HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 03-14-2002Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting
March 14, 2002
Page 8
Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Fiemann, Meyer, Rezabek, Singer, Weir; staff
Blank, Evans, and Pederson; SRF consultants Warner and Grieshaber.
Absent: Commissioner Musliner
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chair Anderson called the March meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. in the Council Chambers.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A motion was made by Commissioner Weir and seconded by Commissioner Rezabek to
approve the minutes of the February meeting as presented. The motion carried with all ayes.
3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS
a. Athletic Associations. None were present.
b. Staff Director Blank introduced Diane Evans who started on March 4th as the new
Superintendent of Recreation. Evans then made a presentation to the Park Commission
on several items. She stated that staff is busy with the summer catalog getting it ready to
mail on April 1. The dome is set to come down on April 24. The Yard and Garden Expo
is April 6. Regina, our recreation program coordinator, has been working on activities for
teens. She is also planning a teen concert at Parkers Lake in July. Primavera is April 12-
13-15-16. There will be 70 artists and 80 student artist exhibitors. We have a new
volunteer position — mutt mitt dispenser fillers along park trails. Staff is in the process of
recruiting volunteers for the Yard and Garden Expo, Primavera, History Fest, spring
planting, etc. Regina put together a teen survey, which was distributed at Wayzata High
School. We received 112 responses; 86% of the responders were between ages 15-18;
81% were Plymouth residents. Most surveyed are involved in extra curricular activities
after school. Half of them are employed. Most of them have a vehicle, or access to one.
Only half think we need a teen center, and they prefer to have it in a renovated building
rather than a city building. During the school year, the highest use would be on
weekends. During the summer, evenings would see the most users. Events they would be
interested in attending at such a facility included dances, pool, and sports. Forty—six
percent feel that a teen board should run it and make decisions; 35% would be willing to
serve on that board. We will continue to look at this issue. Regina was only able to
distribute the survey in the Wayzata High School. She would like to get it out to kids
from other high schools in the Plymouth area. Anderson said he doesn't see an
overwhelming desire for this facility. Singer thinks that's indicative of the age group that
responded. Blank said this idea began with the Teen Council which is made up of high
school kids. Armstrong High School won't allow us to distribute the survey — they don't
want the extra paperwork in the school. Fiemann asked if we have a target age group for
a teen center. Blank said no, not at this time. Right now we're just in the phase of
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gathering data. Teen Centers seem to have short shelf lives, maybe three to five years.
Apple Valley has a rather elaborate facility for their Teen Center. The Depot is located in
Hopkins, and Rezabek says it's always packed. He says he doesn't consider it a teen
center, but rather a coffee shop. Some members of the Youth Council want a place where
they can drink coffee and listen to music. Singer says they're leaning more and more on
doing Internet surveys. Maybe the Teen Council could come up with a way to use that
tool. It was suggested that we look into the Armstrong web site as a way to get to the
Armstrong kids. Lots of the kids gather now at Lunds coffee shop, Evans said. Anderson
agreed with Blank that teen centers don't seem to have a good track record.
c. Others. Director Blank introduced Abbey Glaze, a fourth grader at Birchview
Elementary. She contacted the Mayor about planting a garden. Blank met with her and
the Mayor, and then a subsequent meeting with Paul Buck was held. The plan involves
the Parkers Lake North Picnic Shelter and the hillside leading up to it. The garden will
have the theme "America the Beautiful." Abbey and her friends have been doing
fundraising to help raise money for the garden. They will maintain the garden until they
leave for college. The petunias, which will make up the stripes on the flag, will need to be
replanted every year. That will be a third of the cost of the garden. All of the other plants
are perennials — cranberry bushes, and grasses like Russian sage and silver miscanthus. It
involves 1,800 plants and will cost approximately $3,000. Abbey introduced two of her
friends that accompanied her to the PRAC meeting, Thomas Churchill and Kelly
McGinnis. They also go to school at Birchview. Staff will work with the kids on this.
Blank says their plan is doable, and staff has been looking at this site for the last 10 years
trying to figure out what to do with it. Blank feels this is a wonderful idea. Several
meetings have been held at the school. Their first idea was to do something close to the
ballfields with a garden around some pine trees. Then they decided on this plan. Meyer
asked about the size of the flag. It will be 30 x 18 feet. Rezabek suggested that they get
some of the plants donated by local nurseries. Anderson asked when they would start
planting, and Abbey said they would begin in May.
