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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-05-2020 Park Commission MinutesMINUTES OF THE ORONO PARK COMMISSION Thursday, November 5, 2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. CALL TO ORDER Chair Roath called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Chair Roath led the Commissioners and those in attendance in the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL The Orono Park Commission met on the above-mentioned date with the following members present: Chairman Brian Roath, Commissioners Janice Berg, Rick Carter, Casey Hudson, Jennifer Klaahsen and Taylor Stephens. Commissioner Vanessa Keller was absent. Representing Staff was Adam Edwards. Other present: Mayor Dennis Walsh. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. September 9, 2020 Park Commission Meeting Minutes Hudson moved, Carter seconded, to approve the September 9, 2020 Park Commission Meeting Minutes. VOTE: Ayes 6, Nays 0. PUBLIC COMMENTS None. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT — BRIAN ROATH Roath reported they had a great workshop meeting in October and he hopes everyone has a good focus on projects coming into 2021. He noted Klaahsen was not at the October work session and they would update her. Regarding Summit Beach, Roath noted he, Berg, Klaahsen and Edwards went to the beach a month ago and came together with a vision as to what that park would look like — with or without a rowing club presence. Specifically, the interest is to put a playground at the beach. With Staff help, they will put together some commentary and pass it on to the City Council. Roath noted at the last workshop meeting there was great commentary around Hackberiy and Crystal Bay Park and said there is a lot of work to do but they are running with it. There was also good discussion about Big Island and Roath stated it is also on the agenda tonight. 2. PUBLIC WORKS UPDATE — ADAM EDWARDS Edwards stated they are transitioning from summer activities to winter activities so the docks have been pulled, they have blown out irrigation systems, put down the last batch of fungicide on turfs, and transitioned some of the lake access points. Jason Goehring and Barry Rathburn took on a mini project to expand and restore the beach at Lydiard, particularly the sand. The Commissioners thanked them and said the beach looks great. Page 1 of 6 MINUTES OF THE ORONO PARK COMMISSION Thursday, November 5, 2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. Edwards noted Rathburn is a part-time employee hired earlier in the year and his position was created by eliminating the custodial contract for City Hall, Police Department, and other public buildings as there have been problems. Rathburn spends his mornings doing facilities maintenance and his afternoons out in the park system and that has been working very well. Rathburn is a retired employee from the city of Plymouth where he was an Engineering Technician, he is very energetic and loves going out to the parks in the afternoons. Edwards reported the Boy Scouts have a project replacing the fence at Summit Beach which should be finished soon. Regarding bigger projects, Edwards said almost everything is complete at Bederwood and they need to close out part of the project financials with the contractor; the grass is almost established and should be ready to go in the spring. Goehring and his crew fertilized the grass 4 times, applied various snow fungus treatments and have cut the grass 6 times. East Long Lake Road Trail is 99% complete with a few signs that still need to be installed. Hennepin County maintains a bare root nursery of trees and Orono received approximately 15 of those and planted them in and around the project to restore the area. He noted it was approximately a $1,50043,000 donation of trees. Regarding Big Island, they finally have construction underway with the trails. He also noted sign upgrades to a few parks that should be installed in the spring, of the same format as Bederwood. 3. STATE BONDING UPDATE FOR BIG ISLAND Edwards updated the Commissioners on Big Island and said as stated earlier, construction is underway about 6-8 months late after an extraordinary amount of archaeology and other permitting processes. Trail work will probably take approximately 3 weeks and if the weather holds they should be good. The bathroom will happen next spring due to the barge availability and pieces of the project arriving; he explained that a vault toilet comes in two large concrete sections. Edwards noted he was skeptical but the Mayor was successful and the State Capitol Funding authorized $300,000 for Big Island in the latest state bonding bill. That money will be available next year (2021) and the money is ministered by deed through the Department of Employment and Economic Development. Edwards said they do not know the exact restrictions and processes the City must go through for that pot of money. He showed a slide with project funding numbers and said if they add everything that has already been committed with the additional donations received thanks to the Legacy Group and the state bonding funding, they have approximately $717,000 of funding available for the site. Edwards showed a table onscreen outlining total project cost of about $513,900. He reported the state bonding money is