Loading...
102020 Pk Packet CITY OF SHOREWOOD 5755 COUNTRY CLUB RD PARK COMMISSION MEETING SHOREWOOD CITY HALL TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2020 7:00 PM Due to the Centers for Disease Control's recommendation limiting the number of people present at a meeting, and pursuant to MN Statute §13D.02, the Shorewood Parks Commission meetings will be held by electronic means. For those wishing to listen live to the meeting, please go to ci.shorewood.mn.us/current meeting for the meeting link. Contact the city at 952.960.7900 during regular business hours with questions. For link issues at meeting time, call 952.960.7906. AGENDA 1. CONVENE PARK COMMISSION MEETING A. Roll Call Mangold(Oct 26)____ Hirner____ Gallivan(Dec 28)____ Schmid____ Garske(Nov 23)____ Council Liaison Johnson(July-Dec)____ B. Review Agenda 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Park Commission Meeting Minutes from September 22, 2020 – (Att.-#2A) 3 . MATTERS FROM THE FLOOR 4. NEW BUSINESS A. Discuss Grand Opening for Badger Park – (Att.-#4A) B. Update on Warming Houses/Rinks for 2020/2021 Season – (Att.-#4B) C. Discuss Facilities Available for Seniors at the Parks – (Att.-#4C) 5. OLD BUSINESS 6. STAFF AND LIAISON REPORTS/UPDATES A. City Council B. Staff a. Handicap Accessible Equipment at Parks 7. ADJOURN Liaison for City Council Meeting on October 26 is Commissioner Mangold 2A CITY OF SHOREWOOD 5755 COUNTRY CLUB RD PARK COMMISSION MEETING SHOREWOOD CITY HALL TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 7:00 P.M. MINUTES 1. CONVENE PARK COMMISSION MEETING Chair Mangold convened the meeting at 7:00 p.m. A. Roll Call Present: Chair Mangold, Commissioners Schmid, Hirner, Garske, and ; GallivanCity Council Liaison Johnson; Planning Director Darling Absent: Commissioners Schmid and Gallivan B. Review Agenda Hirner moved to approve the agenda as written. Mangold seconded the motion. Roll Call Vote: Motion carried 3-0. C. Introduction of New Park Commissioner David Garske Commissioner Garske gave a brief overview of his background and stated that he had lived in Minnesota for most of his life and moved to Shorewood about 2 years ago. He stated that serving on the Park Commission is a way for him to contribute and have an impact in the community. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Park Commission Meeting Minutes of August 18, 2020 Mangold moved to approve the minutes of the August 18, 2020 meeting as written. Hirner seconded the motion. Roll Call Vote: Motion carried 3-0. B. Park/Planning Commission Joint Work Session of September 1, 2020 Hirner moved to approve the minutes of the Park/Planning Commission Joint Work Session meeting of September 1, 2020 meeting as written. Mangold seconded the motion. Roll Call Vote: Motion carried 3-0. 3. MATTERS FROM THE FLOOR There were none. 4. NEW BUSINESS A. Determine Liaison for October and November City Council Meetings October – Chair Mangold November – Commissioner Garske PARK COMMISSION MINUTES TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 8 PAGE 2 OF B. Review CIP Planning Director Darling noted that the attached CIP information is very similar to last year and noted that the projects that have priority funding through 2025 are: Badger Park; Cathcart Park Playground; Freeman Park Trail; Silverwood Park Playground. She explained that there are other smaller projects sprinkled in such as: rails on Freeman North playground; some of the fences that are popping up out of the ground due to groundwater issues in Freeman Park; permanent solution for the erosion issues at Field 4 at Freeman Park. The Commission discussed the possibility of using the funding that was left over from the Badger Park Tennis Courts to address to erosion issue at Freeman Park. Planning Director Darling noted that the Badger Park tennis courts project is coming in under budget and noted that there may also be some upcoming park dedication contributions coming in as well. Chair Mangold asked if the Commission can approve the CIP without knowing exactly where the funding will be coming from. Planning Director Darling stated that they can approve it without knowing where the funding will be coming from. The Commissioner discussed the drainage and erosion issues on Field 4 at Freeman Park and the timing of the repair. They discussed taking a look at the cost of regrading the field to level it out, as well as taking care of the erosion and drainage issue. They discussed the playground equipment options for Cathcart and Silverwood and the possibility of repair especially for things like handrails without full replacement. They discussed the difficulty with some of the older metal equipment, such as slides. Planning Director Darling explained that the City can spend money on repairs to keep the equipment in good working order but asked the Commission how much money they wanted to sink into repair. Chair Mangold stated that the slides are what everybody loves about Silverwood Park, but the Commission has been saying for 10 years that our insurance carrier doesn’t want the City to have them there. He explained that this is why he would like to kick