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111302 PK MIN CITY OF SHOREWOOD 5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD PARK COMMISSION MEETING SHOREWOOD CITY HALL WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2002 7:00 P.M. MINUTES 1. CONVENE PARK COMMISSION MEETING Chair Arnst called the meeting to order at 7:04 P.M. A. Roll Call Present: Chair Arnst, Commissioners Young, Davis, Bartlett, Meyer, and Callies; City Engineer Brown Absent: Commissioner Palesch, City Council Liaison Zerby, and Mark Koegler of Hoisington Koegler Group B. Review Agenda Bartlett moved, Young seconded, to approve the Agenda as submitted. Motion passed 6/0. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Park Commission Minutes of October 8, 2002 Chair Arnst corrected page 3, paragraph 3, to read “... the overall Comprehensive Plan.”. Also, page three, paragraph 4, to reflect “...the entire Comprehensive Plan in 2005.”. Chair Arnst revised page 8, paragraph 6, to read as follows, “...that the previous City Council had received a petition from the neighbors to run...”. Page 10, paragraph 8, Chair Arnst added “...Park Commissioner who had carried the petition...”. 3. MATTERS FROM THE FLOOR There were none. 4. REPORTS A. Report on City Council Meetings of October 14 and 28, and November 12, 2002 As the City Council liaison was not present to make his report, Chair Arnst asked Engineer Brown to report on the Council meetings of Oct. 14, 28, and Nov. 12. While unprepared to report on the October meetings, Brown suggested the City Council agendas be added to the Park Commission packets in order to ensure Commissioners can question anything of interest to them. Callies pointed out that the Commissioners do get the agendas at home, and are capable of accessing the PARK COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES November 13, 2002 Page 2 of 8 Council Minutes on the website to answer any of their questions. While she was disappointed no liaison was present, Chair Arnst asked if Engineer Brown could report on the November 12, 2002 Council meeting. Brown reported that the City Council accepted a petition to allow the Cub Foods developer to extend a private watermain down Yellowstone, through the Lyndon Hills plat, to service the Cub Foods site. He indicated that far more questions remain than answers and the City is now in the position to draft a license agreement between the developer, to try to address all of the issues that are out there. Brown added that it is presumed that the watermain would be conveyed to the City after installation. The second item Brown felt of interest to the Commission was a discussion between Park Foundation members and the Council during a work session last evening. While Foundation productivity was discussed at great length, the Foundation claimed that the City had more power over them than they would admit, or the Foundation would like. Brown noted that the Foundation did raise $4,500 hosting the craft fair last weekend for the City. 5. REVIEW AND FINALIZE PRIORITY POLICY A. Discuss plan for finalizing and recommending to Council Brown explained that, based on comments from previous Park Commission meetings, staff made revisions to the Priority Policy for review. He pointed out several key changes to the policy, including, removal of paragraph one, the addition of several definitions, and the revised equation reflecting number of teams per organization versus players, to name a few. Chair Arnst asked if the City Attorney would need to review this document. Brown indicated that it would not be necessary for a policy document to be reviewed by the City Attorney. Meyers questioned whether the City, or Park Coordinator, could make changes to the document. Brown pointed out that the Park Coordinator would have the ability to make modifications as needed. Meyer stated that the Commission’s intention would be to follow this document pretty closely. Callies questioned the “K” Factor. Brown indicated that the “K” Factor had been removed, and the equation was purely mathematical, in order to ensure everyone was treated equally. Davis recommended that “P”, the number of players, be changed to represent the number of teams in the organization as discussed previously. Chair Arnst asked Brown if other staff members had reviewed the document in order to achieve additional feedback. Brown stated that he and other staff members had worked most every scenario they could think of. PARK COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES November 13, 2002 Page 3 of 8 Other than the minor changes discussed, Chair Arnst inquired whether the document could be moved forward to Council for action. She complimented Brown and the Commission on creating a clean and concise document. Meyer moved, Young seconded, to recommend to the City Council that they enact the Park Priority Policy with the minor changes discussed this evening. Motion passed 6/0. B. Set date for meeting with representatives from Sports Organizations With regard to setting the Sports Organization meeting date, Brown indicated that it would be difficult to hold the meeting before January 28, 2003, if the City truly wanted to involve the Park Coordinator and have that person up to speed. Chair Arnst concurred, stating that it made little sense to hold the conference prior to that date, since the City had many things to accomplish that precede the meeting. Meyers questioned when the supposed MCES scheduling meeting took place in the past. Brown indicated that meeting was to have taken place in March. Meyers asked why the City doesn’t have their meeting in March as well. Chair Arnst stated that the City Administrator had recommended they hold the meeting sooner. Callies asked if the purpose of the meeting was to introduce the new Park Coordinator to the sports organizations and begin the scheduling