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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04.26.16 Parks and Rec MinutesFarmington Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes from the April 26, 2016 Regular Meeting Members Present: Mike Haley, Dustin Johnson, David McMillen, and John Moore Members Absent: Rob Carpentier Other’s Present: Yvonne Perkins, Rick Sayers, Amy Pellicci, Lois Lotze, Park and Facility Supervisor Jeremy Pire and Parks and Recreation Director Randy Distad I. Call Meeting To Order Chair McMillen called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Quorum was present. III. Approval of April 8, 2015 Meeting Agenda Moved by Moore and seconded by Johnson to approve the amended meeting agenda to include adding IX Next Meeting Agenda Topics and move IX Adjournment to X Adjournment. All persons in favor (APIF). Motion carried. III. Approval of March 16, 2016 Meeting Minutes Moved by Johnson and seconded by Moore to approve the March 16, 2016 meeting minutes as written. Voting in favor: McMillen, Johnson and Moore. Voting against: none. Abstaining from the vote: Haley. Motion carried. IV. Presentations A. Sayers Property Park Location Director Distad provided the following background information on the Sayers property: • Owner approached the city about having the park location identified, so in the future this information could be shared with potential developers • Owner has proposed several options for park locations but none that are centrally located • The total acreage for the parcels located north of Dakota County Road 50 is approximately 113 acres, but not all of this can be developed because of floodplain and shore land preservation requirements • The Commission should identify the park location tonight, so the property owner can share this information with future potential developers Rick Sayers who is one of the family members owning the property requested the following from the Commission: • Would like to provide a park on one of their parcels that is south of Dakota County Road 50 because they have had discussions with Dakota County staff about turning this into a natural area that would contain a regional trail • He also offered a second and third option for park locations on the north side of Dakota County Road 50, which would be adjacent to a potential future commercial development on their property • Felt the park location identified by city staff would impact the development of land that is considered prime land for development Johnson stated he wasn’t interested in having the park located on the south side of Dakota County Road 50 because of the unsafe conditions presented in trying to cross this very busy road to access the park. The park should remain on the north side of Dakota County Road 50. He stated he would like to have the park located in the area identified in Exhibit E. Moore stated he is opposed to having the park located between two commercial areas, one in Farmington and the second in Lakeville. He didn’t think it was a very conducive environment and location for a park. McMillen stated that he didn’t like the park being backed up against Dakota County Road 50, which is a very busy road. Haley liked the central location of the park as shown in Exhibit E and the opportunity to expand the park later when land adjacent to the Sayers property is developed. Johnson moved to locate the park in the location identified in Exhibit E and Moore seconded the motion. McMillen asked of there was any more discussion. Moore asked Mr. Sayers if he would consider a more central location for the park from what he had proposed to the Commission. Mr. Sayers stated he would discuss this with his engineers and have them draft a concept of the streets to see how this would work. He was concerned there would be too much park land taken for a developer to be interested in developing the property. Director Distad shared that the intent was not to make it difficult for the land to be developed and suggested to the Commission that they may want to amend the motion to specify how much park land the city should require in each of the Sayers parcels. He said that if the city required park land of 1.5 acres in each of the different parcels it would result in a neighborhood park of 4.5 acres. This would also allow an opportunity when the property to the northeast of the Sayers property was developed the city could take park land dedication that would allow the park to be enlarged to serve both developments. He said the remaining park dedication requirement could be taken cash-in-lieu to help fund the development of the park. He also said that if only one of the parcels developed, there would still be a small neighborhood park that could be developed. Johnson made a friendly amendment to the original motion to require the dedication of 1.5 acres of parkland that is contiguous in each of the parcels resulting in a neighborhood park that would ultimately be at least 4.5 acres in size. Moore seconded the friendly amendment to the original motion. McMillen called for the vote. APIF. Motion carried. B. Recreational Facilities Task Force (Task Force) Recommendation Distad provided the following summary information to Commission members about the process the Task Force used to make a final recommendation to the City Council: • met three times • received historical information about past recreational facility studies, referendum attempts and rec facility needs assessment community surveys completed • provided an initial list of facilities to consider • prioritized the list of facilities to consider • discussed cost estimates based on prioritized facilities • reviewed estimated operation and maintenance cost increases for aquatics and park maintenance • refined the original project list so the projects included in the final recommendation was below $10 million ceiling the City Council set Moved by Johnson and seconded by Haley to approve the recreational facilities recommended by the Task Force and to recommend that the recommendation be approved by the City Council. APIF. Motion carried. C. 2015 to 2016 Schmitz Maki Arena Ice Season Report Parks and Facilities Supervisor Jeremy Pire reviewed the number of hours that were rented by each user group during the season. He noted that Farmington Youth Hockey Association increased the number of hours rented this season compared to last season. Pire reviewed programs and events that were held at the Arena and commented how participation is on the upswing. He informed Commission members about the new turf being installed by Farmington Youth Lacrosse Association. The install went smoothly and there were a lot of people from lacrosse who helped during the installation, which made it go much quicker than anticipated. He said while there hasn’t been much interest from other youth organizations to rent the turf, he felt next year this would change because the plan is to install the turf earlier next year and also have an opportunity to advertise the availability to rent the turf. He shared the youth lacrosse has it rented most evenings and one at least one weekend day. He shared there has also been a rental taken for a birthday party. V. Business Items A. Approve Park Improvement Fund 2017-2021 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Director