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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-10-2009 NRRC 02 Jan MinutesCity of Hastings Natural Resources and Recreation Commission Minutes Parks & Recreation Conference Room January 13, 2009 – 6:00 pm 1)Roll Call at 6 pm: Commissioners Flaten, Schommer, Rohloff, Miller, and Tessmer-Tuck, Parks and Recreation Director Bernstein. Absent: Commissioners Smith and Vandehoef, Superintendent Smith 2)New Commissioner Brian Flaten was welcomed and introductions were made. 3)Approved November meeting minutes. Motion by Miller. Seconded by Tessmer-Tuck. Passed unanimously. 4)2009 Meeting Schedule – A schedule of all the 2009 NRRC meetings was included in the commissioners’ packets. It was decided that all monthly meetings will remain on the schedule on an as needed basis. Since the budget cycle has been moved up for staff, the meeting with the NRRC and the Parks & Recreation Committee of Council will be scheduled for the March 10 meeting. The new members of the Parks & Recreation Committee of Council th are Mike Slavik (chair), Tony Nelson, and Barb Hollenbeck. 5)Departmental updates were reviewed with NRRC members. 6)Levee Park Committee Update – The first two meetings of the task force have been reviewing historical ideas and seeing which direction the plans should go, with the new bridge coming in. The task force is looking at action items next and getting something on paper. Since a lot depends on the bridge construction, any plans that are made may not come into effect for a few years, although it also provides some funding opportunities as well. The task force is looking at the space available and how the whole riverfront flows. Public restrooms are desired, but the business district does not want to lose parking, so this is something that is being discussed. 7)Vet’s Park Baseball Field Sponsorship – Commissioner Schommer told the NRRC that the committee met with the Parks & Recreation Committee of Council in December and outlined the plan for them. The main items were to get approval to solicit donors, and also to be able to tell possible sponsors that if they donate a certain amount of money towards the project, naming rights would be possible. The Committee of Council didn’t want to give approval at the time, since there were new Council members starting in January. The Baseball Committee will try to meet with the Committee of Council again in February. 8)NRRC Goals & Objectives – Director Bernstein passed out a draft version of some goals and objectives for the NRRC. These would better define what the NRRC is, what it wishes to accomplish, etc. It is difficult to achieve any enhancements to the NRRC without any formal goals and objectives. Commissioner Miller asked if we could add “MNRRA” to the goals and objectives section. The NRRC will review and comment to Barry on this, and a new draft will be presented to the NRRC in February. Director Bernstein will be looking for a recommendation to bring this forward to Council at that time. 9)Vet’s Proposed Trails – In coordination with the Industrial Park Improvement Project, a map was distributed showing proposed trail alignments that would occur in and around Veteran’s Park. In addition to the trail alignments, a new entrance into Veteran’s Park off of 21 Street is being considered. The new trails would add st about 2 ½ miles (1300 linear feet) to our trail system. The additions would enhance the ability for residents to access the City trail system from the south. The Parks & Recreation Committee of Council were very excited by this proposal. Commissioner Rohloff asked if there would be a crossing to Coburn’s. Since Hwy 316 is a state highway, the City has no jurisdiction to add a crosswalk. However, there may be some traffic calming at the Hwy 316 entrance which would allow people an opportunity to cross. There would be much better visual quality if the entrance to Veteran’s Park is moved to 21 Street. Since about 2004, the City has been putting money aside for this st project. There may be a ponding basin/rain garden added by the baseball field (southeast corner) for water quality. The roadways in Vet’s park would not be blacktopped/curbed at this time, due to lack of funds. However, that is something that is still in the plans for the future. Commissioner Tessmer-Tuck asked if this will help future plans for Hastings to serve as a trail head. Director Bernstein said that it will, especially since the trail on County Road 42 to Scharr’s Bluff trail was just approved by the County Board. 