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City of Hastings Natural Resources and Recreation Commission Minutes Parks & Recreation Conference Room August 12, 2008 – 6:00 pm 1) Roll Call at 6 pm: Commissioners Miller, Nelson, Rohloff, Schommer, Smith, Tessmer-Tuck and Vandehoef, Parks and Recreation Director Bernstein (via conference call), Superintendent Smith. 2) Vote for Chair: Commissioner Schommer will serve as Chair of the NRRC; Vandehoef will serve as Co-Chair. 3) Approved May meeting minutes. Motion by Vandehoef. Seconded by Miller. Passed unanimously. 4) Setting Agenda: “Eagle Bluff Update” added to Old Business. “Hwy 61 Construction” added to New Business. 5) Departmental Updates were passed out and reviewed. Superintendent Smith showed the NRRC one of our Memorial Tree Plaques. There are two plaques that are usually on display at City Hall. Due to the remodel, they had to be moved and will find a new home somewhere at City Hall or the Parks & Recreation office. Our summer seasonal employees are going back to school. We have one seasonal employee who will be staying on as long into the fall as he is able to. Director Bernstein mentioned that the HFAC attendance is down this season – we lost pretty much the whole month of June due to weather and bridge work. Safety Camp was a huge success and a great collaborative effort between the Fire, Police, and Parks & Recreation departments, the YMCA, and Community Education. The Rivertown Days Youth First Teen Night at the pool had an attendance of over 200. We are looking at ways to improve that event for next year. Superintendent Smith also mentioned that we made an effort to collect recycling at Rivertown Days this year and Waste Management reported 1,780 pounds were recycled. Commissioner Rohloff asked about the new floor at the Arena. Director Bernstein explained that the work is basically done, but we haven’t made ice on it yet. The project is on track for budgeting purposes and staff is still looking into purchasing new turf. 6) HFAC Letter – A nice letter from Marisa and Paul Novak was received commending the staff at the HFAC. 7) MN Recreation and Parks Award of Excellence – The City of Hastings received this award for the Lake Isabel Park nd Redevelopment Project. This is only the 2 time that the City has ever won this award. Director Bernstein mentioned that this award validates the overall scope of the Lake Isabel project. The award was presented to City Council. Commissioner Schommer mentioned that whenever he has been down to Lake Isabel since this project was finished, there are always people there and the fishing has improved. A question was asked as to how much it would cost to dredge the entire lake. Director Bernstein said the dredging just the one acre cost around $40,000-$50,000. The East Hastings Improvement Association was looking at dredging another acre this year, but construction fees have gone up due to fuel costs. They’re not able to complete more dredging this year and will look at raising more money to do it in future. The original Lake Isabel project involved a water treatment to make water more blue, drawdown project to remove water from the lake and let sediment condense, and dredging the whole lake – all three of these issues were cost prohibitive. We completed what we could afford at this time. Commissioner Miller asked if we need to dredge again within a certain number of years. Director Bernstein said that the engineers aren’t sure how long this dredging will last due to numerous variables including flooding. 8) Tier 2 Skate Park Equipment – Director Bernstein gave a brief history of the issues involving the Tier 2 Skate Park. Anything over 48” tall at its peak is considered Tier 2; less than 48” at peak is Tier 1. We have about 8 pieces of Tier 2 equipment and about 8 pieces of Tier 1 equipment. Director Bernstein asked the NRRC for a recommendation to sell the Tier 2 equipment, as we have not had success locating such a park in Hastings with the proper accessibility and supervision. Many residents have called Director Bernstein requesting that the skate park be reinstated, but “not in my backyard.” If the Tier 2 equipment is sold, staff could look at reopening the skate park as a Tier 1 park out at Vets. The park could be free, which would hopefully lessen the amount of vandalism, and the City wouldn’t have the liability issues of a Tier 2 park. Commissioner Schommer asked if staff felt we might draw a younger crowd that wouldn’t be as into vandalism without the Tier 2 equipment. Director Bernstein explained that Tier 2 parks have to be enclosed, staffed, and open during certain hours only. Tier one parks are open to the general public, not staffed, and not secured. By selling the Tier 2 equipment, we hope to avoid the vandalism that involved cutting the fences to gain access. We can’t reopen the park at Vet’s without first selling the Tier 2 equipment. It is stored out there and staff doesn’t have the proper equipment to move it. Director Bernstein also mentioned that the economics of the skate park never worked. In staff costs alone, the Tier 2 skate park cost the City about $17,000, while only receiving $2,500 in season pass sales. Superintendent Smith stated that there are opportunities for more difficult skate parks outside of Hastings. There are very few Tier 2 skate parks in the metro area. Most of these are privately operated, but very few are publicly operated. Commissioner Nelson asked where the skate park has been placed in the past. The City first placed the park at Vet’s Park, but when vandalism became a major problem, the park was closed. In the summer of 2006, staff tried putting the Tier 1 equipment out at Lions Park, a very accessible part of town. The park received excellent attendance by both younger and