this conversation down the road and focus on fixing Cathcart. Commissioner Hirner asked if Public Works could go in and do repair work without a budget line item from the Park Commission. Planning Director Darling stated that is possible, but it may take Council action because she doesn’t think it could be done for less than $3,000. Councilmember Johnson stated that he doesn’t want to kick any liability discussion down the road. He stated that he agrees that those slides have great character and are super fun, but are also dangerous and he views it as only a matter of time before there is an issue. He stated that he lives near Cathcart and would still vote for Silverwood to go first because he believes that equipment is in worse shape than Cathcart. PARK COMMISSION MINUTES TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 8 PAGE 3 OF Commissioner Hirner stated that there is another park about 4 blocks away from Silverwood that is in Minnetonka, so there are other options in the area. Councilmember Johnson stated that park is across Vinehill Road which can be busy depending on the time of day. Chair Mangold stated that he has always leaned towards the Cathcart project coming first because of the visual aspect of the odd sectioning, even though the equipment at this park is a bit better than Silverwood. He stated that the layout of Cathcart has always bothered him, but if the majority of the Commission is leaning towards Silverwood first, he can get on board with that option. Commissioner Hirner stated that if they were to work on the playground, he feels part of the project will need to be a new backstop for the baseball field. Commissioner Garske asked if the $150,000 for the playground equipment was strictly for replacing the equipment or if it was also for a refresh of the whole park while they are there. Chair Mangold stated that, generally speaking, the dollar amount listed in the CIP covers the removal of old equipment, the layout work, and the actual playground equipment. Commissioner Garske stated that he feels that if the Commission decides to do the playground at Silverwood that wouldn’t necessarily mean they need to do anything with the slides because they aren’t necessarily a hand in hand project. Chair Mangold stated that is correct, but he has always thought it would make the most sense to take care of it at the same time. Commissioner Garske stated that the CIP has replacement of the Silverwood Park slide in 2024, and asked if the City could just do something to make sure the slides are safe until they are replaced in a few years. Chair Mangold stated that if they flip flop Cathcart and Silverwood, that would mean moving Cathcart to 2024 and Silverwood to 2021 which has been an open debate for the Park Commission. Commissioner Hirner asked if the dollar figure in the CIP also includes the material that would go under the equipment. Chair Mangold noted that the dollar figures in the CIP are loose numbers but should include the surface material. Planning Director Darling stated that is correct but noted that the Commission does not have enough money for poured in place rubber surface for the entire playground. Commissioner Hirner asked if the existing pea gravel would need to be taken out. He gave the example of leaving the swingset alone and asked if the pea gravel would need to be taken out of that area. PARK COMMISSION MINUTES TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 8 PAGE 4 OF Planning Director Darling stated that if it isn’t disturbed, it can stay. She stated that it would be nice for either park to put in a base where you can get a wheelchair over to the swingset or play structure. She stated that you can do that on chips or poured in place rubber, but it cannot be done on pea gravel. She stated that the second the equipment is touched the pea gravel will have to go away. Councilmember Johnson noted that for Badger Park, the Council was presented with the options and believes the Council voted unanimously for the poured in place rubber even though it was more expensive than the other options. He stated that he would suggest presenting all the different options to the Council for their consideration, including poured in place rubber. Chair Mangold stated that his understanding of the Commission discussion is that there are two projects on the radar for 2021, the drainage/erosion project at Freeman Park, playground equipment replacement at Silverwood Park, and moving the Cathcart playground replacement to 2024. Commissioner Hirner stated that it would be nice to have Cathcart all done, so he is kind of split minded on which way he would prefer. Chair Mangold understands his dilemma because he has also been split on this issue. He stated that he understands the hesitancy to wait until 2024 to deal with the slides at Silverwood and the thought that the City cannot just kick liability down the road forever. Commissioner Garske asked if the City could do minor repairs to do things like fixing the hand rails at Silverwood Park. He questions whether if they decided to do the whole project if they would have access to sufficient funds in order to