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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-13-2010 PRC 02 Feb Minutes City of Hastings Natural Resources and Recreation Commission Minutes Parks & Recreation Conference Room February 9, 2010 – 6:00 pm 1) Roll Call at 6 pm: Commissioners Flaten, Schommer, Miller, Rohloff, Smith, and Vandehoef, Parks and Recreation Director Bernstein, Superintendent Smith; Guests Will Hilton & Joe Larson from Raider Nation Absent: Commissioner Tessmer-Tuck December Minutes: 2) Motion to approve by Commissioner Miller. Seconded by Commissioner Smith. Passed unanimously. Setting Agenda: 3) Director Bernstein added “Emerald Ash Borer Management Plan” to New Business. Commissioner Rohloff requested that a Raider Nation update be added to Old Business. Departmental Updates: 4) Department updates were passed out to the commissioners. Superintendent Kevin Smith will st be retiring effective May 1. Our crews have been checking the Outlot J rink at least weekly for unsafe conditions. Everything has been fine so far. 2010 Pool Opening Proposal: 5) In the past, we have tried to open HFAC the first week of June, however this year th Hastings and Prescott schools don’t let out till June 11. Evening hours during the first open week haven’t been well attended in past years and the weather has also been poor. Another factor to consider this year is that the remaining construction at the pool will need to be completed in the spring and a later start date would give more time to finish the thth project. So, staff would like to open June 12 and will stay open later in the season, until August 29. The last two years, August has been our best month. Staff is trying to maximize our resources with this later start date and save costs. th MOTION: Commissioner Miller motions to recommend Option B with the later start date of June 12. Seconded by Commissioner Rohloff. Passed unanimously. MRPA Award for Jared Flewellen: 6) Director Bernstein informed the NRRC that Jared Flewellen won an award from the MN Recreation & Park Association for the Hershey’s Track and Field program. Jared’s event in 2009 saw the biggest increase in the number of participants from the previous year in the state of Minnesota. The MRPA is flying Jared out to Hershey, PA at no cost to the City to be a part of the national event. NRRC Letter of Support – Pleasant & Co Rd 46 Improved Trail Connection: 7) Two grant applications will be made to modify the trail from Cty Rd 46 east to the Vermillion River. Recently, Director Bernstein received a Resolution of Support from the City Council for this trail improvement. He would also like a support letter from the NRRC to be added to the grant applications. The two grants that will be applied for are a Legacy grant and a Local Trails Connection grant, both through the MN DNR. These are lengthy, detailed grants. However, Dakota County was recently looking for trail projects that would benefit from the services of a professional grant writer. This trail project received the highest number of points of any proposal received, so we will have the assistance from the grant writer. Staff is trying to open dialogue with the Bauer family regarding the land along the river in that area. A local resident, Lee Stoffel, has been helping us to get emails of support from residents – 33 have come in so far. 8) Renaming of NRRC: There has been discussion amongst the commissioners for a while now about changing the name of the NRRC as they look to being more visible within the community. The current commission name, Natural Resources and Recreation Commission is very long and seems to be confusing to the public. A simpler name may help people to identify with the commission more. A few suggestions of new names were, Hastings Parks Board, Parks & Recreation Commission, and Parks, Trails, and Open Spaces Commission. MOTION: Commissioner Rohloff motioned to recommend changing the name of the Natural Resources and Recreation Commission. Seconded by Commissioner Vandehoef. Passed unanimously. MOTION: Commissioner Vandehoef motioned to recommend a new name of “Parks and Recreation Commission”. Seconded by Commissioner Smith. Passed unanimously. 9) Vendor Permit: The Parks & Recreation Department receives a considerable amount of requests from outside vendors wishing to sell items at our tournaments. In the past, we’ve never had a policy/practice to allow for such activity. However, staff has been working on a vendor permit that would set up an application and fee to allow outside vendors to sell items during City-organized events in our parks. This is an attempt to have a mechanism to partner with and allow local businesses to promote themselves, but to still have some control on how many vendors are allowed per event. Director Bernstein reviewed the draft vendor permit application with the commissioners. While most other cities take a percentage of sales after the event is over, our staff would like to set up a straight fee payable before the event to minimize administrative difficulties with charging a percentage. The proposed fee is $175 and that is per event, not per