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Houlton Farm Planning Committee Meeting 2015-04-27I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER 2. CONSIDER AGENDA CONSIDER MINUTES Regular Meeting Houlton Farm Planning Committee AGENDA Monday, April 27, 2015 5:45 p.m. Elk River City Hall Meeting Protocol ■ No sidebar discussions ■ No interruptions ■ State your concern ■ Ensure you understand ■ Don't take things personally ■ Adhere to time limits ■ Come prepared ■ Ensure all are heard 4. DISCUSSION ITEMS No action to be taken now. Action may be taken in the future. 4.1 Introduction of City Environmental Technician Kristin Mroz to Committee 4.2 Hunting Plan 4.3 Bee Keeper 4.4 Naming Contest Update 4.5 House Removal RFP 4.6 Archeology Digs 5. ACTON ITEMS -C 5.1 None 6. ADJOURNMENT This agenda is available in alternate formats upon a 72 hour advanced notice. Auxiliary aids and services are also available upon a 72 hour advanced notice. Please contact the City Clerk at 763. 635.1000 to make a request Examples of alternate formats may include: large print, Braille, audio tape, etc. Examples of auxiliary aids may include a sign language interpreter, assistive listening device, etc. /INEIEEI Iv NATURE -Houlton Farm Planning Committee Draft Minutes March 30, 2015 Present: Chair Wilson, Members Olsen, Anderson, Seeger, Benkofstke, Hecker Other in attendance, Tim Marion from MN DNR, Fred Bengtson MN DNR Area Wildlife Manager and responsible for Sherburne County and Bob McGillivray from the Trust for Public Land Wilson called the meeting to order at 5:35 pm The minutes from the February 23 meeting were reviewed. Agenda item 4.1 Presentation by DNR on Draft Hunting Plan Marion and Bengtson proposed a draft hunting plan with bullet points that they prepared for the Committee. A map with a sheet of guidelines was handed out. Fred explained that the Houlton farm property is under his jurisdiction. The hunting plan suggests the entire property would be open to archery hunting and the area along the Mississippi River would be open to shotgun hunting. Discussion occurred to consider not allowing shotguns to be used on the western most and eastern most points since they abut against homes on the west and Bailey Point on the east. Both Marion and Bengston explained that the DNR will work with the committee and city on an approved hunting plan. The DNR Commissioner makes the final decision on the plan. It was recommended no motorized vehicles, and no horse trails. Dogs could become an issue and it was recommended that they be on a leash. The area should be closed to trapping. It was discussed that the road to access the primitive boat dock could be a problem during the hunting season. Committee members discussed taking out the road and boat access. It was discussed that a boat launch could be located up stream on the Elk River near the parking lot. It was discussed that the parking lot should be a primitive one with no pavement and no curb and gutter. The city should provide a parking lot area large enough to allow 12 spaces and then after that lot is full any other hunters will have to wait for a space to open up. The Plan should be sensitive to where the property is located within close proximity of neighborhoods and new Elk River's downtown. This could be a showcase for other cities in MN. It was discussed that the Plan will be recommended by the Committee and provided to City Council as a work session before submitting it to the DNR for approval. The City Council will approve the plan after it is approved by the DNR N:\Departments\Parks and Recreation\Parks\Houlton Property Elk River Nature Preserve\Coimnittee Agendas- Packets\Minutes\Minutes 3-30-15.docx The Committee discussed dates to work on the plan. The date chosen was April 13. (Note- we later found out this date does not work and moved the date to April 14.) The plan should be a narrative explanation, not bullet points and include dates when to open for hunting in 2016. 4.2 Houlton Citizen Interest List A list of interested citizens was handed out. It was decided that committee members would contact the citizens after the hunting plan is approved later this year. It was recommended that the committee should develop a "Friends" non profit group with interested citizens after a Hunting Plan or the Committee work is nearly completed. Committee members agreed. 4.3 Official Name for Property, Benkofstke will work with the school district on the naming contest. It seems to have a lot of interest from the teachers at the middle and high schools. Money was donated to the city for the Houlton property of which $100 can be used for the winner. The contest will be April 13 to May 8. It will be called "Name the Property" and advertised on the city website. The committee will work out the details of the contest. 4.4 Governing Documents Some of the governing documents were reviewed by the Committee. Hecker has all of the governing documents organized into one notebook. 4.5 Building McGillivray explained that the House has to be demolished. Most of the buildings on the property might not be accepted by Lessard Council with staying within the strong conservation principles of the property. It was discussed that someone is interested in taking the house. The Committee made the recommendation that the house be moved. Anderson made the motion and Seeger seconded it. (Note — it was recommended by the City Attorney that the city make a solicitation on the house. The Attorney is working out these details.) 