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6.a Draft PRC 06-01-2020 MinutesCity of Scandia Parks and Recreation Committee Monday, June 1, 2020 A meeting of the Scandia Parks & Recreation Committee was held on the above date with modifications. Due to the health advisory issued by the State regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, to avoid public gatherings and limit social contact, the meeting was conducted over an electronic platform. All Committee members and staff who joined the meeting remotely could hear each other and contribute to discussions. City Administrator Cammilleri was present in the Council Chambers. Cammilleri was the presenter and displayed the meeting materials for participants to view on their remote screens. The following were participants to the meeting: Committee members Terry Gorham (Chair), Greg Zauner (Vice Chair), Carol Schwinghammer, Dustin Hegland and Cami Van Abel and Patti Ray (City Council Representative). Staff members Ken Cammilleri (City Administrator) and Brenda "Bee" Stignani (Office Assistant) Special Guests to Present: Olivia Nienaber, Jordan Boysen, Erik Ivester, and Andrew PUBLIC FORUM There were no public comments APPROVAL OF AGENDA Gorham requested a change in the agenda to move item 6.b., followed by 7.a. to follow item 4.a. in the interest of the guest presenters. Motion by Zauner, seconded by Hegland, to approve the amended agenda. Roll call vote: Hegland - yes, Van Able — yes, Schwinghammer — yes, Zauner — yes, Gorham — yes. The motion carried 5-0. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chair Gorham called for any additions or corrections to the May 4, 2020 minutes. No additions or corrections were submitted. The minutes stand approved. OLD BUSINESS Early Bird Migration Project Update Olivia Nienaber updated the committee on the Early Bird Migration project. Nienaber reported the changes to her program because of the COVID-19 changes of social interaction and public gatherings. She will plant in August or September in the revised project. PRC confirmed their financial support of $1,400 to plant three sites. Cammilleri requested an invoice to submit for payment. Gorham will follow up with Public Works Director Hawkinson to finalize the specific sites. Hawkinson will select the plants for Nienaber to include in her wholesale purchase through Abrahamson's Nurseries. NEW BUSINESS A Pollinator Project Proposal Jordan Boysen presented on behalf of a group of local students who are interested in creating Scandia's Bees, a pollinator garden. A site at Lilleskogen Park is most feasible over the other four suggestions, Zauner recommended Boysen communicate with Prairie Restoration and Friends of Scandia to move the concept further along to a proposal with a request. VanAble suggested considering rainwater catch barrels to address the question of how to water the site. VanAble provided resource information. Ray stated that a good rule of thumb is to spend twice as much on soil health as plants for the long-term success of any planting project. Gorham summarized the PRC recommendations to Boysen to address before the group presents an update and request for support from the City of Scandia: 1. Contact Prairie Restorations regarding soil preparation June 1, 2020 Scandia Parks and Recreation Committee Page 2 of 4 2. Contact PW Director Hawkinson to consider sites —Gorham will provide needed contact information 3. Contact Friends of Scandia for guidance and support — Gorham will provide needed contact information 4. Verify the commitment from FL National Honors Society and Environmental Club advisers 5. Identify a plan to water the plants regularly 6. Investigate the possibility of using rainwater barrels — Gorham will pass on the contact information from VanAble Ray requested Boysen to consider possibilities of connecting an educational, hands on, experience with the Scandia elementary school students, especially if Lilleskogen Park is chosen as the site. Boysen will brainstorm possibilities with his group. REPORTS Chair Report Chair Gorham provided a written report. An amendment to his report, Mike White, president of the Lions contacted Gorham and confirmed the Scandia Lions are not meeting as a club and all contributions are on hold. White suggested that the scope of the projects the PRC is seeking support is more in line with contacting the Lions Foundation. Public Works Director Report Hawkinson provided a written report. rill Bill I ki I -ki I :"I Park Signage Hawkinson provided information in the PW staff report. Zauner clarified that the information in the report was for posts only and not the actual sign. Cammilleri stated City Council desires uniformity on signs, and the "New Scandia" sign at the Fire Station and PW building needs to be replaced also. Ray brought up that Mayor Maefsky requests that all signs go through the Tourism Committee before final proposals can go to City Council. Gorham concluded that PRC does not have enough information to make a recommendation to the Tourism Committee and requests that more complete information be provided by Hawkinson at the next PRC meeting. Capital Improvement Plan Cammilleri provided explanation to the Park Improvement Fund Budget for 2021 report. He amended the report to reflect Property Tax Levey to be reduced to $5,000 considering the difficult decisions the city has made with unexpected expenses. Hedland questioned and Cammilleri confirmed that $30,000 was the amount requested and approved to be ongoing for PRC's annual funding from the Property Tax Levey. Gorham conceded the need to reduce the PRC portion, but questioned if dropping that far was appropriate, and to negotiate to $10,000 as a suggestion. Cammilleri stated any amount can be requested of the City Council but explained how reducing this amount still makes a strong ending balance in 2021. The potential problem is only if the City Council continued the drastically reduced amount in future years. Ray questioned if 2020 budget has been adjusted — Cammilleri responded no. Cammilleri presented the Capital Improvement Program 2020-2024 document that was intended to be in the meeting packet. It supports the $148,900 on the line "Capital Improvement Other than Buildings" in the projected 2021 column. In 2020, Lilleskogen has $28,000 that Gorham inquired how much of this amount is from the DNR grant and for the bridge, improvements