see it finished in 2021. He stated that this was his thought process when he talked about divorcing the slides from the rest of the playset. Chair Mangold stated that is a great question that he doesn’t have the answer to because the Commission is going to be running in the negative column for a while. He stated that when the City decided to tackle Badger Park, there was a strategic plan in place for a number of years. He stated that now the Commission is on the back end and kind of looking at what their biggest priorities are and make sure the Council knows it so everyone can figure out the funding. He stated that he doesn’t want to ask for too much or too little and wants to make sure the Commission has their priorities in place before putting this in front of the Council. He stated that the Commission needs to remember that the infrastructure is not getting any younger and the City cannot just sit back and wait, otherwise everything will pile up. Commissioner Garske stated that he agrees with the concern raised about the slides and understands the hesitancy to continue kicking the can down the road. He stated that he likes the idea of doing Cathcart first with the logic that in 2024 the City can address the whole playground, at Silverwood Park, even if it means making the slides not as awesome. He stated that he likes the idea that if the City is going to take something away that it can be replaced with something else that is pretty cool. He stated that he feels like this approach would minimize the pain. Chair Mangold stated that has always been his thought process also and would be completely on board with that option. Commissioner Hirner stated that he just feels the equipment at Silverwood Park is in much worse shape than that of Cathcart Park. PARK COMMISSION MINUTES TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 8 PAGE 5 OF Chair Mangold stated that he has been flip flopping on this issue, but understands Councilmember Johnson’s concern with continuing to kick the liability issue down the road at Silverwood. He stated that the Commission can work on details later, but tonight they need to tell the Council what their priorities are for next year and if they agree, then the details of what is actually going to happen and what is in the budget can be tackled. After discussion, the Commission came to a consensus that they would like to see Silverwood moved to either 2021 or 2022, and address the slide at the same time as the other equipment, which most likely means increased the budget by about $50,000 to a total of $200,000. Mangold moved to recommend changing the CIP to move Cathcart to 2024 and moving Silverwood up to 2021 and increasing the budget for Silverwood to $200,000. Garske seconded the motion. Roll Call Vote: Motion carried 3-0. Planning Director Darling noted that she already had $240,000 projected for both the playground equipment and the slides at Silverwood Park, because she knew it was going to be substantially more. Mangold amended the motion to recommend changing the CIP to move Cathcart to 2024 and moving Silverwood up to 2021 as presented in the CIP. Garske amended the second. Roll Call Vote: Motion carried 3-0. Mangold moved to recommend adding to the CIP for 2021 a drainage improvement project at Freeman Park for $70,000. Hirner seconded the motion. Roll Call Vote: Motion carried 3-0. C. Maintenance Policy for the Open Spaces within the Minnetonka Country Club Subdivision Planning Director Darling noted that staff has been receiving more and more requests for maintenance items such as trees falling down and asking the City to come clean it up. She gave other examples of residents wanting to put in their own improvements into the public space such as: benches along the trails, planting more trees in certain areas, redo the buffer plantings, and those types of things. She stated that staff would like to create a policy to address the maintenance questions as well as how the City will view requests for donations. She reviewed the recommended maintenance and encroachment policy for open spaces in the Minnetonka Country Club Subdivision. Commissioner Hirner noted that she had mentioned people wanting to install benches along the trail and asked if there is a standard about what the benches need to look like so there are not 30 different versions of a bench. Planning Director Darling stated that the City does have an existing standard for benches. She noted that usually people say they want to donate a bench and the City tells them what the typical bench is and how much it costs and noted that the largest portion of the costs is for putting down a concrete base before the bench. Chair Mangold asked about this type of open space and its long-term relationship in the City. He asked if it was part of the park system. PARK COMMISSION MINUTES TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 8 PAGE 6 OF Planning Director Darling stated that this is more like a park, because it is public open space and will be used that way. Chair Mangold asked if all of the trails in the development are being maintained and cared for by the City. Planning Director