10)Pool Plaster Project Update – As part of the ongoing maintenance with the HFAC, new Diamond Brite needs to be installed. The shelf life is about 10 years and we are experiencing some issues now. Through the budgeting process, staff has been planning for this project for the last three years. Recently, City Council passed a resolution that any project over $100,000 must meet MN prevailing wage guidelines. These are wages set by the MN Dept. of Labor for laborers. This resolution has meant that the pool plaster project will be much higher than anticipated, budgeted costs. Also, our drain covers must be replaced since they don’t meet the new federal guidelines. Director Bernstein is proposing to hire a consultant to prepare the bid docs and then go out for bid. Option one is to get the project done by June 1, 2009. Option 2 is to get the project done in fall of 2009. Option 3 is to start demolition in the fall of 2009 and then complete construction in the spring of 2010. Options 2 & 3 are assumed to be less costly than the first option. Staff would like to go out for bid to get current pricing. Another consideration is that because the demand for the new drain covers is so great, there is a long waiting list to get them from the manufacturers. Therefore, the federal government is allowing pools to count the date you ordered your drain covers by. Our pool does meet state standards, but not the federal ones. MOTION: Commissioner Miller recommended bringing the pool plaster bidding process forward to City Council. Seconded by Commissioner Rohloff. Passed unanimously. 11)Turf Bid Update – Staff received three bids for the new turf at the Arena. The two companies with the lowest bids (difference in price of $50) are being compared as to product. Since we are trying to get into more craft shows and non-sport uses in the Arena, the Rec-Turf is more multi-purpose. The turf from Tennis Surface Co. is more for sports usage. Another plus for the turf from Rec-Turf is that the connecting velcro goes on the top and can be painted to apply for lines instead of painting. Sewn in lines were explored but were expensive. The City of Minneapolis purchased Rec-Turf and uses it for sports purposes and loves it. Other cities also say that playability with the Rec-Turf product is good. Commissioner Tessmer-Tuck asked what percentage of use is non-sports. It is true that it is not much now, but staff is planning to get more shows in to use it. We currently have a dog show and a craft show. Staff is leaning more towards Rec-Turf. There is a concern about compaction during storage for the Tennis product. The Rec-Turf product is more flexible for lines and should last 20 years. Commissioner Miller was concerned about the Velcro coming up when being played on. Commissioner Schommer asked if we could get solid Velcro without the holes. Director Bernstein will explore that and also mentioned that indoor turf cleats are not as aggressive as outdoor cleats. MOTION: Commissioner Rohloff recommended bringing the bid from Rec-Turf forward to City Council. Seconded by Commissioner Tessmer-Tuck. Passed unanimously. 12)Highway 61 Bridge Update – Director Bernstein has been attending multiple meetings on the new bridge with MnDot. They are investigating every angle of this project. MNDot wrote a letter to the City regarding the staging area for the bridge project. Barry has an MOU that he will be bringing to Council on January 20, authorizing the th use of Levee Park, Jaycee Park, and the River Flats area. We will receive some type of compensation from MNDot for the use of these properties, in addition to the restoration efforts for the River Flats area to natural prairie. One option is that MNDot would cut the City a check for the efforts and then the City would oversee the restoration efforts, possibly through a group like the Friends of the Mississippi River. Commissioner Flaten asked if the bridge will have a bike path on it. Yes, there is a bike/ped path planned on the east side of the bridge, which is being tentatively planned at 8 feet wide. Staff is also investigating the possibility of adding a couple of small viewing areas that would jut out slightly in certain areas on the bridge. There is talk about accessing Levee Park via some type of spiral walkway. The difficulty with this walkway is that it has to be no more than 5% grade for ADA compliance. This would make it a minimum of 70-100 feet in diameter. The access to the park is not part of the MnDot project and would be paid for by the City. The access MnDot is providing is on 4 Street. th MOTION to adjourn. Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 10t at the Parks & Recreation Office. h Adjourned at 7:31 p.m. Minutes submitted by Kristin Behrens