Distad shared that he updated the CIP to show itemized costs for the various projects identified in each park. He made Commission members aware that the 2017-2021 CIP shows in a few years the Park Improvement Fund will be in a deficit if either there isn’t any additional funding being received from what has been identified. If this is the case, then projects in the plan will have to be put on hold until there are funds available. He asked the Commission to adopt the CIP. Moved by Moore and seconded by Haley to approve the 2017-2021 Park Improvement Fund CIP. APIF. Motion carried. B. Approve Partnership with Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC) Chair McMillen reminded Commission members about the meeting that previously occurred with the HPC and the discussion that occurred about a signage program being developed by the HPC and could include the park and trail system as locations for the signage. He stated the idea was to have the Commission formally approve the partnership, so the HPC can be made aware of this and they can move forward with developing a signage program. Motion by Moore and seconded by Johnson to approve a partnership between the Commission and the HPC on developing a signage program that could include signs being installed in city parks and along city trails. APIF. Motion carried. C. Commission Member Photo Since not all Commission members were present during the meeting, Johnson moved and Haley seconded to move the Commission members group photo to the May 2016 meeting. APIF. Motion carried. VI. Discussion Items A. 2016 Park and Recreation Commission Work Plan Review Chair McMillen reviewed the 2016 work plan. Items completed since the last Commission meeting were shown in red print and included Goal #2 Objective #1, Goal #5 Objective #2, and Goal #8 Objective #4. It was noted the Commission continues to make progress on completing items in its work plan. B. Downtown Redevelopment Plan (Plan) Approval Chair McMillen, who represented the Commission on the committee that developed the Plan, shared the Plan was approved by the City Council. He noted there were four Commission members who attended the City Council meeting when it was approved. He reminded Commission members the first item to complete in the Plan will be to purchase and install bike racks in downtown Farmington. He noted pedestrian connections were a common theme and priority for committee members who worked on the plan. He shared the highest pedestrian connection identified was completing the missing sidewalk connection along the north side of Spruce Street that exists from the railroad tracks to Division Street. He also thought the Rambling River Center plaza concept offered a good opportunity to utilize this space as a downtown gathering place. VII. Commission Roundtable Johnson: Thanked the Recreational Facilities Task Force members for their involvement and hard work during the process of developing a final recommendation. Moore: Would like to have the Youth Scholarship Program advertised more, since it seems to be underutilized. He is a Rotary Club of Farmington member and he would like to see families that need this support to be made aware of it and access the funds. He suggested that it be marketed through the Farmington School District communications. Haley: Didn’t have anything to share. McMillen: Thanked Recreational Facilities Task Force members for their participation in the process and the effort they provided to make the final recommendation. He reminded Commission members about the Music in the Park program that will start in May. He reminded Commission members about the upcoming Park and Pond Clean Up Day event that will be held on Saturday, April 30th. VIII. Staff Report Director Distad provided informational updates on the following topics: 1. Troy Hill Park playground equipment Concrete border was removed by staff. Playground equipment was removed by contractor and will be refurbished and installed in a third world country. If the weather cooperates it is anticipated the new playground will be installed yet in May. 2. Fire Station #1 Concrete Apron Improvement Project Contractor has been hired to complete this work. This project will replace the original concrete apron that was installed when the building was constructed. 3. Tamarack Park Basketball Court Improvement Project Quotes have been received and the City Council is being asked at its May 2nd meeting to approve an agreement to have the repair and resurfacing work completed. The basketball court repair will be completed in the same manner as the Meadowview Park basketball court was completed. 4. Legacy Grant for Vermillion River stream and bank stabilization project The city, Dakota County, Vermillion River Watershed organization and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources worked on a Legacy Grant and were recently informed the $225,000 project was approved for grant funding. This work will be completed in late summer and early fall of 2016. 5. Arbor Day Celebration and Tree Planting Event The city will be hosting its annual Arbor Day tree planting celebration in the northern area of Jim Bell Park and Preserve on Friday, April 29th. Students from Meadowview Elementary School will be assisting with planting the trees. This event is open to the public and invited Commission members to attend if their schedules allowed. 6. DARTS Agreement Addendum 5310 bus DARTS is interested in helping the city find volunteer drivers for its Rambling River Center bus trips. DARTS is working on providing its own volunteer drivers to drive the DARTS bus for city bus trips. This may require an addendum to the original agreement and if it does, the addendum will be brought back to the Commission for review and approval. This will fill a huge void that is currently in place with finding drivers for the Rambling River Center bus trips. 7. Farmington Youth Hockey Association (FYHA) Agreement Staff has been working with FYHA on combining a couple of past agreements into one overall agreement and then extending the agreement deadline. If the draft agreement is completed before the May 11, 2016 Commission meeting, it will be placed on the agenda for review and approval by the Commission. 8. North Creek Park outdoor hockey rink board reconstruction The current North Creek Park plastic hockey board system that was purchased and installed in 2006 will be replaced with wood boards this summer. The company that makes the plastic boards is no longer manufacturing them. Staff did purchase a few extra plastic boards in the event the wood boards would not be installed in 2016, so the plastic hockey boards could be extended through the 2016-2017 outdoor ice season and then the wood boards would be installed in 2017. IX. May 11, 2016 Meeting Agenda Items The following items were identified by Commission members for its December 10, 2014 meeting agenda: 1. 2016 Annual Work Plan review 2. Group photo 3. Recreational Facilities Task Force recommendation results 4. DARTS agreement 5. Farmington Youth Hockey Association agreement 6. City Council joint meeting discussion items X. Adjournment Moved by Haley and seconded by Moore to adjourn the meeting. APIF. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Randy Distad Parks and Recreation Director and Recording Secretary