4.6 Mav Meetini7 Date Future meeting dates were discussed. Because the May meeting date falls on a city holiday it will be moved. The Committee decided that the May meeting date will be May 11. Houlton Farm Planning Committee Purpose. To discuss the Houdton Farm. giver Schedule Meetings are scheduled for 5:45 p.m. at City Hall on the following dates: January 25, 2015 February 23, 2015 March 30, 2015 April 27, 2015 May 11, 2015 June 29, 2015 July 27, 2015 August 31, 2015 September 28, 2015 October 26, 2015 November 30, 2015 December 28, 2015 N:\Departments\Parks and Recreation\Parks\Houlton Property Elk River Nature Preserve\Committee Agendas-Packets\Houlton Planning Comm Schedule.doc Houlton Farm Property Hunting Plan Background The Houlton Farm property was acquired by the Trust for Public Lands with funds from the Outdoor Heritage Fund and then donated to the City for the express purpose of being managed for high quality native habitat for wildlife. The property is currently closed to the public and will remain so until the anticipated opening in the fall of 2016. Once opened, it will be open to the public year round for passive, non -motorized recreational uses such as hiking, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, bird watching, fishing, and hunting. Hunting opportunities will follow MN DNR seasons and be additionally regulated in adherence with a hunting plan approved by the DNR specifically tailored to this unique property. Since the property was acquired, the details of the hunting plan have drawn the most interest from the public, City staff, the Park and Recreation Commission and the City Council. The primary concern relates to the safety of the surrounding neighbors and the non -hunting recreating public using the property. In response to these concerns, the city has embarked on a systematic and cautious planning process in the development of the hunting plan. This process started with a public open house on September 24h, 2014, where interested neighbors were able to share their concerns. On February 5t', 2015, MN DNR Area Wildlife Manager Tim Marion, local MN DNR conservation officer Mitch Sladek, and Bob McGillivray with the Trust For Public Lands toured the property. Later that same day, they met with Stewart Wilson and Dave Anderson of the Houlton Farm Property planning committee, and Michael Hecker to begin discussion of a hunting plan. On February 19th, Tim, Mitch, and Bob met with MN DNR Area Wildlife Manager Fred Bengtson and Deputy MN DNR Commissioner David Schad. The outcome of this meeting was the proposed framework of a hunting plan for the Houlton Farm Property that would fulfill the requirements associated with the funding, while being sensitive to community concerns for safety. See Attachment 1. On March 30th, Tim and Fred presented the framework for the hunting plan to the Houlton Farm Property planning committee. The planning committee met again on April 13th to discuss the hunting plan in detail and to refine the MN DNR framework into a recommendation to the City Council. That recommendation is included as Attachment 2. Once this Hunting Plan is approved, it will be sent back to the MN DNR for their final approval. Following that there are many specific details that will need to be worked out in the coming year. Once implemented, it is expected that the plan will undergo periodic review and modification if circumstances at the time require it. The DNR hopes that the Houlton Farm Property will become a model for future hunting opportunities in areas adjacent to residential areas in other parts of the state. Attachment 2 Houlton Farm Property Hunting Plan 1. All hunting will follow the current year MN DNR Hunting Regulations, with the following additional restrictions. 2. Archery hunting of small game, waterfowl, turkey and deer throughout the property will be allowed. Firearms are prohibited throughout the property for the hunting of small game, turkey and deer, except during special hunts discussed in #4 below. This follows the DNR recommendation without change. We were very pleased to see that their recommendation excluded the firearms for the hunting of small game, turkeys and deer throughout the property. This will provide for both a unique and safe hunting opportunity. It is expected that there will be only limited hunting ofsmall game and waterfowl with bow and arrow. 3. Migratory waterfowl shotgun hunting will be allowed along the Mississippi River in the area highlighted on the attached map. This also follows the DNR recommendation with a slight modification to the designated hunting area. The Houlton Farm Property planning committee recommends that the designated waterfowl hunting area along the Mississippi River be shortened by 500 feet on both the east and west ends to move the hunting a safe distance from adjacent neighbors andpublic uses. Also, to clarify the DNR map, Houlton Farm Property Islands will be included in this area. 4. Allow for the possibility of mentored youth and handicap shotgun hunts for turkeys and deer. This follows the DNR recommendation and in an important component of the unique hunting opportunities allowed on this property. These hunts are already held at various locations throughout the state and are managed by experienced volunteer organization such as the National Wild Turkey Federation and Capable Partners. The details of these hunts will be worked out well in advance of the hunts. Each hunt will require city approval and the number of these hunts per year will be limited to a yet to be determined number. 5. Archery hunting for deer will be a permitted hunt administered by the City. J This follows the DNR recommendation. The details for hunter qualification, clie"nd hunt administration will be worked out in the coming year. 6. Trapping is closed on the entire property. Nuisance animals may be trapped by permit only. This follows the DNR recommendation. D bks �O fwl) Y 7. Small game, turkey and waterfowl hunting will be on a first come basis and will be limited by parking space availability. The city will build a parking lot capable of holding only 12 cars and after the lot is full, hunters will have to wait for available parking space prior to entering the property. This follows the DNR recommendation. In addition, the committee recommends that the parking lot be next to Main Street for maximum visibility. This plan also reserves the maximum amount of space for habitat and is similar to parking lots on MNDNR Wildlife Management Areas and the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. 8. No internal boat access. Accordingly, there will not be a road leading from the parking lot down to the river for motor vehicles to bring watercraft to the river. Access from the site for watercraft will be carry in only. While this is not a hunting issue, the DNR included the boat access on their list because it was apart of our original concept for the property. In out meeting with them, they did point out several potential issues with control of an internal access. In separate action, the committee also discussed and recommended no internal boat access for similar reason. i d ,�0 f w � w � tlt�► � � '.i • ':• _ . `. _5 a' � is �.. �► . a * d r t `,...y- . � � � 'fit-. -. - - � r y� � �{ ��'n-.'-_- -in • r�-_ _yti. It tl � - T[ �- / _ -S . '"•r �" ?�'•{✓ ' 1. ��' " rr :kfAinn-"._. 7 ,.� •' - i. 14 �y 413�l, •. 'iQ. • � 1 y1;,p•� . •