REGULAR MEETING City of Oakdale September 18, 2018 CALL TO ORDER A regular meeting of the Oakdale Parks and Recreation Commission was held on Tuesday,, at Oakdale City Hall, 1584 Hadley Avenue, Oakdale, Minnesota. The meeting was called to order by Chair Bethke at 7:00 PM. CALL OF ROLL On a call of roll, the following were present: Chair: Vice Chair: Commissioners: Also Present: Absent (Excused): Maxine Bethke Colleen Swedberg Jane Klein Janet Cunningham Paul Lockhart Jason Kuchenmeister Brian Bachmeier, Public Works Director Jeff Koesling, Parks Superintendent Julie Williams, Recreation Superintendent James Roettger, Commissioner Bill Rasmussen, City Council PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE APPROVAL OF MINUTES : Regular Meeting, August 21, 2018 A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER CUNNINGHAM, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER LOCKHART TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING OF AUGUST 21, 2018 AS PRESENTED. 6 AYES 0 NAYS 2019-2023 PARK CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (CIP) DRAFT Brian Bachmeier Director Bachmeier informed the commissioners that now is the opportunity to start Capital Improvement Plan discussions, including suggestions for potential changes to the plan. He recommended that the commissioners have their plan ready to present to the council before the November council-staff workshop.
Page 2 Mr. Bachmeier summarized 2018 s completed projects. Parks Superintendent Koesling completed the Pickleball project at Tanners Lake Park. The scoreboard at Tanners Lake was also completed. Most recently, City Council awarded a project last Tuesday to remodel the Walton Park restroom building. This is scheduled to be completed by December 1. Four contractors provided competitive estimates. The project was awarded to Project One in the amount of $122,000 to complete the following: remodel the interior for Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, replace the 20 year old shingle roof with a metal roof matching other park buildings, and add thick brick veneer to match the color and texture of the other buildings in Walton Park. The Capital Improvement Plan included in the commissioner packet reflects revisions made over the past six to seven months that began with the joint meeting with Council. This included removing the previously planned Oakfield Park tennis court and Titan Park tot lot projects. He reviewed the project schedule. 2019 s projects are to include the Oakfield Park tot lot replacement, and adding a parking lot and water service at the dog park. In 2020, the 25 year old Walton Park Ballfield Complex will be repaved and have taller backstops added. Parks Superintendent Koesling has also recommended considering new lighting at the complex to replace the 25 year old high pressure sodium lighting that is becoming increasingly difficulty to replace. New LED technology is more efficient and provides better lighting. The 2021 year projects had been discussed with the Council. There is $300,000 budgeted for the Walton Park Warming House that would include a brick building with restrooms. The project is open for discussion; a wood structure without restrooms was considered at the workshop, and based on direction, the estimate can be revised. The other project is resurfacing the skatepark. This year, the ramps were all tuck pointed and looking good. This project is a few years out and can be reconsidered, or other improvements can be looked at. In 2022, the plan includes the Eberle Park parking lot and trails repaving (30 years in age), and the Walton Park hockey rink resurfacing. 2023 will be the new year added to the five year program. The Tanners Lake Park parking lot and trails need repaving, along with the Oakdale Nature Preserve trails. Mr. Bachmeier reported the finance department s revenue projections. Going into 2018, the ending balance was $430,000. This year, $235,000 was spent, revenue was $212,000, and the expenditures exceeded revenue at $23,000. The balance going into 2019 is $407,000. The projection for 2019 is the fund will grow $40,000. Going into 2020, 2021, and 2022, expenditures exceeding revenue are shown. The fund balance starts to drop sometime in 2022. In 2023, a deficit is seen in the fund balance. Finance Director Suzy Warren comments that the projection is conservative, as there is revenue with fees unknown, such as how many building permits or fees issued at the 3M development will be received. As a result, only a small amount is budgeted for revenue coming in from that project at $5,000 a year. The park dedication fees are also on the scale s low end. Other revenue sources include antennae rental ($50,000/year), property tax levy ($99,000/year), rent revenue projections (rentals of Discovery Center and picnic shelters $32,000/year), to forecast a stable revenue of a little over $200,000/year. At this time, Director Bachmeier stood for questions.
Page 3 Chair Bethke requested Mr. Bachmeier to provide the 2023 Oakdale Nature Preserve trail repaving figure. She asked Mr. Koesling about the concept of a garage type warming house at Walton Park. Mr. Koesling responded that if a garage type warming house were put in at Walton Park, the cost would not be $300,000, and $100,000 even seems high. The winters have been tougher to maintain ice. The project would need to be discussed with Mr. Bachmeier. A nice structure could be built in house to save money using the talent of public works staff. Mr. Bachmeier informed that installing restrooms, including water and sewer service, would be an expensive portion of the project if it were to be valued and included. The $300,000 cost would include restrooms. Mr. Koesling responded to a question made by Commissioner Lockhart, locating the warming house as a wooden structure on the east side of the hockey rink. There are restrooms at the adult fields that remain open, and a portable restroom serves the hockey rink. Chair Bethke noted that the skatepark concrete looks great after the repairs and is lacking any cracks. She suggested the following changes to the Capital Improvement Plan: moving the Walton Park skatepark project to 2023, reducing the Walton Park warming house budget to $100,000, moving the Eberle Park parking lot and trail repaving project to 2021, and being that Tanners Lake Park s parking lot and trail conditions may be worse than Eberle s, to consider moving the project up to 2021 or 2022. Mr. Bachmeier replied that he will make a note, move those projects around and see what a new plan looks like. Commissioner Lockhart requested Mr. Bachmeier to provide a summary of what will be done for each listed project in the Capital Improvement Plan. Chair Bethke recommended the commissioners to visit the locations to compare the conditions of the Walton Park, Eberle Park, and Tanners Lake Park planned projects. Commissioner Klein, noting the expertise of staff to make decisions and prioritize projects, would like to hear the staff recommendations based on history, age, composition of materials, which projects are being done in conjunction with the timeline of the neighborhood s other projects, and use the staff recommendation to make an informed decision. Chair Bethke understood, and agreed with Commissioner Klein, adding that she would also like to see the projects being done in person to base her decision on. While a project at Eberle Park may be planned directly with the timeline of another project in the neighborhood, it is likely that the following year, another project will be done either north or south of the park. She would like to see the project before spending the money. She will email commissioners to find a date to visit the parks. She suggested going after the buckthorn event. Even if there may not be a quorum, posting the event will cover the possibility.