4. PAST COUNCIL ACTION
a. West Medicine Lake Park restrooms. The Council approved terminating constriction of
these facilities.
b. Accepted annual report and work plan The Council accepted the annual report and
thanked PRAC for their hard work.
5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Northwest Greenway. Council approved and adopted the Northwest Greenway master
plan. Once we get all the maps done, everyone that touches on the Greenway will get a
letter from the City. Maps will be available to people free of charge.
b. Millennium Garden update. Great strides are being made — the main wall for the arbor
has been poured. Ponds and fountains have been poured. Blank said we are on schedule
to finish constriction this year.
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c. Hilde Performance Center update. Workers are busy trying to put the roof on. They are
laying tongue and groove two inch pine boards for the roof. This project is on schedule.
d. Greenwood youth sports update. This project is also on schedule.
6. NEW BUSINESS
a. Review and approve Mud Lake neighborhood park master plan. Barry Warner and Ken
Grieshaber were introduced by Blank. Blank explained that we sent letters to residents
inviting them to a planning meeting. Four hundred thirty four letters were mailed out.
Twelve people attended the neighborhood meeting. Comments received were very
positive. The property consists of a lake, wetlands, trees, etc. We know an important
issue for them is crossing County Road 47. Staff met with the highway department, and
Three Rivers Park District to discuss options for crossing this road. A third of the night
was spent talking about this. The neighborhood is confident the city did its homework on
this issue. Warner said they appreciated the opportunity to assist on this project. He stated
that this is a very distinct project — very few neighborhoods in the park system have a
lake in their park. Interstate 494 is aligned on the easterly edge and is a quarter mile east
of the park. The Camelot neighborhood is on the north side of 47. Begin Oaks Golf
Course is on the south. There is low density residential to the west and a vacant parcel to
be developed to the northwest. The neighborhood petitioned to rename the lake and that
is in the works now. That will take place on April 2nd. The City plans to drain the lake as
a proactive measure to improve water quality and vegetation within the lake. That work
may take place this summer. Water will go out the northwest culvert and migrate to the
north. When the lake bed is dry, it will go through a freeze/thaw cycle to kill off
unwanted plants. During the spring of 2003, as water fills back in, it should improve and
there should be a reduction in emergent vegetation. Future development of Cheshire Lane
has been planned by the City. Much preliminary work has been done on this already. This
development will be done on an incremental basis as property around it is developed,
Warner explained. A regional trail will connect this area to an existing trail. Different
alignments could potentially occur. One is to cross the wetlands with a boardwalk. One is
to cross through the park area or provide some type of access to the park. Grieshaber
described the park's existing conditions. It is 47 acres, 25 are made up of water, three are
wetland, and then 19 acres of dry land. Several significant stands of trees are located
here. There are three possible pedestrian crossings. There are steep slopes along the
shoreline. There are a number of great panoramic views of the lake. Grieshaber then
showed some photographs of how the property looks now. There is a potential hazard
crossing County Road 47 because of the curvature of the road. There is a nice picnic area
that overlooks the lake. After identifying the existing conditions, consultants developed a
plan including a 10' wide asphalt trail, which will be 10-12 feet from the lakeshore.
There will be a looping trail that will take people to a knoll/picnic area. The trail will
likely be a mile in length. Several boardwalk crossings are being considered. Some
interpretative signage around perimeter of the lake is being considered. The consultants
are proposing access to the parking lot aligning with Dallas Lane, large enough for six to
eight cars, with a turnaround, some bike racks, a planting area, satellite enclosures, paths
transitioning to play areas, swing containers, and a buffer between the basketball court
and benches. A split rail fence buffer may be installed along County Road 47. Other
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amenities include benches, gliders, picnic tables, two play strictures for different age
groups, picnic shelters, swings, etc. Warner then discussed some of the details of
pedestrian crossings over County Road 47. Recognizing that a portion of the service area
is north of 47, staff needs to address how to cross 47. Some of the things that need to be
considered here include that 47 is under the jurisdiction of Hennepin County. The current
speed limit is 50 mph. Traffic projections have been made through the year 2020. Traffic
volume now is 3,500 vehicles per day. Based on the transportation plan, the area east of
Cheshire is anticipated within the next 20 years to see 20,500 vehicles per day, west of
Cheshire 16,500 vehicles per day. Improvements may involve three or four lanes in the
future but not for at least five years. Today this is classified as a major collector. When
Cheshire is constricted, there will be an intersection with County Road 47. A 3—way stop
likely will be installed here. When Three Rivers Park trail goes in, it may cross at Dallas,
or there could be a grade separated crossing here. The consultant is suggesting that the
profile of County Road 47 could be changed to allow for a tunnel crossing beneath it near
Dallas or Cheshire. A significant component here is cost. Signing and striping the
roadway is fairly inexpensive, and this could be the short—term solution for crossing
County Road 47. As a safety precaution, parents should accompany their children to the
park if they must cross County Road 47. The mid—term plan for crossing the road
involves a signal at Cheshire, which would cost approximately $125,000. The cost for a
tunnel is substantially more. A bridge costs between $200,000 and $300,000, and they are
rarely used. The best long—term improvement is a tunnel underneath County Road 47.
