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9.5. SR 01-05-2015 City of Elk=' Request for Action River To Item Number Mayor and City Council 9.5 Agenda Section Meeting Date Prepared by General Business January 5, 2015 Michael Hecker, Parks and Recreation Director Item Description Reviewed by Appoint Councilmember to Serve on the Houlton Cal Portner, City Administrator Farm Property Planning Committee Reviewed by Action Requested Appoint,by motion, a Councilmember to serve as a Council representative on the Houlton Farm Property Planning Committee. Background/Discussion As part of the Houlton Property acquisition, the Trust for Public Land recommends a planning committee be formed to master plan and prioritize the future improvements for the property. The planning process is expected to occur over the next two years before the property is open to the public in the fall of 2016. A draft timeline of the planning needs is attached. The City Council has discussed that this committee be formed to include residents and a Commissioner. The committee will consist of eight representatives as follows: ■ Two of the members will be residents ■ A local high school student ■ One member from the Elk River City Council ■ One member from the Parks and Recreation Commission (Dave Anderson was appointed at the November Commission meeting) ■ Parks and Recreation Director ■ Community Operations Development Deputy Director ■ One ad hoc positon as needed which will rotate between the Parks Supervisor and the City Engineer Staff will solicit interested residents and students for recommendation to the panel. The Council will approve the entire panel at a forthcoming meeting. Financial Impact Much of the planning effort will be the need to complete a restoration/natural management plan. The cost of developing the plans will need to be shared between the city and interested partners such as the Friends of the Mississippi River. Attachments ■ Houlton Property Planning Timeline P a w E A E U a r Template Updated 4/14 INIM UREI Draft 9-3-14 PLANNING FOR HOULTON PROPERTY There are a number of ways that planning for the Houlton Property could be done,but here are some suggestions. There are a number of planning needs for this property: • A restoration/natural resource management plan • A hunting plan • A plan for other recreational activities (e.g.,fishing,hiking,wildlife observation,canoeing/boating, etc.) • An improvement plan • A funding plan • A general management plan (signage,hours open, trash,rules and enforcement,etc.) These components could all be put together in one master plan,or it might make sense to have some of them be separate and be incorporated into an overarching master plan. For example,Friends of the Mississippi intends to prepare a detailed natural resource management plan that will be a stand-alone document. The hunting plan to be approved by DNR also may make sense to be a separate document. Note that the overall plan does not need to be long or complicated. See the Anoka County Conservation Stewardship Plan for Cedar Creek Conservation Area. The appointment of a small committee to develop this plan will likely make the process more manageable and proceed more quickly. At an appropriate time, some public input would also be advisable. All of this planning should be able to be completed in less than a year. Given all of the things that need to happen in connection with the acquisition of the property,it probably makes sense to really start the planning after closing in October or November. Given the public resources invested in this land,it should probably be open to the public by the spring of 2016 and open for hunting the fall of 2016. Restoration activities on buckthorn removal should start by the summer/fall of 2015. A rough timeline of how this could proceed in on the following page. Draft 9-3-14 DRAFT TIMELINE FOR PLANNING AND OPENING OF HOULTON PROPERTY 2014 Oct/Nov ■ Closing on acquisition of property Fall ff Appointment of planning committee ■ Initial meetings with FMR ■ Initial meeting with DNR ■ Meeting with Anoka County to get their advice on management/planning 2015 ■ Winter M Planning activities continue Spring M Planning activities continue Summer M Planning activities continue ■ Initial improvement activities commence removal of house,etc. Fall M Planning completed ■ First phase of restoration begins (buckthorn removal) ■ Initial improvement activities continue 2016 ■ Winter 0 Initial improvement activities continue Spring ff Initial improvements completed (parking, signage, etc.) ■ Lando en to the public for hiking, etc. Summer M Second phase of restoration begins (prairie,if funding available) Fall M Lando en to public hunting