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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-04-10 Parks & Rec Comm MinutesDraft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 5/8/2018 Minutes City Of Edina, Minnesota Edina Parks & Recreation Commission City Hall, Council Chambers Tuesday, April 10, 2018 7 p.m. I. Call To Order Chair Good called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. II. Roll Call Answering roll call were Commissioners McCormick, Dahlien, Good, Ites, Strother, Nelson and Student Members Schieffert and Kiely. Commissioner Miller arrived at 7:02 p.m. Commissioner Willette arrived at 7:08 p.m. Absent were Commissioners McAwley and Burke Staff present: Staff Liaison Ann Kattreh, Assistant Parks & Recreation Director Susan Faus, Administrative Coordinator Janet Canton, Assistant Director – Parks & Natural Resources Tom Swenson and City Forester Luther Overholt III. Approval Of Meeting Agenda Motion made by Nelson to approve the meeting agenda. Motion seconded by Strother. Motion carried. IV. Approval Of Meeting Minutes Motion made by Dahlien to approve the March 13, 2018 minutes. Motion seconded by Nelson. Motion carried. V. Special Recognitions and Presentations Staff Liaison Kattreh introduced the new Assistant Director - Parks & Natural Resources Tom Swenson. Assistant Director – Parks & Natural Resources Swenson took a few minutes to introduce himself to the commission. VI. Community Comment Geoff Workinger, 5224 Kellogg Ave., shared his concerns on the importance of doing the Arden Park Project with sensitivity while maintaining and improving the natural beauty of the park. Frank Lorenz, 7151 York Ave. S., Unit 720, shared his concerns about the ash trees. He would like the city to look into a firm called “Woods from the Hood” who pay for trees that have been cut down in the metro area and make it into dimensional lumber and furniture. This will help the city save some money. VII. Reports/Recommendations A. Memory Garden Renovation Design Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 5/8/2018 Assistant Parks & Recreation Director Faus informed the commission that the Edina Garden Council has been planning for the redesign of the Memory Garden at Arneson Acres Park for several years now and have been actively fundraising to finance the entire project. The project will be completed in different phases as money is raised; the anticipated cost for the entire project is $60,000. City staff has been involved in the design and fully support the project. Assistant Parks & Recreation Director Faus introduced Tony Siebenaler-Ransom of Tsuke Studio, who gave a brief presentation on the project and process and provided information to the commission on the overall design. She also introduced the Co-Chairs of the Memory Garden Committee: Liz Genovese and Karen Platt. Liz Genovese and Karen Platt spoke about the Garden Council and the process of how they got to where they currently are. It was also noted that the project has been re-named the Tranquility Garden through suggestions from members and by a final vote. Commissioners asked questions and had discussions. Chair Good and Staff Liaison Kattreh thanked the Garden Council for all of their hard work. B. Arden Park Ash Trees Staff Liaison Kattreh gave a brief presentation on the ash trees at Arden Park. The Parks & Recreation Commission was asked at last week’s work session with the City Council to consider making a recommendation to the City Council on the ash trees at Arden Park. She also introduced City Forester, Luther Overholt, who can answer any questions the commission may have. Staff Liaison Kattreh noted, tomorrow, April 11 the working group will be meeting for the first time regarding the new shelter building at Arden Park. The working group consists of eight residents, as well as commissioners Nelson, Strother, McAwley and Ites in addition to staff and the consulting team. Staff Liaison Kattreh gave two suggestions for a recommendation for the commission to consider or come up with a completely different recommendation. The following are the two suggested recommendations: 1) Does the Parks & Recreation Commission support the removal of at least 50 of the 77 ash trees in the park project area? Twenty-four of the 50 are part of the creek construction. This would remove approximately 94 total trees in the park. These trees would be replaced at a minimum of one to one with high value trees. This is 21 percent of the tree cover in the project area. OR Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 5/8/2018 2) Does the Parks & Recreation Commission support the removal of all 77 ash trees in the park project area? Twenty-four of the 77 are part of the creek construction. This would remove approximately 121 total trees in the park. These trees would be replaced at a minimum of one to one with high value trees. This is 26 percent of the tree cover in the project area. The commissioners asked City Forester Overholt a lot of questions regarding the ash trees and Emerald Ash Borer Disease. Commissioners gave their views, comments and suggestions. Motion made by Nelson to remove all 77 ash trees in the Arden Park Project area to be replaced with the one for one replacement with the largest size possible to fit park design and budget. Motion seconded by Willette. Motion Carried. It was also stressed by the Parks & Recreation Commission that a communication plan will need to be a big part of this project and should be started now. Chair Good thanked Forester Overholt for his input and advice. C. Braemar Park Master Plan Review Staff Liaison Kattreh indicated that in January the City Council asked the Parks & Recreation Commission to prioritize the projects for the Braemar Park Master Plan, put a budget to that prioritization and report back to the City Council. She asked the commissioners to provide any recommendations to the committee for their consideration in the prioritization of the project. Chair Good asked each commissioner for any reaction or input they may have about prioritization before they begin work as a smaller committee. Staff Liaison Kattreh thanked the commissioners for all of their feedback. D. Comprehensive Plan Update Chair Good went over the fifth iteration of the Comprehensive Plan and pointed out the changes and input he received since last month’s meeting. He also pointed out the input he received from a couple of other commissions. Commissioners asked questions and gave input. Chair Good asked the commissioners if they have any other input or are there any items they should be addressing that may be missing from the fifth iteration. He indicated the plan will go in front of the Planning Commission tomorrow, April 11. Chair Good thanked the commissioners for all of their input and insights. VIII. Chair and Member Comments • Commissioner Ites informed the commission that at the recent Braemar Golf Association meeting he attended he was informed the Driving Range Academy was up 40% in revenue Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 5/8/2018 and the golf dome was up 9% in revenue. He thanked the Parks & Recreation staff for all of their hard work in making this possible despite not having a golf course open. • Commissioner McCormick thanked Chair Good for all the hard work he has done on the Comprehensive Plan; this is a huge project and he has put a lot of time into it to which they have ended up in a really good place. • Commissioner Nelson asked what the approved Access Agreement is for at Sherwood Park. Staff Liaison Kattreh replied there is a siding project that is happening with the condo units immediately adjacent to the park. The construction company doing the work has requested access along the edge of Sherwood Park so they are able to get access for their materials and scaffolding. • Chair Good gave Commissioner McCormick thank you cards as a way to say thank you to her for all of the hard work she has done and also for helping to prepare him for his role as Chair. IX. Staff Comments Staff Liaison Kattreh gave the following updates: • The Golf Dome had their busiest week in the history of the dome last week with 3,400 customers who hit over 270,000 golf balls. • The Third Annual Bunny Breakfast was held on Saturday, March 24 at Braemar Golf Course; there were over 150 kids in attendance. • The Princess Ball event will take place at Braemar Golf Course Clubhouse on April 20 and the Superhero Saturday event will take place on Saturday, April 28 at the Braemar Golf Course Clubhouse. • Work has started on the restoration of the main slides at the Edina Aquatic Center; both the inside and outside of the slides are being resurfaced. • Edinborough Park had an incredibly busy March; their attendance as up 10% ahead of last year with a total of 20,274 paid daily admissions. The concession revenue was also up 10%. • The Parks & Recreation Department is currently in major hiring mode; the department hires over 600 part-time and seasonal employees annually. X. Adjournment Motion made by Willette to adjourn the April 10, 2018 meeting at 9:41 p.m. Motion seconded by Miller. Motion carried.