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8.2 PRSR 11-04-2020 The Elk River Vision A welcoming community with revolutionary and spirited resourcefulness, exceptional service, and community engagement that encourages and inspires prosperity Request for Action To Parks and Recreation Commission Item Number 8.2 Agenda Section Discussion Item Meeting Date November 4, 2020 Prepared by Michael Hecker, Parks and Recreation Director Item Description Trails Maintenance Reviewed by Tim Sevcik, Streets and Parks Superintendent Reviewed by Cal Portner, City Administrator Action Requested Discussion of the city’s trail maintenance. Background/Discussion At last month’s meeting, the Commission discussed trail maintenance and the need for a trail replacement funding source following the Mississippi Oaks Trail agenda item. In October of 2019, a motion for a funding program was made, but not seconded. The Commission unanimously requested staff to provide input and a presentation on the city’s trail maintenance. Staff has been working on a trails virtual video to show the condition and maintenance needs of a variety of popular trails in the city. Park Maintenance staff have identified about 25 miles of trails that requires substantial maintenance improvements to meet their expectation for trail condition. The Commission should consider their expectations for the condition of trail pavements, set priorities for either replacement or other maintenance effort, and recommend an improvement schedule. Financial Impact The 25 miles of trails staff believes require maintenance is approximately $5.6 million. This is in addition to the 81 miles of new trail construction identified in the Trails Master Plan resulting in an additional cost of over $42 Million – this does not include any ROW acquisition. Attachments  October 9, 2019 Minutes  Popular Trail Segments identified Meeting of the Elk River Parks and Recreation Commission Held at the Elk River City Hall Wednesday, October 9, 2019 Members Present: Chair Anderson, Commission members Holmgren, Loidolt, Niziolek, Rathbun, Soltvedt, and Williams Staff Present: Parks and Recreation Director, Michael Hecker, Recreation Manager, Steve Benoit, Police Chief Nierenhausen, Street and Park Superintendent, Tim Sevcik, and Recreation Coordinator, Tonya Love 1. Call Meeting to Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River Parks and Recreation Commission was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Chair Anderson. 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Consider 10/9/2019 Agenda Moved by Commissioner Loidolt and seconded by Commissioner Williams to approve the October 9, 2019 Parks and Recreation Commission meeting agenda. Motion carried 7-0. 4.1 Consider 09/11/2019 Regular PRC Minutes Moved by Commissioner Loidolt and seconded by Commissioner Rathbun to approve the following September 11, 2019 Regular Parks and Recreation Commission meeting Minutes. Motion carried 7-0. 4.2 Consider 09/18/2019 Special PRC Minutes Moved by Commissioner Loidolt and seconded by Commissioner Williams to approve the following September 18, 2019 Special Parks and Recreation Commission meeting Minutes. Motion carried 7-0. 5. Open Forum - None 6. Presentations Matthew Alexander presented his completed Eagle Scout project, a turtle nesting site in the William H. Houlton Conservation Area. Parks & Recreation Commission Minutes Page 2 October 9, 2019 ----------------------------- 7. Action Items 7.1 WHHCA Dog Ordinance Mr. Hecker presented his staff report. Stating that the Friends of the Mississippi River who authored the plan states that dogs are not mentioned in the Natural Resource Management Plan, although the Friends of the Mississippi River does not support dogs within WHHCA for ecological perspective. Chair Anderson stated he spoke with area wild life manager and Trust for Public Land staff and both support prohibiting dogs from WHHCA. Stewart Wilson, Chair of WHHCA planning committee, stated that the property was acquired with a grant from the State of Minnesota and as a part of that a hunting plan and restoration management plan had to be devised. The prime directive was for preservation of wildlife habitat. Wildlife management areas are sensitive to the use of dogs during hunting. Would like the commission to consider a special ordinance not allowing dogs. Chief Nierenhausen shared concerns that ordinances like this will be difficult to enforce, stating that rules are only good when you have some type of mechanism to enforce them. Police department does not have the staff resources and time to go out and enforce prohibiting dogs from the property. Chair Anderson stated that the funding dollars came with restrictions for what the property can be used for which included hunting. Chief Nierenhausen asked the commission to think about how feasible an ordinance will be to enforce when making the decision. Trent Seamans, DNR Conservation officer for the area, shared that the state does not have any authority to enforce prohibiting dogs in the WHHCA. He can only enforce state laws; if rules are posted on a sign he can educate people about it but cannot cite people. However, he supports prohibiting recreational dog walking in WHHCA. Mr. Hecker asked if there are complaints coming into the police department. Chief Nierenhausen stated minimal issues with the property. Chief Nierenhausen recommended doing public education to get the word out about prohibiting dogs due to hunting would be better before creating an ordinance. Chair Anderson stated that we can go on a promotional campaign. Parks & Recreation Commission Minutes Page 3 October 9, 2019 ----------------------------- Commissioner Niziolek stated that the population of dogs have increased and thinks in general to make sure the leash ordinance is enforced. Worried about a potential trend that people will start to bring their dogs to WHHCA and that we will have to deal with it down the road. We need to start educating the public. Commissioner Soltvedt shared he doesn’t see the need for an ordinance change at this time, but educating the public first. Commissioner Holmgren stated that educating the public first before doing an ordinance. Commissioner Loidolt would like the No Dogs signage clarified for the waterfowl hunters using dogs to retrieve game. Chair Anderson asked staff to reach out to Friends of WHHCA to see if they have other needs. Moved by Commissioner Niziolek and seconded by Commissioner Rathbun to recommend creating an educational piece to educate Conservation users that dogs are prohibited in William H. Houlton Conservation Area and revisit in one year. Motion carried 7-0. 