Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2-21-07 Park Minutes FinalLake Elmo Park Commission Minutes of the Regular Meeting February 21, 2007 Chairman Steele called to order the meeting of the Lake Elmo Parks Commission at 7:03 P.M. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Steele, Blackford, Booher, Dunn, Adanene, Bruchu, T. Bouthilet, and Larson (7:30). STAFF PRESENT: Assistant Planner Matzek and Public Works Superintendent M. Bouthilet. CONSULTANTS PRESENT: Rich Gray and Berry Farrington from TKDA. Welcome New Parks Commissioners Chairman Steele welcomed two new park commissioners Susan Dunn and Vincent Adanene. He is thankful they will be of help on the commission. Agenda Chairman Steele added 5B “Prospective Meeting with City Council in April” and 5C “Old Village Plan Meeting.” He added 7 “Todd’s Park Memo” and 4E “Addendum to Parks Plan.” He would also like to add a section titled “Old Business” and add “Heights Park Petition” under that section. M/S/P, Dunn/Watters to approve the Agenda as amended. 7:0. Minutes Commissioner Blackford said on page six to add Commissioner Watters’ comment that she would like no pavement within 500 feet of Sunfish Lake Park. Commissioner T. Bouthilet clarified on page six that he did not say a “vast majority of parks” were open space; instead he said a “majority of the park acreage” is open space. M/S/P, Watters/Blackford to approve the Minutes of January 17, 2007 as amended. Vote: 5:0:2 abstain Dunn and Adanene Comprehensive Parks Plan Update Assistant Planner Matzek began by identifying this as the last meeting the consultants from TKDA will be attending. a. Discuss Open House held on February 15, 2007 Mr. Gray stated that they had enjoyed working with the commission and that the work had been challenging, but very rewarding. He then asked the Park Commissioners to go down the line and identify comments and questions they had heard at the open house. Commissioner Adanene said the comments he heard were favorable. There was some concern on the locations of the parks. He heard the comment that Sunfish Lake Park should be left alone and that some of the land owners around the park would like it to remain the way it is currently. Commissioner Dunn appreciated the Park Commission’s work on the plan. Some people wanted to know if the consultants were aware of the sports complex proposed in the downtown area. Some people might not understand if something is drawn on a map now, it may not be built right away. There was some concern expressed about trails - the safety and the impact of too much accessibility. Commissioner Booher said he heard people comment that they liked the trails. Commissioner Blackford said she heard positive responses at the open house. One person said a skating rink was not appropriate in Sunfish Lake Park, but that it could go in the Old Village area. Someone identified the Goetschel property behind Carriage Station as a sensitive ecological area. Commissioner Watters heard from ball players. They asked how soon the city could get the ball fields built. One couple had no clue about how many people were moving in South of 10th Street in the future. Chairman Steele said people wanted help interpreting the maps. He received some comments about Sunfish Lake Park. He also heard strong support for the idea of a greenway South of 10th Street. Commissioner Bruchu said people were appreciative of the work done on the park plan. He received two comments from people asking about horse trails. Commissioner T. Bouthilet said one individual said no parks should be developed and believed that large lots functioned as private parks. The same individual believed play structures should be in individual’s yards. Assistant Planner Matzek said the process of the Park Plan will include a public hearing at the Planning Commission and approval by the City Council. Chairman Steele stated he would like to see an addendum to the Park Plan identifying what should be done in each park. Assistant Planner Matzek suggested adding it to the proposed 2007 work plan. Chairman Steele stated he does not want to slow down the process. Assistant Planner Matzek said it would be difficult to plan each park when at this point it is uncertain what the population in each area would be. Commissioner T. Bouthilet said the commission should not be too specific because the need is unknown at this time. Commissioner Blackford stated that the City Council would like a vision for Sunfish Lake Park and they might want one for other city parks as well. Commissioner Dunn said the City Council could be a guest at the Park Commission meeting. The Park Commission could then let the Council know what the Park Commission needs to work on. She agrees with Commissioner T. Bouthilet that it is good to have a fluid document. Commissioner Larson arrives (7:30). Chairman Steele stated that he visualizes the joint April meeting with the City Council as a discussion and not the Council dictating to the commission. Commissioner Booher asked if the 20 acres that was previously discussed a part of Sunfish Lake Park. Public Works Superintendent M. Bouthilet said the 20 acres is definitely a part of Sunfish Lake Park. Chairman Steele suggested moving forward with the draft park plan and adding the addendum later this summer. b. Implementation Section of draft Park Plan Ms. Farrington asked for comments on the implementation section of the plan included in the packet. Chairman Steele asked if it was a typical format. Ms. Farrington stated that sometimes it would include who is responsible. Commissioner Watters asked if the implementation section would be where a prioritization would be included. Ms. Farrington said she would recommend against it. c. Review of draft Park Plan Ms. Farrington stated that the Park Plan is a guiding document and purposely does not go into many details. Commissioner Blackford requested taking activities out of the lists that are not in the park. When service areas describe “community” it may be more accurate to say “city” instead. She expressed concern that this document could be interpreted to make the city turn over city parks to the county. She would also like a lawyer to read over the document to see if the Met Council could make the city put in trails. Ms. Farrington said she could specify that the search area is for the city and not the entire region. Commissioner Blackford said there is no mountain biking currently in any existing park and would like that taken out. On page 3-13 the draft park plan mentions that the city will participate in the master planning and development process for regional park projects that will have an impact on Lake Elmo. She is concerned this will be considered as a promise of financial support. Also, on page 6-2 there is a tabulation of the recreation menu and she would like to point out that this was not a survey. Commissioner Watters suggested that with the number of responses shown, it would not be interpreted as a survey. Sunfish Lake Park is ranked highly by the DNR and it would be