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City of Hastings Natural Resources and Recreation Commission Minutes Parks & Recreation Conference Room February 10, 2009 – 6:00 pm 1)Roll Call at 6 pm: Commissioners Flaten, Schommer, Miller, Smith, Vandehoef and Tessmer-Tuck, Parks and Recreation Director Bernstein. Absent: Commissioner Rohloff, Superintendent Smith 2)Approved January meeting minutes. Motion by Miller. Seconded by Tessmer-Tuck. Passed unanimously. 3)Goals and Objectives – Director Bernstein will be sending out a copy of the proposed NRRC Goals and Objectives with revisions via email. This topic will be placed on the March meeting agenda. 4)Departmental updates were reviewed with NRRC members. Oliver’s Grove Title Transfer – The property that Oliver’s Grove sits on is owned by the Hastings Economic 5) Development and Redevelopment Authority, not the City of Hastings. Director Grossman is planning to bring a resolution forward to City Council transferring the title of that property to the City of Hastings. Oliver’s Grove is listed in the Parks Comprehensive Plan and has been maintained as a city park for many years. 6)Levee Park Committee Update – Director Bernstein has been attending a variety of MNDot meetings regarding the new bridge. There has been some discussion surrounding the proposed pedestrian/bike exit from the Hwy 61 bridge to the downtown Levee Park area. A map with some proposed sites for a spiral loop ramp were reviewed. Due to the need for the ramp to be ADA compliant and of a certain grade, the spiral is estimated to be 70-100 feet in diameter and about 40 feet high. Director Bernstein does have concerns about this large footprint in an area with limited space, although he does support the need for some type of pedestrian/bike entrance and exit closer to downtown that MnDot’s 4 Street th access. One possibility would be to place the ramp under the new bridge. There may be a more feasible alternative than the spiral concept, including the idea of a switchback. The estimated cost for the spiral concept is about 3.5 million dollars which would not be funded by MnDot. Director Bernstein believes that if the only ped/bike exit is located at 4 th Street, the City needs to create some type of attraction in Levee Park that would draw people back into the downtown area. Commissioner Flaten commented that he feels 3.5 million is too much money for this project and that people who are biking wouldn’t mind biking back a couple of blocks to get to the river. Director Bernstein also mentioned the issue of how to get people safely across 2 Street in this scenario. There is a potential to put a trail leading people from 4 ndth Street through downtown to the river trail, but we need to do this in the safest manner possible. It might be possible to put some type of pedestrian crossing on 2 Street by the Mississippi Belle with a marked crosswalk, flashing lights, etc. nd Commissioner Schommer appreciates the historic concept of the spiral ramp, but thought the cost was too great. Commissioner Vandehoef agreed and commented that this spiral wouldn’t look like the original one-loop spiral bridge anyway. Commissioner Miller feels that an exit from the bridge down to 2 Street is very important, but thought that a nd switchback design might fit better and be more cost effective. Commissioner Flaten commented that there is a spiral in Eagan and there are many more all over the metro area. Commissioner Smith mentioned that bike riding through the downtown area is very pleasant and it is important to allow access in some manner. Commissioner Tessmer-Tuck asked if there would still be vehicle entrances/exits before 4 Street with the new bridge, and could we possibly use those in th some way to allow ped/bike access. Director Bernstein replied that they are in current plans, but that MnDot is examining them as they need to make sure that they allow safe turning radiuses for buses. The NRRC also received copies of three conceptual plans for what the Levee Park redevelopment could look like. Director Bernstein explained that all three designs had basically the same features, but in different locations. The commissioners all agreed that scheme #3 was the plan they liked the best, which features the visitor center in the middle of the park with other possible amenities (labyrinth, gardens, river walk, winter skating, water playground, outdoor theater, etc.) located throughout the park. It was very important to the Downtown Business community not to lose any parking and all three plans dress up the parking areas with plantings. Commissioner Miller liked that scheme #3 had a great view of the river from the visitor center. Although there is currently no funding available for this redevelopment, the City wants to have a plan in place for the future. There are an assortment of programs working with the National Parks Service to obtain funding for the visitor center and the Levee Park project. Cost estimates really depend on what we do and whether or not visitor center goes in. If we proceed with the concept, open meetings would be held to get input from residents. The bridge project will only pay to fix the areas that it disturbed during the construction. Director