05/16/1977 - Advisory Parks & Recreation CommissionJ
MINUTES OF A REGULAR r' FETING OF TIE PARS: AVISORY COr'!SITTEE
EAGAN; MINNESOTA
May 16, 1977
A regular meeting- of the Eagan Advisory Park Committee
was held at 7130 P.M. at the Eagan City Hall on flay 16, 1977.
Those members present were Chairperson Lundsten, Thursten,
Coates, Cooper, Beck, [ artin, Brown, Roszak and Seurer. Also
present were City Administrator Tons Hedges, Park Director
Barb Schmidt and City Planner John Voss. Absent was
Committee Member Hagen.
MINUTES.' Upon motion by Coates, seconded Seurer, all
members voting in favor, it was RESOLVED that the April 14,
1977 minutes be approved as read.
ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA. Chairperson Lundsten stated
that two additional items would be heard on the agenda
consisting of (1) A noise ordinance to be discussed by
Committee Member Coates and (2) Discussion of a change in
the date for the regular Advisory Park Committee meeting in
the month of June. Upon motion by Roszak, seconded Beck,
all members voting in favor, the agenda with the two additional
items for the Eay 16, 1977 meeting was adopted.
CITY COUNCIL nrrow r . Par]C u1rec:tuL cohrti1t reported
that additional funds might be available from the Einnesota
State Planning Agency for acquisition and development of
Northview athletic field. She stated that an amended appli-
cation was reviewed by Chairperson Lundsten and given
approval at a special meeting of the City Council. The
application was revised to request $46,,750 as -+ne -half of the
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cost of acquiring an additional 20 acres needed to complete
the parcel acquisition and $53 as one -half the cost of
future development of Northview athletic field. Chairperson
Lundsten asked if Dakota County is designing the Cliff Road
improvements to allow for construction of trails in future
years. Park Director Schmidt explained that it was her
knowledge that the shoulders of Cliff Road would be designed
to allow for trails, however, there was some question as to
the specifications of the trail. She further addressed the
issue of trails abutting County Roads in the City of Eagan
explaining that further coordination efforts should be made
between the City of Eagan and Dakota County to define
regulations for trail programs.
PARK CONSTRUCTION PLANS. iIr. John Voss, City Planner,
appeared and discussed the preliminary park construction
cost estimates stating that the estimated cost for five
park development sites is $184,450. Mr. Voss then explained
that it is anticipated that the State of Minnesota will
participate in the amount of $53,250 which is a 50% grant
for the Northview athletic field and the City's cost would
be $131,200 for the park construction. The park development
includes ball diamond and playground equipment as well as
other development for the well site estimated at $13,600,
hockey boards, lighting and other improvements for Oak Chase
Park estimated at $18,000, tennis courts, a walkway and
other improvements for Pilot Knob Park at an estimated
cost of ;33,350, various improvements for South Oaks Park
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at an estimated cost of :;12 :300 and a number of iK::aroveraents
including a gravel access roa,' ; ball dianonri backstons as
well as seeding any' grading for the 17orthview athletic
field complex at an esti'.iated cost of 0106 200. ` "r. Voss
stated that if the park concept plans anc'. park innrovement
budget is ado'Dted in ;. 'ay it woul be possible to execute the
contracts, approve Flans an'. specifications and advertise
for rids this sun=der and begin construction of the park
ir.rrovements in September of this year He then state'
that it is e:'pectec. that all park development would be
completed in the spring of 197`:. Committee ` ember martin
stated that he has some questions regarding the Oak Chase
Park improvements an would like the opportunity to meet
with residents in the Oak Chase area to discuss the proposed
improvements. Chairperson Lundsten recomxende: . that the
proposed park lanai developments be held over to allow
additional time for each member of the :Advisory Park Committee
to review the projects that are under consideration for
.f.evelopment this year After further discussion on the
Lark construction plans, it was eterrined by Chairperson
Lundsten that final approval of the park construction plans
and cost estimates would be held. over until the next regular
meeting of the Park Advisory Committee. In addition, Chair-
person Lundsten recommended that the Development Committee
meet on June 2, 1977 and discuss the proposed nark construction
plans as submitted by City Planner, 'r. John Voss, in further
detail.
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JUNE MEETING. Chairperson Lundsten stated that the
City Planner and Park Director have conflications the second
Thursday evening in the month of June and therefore recom-
mends that the meeting be rescheduled to June 16, 1977.
Upon motion of Roszak, seconded by Beck, all members voting
in favor, the next regular meeting of the Park Advisory
Committee was rescheduled from June 9, 1977 to June 16, 1977
and a Development Committee meeting was set for 6:00 P.M.
on June 2, 1977.
DONNYWOOD -- BY THE SHORES. Upon motion by Roszak,
seconded Thursten, all members voting in favor, the Donnywood
By The Shores park agenda item scheduled under new business
was approved for consideration at this time. Mr. John
Tancheff appeared and requested that the Park Advisory
Committee consider not installing a pathway which was
required of the developer to be constructed in an area
abutting property located in and commonly described
as the lot south of Outlot A in the Donnywood plat. Mr.
