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HomeMy Public PortalAbout11.28.2007 Park Commission MinutesMedina Park Commission Meeting Minutes November 28, 2007 Medina City Hall Page 1 of 4 The Park Commission of Medina, Minnesota met in regular session on November 28, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. in the Medina City Hall. Park Commission Chair Ann Thies presided. I. Call to Order Commissioners present: Commissioners absent: Also present: Ben Benson, Bob Pastor, Ann Thies, Brian Kingsley, Gerry Dykhoff, Madeleine Linck and Galen Bruer None Jodi Wunsch, Steve Scherer, Dave Thill II. Additions to the Agenda: None III. Approval of the Minutes from October 17, 2007: • Section 6: The Park Commissioners should be available at the open houses to suggest describe or explain the proposed active park areas and trails and ask for the public's opinion. A motion was made by Gerry Dykhoff and seconded by Bob Pastor to approve the minutes as corrected above. Motion passed unanimously. IV. Public Comments (on items not on the agenda): None V. Natural Resource Inventory Dave Thill with Hennepin County Environmental Services presented the updated Natural Resource Inventory (NRI) of the City of Medina. He passed out various maps and used his GIS mapping to show different layers of the NRI corridor and the changes that were made to the corridor. He also addressed the unique natural characters around Hidden Lake which make it the one high quality community in Medina. Dykhoff questioned what types of hybrid cattail were taking over the cattail. Linck mentioned that the hybrid cattail grow in nutrient rich water, which is taking away much of our open water. Thies questioned how often the inventory should be updated. Thill stated that the city now has a good base and it would only need to be updated as development occurred. Benson commented that it was nice to see that Lake Medina Preserve was protected. Bruer asked how much impact this inventory will have on the review of future development projects in Medina. Scherer stated it will be more highly considered than it has been in the past. Thill stated he would hope that the City would consider ecologically significant natural areas more in the future. Susan Seeland questioned Thill's methodology in selecting upland areas. Thill stated the natural resource corridor was based on all scientific data. Seeland stated that her prairie grass was planted and was not natural, which the map does not reflect. She also asked that her property be removed from the corridor since it was recently plowed and tilled to farm and was no longer planted prairie grass. Thies suggested that Seeland address her Medina Park Commission Meeting Minutes November 28, 2007 Medina City Hall Page 2 of 4 concerns with the Council, since the Park Commission does not have the authority to change the map. Benson stated that this map is a slice in time and reflects the prairie grass that was on her property when the map was created. Seeland asked Thill what the quality of her property was as a prairie. Thill said it was of moderate quality. Seeland disagreed stating that it was a low quality because they were never able to maintain it properly by burning it. VI. Metro Greenways Grant Opportunity Thill briefly explained the Metro Greenways grant and stated that there was not much money for 2008. He also said that they were still looking for good applicants and the Steve Martin property and others around Hidden Lake would be good applicants. Thill also briefly touched on various funding sources including a new program through Hennepin County that will hopefully be available in late 2008 or early 2009. Bruer suggested that Thill write a memo explaining the different funding sources because it was too much information to get a good grasp on it through a short presentation. VII. Trail Study Park Commissioners continued reviewing the 2003 Trail Study to update it by reevaluating trail priorities and locations. County Rd 118/Blackfoot Trail: This trail will stay as a moderately -low priority. Hackamore Rd/Arrowhead Dr: There was talk about the increased amount of development that was happening in this area. It was important to everyone to put trails where the people are, so this trail is getting moved up to a high priority from a moderately -low priority. Canadian Pacific Railroad: The railroad is still being used and there are no plans in the near future to close the railroad. This trail should stay as a low priority. County Road 11: There was an error in the trail map which needs to be updated to reflect County Road 11 extending into Independence. This trail will eventually need to be coordinated with the County and Independence. Keep as low priority. Deer