Darling stated that is not entirely true, but the City is approaching the take over of the trails just as they are with the streets. She stated that the plan is that as this moves forward, the City will take control of it. Chair Mangold asked how this would compare to what the City is doing at Gideon. Planning Director Darling stated that it is probably on par, except the City doesn’t mow Gideon at all. Councilmember Johnson asked who mows Gideon if it isn’t the City. Chair Mangold stated that it is not mowed because it is burned every few years but that is handled by the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District. Planning Director Darling noted that the Public Works does take care of the trail area where there are grasses and weeds that pop up. Chair Mangold stated that he isn’t sure how input the Commission should be giving or it should fall more under a Council decision for moving forward. He stated that the positive is that if this is handed over to the parks system, the City will be getting a very nice trail. He stated that he would have no objections to the agreement if Public Works is comfortable with it. Planning Director Darling noted that Public Works had reviewed the document already. Commissioner Hirner suggested that the plantings be handled similar to the flowers on the boulevards in various places in the City that are done on a volunteer basis by people who want to plant and maintain the plans. Chair Mangold stated that to reference the last meeting regarding fire lanes, he hates to have public space turn into what looks like private space. Commissioner Garske asked for clarification on the intent for the different open spaces and noted that he had assumed the trail was private and just for the Minnetonka Country Club residents. Planning Director Darling stated that the intent of the entire area is to be an open space area and was never intended to be developed into a park. She stated that the majority of the area is open space with long, native plantings and then there are a few areas that have turf grasses because they are closer to the developed areas. Chair Mangold stated that if the City is taking this over, he feels like this agreement is a good place to start and will make it visible to the public that they can use it and is something that is meant to be more native. He stated that he likes that the City is planning to leave some dead trees in it for habitat areas and would like to balance that with what the neighborhood would like PARK COMMISSION MINUTES TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 8 PAGE 7 OF to see. He stated that he is not for or against residents planting anything, but thinks the City will need to weight what it will look like out over time. He reiterated that if Public Works is fine with this agreement, he has no issues with what has been presented. Planning Director Darling noted that she had not thought to put in plowing or maintaining the trails and was thinking mostly of the vegetation. She asked if the Commission would like her to add a section that addresses that. Chair Mangold stated that there are other documents in the City that could cover that also, because there is a trail schedule for plowing and isn’t sure where this fits into the picture. He stated that he feels it could be added, but reiterated that he thinks there are other documents that the City could lean on for this detail. Commissioner Garske asked if the requests for plantings was coming from the HOA or from individuals. Planning Director Darling stated that the requests have come in from individuals which is why she added information that the request should come from the HOA rather than individual property owners so that the City knows that there is some buy in from the greater neighborhood so it doesn’t turn into a dispute between neighbors. Councilmember Johnson stated that his understanding of the HOA is that it is not up and running until the development hits 80% occupancy. Planning Director Darling noted that the developer has handed it over to one of the builders and he is technically the HOA president right now, but is getting ready to turn it over to the homeowners soon. She noted that there will be two HOAs and noted that the villas will have some separate rules since they have some shared maintenance that the larger single-family homes do not have. Chair Mangold asked if the HOAs were setting up a landscape committee. Planning Director Darling stated that she was unsure if the HOAs had gotten that far yet. Hirner moved to recommend approval of the Maintenance and Encroachment Policy for the Open Spaces in the Minnetonka Country Club Subdivision, as written. Garske seconded the motion. Roll Call Vote: Motion carried 3-0. 