The City, Three Rivers Park District, and Hennepin County could possibly cooperate on
this. Blank recommended that the plan be approved and forwarded to the City Council.
Meyer likes the tunnel idea. Fiemann asked how far the picnic shelter is from where kids
will be playing. Grieshaber said 40-50 feet. Fiemann thinks that's too far away. There
has been a request to make the picnic shelter large enough to accommodate homeowner
association picnics. Blank said we would try. Right now the concept is for the shelter to
accommodate 2-4 tables. Singer feels that the picnic shelter should be between the play
area and road, so that people can more easily keep an eye on children who may take off
running toward the road. There will be a split rail fence along the road, and there's a ditch
there, too. The park is higher than the road by at least six or seven feet. Blank says we are
better off doing a fence and shrubbery to block noise. There will be bench seating, too.
Singer wanted to know the walking distance for someone west of Cheshire. Blank said
six blocks or so. We think people will drive there. This park is unique because it has a
lake. This will attract more people. We are also considering putting in some canoe racks
near the lake. Rezabek asked if the parking lot is large enough, or would cars be able to
pull up on the grass somewhere. Blank said there is a possibility for a second parking lot
off Cheshire in the southwest corner, but we have to wait for developers to come in
before we make any decisions. Fiemann likes the idea of having the option to build a
second parking lot. Blank said we haven't gotten to the design engineering phase yet. If
we can expand the parking lot to nine cars we will. Rezabek asked if the DNR has any
ideas about stocking the lake with some fish. Blank said we are working with the DNR,
but the lake probably won't be deep enough to maintain fish. Blank isn't sure the lake
will be disked. He stated that our environmental engineer is working on submitting a
permit to the DNR. We don't know what they will allow. We want to get rid of the lily
pads and get rid of the scum on the lake that forms in August. Landscapers will haul silt
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away for free, because they want that soil, according to Rezabek. Singer wanted to know
if the neighbors asked to have the speed limit lowered on this road. The City Council has
to ask the state to do that, Blank said. Quite frankly, this doesn't happen very often.
FIEMANN MOVED AND SINGER SECONDED A MOTION TO APPROVE THE
MUD LAKE NEIGHBORHOOD PARK MASTER PLAN WITH CONSIDERATION
GIVEN TO DREDGING THE LAKE BOTTOM AND TO LEAVE THE OPTION
OPEN FOR ADDING A SECOND PARKING LOT. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH
ALL AYES.
7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION
Rezabek asked about the decision to change the name from Hennepin Parks to Three Rivers
Park District. Blank explained that it was because the District owns property in four different
counties, they have joint boards, and problems with identity. The three rivers are the
Minnesota, Mississippi, and Crow. Their official name on paper is still Suburban Hennepin
Regional Park District.
8. STAFF COMMUNICATION
Blank stated that the Sailing Club wants to build docks for 50 boats south of East beach.
They met with Joe Harty, and he told them he is strongly opposed to this. The next thing the
Sailing Club needs to do is call Three Rivers Park District to see if they have any property for
them to use. Staff has asked the Sailing Club to contact AMLAC (Association of Medicine
Lake Area Citizens), who are the primary players of anything that goes on on the lake. It is in
their best interest to talk to them. The Sailing Club currently rents space from Joe Harty, but
he is limited by City code as to what he can do. He cannot expand, or add docks or moorings
in the lake. They don't want to pay Joe's fees any longer. The Sailing Club knows the City
owns property along the lake. A major hurdle to additional docks is parking. Joe Harty has
parking. We have property north and south of Harty's. On the south end of East Beach where
the sand volleyball courts are located, there's 200 feet of available land. The Sailing Club
then went to the steel plant, and they have agreed to allow parking there, because they are
closed on Saturdays and Sundays. Anderson suggested commissioners should visit this site if
possible prior to the April meeting. Blank says AMLAC may oppose any idea to put more
motorized boats on the lake, but they may not oppose additional sailboats.
9. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m.