day. Parks & Recreation will determine the number of vendors allowed per event, as well as the location and size of their vending area. The City does have an exclusive beverage contract (currently with Coca-Cola) and so the City would be the only vendor of beverages (soda, water, etc.). Staff is planning to set up multiple beverage vending sites at Vets Park during tournaments to make it more convenient for customers. No electricity will be provided for the vendors – they would have to supply their own power. This vendor permit is tied to an “event” and so would only apply to vendors who wanted to sell items at an event in a park, for example a tournament at Vets Park. It was asked if this would apply to a fair that was held at the Civic Arena. We already charge a rental fee to the organizer of the fair, but would individual vendors at the fair be required to fill out this application and pay the permit fee as well? Director Bernstein is going to check with the Arena Management to see what happens currently with the annual Craft Fair. Commissioner Miller asked how the $175 fee was reached. Director Bernstein explained that most cities charge a percentage, usually around 10%, of the total sales for their fee. Staff wanted to keep things as simple and streamlined as possible, with only one permit no matter what type of event it was for. So a flat fee that was selected that would be in the range of 10% of most vendor’s sales at various events. The permit is per event, and ultimately, if the vendor doesn’t feel the event justifies the $175 fee, he can choose not to participate in the event. Staff felt that since we were bringing in lots of customers for these vendors, the fee was justified and fair. Also, since these vendors will inevitably take away some of the revenue generated by the City’s concession stand, the fee helps to make up the difference. Commissioner Schommer recommended increasing the insurance liability amounts as they seem low. Commissioner Vandehoef noticed there was no damage deposit on the application and recommended adding one in case any damage is done by the vendor to the turf, etc. MOTION: Commissioner Miller motioned to bring the Event Vendor Application forward to the Parks & Recreation Committee of Council. Seconded by Commissioner Rohloff. Passed unanimously. Grant Awards: 10) The Parks and Recreation Department applied for and received three mini-grants from Dakota County Public Health. One is for bike racks along the Mississippi in the downtown area ($5,600), one is for way finding signs on the trail route ($7,400), and one is for design work for the potential future expansion at Veterans Park ($5,000). Out of the $65,000 that was available, the City of Hastings received $18,000. Smead Donation: 11) The City received a donation of $3,750 from Smead which is something the Hastings Baseball Community has sought out. This money will go into improvements for the Hastings baseball field along with carryover of donation money from last year. Alcohol Sales at Vets Park: 12) Director Bernstein explained that we have received a request from the Hastings Baseball Club to allow sales of alcohol at Hawks games. Commissioner Schommer explained that the Bierstube and the Green Mill would like to operate a beer garden at Hawks home games only. They carry insurance and a Minnesota caterer’s license. He then reviewed the proposal for the beer garden operations in detail with the NRRC. Director Bernstein commented that allowing this would require a change to City Ordinance. Also, he is concerned that since people may currently bring beer into the park, what will stop them from bringing beer into Hawks games or watching from right field with their own beer? At Rivertown Days, the City does allow a beer garden, but the vendors are required to fence off the area and hire security at their own cost. Other questions that were raised included: 1) How do we write a City Ordinance that only applies to Hawks games? 2) How do we stop people from bringing a cooler with beer and drinking it just outside the park, for instance right field? 3) What about the perception of selling beer at Veterans Park? 4) Why only the two vendors? What if another vendor would like to be allowed to do the same thing? 5) What if someone from the softball community wants to sell beer at their games? (The Hawks do it, why can’t we?) 6) Should this be addressed under a broader proposal that covers alcohol sales at any event? Even though the City wouldn’t be selling the beer, Veterans Park is a city park and people’s perception may be that the City is selling the beer. Commissioner Schommer recommended checking with Red Wing to see how they handle alcohol sales at their games because their sports complex is similar to ours with mixed uses including youth. Jared Flewellen will follow up with Red Wing. Commissioner Schommer also mentioned that since they would not be selling beer out of the concession stand, it wouldn’t affect the licensing of the building. Commissioner Smith asked if we grant the vendors exclusive right to sell beer, who is enforcing people not bringing it in? Or, do we allow people to bring it in and allow vendors to sell it as well? It was brought up that at other locations, they don’t allow coolers to be brought in, but people still get it in through various means. Commissioner Schommer also stated that only certain vendors have the proper caterer’s license/insurance to be able to sell beer at the games. Others commented that other local establishments have a caterer’s license as well, and how can we exclude them? If this were to be allowed, the proposed vendor permit/fee could be a mechanism to be used for vendors who are interested in selling beer at Hawk’s games. NRRC felt this topic deserved more research and discussion and it will be on the agenda for next month’s meeting. 