Tancheff suggested that if the path was built* a bridge
should be installed to allow access to the Lemay Lakeshore
portion of the park. The bridge was discussed and it was
generally agreed by Park Committee Members that the construction
costs and liability factors would be prohibitively expensive.
There was some concern expressed by some property owners
present at the meeting as to whether the pond extends into
their back yard therefore preventing any walking access
around the pond. Park Director Schmidt stated that she has
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met with the City Engineer and the developer of By The Shores
park property and they were able to locate some back yard
markers and determine that there is currently dry land
around the entire perimeter of the ponding area in the
park contrary to what the plat shows. She further stated
that the developer plans to place fill in the area that
is abutting the property owners property and shape the
parkland to blend in with the back yards. The Park Committee
discussed whether the path on Outlot A should be installed.
Park Director Schmidt was directed to further investigate
the feasibility of developing the park layout plan for By The
Shores park, specifically addressing the water level problem
and reporting back to the Park Advisory Committee at the next
regular meeting.
SUMMER RECREATION PROGRAMS. Park Director Schmidt
outlined the Eagan summer recreation program stating that
there will be a summer recreation program for young children,
tumbling and dance classes for children, as well as tennis
lessons offered for all ages during the summer months.
MCCARTHY PROPOSAL. Chairperson Lundsten requested that
consideration be given to the proposal made by the McCarthy's
to sell the City of Eagan land abutting McCarthy Park, more
specifically adjoining Patrick Eagan pond. She stated
that due to the fact that in recent allocations of the
remaining bond monies, funds were not included for the
acquisition of additional park land adjoining McCarthy Park, this
item was not considered as a priority by the Development Committee.
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After further discussion on the matter and a motion by
Thursten, seconded Cooper, all members voting in favor,
the City Attorney was directed to write a letter to the
McCarthys stating that due to the limited funds, and the
fact that all development and acquisition funds have been
committed for park priorities this year, negotiations will
not be continued by the City.
COUNTY ROAD TRAILS. Park Director Schmidt further
explained that there is a significant need for trails
adjoining county roads in the Twin Cities metropolitan
area more specifically in the City of Eagan. She stated
that there is more pedestrian and cycle movement in the
City of Eagan each year and for the safety of pedestrians
and cyclists, it is extremely important to consider trails
when county roads are updated. Committee Member Brown
recommended that a Trails Committee be appointed consisting
of members of the Park Advisory Committee that could examine
the feasibility of constructing trails and work toward a
county road trail policy, which would be a cooperative
effort between the City of Eagan and Dakota County. After
further discussion on the matter, Chairperson Lundsten
recommended that a Trails Committee be appointed at the
next regular meeting of the Park Advisory Committee.
OAK CHASE PARK DEDICATIQN. After a brief discussion
regarding the park dedication for the Oak Chase plats,
Chairperson Lundsten requested that said dedication be
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considered at the next regular meeting of the Park Advisory
Committee due to the absence of Mr. Jim Frisbee, developer
of the Oak Chase Additions.
PARK DEDICATION -- MARELL FIRST ADDITION. Park Director
Schmidt explained that Mr. Ken Appelbaum has requested
consideration by the Park Advisory Committee regarding park
dedication for Marell First Addition. She explained that
Mr. Appelbaum had expressed a desire to trade a trail
around the pond abutting his property in lieu of a cash
donation for park dedication. She stated that there is no
reason why the Park Department or the City would want such a
trail and recommended that cash be paid to the City in
lieu of land dedication. Park Director Schmidt further
explained that two lots were platted into three lots and
that while no cash dedication was required at the time of
platting for the two original lots as this was prior to the
Council's enactment of this policy therefore the dedication
is $200 for the one new lot being created at this time.
After further discussion on the matter and in a motion by
Roszak, seconded Coates, all members voting in favor
approval was given to accept $200 for a new lot replatted
as a part of Marell First Addition in lieu of land dedication.
PARK ORDINANCE. Park Director Schmidt stated that
the Park Ordinance is due for final consideration and recom-
mendation to the City Council. She also stated that repre-
sentatives of two school districts had expressed verbal
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approval of the inclusion of school property as stated in the
proposed ordinance. Independent School District #196 has not
responded to the proposed ordinance to date. After further
discussion on the matter, and in a motion by Roszak, seconded
Thursten, all members voting in favor, ordinance 49 in final
draft form was approved and recommended to the City Council.
Park Director Schmidt will contact the three school districts
to obtain written support of the application of this ordi-
nance on school property.
A NOISE ORDINANCE. Committee Member Coates stated
that noise standards are becoming a problem with the high
level of vehicular traffic in the Twin Cities metropolitan
area. He stated that a noise ordinance should be considered
by the City of Eagan to meet certain decible standards set
forth by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. He stated
after reviewing various park locations in the City of Eagan,
he is concerned about the environmental quality of noise
level in those parks and therefore informed the Park Committee
he would investigate the feasibility of writing a noise
ordinance and report back at a later meeting.
After motion duly made and seconded, the meeting
adjourned at approximately 11215 P.M.