process. In general, Brown cited the need to advertise and get the Park Coordinator on board, compile the information packets, advertise the meeting to the sports organizations, and familiarize the Coordinator with Policy and Parks prior to the meeting date. Meyers stated that the Commission agreed there was much to accomplish before the sports informational meeting. Due to the amount of lead time required, Brown suggested the meeting be scheduled for February. Since the sports organizations would like a meeting now, Chair Arnst asked Brown to communicate to the sports organizations letting them know where the City was with respect to the position and the meeting. Callies questioned why the organizations were pushing for a meeting now, when what had occurred in the past happened in March. Chair Arnst maintained that the organizations were apprehensive about what the new policy would mean to them. Since they are used to getting the fields and times they want, they are afraid they won’t end up with what they need. She encouraged Brown to include the meeting date in the letter and tell them what to expect at the meeting, introduction to the Park Coordinator, policy, and scheduling. PARK COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES November 13, 2002 Page 4 of 8 Brown stated that he appreciated the Commission’s patience and asked for an alternate date. Young stated that he felt it unfair to launch a new person, in the Park Coordinator position, without adequate time to prepare. Brown agreed, stating that it would be a poor choice for the City not to bring this person up to speed, after devoting all the time and effort into creating the position and policy in the first place. The Commission agreed upon Wednesday, February 5th, 2003 for the meeting. Chair Arnst asked if the City had let MCES know that they were not going to be handling the sports scheduling any longer. Brown indicated that he would send a letter to MCES letting them know that the City would be handling their own field scheduling. Chair Arnst requested the Commission be supplied with copies of the MCES and sports organization letter. Meyers asked where and when the Park Coordinator position would be advertised. Brown stated that the position would be advertised in November in the local paper and on the website. Chair Arnst suggested they advertise through the Minnesota Park and Recreation Association as well. 6. MASTER PLAN REVIEW-Koegler A. Discuss plan for finalizing and recommendations to Council Since Mark Koegler was not present and the Park Plan draft had just arrived, Chair Arnst recommended the Commissioners take ten minutes to review the proposal. Chair Arnst indicated that her intention would have been for the Commissioners to preview this in advance of the meeting, discuss the changes this evening, and forward the document to Council by the end of the year. At this time, Chair Arnst noted that they would have one more meeting to finalize the plan before sending it to Council on December 16, 2002. The Commission reviewed the Plan page by page. In general, Davis suggested that references to MCES throughout the plan be removed. CF-2: Chair Arnst questioned item #15, periodic studies. Brown stated that the document would not remain idle, and would be subject to review, as is the Comprehensive Plan. Brown commented on the use of the term “mini-park”, and questioned where the language for this came from. Chair Arnst asked where, in general, the “classification system” came from and why it was included in the plan at all. She added that the Skate Park had been entirely missing from the report. PARK COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES November 13, 2002 Page 5 of 8 CF -3: Bartlett asked if horseback riding or snowmobiling were allowed uses in the City of Shorewood. Brown stated that horseback riding is allowed by permit. CF-4 : The Commission agreed that the general classification system was unnecessary, and should be removed from the report, whereas the Existing Park Classification system would suffice. CF-5 : Chair Arnst reiterated the need to include the Southshore Community Park, skate park, within the existing park plan and felt the park sizes should be checked for accuracy. Chair Arnst felt the maps were somewhat out of sequence or oddly placed and believed more consideration should be given to their placement within the document. CF-7 : It should be noted that the hockey warming house contains restrooms. Davis suggested the “tot lot” reference be changed throughout the document to playground. CF - 11: As the ownership agreement had been located, it was recommended that the property ownership paragraphs be removed. Callies questioned what concession stand the plan referred to at Cathcart. Chair Arnst recommended that once staff confirms that the concession stand symbol has been removed from all existing maps, the reference to a concession stand should be removed altogether. CF-13: Unorganized activities was changed to informal activities. The last line, adopted was changed to maintained. CF- 19: Meyer suggested the fields simply be labeled softball, baseball, and Babe Ruth fields, in an attempt to broaden the terminology. Callies suggested they remove the first two lines of the Deficiencies in Service paragraph. CF-20: Change investigating to implementing in the first paragraph. CF-21: Brown recommended they revamp the Park Scheduling paragraph altogether to indicate that in- house scheduling began in 2003. Overall, Chair Arnst reiterated the Commission’s desire to include the survey results and feedback from the open house. She further suggested that the use of adjectives be limited, wordiness be pared down, and the map placement be improved. Meyer suggested that the Commissioners be given an opportunity to preview the revised Plan prior to the next Commission meeting on