5. OLD BUSINESS 6. STAFF AND LIAISON REPORTS / UPDATES A. City Council Councilmember Johnson gave an overview of actions taken at recent City Council meetings. B. Staff PARK COMMISSION MINUTES TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 8 PAGE 8 OF Planning Director Darling noted that the old tennis courts at Badger Park have been removed and the new courts have been paved. She explained that there needs to be at least a 3-week settling period before the fencing is installed and the surfaced colored, if the weather permits. Councilmember Johnson asked the Park Commission to think about the possibility of some sort of mechanism to limit the amount of time that people have in their use of the tennis courts, because while Badger Park courts are under construction, the only court in the City is at Cathcart. He gave examples of the system that had been used by South Minneapolis. Commissioner Hirner suggested that the Commission discuss plans for a grand opening celebration for Badger Park at their next meeting. Chair Mangold noted that the height of the asphalt of the new courts at Badger Park are higher than the old courts and asked how that will affect the sidewalk and lawn. Planning Director Darling stated that she will speak with the City Engineer about it tomorrow. 7. ADJOURN Hirner moved to adjourn the Park Commission Meeting of September 22, 2020 at 8:25 p.m. Garske seconded the motion. Roll Call Vote: Motion carried 3-0. #4A CITY OF SHOREWOOD  5755 Country Club Road Shorewood, Minnesota 55331  952-960-7900 www.ci.shorewood.mn.us cityhall@ci.shorewood.mn.us To: Park Commission From: Twila Grout, Park & Rec Director Meeting Date: October 20, 2020 Re: Discuss Grand Opening for Badger Park The Park Commission asked that the Grand Opening for Badger Park be brought back to the October meeting for discussion. Badger Park’s construction is almost complete. The stonework for the columns on the picnic shelter has been completed. The completion of the tennis courts will likely be spring of 2021 depending on the weather. The Park Commission should discuss what date they would like to hold the grand opening and what they would like to do for the event. #4B CITY OF SHOREWOOD  5755 Country Club Road Shorewood, Minnesota 55331  952-960-7900 www.ci.shorewood.mn.us cityhall@ci.shorewood.mn.us To: Park Commission From: Twila Grout, Park & Rec Director Reviewed By: Greg Lerud, City Administrator Meeting Date: October 20, 2020 Re: Update on Warming House/Rinks for 2020/2021 Season It is the time of year that staff sends out letters to past rink attendants to see if they are interested in returning and also advertising for attendants if needed. While we are planning on flooding the skating rinks this year, due to MN Department of Health (MDH) and CDC COVID-19 guidelines for social distancing and limiting the number people inside the building, staff is recommending that the warming houses not be open for this upcoming skating season. Staff has discussed the guidelines that need to be followed and how this can be done within our warming houses. The size of our warming houses at Cathcart Park and Manor Park very much limit the social distancing we could do, while making sure the number of skaters inside the building does not exceed the guidelines. A majority of our rink attendants are high school students and staff thought we would be putting them in a difficult position to enforcing those requirements. Public Works will place benches and picnic tables by the rinks so that skaters can have a place to put on their skates and be able to sit and rest. The hockey association has not been reserving rink time in past years so this should not be an issue this year. If CDC and MDH guidelines change before rinks are open, staff will re-evaluate the situation of opening the warming houses and report to the parks commission and city council. #4C CITY OF SHOREWOOD  5755 Country Club Road Shorewood, Minnesota 55331  952-960-7900 www.ci.shorewood.mn.us cityhall@ci.shorewood.mn.us To: Park Commission From: Twila Grout, Park & Rec Director Meeting Date: October 20, 2020 Re: Facilities Available for Seniors at the Parks At the September 28, city council meeting, City Councilmember Labadie asked if the Park Commissioners could discuss what could be available for seniors at the parks. She mentioned that she has received comments that it would be nice to increase the type of activities attractive to seniors in the parks. Staff is bringing this to the Park Commission for review and discussion to determine if there is space at a park to have a structure or some type of activity for seniors. In looking at parks Freeman Park may be one nice source, as Shorewood Ponds development is next to Freeman Park. The residents at this development do use the trails at the park. South Shore Community Park is in close proximity to the Seasons and Amesbury and would provide another option. In the past, the Commission has discussed putting in some type of activity in this park as the previous skate park facilities were removed. Some ideas the Park Commission could look at are Bocce Ball Court, horseshoe pit or exercise stations. Senior Citizen playgrounds are growing in popularity. Staff have heard that playgrounds for seniors are in high demand. Another benefit is that these sites provide social interaction with others, build stamina and muscle tone and increase flexibility. After the Park Commission has discussed options please advise staff if they should research options to bring back to the Park Commission for review.