Council.
Ames asked where the potential new development will be located. Prchal said that it will be located
near Inwood.
Weeks attended the City Council Workshop presentation from the Urban Land Institute a few weeks ago
and he thought it was a very helpful meeting. He was impressed that these developers
emphasized that parks and trail connections are very important for development.
Meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Alex Saxe, Deputy Clerk