December 10, 2002. Since the City is paying for the service, Chair Arnst indicated that she would expect the Commissioners be given an opportunity to preview the changes made this evening prior to the next meeting. PARK COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES November 13, 2002 Page 6 of 8 7. REVIEW HISTORY OF TRAIL PLANNING PROCESS AND SPECIFICALLY, SMITHTOWN ROAD EVALUATION Meyers questioned why the Commission had not received information in their packet regarding the Smithtown Road trail planning process. Brown shared with the Commission the history behind the Smithtown Road Trail Planning Process. In essence, Brown stated that the City had attempted to approach homeowners to ask them to donate their r-o- w to build a trail. Homeowners, in turn, asked to see specifics regarding how much of their land they would be donating before committing to the easement. The City has since generated plans, with the help of WSB, and would like the Park Commission to host an Open House to get a better sense of people’s reactions and whether they would be inclined to approve the easements. In the past, the west enders have been in favor of a trail, while the vocal east enders have adamantly opposed a trail. The Commission would need to reassure the east enders that the proposed trail does not effect them. Chair Arnst asked what the City would do if only half supported trail construction. She added that, likely, the east enders would attend and try to dissuade the west enders of supporting a trail at all. Brown indicated that the Park Commission should then make a recommendation to the City Council based on this kind of feedback. With regard to the 5 east end households, Brown reiterated the need to reassure them that the trail does not include them even though they don’t believe it. Chair Arnst maintained that the Commissioners would not be required to answer any questions they didn’t know. She pointed out that there would be people like Brown, Bailey, and Dave Hutton, of WSB, present to field questions. Chair Arnst felt an informal open house format would lend itself better to collecting information, names, addresses, and trail position. Young inquired if other communities had guidelines to follow, since this process could feasibly go on forever. He asked when the City would decide to let it go. Brown believed that the “429” process, where decisions can be made based on 55% on a petition would dictate here where to go. He indicated that, based on his investigation, all other communities are facing similar battles. Young questioned whether the funds were even available to proceed with a trail of this magnitude or expense. Brown stated that the City has $1.7 million in state aid funding available, which can be used towards the redevelopment of Smithtown, including the trail. The entire cost of which is estimated at $1.5 million. Chair Arnst asked if there would be assessments for any of the residents. Brown pointed out that County Road 19 is also a state aid project, and based on problems regarding the liquor store operations, the costs are steadily increasing from $3 to $4 million. While there are many demands for state aid funds, the state is threatening Shorewood either use their dollars or they will end up losing them in the near future. PARK COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES November 13, 2002 Page 7 of 8 Brown pointed out that new legislation has allowed Cities to bond for local roadway improvements, which may impact how we do road improvement projects in the future. Due to the political environment with Tonka Bay regarding the Liquor Store, Brown questioned the viability of the County Road 19 intersection project at this time. Chair Arnst suggested the Commission set a date for the Open House and educate themselves in the interim. Callies asked whether people might have questions regarding the Smithtown Road improvements as well. Brown indicated that, despite the trail issue, the City Council has said the roadway work would be done in 2003. Chair Arnst reiterated the importance of telling people the total cost to them and asked Brown if he would know by the Open House whether there was to be assessments. Brown stated that he felt that he could say with great certainty that the residents would not be assessed. Young asked if the west end neighbors would be able to see specifically how much land they would have to give up to decide if they want a trail or not. Brown stated that the trail would be clearly marked on the north side with precise measurements. This would provide the residents with new information they asked for previously. Young questioned if specific invitations would go out to every household. Brown reiterated that the City needs to walk a fine line by offering up this great amount of detail without offending people that this is a specific proposal. Meyers suggested they add language that recognizes this proposal is what the residents had asked for. By stating that, based on previous open houses and resident feedback, the City has put together a new plan. Chair Arnst asked Brown to have Callies review the invitation before it is sent out to make sure that any controversial language is pulled out. A. Discuss date for neighborhood open house In lieu of the January Park Commission meeting, the Open House will be held on Tuesday, January 14, 2003, from 5:30 - 7:00 P.M. at the South Shore Center. 8. DETERMINE PARK LIAISON TO CITY COUNCIL FOR DECEMBER November 25 - Davis December 16 - Callies 9. NEW BUSINESS There was none. PARK COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES November 13, 2002 Page 8 of 8 10. ADJOURNMENT Meyer moved, Bartlett seconded, adjourning the Park Commission Meeting of November 13, 2002, at 8:55 P.M. Motion passed 6/0. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, Kristi Anderson Recording Secretary