13) Canoe Rental Permit: An Eagle Scout made some improvements at Lake Rebecca this past year, and one of those improvements is a 6-canoe storage rack. Staff would like the racks to be made available for rent via a permit application and rental fee. A draft of Canoe Storage Rental Procedures and a Canoe Permit Application were reviewed. People who choose to store their canoe on the rack would be responsible for providing their own lock and the City isn’t responsible for any damages. If this program is successful, staff would like to build two or three more racks for the public to use. One change that needs to be made to the form is to add a sentence that states “The City is not liable for any damages to the canoes.” MOTION: Commissioner Smith motioned to bring the canoe rental permit with modifications forward to the Parks & Recreation Committee of Council. Seconded by Vandehoef. Passed unanimously. 2010 NRRC Agenda: 14) Director Bernstein requested that any topics the NRRC desires to be placed on the agendas for 2010 be forwarded to him. New Business: 15)  Emerald Ash Borer Management Plan: The Emerald Ash Borer is now in the state of Minnesota. City staff has developed a management plan for the EAB’s eventual discovery in Hastings. The EAB will be here at some point – whether it is this spring or 20 years from now. In Hastings, about 27% of our trees are Ash trees with some areas of town over 50% Ash trees. The City has cut back on allowing Ash trees to be planted in developments and on City property in past few years. The management plan attempts to reduce the financial burden on the city and taxpayers and spread it out over a longer period of time. Parks & Recreation did apply for a grant opportunity with the State of Minnesota to deal with EAB, but unfortunately, we did not get selected. A total of eight grants were given out to cities outside the affected zone and 73 applications were received. Hastings is currently about 20 miles away from the infection center. However, the grant process was educational and the data collected can be used to apply for future grant opportunities. When EAB does arrive in Hastings, it will happen quickly, which is why it is important to have this management plan in place now. This plan will allow staff to deal with the removal and replacement of affected trees and also to treat trees that are considered high value, for instance, those in Public Square. Two Parks & Recreation staff members have attended First Detector training and the City Forester is a certified First Detector. Two more staff members will attend the training this year. Director Bernstein will be bringing this management plan forward to the City Council. Old Business: 16)  Raider Nation Baseball: Will Hilton and Joe Larson gave the NRRC an update on Raider Nation. They currently have over 60 kids signed up with their program. They will also be meeting with the southern townships (four corners) about incorporating them into the league. Jared Flewellen mentioned that he has been receiving lots of questions about who will be getting fields this year. We will use the Field Use Priority Form criteria to distribute the fields as equitably and fairly as possible. There have also been questions about improvements that have been promised by Raider Nation. As has been explained at past meetings, the City has limited resources to make any improvements - we’re on maintenance mode right now. Will Hilton explained that the improvements they have promised will be paid for by Raider Nation and their sponsors and will be temporary and removable. The scoreboard is the temporary 4’x2’ type and runs on remote control battery. They only need a footing to place the post in the ground. The group is interested in using Lions Park but would be willing to use whichever field the City can allow. The City has multi-purpose fields and we have to try to balance organized use with neighborhood use. The goal is just to dress up whichever field they end up using. They would also like to have dugouts, but these could be a simple “lean-to” variety which could either be built or purchased. Jared Flewellen will forward an email to both Raider Nation and HYAA stating that they will have fields to use in 2010, although which ones cannot be guaranteed at this time. MOTION to adjourn. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 9th at the Parks & Recreation Office. Adjourned at 8:10 p.m. Minutes submitted by Kristin Behrens