in arrears, so the City will have to do the work, spend the money, and then send in for reimbursement proving they spent that amount of funds or more to receive the dollars back into the City budget. Edwards has an action going before the City Council to formally approve of adding the alternates back into the project which will bring them to the $513,000. The Council will need to decide what to do with the rest of the funding; he noted one possible option is to maximize the use of the bond funds to cover any City portions of the existing project funding — within the rules of the bonding money. Another option is in regards to the DNR grant which had a minimum City match of $80,000, so the City would still pay the $80,000 and he guesses the rules of the bonding funding will still require the City to do that. A third option is that the City uses the bonding funds to cover the remaining items in the existing projects, which is the picnic shelter and tables. A fourth option is not to use the bonding money for anything associated with the current project, instead they would use it on a future project. Cat -ter said Mayor Walsh gets 99% of the credit for the state funding, although Carter nagged the Senator a few times, also. He noted there is a Big Island Legacy meeting coming up and they will talk about the plan Edwards suggested which will most likely be approved by that time. First of all, they will get the work done that should have been done in the first phase, and he will call it Phase 1B (noting it is mostly the green highlighted portion onscreen), the shelter and the slab underneath, two picnic tables and some Page 2 of 6 MINUTES OF THE ORONO PARK COMMISSION Thursday, November 5, 2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. additional costs. Carter explained the second or third option — B or C — and said assuming the project is finished, of the $200,000, he suggests planning for only $150,000 of it, because the City gave $40-50,000 more and they may need a contingency in the future. That would leave about $150,000 to do things that are not on the list; that would possibly include a second bathroom, a historical marker, some additional trail, additional interpretive signage, and perhaps additional barriers. Carter reported they have two additional picnic benches and four sitting stones donated. He is very excited about the project. Mayor Dennis Walsh approached the podium and shared that whatever is committed already is committed and there is an extra $300,000. To him, they have the $717,000 to spend and they need a second toilet (perhaps $100,000), the veterans memorial/historical marker (perhaps $75,000), and another $25,000 can be for contingencies, trails, markers, etcetera. Mayor Walsh suggests getting everything done at once with all the dollars they have and making it professional, nice looking, and first class. Carter agrees with Mayor Walsh and that they need to allow for some "soft costs" which will be at the top of the budget. He also wants to be sure there is a contingency and hopes Mayor Walsh will be at the Legacy meeting. The bottom line is they will end up with $750,000 worth of improvements on Big Island and the City will only have paid $80-$131,500. Chair Roath noted in the past they have talked more about trail expansion than he is hearing tonight. Carter said trail expansion is one of the things included, as well as soft costs, contingencies, interpretive signage, additional barriers, trail extensions, historical marker and second toilet. To do all of those things would probably require another $100,000 raised by the Board and if they can't, they will need to make choices. Carter said there are three Board members who feel passionate about one or more of those projects and they are all different so discussion will be necessary. Klaahsen said she is very excited about the extra money and asked if they went with option B, where the City is still committed to $80,000, would it be the difference between the $80,000 and the $131,530, or $51,000 that they could potentially allocate to other parks. Edwards explained that is what they have been talking about as contingency; he clarified they cannot take the bond money and put it directly into the park fund, but they could use some of the bond money to pay for some things they already have, which then means they did not spend everything out of the parks fund. Klaahsen said she wants all of the grant money, Legacy Fund, and donations to go to Big Island, but if there is an opportunity to squeeze a bit back into the remaining park fund, she likes that idea. Carter said he will make the recommendation to the Park Commission from the Legacy Board. Mayor Walsh said the Council feels the parks fund needs to have a sustainable balance every year so they have budgeted at least $100,000/year. This year, they have allocated $50,000 with the intention of putting another $50,000 in. He noted the park budget has always been zero and has relied on the park dedication fees. Carter noted Edwards more or less singlehandedly got the DNR grant and Mayor Walsh got the bonding bill, but he hopes they can find a way to remotely replicate this model on other parks. Page 3 of 6 MINUTES OF THE ORONO PARK COMMISSION Thursday, November 5, 2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. Roath wants the demand to be therefor the park, he