Hi11 Road West: This trail should be moved to high priority, but it will be dependent on development. Hollybush Road: There was discussion on creating a U-loop trail, but it was debated on where exactly it would go. Keep as low priority. Pinto Drive: Keep as low priority. Medina Park Commission Meeting Minutes November 28, 2007 Medina City Hall Page 3 of 4 Pioneer Trail/Willow Drive: This trail will also depend on development. Along with this trail, it was discussed to add Willow Drive from Highway 55 to Pioneer Trail. These trails should be moved to moderately -low priority. Tomahawk Trail: Keep as low priority. Tuckborough Farm: This should be moved to moderately -high because of the existing trail easement and the proposed new developments. The Park Commission will finish prioritizing the newly proposed trails at their December meeting. Trail Plan Changes Bruer mentioned creating a trail connection from City Hall to Wolsfeld Woods. This would run south along the east line of the Leatherdale property, then east to the Leatherdale/Crosby line, then south to the Woods. Seeland made a suggestion regarding a possible loop connection west through her property to the park and coming back along Reimers to the Chestnut Hill, LLC property that would come around to a highpoint lookout on the North East corner of her lot (access from the Chestnut Hill, LLC parcel) and continuing east to Willow Dr. There was a general consensus from the Park Commission to add to what presently existed on the map, a loop connection that would stay east of Homestead and would run west from Willow, along Deerhill, then through Seelands , connecting with the Reimer and Chestnut Hill, LLC parcels going east through the Steiner parcel back to Willow. It was also mentioned that the trail map did not reflect the County Road 11 trail connection to Independence, that has been previously discussed in the trail plan. Park Plan Changes There was a general consensus that the park plan map should reflect both active park study areas and natural park study areas. The natural park study areas should be around: Hidden Lake, the Dayton Property, and the Tomann Property. Based on written and oral comments, and since the maps were still in draft form, it was felt a motion to address these changes would be in order. A motion was made by Galen Bruer, seconded by Madeleine Linck to recommend the park & trail plans be modified to reflect the added trail from City Hall to Wolsfeld Woods; to complete a loop connection from Willow Drive to Willow Drive, and to add the natural park study areas, all as discussed. Motion passed unanimously. Medina Park Commission Meeting Minutes November 28, 2007 Medina City Hall Page 4 of 4 VIII. Park Dedication — 705 Hamel Road The Park Commission reviewed the applicant's town home proposal at 705 Hamel Road. It was determined that a trail would be more suitable on the north side of Hamel Road. A motion was made by Galen Bruer, seconded by Ben Benson to recommend taking the cash in lieu of park dedication with the understanding that there would be enough road right-of-way for a possible sidewalk. Motion passed unanimously. IX. Comprehensive Plan Update Thies gave a brief update on the comprehensive plan public hearing from the night before and mentioned that it will continue on Tuesday, December l lth X. Staff Report a) Park Commission Appointments — Wunsch stated that there are two seats open for appointment/re-appointment beginning January 2008. The application deadline is December 14th. b) Holiday Party— Wunsch reminded everyone of the upcoming holiday party on December 13th and requested RSVP's. c) Hamel Legion Park Improvements — Bruer brought in some new ideas for a fountain at Hamel Legion Park. The fountain ideas incorporated kids and were built out of bronze. There was a general consensus that the park commission liked the quality of these fountains, but the budget would need to be increased. Some suggested using nature or animals instead of kids in the structure. Dykhoff reminded everyone that the fountain needed to be of sufficient size (at least 6 feet). Wunsch gave an update that the concession stand would most likely be moving to the 2009 CIP. d) Rainwater Nature Area— Scherer gave a brief update that the upper pond was leaking through the hill to the lower pond and Bentonite would need to be used to seal the leak in the pond. He was hoping to have it done this fall, but now the pond is frozen so it would not be sealed until next year. He said we could use the winter to create a design plan. XI. Adjournment A motion was made by Gerry Dykhoff, seconded by Bob Pastor and passed unanimously to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 p.m. Minutes prepared by Jodi Wunsch