nice to have the nature conservancy come look at the park. Ms. Farrington said this is a good time for reviewing the wording used in the draft park plan. Suggested changes should be emailed to Assistant Planner Matzek. Commissioner Dunn emphasized that it is important to be concise. On page 4-5 the draft plan has programming strategies. There may be existing amenities that should be considered with the long term strategies. d. Sunfish Lake Park Ms. Farrington stated that at the last meeting the use of Sunfish Lake Park was discussed. Pages 3-28 and 3-29 are a summary of the input that was received. Four policy statements were created. This location would be the appropriate place to include the vision for the park. Chairman Steele suggested the commission look at a draft statement he handed out for Sunfish Lake Park. There may have been a perception that some people might want to develop the open areas of the park. He would like to have the commission read through the proposed wording and add the language to the draft Park Plan. He stated he felt it was important to identify a vision for the park. Commissioner T. Bouthilet identified horse back riding as being classified as an active use and therefore would not be allowed in Sunfish Lake Park. Mr. Gray stated that cross country skiing and horse back riding should be considered passive uses. Commissioner Larson stated that 265 acres of Sunfish Lake Park have not been disturbed other then the trails. The City should protect the park as much as possible. Within the other 24 acres, there is some disturbance. He does not want the commission to miss out on unique activities and opportunities. The 24 acres could be a great picnic area or a space for a Frisbee game. A middle ground should be found on the use of the 24 acres. Commissioner Larson would not like to see the city limit the scope on the use of the park to now allow some flexibility. Two types of MN Land Trust easements could be looked at – a restrictive one on the 265 acres and a more flexible easement on the 24 acres. Public Works Director M. Bouthilet stated that Sunfish Lake is the city’s primary winter recreation area. He said it would make sense to have a shelter area for the skiers and an ice skating rink. A rink would need lights and by building it in Sunfish Lake Park, it would reduce the impact on residential neighborhoods. Commission Larson stated that if an Environmental Learning Center was created in the park, safety lights would be needed. Commissioner Blackford said the lighting would need to be downward facing. e. Addendum to Parks Plan Chairman Steele stated the addendum might be something the commission would like to review during the summer. Commissioner Watters suggested revising number 2 on Chairman Steele’s handout regarding the statement for Sunfish Lake Park. She would like number two to not exclude all lighting, but to regulate it and use the word “organized” instead of “active” when mentioning sports. Commissioner T. Bouthilet stated that there is a Good Neighbor Lighting Policy in Lake Elmo. Public Works Director M. Bouthilet stated it is a Black Sky regulation intended to decrease light pollution. Chairman Steele asked whether number 3 on the statement handout is less practical because it involves purchasing more space. The commission was supportive of keeping number 3 in the statement. Chairman Steele asked for a vote on the amended statement. He would like the statement to go out as a special statement from the Park Commission and would like it to be a part of a conversation. M/S/P, T. Bouthilet/Blackford to send the amended statement to the City Council and Planning Commission with the proposed changes. Vote 8:0. Chairman Steele asked the commission if the statement should be integrated into the park plan. Commissioner Larson would like to add the sentence “Sunfish Lake Park is a unique park that needs careful consideration in the park planning process.” Mr. Gray suggested the proposed statement could replace number 4 on page 3-29 of the draft park plan. M/S/P, Watters/Blackford to strike number 4 on page 3-29 of the draft park plan and replace it with 1, 2, and 3 as amended in the statement of the Lake Elmo Park Commission and the original 1, 2, and 3 to become numbers 4, 5, and 6. Vote: 8:0. City Council Update a. Old Village Master Plan Presentation at City Council – March 6 Assistant Planner Matzek reported that a presentation will be done at the March 6th City Council meeting of the Old Village Master Plan. This presentation will be to ensure that the plan still follows the policies of the City Council. The Old Village Master Plan will be presented in front of the Park Commission at a date following that presentation. Assistant Planner Matzek would guess it would be brought to the Commission at the March or April meeting. The commission requested advanced copies of the plan to review. b. Prospective Meeting with City Council in April Assistant Planner Matzek identified that the City Code identifies a joint April meeting between the Park Commission and the City Council to formulate a work plan for the commission. A meeting date is being worked on. c. Old Village Plan Meeting Assistant Planner Matzek stated that a joint meeting between the City Council and the Park Commission would be useful to discuss the Old Village Plan Todd’s Park Memo Commissioner Bruchu said Mr. Longbehn, a coach of the Lake Elmo VFW Red Team, requested ball field time, which is limited currently. Mr. Longbehn went to the City Council requesting ball field time and was directed to work with Public Works Superintendent M. Bouthilet and Mr. Bruchu. An agreement was made to provide Mr. Longbehn field time Saturday mornings. Public Works Superintendent M. Bouthilet suggested that scheduling of the fields should be addressed. One suggestion would be to find out how many Lake Elmo kids are on each team and prioritize based on that. Commissioner Bruchu said his fear is that if another independent group comes along and wants field time; he has some concern about meeting the field time needs for Lake Elmo kids. Commissioner Dunn asked if regulation fields were available at Oakland Junior High School. Commissioner Bruchu stated that the fields are used by the school district. Commissioner T. Bouthilet asked if an exiting park could be converted to meet the minimum field requirements. Commissioner Bruchu responded that the VA uses Reid Park. He said that Pebble Park would be great if it could be used for practice at the park. A six foot fence would be needed. Public Works Superintendent M. Bouthilet stated that the ball field would need to be reconfigured. Commission Dunn suggested this could be addressed this summer. Old Business Heights Park Petition Planner Matzek stated that she had formulated a process. She had researched the park site and collected park magazines for visuals in future meetings with the residents of Heights Park. Motion to adjourn Watters/T. Bouthilet Adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Kelli Matzek Assistant Planner