doesn't want to just build it and hope it is used. He said the Park Commission is in the business of trying to build things that will serve the community and are driven by community -demand. Regarding the second bathroom, he would like to see how much demand there is before committing to it. He noted they will support Carter and whatever the Board decides. Carter noted it would initially come from the Board, but final decision will be from the City Council. He clarified $80,000 was the minimum, but the City decided to spend $120,000; it went up to $131,500 because the Board had not raised enough money to get the core. He reported the new picnic shelter/gathering area will be quite a distance from the first bathroom and the Board will come back with a recommendation. Klaahsen said it would be interesting to see how much of the park budget is part of the $131,500. For example, looking at what percentage it is of the outstanding budget, and comparing it to how much they are spending on the other parks. She asked whether they would have made the decision to dedicate the $120,000 knowing they would receive an additional $300,000. Carter noted that is hard to predict and the $120,000 was part of the 2020 budget and will not show up again next year. Edwards said Bederwood, East Long Lake Trail and Big Island are all in the $100,0004250,000 range and they have also done smaller projects at other parks. 4. HOLIDAY TREE LIGHTING EVENT Roath reported they officially have fireworks for the December 5, 2020 event, North Mallo is donating s'mores and fire pits and they have a generous donation from Culvers/Holiday in Navarre for brats and hotdogs which the fire department will be cooking. He said they will also have live reindeer. There is still work to do and they will send out an EventBrite link to promote the event and cap it at 250 people. He noted they are soliciting local businesses for donations to support the event and the City Council has allocated funds to cover the rest. Roath said there have been many generous donations from individuals and businesses and asked if the Commissioners know of any businesses who would like to invest in the event. Berg said they are looking for sponsorships rather than donations, noting they have different levels, Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Stephens asked what the total budget is for the event. Edwards said it is around $15,000. Stephens asked the total of donations received. Roath replied those that have donated goods are not being included in the budget, but the big one is $10,000 for fireworks, of which the Goodman Family gave a $2,000 donation, Otten Brothers is funding the reindeer, and there are little things that need funding such as cups, napkins, hand sanitizers, etcetera. Sponsors will have their name in public media, the website, and event signs. Roath noted they also need Page 4 of 6 MINUTES OF THE ORONO PARK COMMISSION Thursday, November 5, 2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. staffing on the night of the event, there will be a tent at the entrance and people to make sure people are on the list, thereby limiting the number of people at the event. Stephens asked if the rule is 250 people at one time. Roath said they will not count people leaving and in the past, they have not been close to 250 people, although that would be a good problem to have. Berg said it would be by reservation so they will know exactly how many will come. Roath said people will not be turned away, but could be added to the list. COMMISSIONERS REPORT Carter checked in with the coach of Orono mountain bike team and in the previous work session they had talked about the potential use of Lowry Woods; at the time, three weeks of the season was left and two of those weeks had six inches of snow so they didn't get a lot more use. However, they tried the park, saw some merit to it and will go door-to-door in the community to raise support. Klaahsen has some to-dos in touring some of the lake access points. Berg reported she has been to a few lake access points. Hudson visited Bederwood and Crystal Bay and did not see anything out of order, noting the leaves are cleaned up and it looks really good. Berg said speaking of Crystal Bay, she received a call from a resident wanting a dead tree cut down, to refinish the bench and plant two turtlehead bushes in memory of the person the bench is for. Hudson noted sometimes when people take on projects and plant things, they are not maintained. He asked Berg to give him the information and they could look into it. Stephens had nothing to report. Roath noted they had talked about hiring out some weeding and gardening maintenance and a number of parks are on the radar for a higher level of maintenance for the gardens. ADJOURNMENT Roath said the next meeting will be a work session. He wished everyone a great holiday, reminded everyone of the tree lighting event on Saturday, December 5, 2020, and they will work on an agenda for the first meeting in 2021. If Commissioners have ideas, Roath asked them to send those to Edwards or himself. Roath moved, Carter seconded, to adjourn the Orono Park Commission meeting at 7:02 p.m. VOTE: Ayes 6, Nays 0. Page 5 of 6 MINUTES OF THE ORONO PARK COMMISSION Thursday, November 5, 2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. ATTEST: #///ian 4-Ro Page 6 of 6