to the trail and the picnic shelter. In 2021 for Lilleskogen, there is $14,500 that is several other collective projects combined that Cammilleri will break down after he is June 1, 2020 Scandia Parks and Recreation Committee Page 3 of 4 able to research the intentions of his predecessor. The remaining numbers for 2021 were $115,000 for playgrounds, $10,000 for nature park trails (in particular, Bone Lake), $5,000 for the Settler's Monument improvement and $4,500 for the Lion's Park Hay Lake Shelter. The placeholder amount of $30,000 for the Arts & Cultural Heritage Center Amphitheater is in 2022. Cammilleri emphasized that this is not a firm number as the Scandia Heritage Alliance must finalize their vision before more realistic budgeting can be forecasted. The Erickson Ballfield improvements are $75,000 in 2023. Cammilleri pointed out that the DNR grant for work in Lilleskogen Park is $9,680 annually until 2022 and Gorham would like to confirm that the $18,320 would be available to start moving one of the three projects moving forward this year, most notably the bridge. Gorham inquired to find out the Line 11, Other Grants for the years 2020 - 2021. Cammilleri will research to find out if the $22,500 has been received and what it is for, as it was suggested it could be projected grant possibilities for half of the Zamboni replacement cost that never materialized. Cammilleri will explore and report at the next meeting grant options for the $57,500 in 2021 for half of the budget for the playground equipment. Cammilleri requested that the PRC start discussions about the playground improvements to narrow the vision of targeted age groups (a toddler or preschool system for example) or other directions the committee would like to pursue. Cammilleri requested the PRC members focus on the Item List rather than the Revenue projected amounts and provide feedback to him. Are there specific projects missing? He encouraged committee members to consider projects as far as 10 years out. Ray questioned if the budgets are adjusted as expenditures happen and if unspent funds stay in the PRC general fund. Cammilleri responded no, budgets are not yet adjusted immediately, but the funds do stay in the next PRC general fund. Ray suggested updated reports be prepared before each PRC meeting. Gorham added that past reports contained unnecessary details and Cammilleri conclude that Park Improvement Balance reports would be provided for each PRC meeting to be viewed in relation to the overall long range plan to be able to determine if funds are available to support small projects that come up like the Pollinator Garden. Lilleskogen Park Children's Story Path — Summer Projects Ray posted on Facebook a new series of pictures of the favorite cartoon character stories from the 2nd grade class and has enough to rotate every two weeks through the end of June. Ray asked Stignani to share on the city's Facebook page. A local children's writer, Debra Smith, is writing a progressive story for the storyboards to be displayed in the month of July. Staff will communicate with the elementary school to notify them that the stories are currently displayed for the 2nd graders. Ray asked for ideas to use in August. VanAble suggested activity packets requesting stories from children during the month of July to be displayed in August. Zauner noted the seemingly damaged areas of Lilleskogen Park, Cammilleri stated PW will work on restoring the area that was damaged with buckthorn removal heavy equipment needed last month. Warming House Vending Machine Update Schwinghammer contacted Coca Cola and Bernick's (Pepsi distributor). Coca Cola only supplies drink machines, no snacks and they would like the number of visitors. Bernick's was very receptive to putting 2 machines in the warming house for the hockey season. Snack machines have Kind bars and Gatorade Energy bar are their offers of "healthier snacks" - $1.25-1.50 for chips and snacks, healthier options are presumably more. Drinks are $2 each for soda, smart water, Gatorade, and the like. Their goal is to earn $3,000 per year in revenue. They use remote monitoring of their machines for repairs and restocking. Needed to confirm that 110 -volt electricity hookups are available. Holly at Scandia Market & Mercantile has not yet responded to inquiries. Gorham asked if there is room for sharing some of the revenue or if the service would be enough to make the facility better for the community. Schwinghammer will follow up with this question. Ray asked if Apothecary's Daughter has been June 1, 2020 Scandia Parks and Recreation Committee Page 4 of 4 contacted to see if they are interested but purchasing two machines might not be feasible even though they are so local. Discussion concluded that Bernick's is set up for this type of business instead. Bone Lake Trail Update Gorham and Zauner walked the trail. Property lines are clearly marked. Zauner inquired about the adjoining property owner who is maintaining the land and has a small structure on site that must be removed. Cammilleri will address the situation. Confirmed that there is a large broken tree that needs to be brought down safely to the ground. Public Works needs to be notified to address. Bone Lake Association may not be able to volunteer on the trails with the social distancing requirements as 28 people volunteered last year. Ray requested that Public Works come in to remove some small downed trees and assist in providing more wood chips for Association volunteers to utilize. Gorham will follow up to make sure Public Works is notified. Discussion followed about which type of residents are using these trails, parking suggestions, DNR owned space, and ATV use on trails. Staff will notify Public Works to order signs prohibiting motorized vehicles on the park trails. AGENDA FOR NEXT MEETING The proposed agenda for the Monday, July 6, 2020 meeting: 1. Playground Strategy 2. Pollinator Project Update 3. Signage with Details 4. Capital Improvement Plan Follow Up 5. Warming House Vending Machine Update ADJOURNMENT Motion by Hegland, seconded by Zauner, to adjourn the meeting. Roll call vote: Schwinghammer —yes, Van Able — yes, Hegland — yes, Zauner — yes, Gorham — yes. The motion carried 5-0. The meeting adjourned at 9:07 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Brenda 'Bee" Stignani, Office Assistant/Parks and Recreation Coordinator