7.2 Deer Feeding Ordinance Mr. Hecker presented his staff report. Chief Nierenhausen shared that feeding deer is not prohibited by the state for hunting purposes and questions if this is a prevalent problem. Commissioner Niziolek stated that feeding the deer prevents the normal death and fawn absorption that occurs naturally. Chair Anderson shared that those that are feeding the deer are inviting the deer by feeding them and damage to people’s property. Commissioner Soltvedt stated that doing public education of why it’s important, how it affects your property etc. would be better than doing an ordinance. Chief Nierenhausen stated that the DNR must have videos/information that we can put on our website and get an article in the Star News with a well-coordinated plan to educate the community. Parks & Recreation Commission Minutes Page 4 October 9, 2019 ----------------------------- Moved by Commissioner Soltvedt and seconded by Commissioner Holmgren to focus efforts of educating the public to not feed deer and why. Motion carried 7-0. 7.3 Babcock Memorial Rest Area Portable Toilet Mr. Hecker presented his staff report. Roland Ring-Jarvi, 14260 Bowers Dr. Ramsey, shared that Babcock Memorial Park is a great park and by not having a bathroom there is a disservice. Suggested asking the State of MN for funding, to lock the bathroom at 10:00 p.m. and open at 6:00 a.m. Put a camera in the park to monitor activities, and with enforcement and prosecuting people for illicit activity this will help deter people from going there. Chief Nierenhausen assured that the activities are not blown out of proportion at the park. With 26,000 calls in one year, it would be low on the priority list to drive by and does not want to see a repeat of what happened in 2006. Chair Anderson asked if problems are gone with no portable toilet. Chief Nierenhausen stated that it has not had those issues since the toilet was removed. Mr. Ring-Jarvi stated he didn’t know there wasn’t a toilet there when he held his event in the Summer. Mr. Hecker asked if there is a temporary location there? Mr. Sevcik stated yes and special event toilet contracts state that there is pricing for special events extended to outside park users. Commissioner Soltvedt asked what the agreement is with the State of Minnesota. Mr. Hecker stated that there is an agreement, and it states that no permanent structures could be built there. The city’s attorney stated that it is okay to remove the toilet due to public safety. Commissioners agreed to putting one there for special events but no need for other times. Moved by Commissioner Loidolt and seconded by Commissioner Williams to accept staff recommendation to install an ADA portable toilet at Babcock Memorial Rest Area for special events only and in an area that is well seen from the highway. Motion carried 7-0. Parks & Recreation Commission Minutes Page 5 October 9, 2019 ----------------------------- 7.4 Park Improvement Fund Mr. Sevcik presented his staff report. Mr. Hecker stated that Steve Benoit is working with the schools and that if they contribute to the cost of replacing the volleyball nets then that cost will be removed from the PIF. Mr. Sevcik recommends leaving the volleyball net replacement item in the PIF for now. Moved by Commissioner Soltvedt and seconded by Commissioner Holmgren to accept staff recommendation to approve the 2020 PIF. Motion carried 7-0. 7.5 Trail Replacement Funding Source Mr. Sevcik presented his staff report. Chair Anderson shared that the plan for assessing the trails, and then a sustainable funding source for trails includes new trails, reconstruction of trails and then when we reconstruct and build new trails there will be a maintenance plan for sustainability. Mr. Sevcik stated doing three to four miles per year of maintenance. Chair Anderson recommended presenting educational component Moved by Commissioner Niziolek to request a joint meeting to discuss pedestrian transportation recreation and recreation funding management program. Motion not seconded; motion failed. Chair Anderson stated that a presentation would work. Moved by Commissioner Soltvedt and seconded by Commissioner Loidolt to recommend to City Council to identify a sustainable funding source for trails with input and presentation provided by parks and streets staff. Motion carried 7-0. 8. Discussion Items - None 9. Active Elk River Update Mr. Hecker shared the September progress report and encouraged the public to go to the website for more information. The new fields will be open in 2021 and Oak Knoll Athletic Complex will have improvements made for the High School softball team to use. Parks & Recreation Commission Minutes Page 6 October 9, 2019 ----------------------------- Chair Anderson asked for a list of what Orono Park improvements will be and send it out to the various interest groups. 10. Parks and Recreation Director Update Mr. Hecker shared his staff report. Adding that City Council decided to go with red roof for the shelter and to keep the Senior Center membership fees optional for 2020 and start requiring the memberships in 2021. 11. Recreation Manager’s Update Mr. Benoit presented his staff report and presented the Dog Park events. Sponsored by Chuck and Don’s Pet Food and Spike’s Feed, Seed and Pet Supply. Also, noting that September set a new record of 130 visitors daily at the Activity Center. 12. Announcements Mr. Benoit announced that this year’s 20th Annual Family Spooktacular has been canceled due to the impending weather forecast. It requires a fair amount of contractual purchases to make it happen and didn’t want to invest the funds for a few that may attend. 13. Adjournment There being no further business, Chair Anderson adjourned the meeting of the Elk River Parks and Recreation Commission at 9:26 p.m. Minutes prepared by Tonya Love. ___________________ Dave Anderson, Chair _____________________ Tina Allard, City Clerk Mississippi Road Trail Segments Heritage Landing Trail and Country Crossing Park Windsor Park and Neighborhood Trails Meadowvale Park and Road Trail Segments Lions John Weicht Park 175th Ave Trails