Page 4 Vice Chair Swedberg noted that Director Bachmeier s attention to scheduling and good work coordinating projects saves money. Commissioner Lockhart agreed with Chair Bethke that he would like to see the parks before making decisions. Director Bachmeier will give the commission an estimate on the Walton Park ballfield lighting. Commissioner Lockhart asked if the same poles can be used for the lighting, switching out the fixtures. Mr. Koesling responded that it is currently not known, though he thinks they should be able to utilize the poles. LED lights are more efficient. The problem with the current lights is if the grounds are wet, a 100 foot bucket truck needs to be brought in. In the spring, there were six to ten lights out and the truck could not be brought in until the grounds firmed up. On fields five through eight, and the football field, it is not as much of a problem because the truck can travel along the path. He recalled a time when a bank of lights went out on field two from a mouse building a nest 65-70 feet up the pole and chewing through the wires. In response to Chair Bethke, Mr. Bachmeier replied that a light study would need to be done to determine what light fixtures would replace the lighting at the Walton ballfield complex. At Eastside Park, the area was covered by two LED lights rather than four fixtures. At Walton Park, the new lighting will likely make use of the uprights currently there, but using less fixtures on each one, being much more efficient. Chair Bethke asked what the Tanners $4,586 security expenditure was for. Parks Superintendent Koesling replied that the Tanners Lake Park building is alarmed, including a temperature alarm due to the plumbing. The power went out three winters ago on a below zero day. Staff knew to put heaters in, but it would have caused a problem requiring tearing up the floor. This spring, a water alarm notified staff of a pipe that broke in the utility room. Within staff arrival four minutes later, the water had risen to four inches. The building is not used enough so the alarm monitors problems that could happen anytime. There were glitches with the water alarm going off, and it had been replaced, thinking it was a faulty sensor. What we now learned is that it may have been the cleaning lady who was dumping her pal of water that was splashing over and hitting the sensor on the floor. Now that the sensor had been moved, there has not been another issue. PUBLIC WORKS UPDATE Jeff Koesling Tanners Lake Park Scoreboard Parks Superintendent Koesling reported that the hard wiring to the scoreboard and back to the backstop has been put in place. The field is operational. The only work left to be completed is restoring the two trenches in the outfield. Originally, the plan was for a wireless system. However, the wireless system at the softball complex has caused the scoreboard to go off midgame when coaches forget they need to plug in to recharge batteries. Having hard wiring will mean a direct connection with the scoreboard to
Page 5 ensure this problem does not happen at Tanners. After the restoration, the field will be good to go in the spring. Fall Ground Maintenance Crews have started fall ground maintenance this week. First, the focus will be on the Walton Park turf damage caused by equipment on the wet surface during Summerfest. The fall maintenance includes Tanners Lake Park. Then aerating all parks will be started. Around October 1, when the weather cools, irrigation systems will be winterized. Crews will keep mowing until the frost. Discovery Center Memorial Benches In response to a question made by Vice Chair Swedberg, Mr. Koesling informed the commission that the Oakdale Nature Preserve s wood benches that are showing wear can be replaced as a fall project with recycled benches. One of the wooden benches nearest the Discovery Center was replaced today with a new memorial bench to remember the yoga instructor who taught there and sadly passed. There have never been more memorial bench requests than there have this year. RECREATION UPDATE Touch a Truck Recreation Superintendent Williams reported that the Touch a Truck on Tuesday, September 11 had a great turnout and fantastic weather. There were 30 vehicles and 800 ice cream treats given out. The Maplewood Oakdale Lions provided concessions and ran out of 250 hot dogs in an hour. Special thanks to Jeff Koesling and Public Works, the Police and Fire Departments who always make this a really great community event. Family Fun Flatables It was a steamy hot past Saturday, but there was still a great turnout of 1,500 to 2,000 people attending the Family Fun Flatables. The event was full at 11 AM and the parking lots were consistently full. There were 13 inflatables, face painting, concessions, a glitter bomb hair station, spin art, and a kids DJ that played for three hours. Thank you to the sponsors that really make the event what it is. Thank you to Jeff Koesling and Matt Williams with all the help before and after the event; there is a lot to be cleaned up. The event s coordinator Nathan Timmons had a lot of planning that goes into the event, and he did a fantastic job. Daddy Daughter Dance This annual dance will be held on September 28. The event always fills and there are currently only seven spots remaining. The cutoff allows 39 couples to participate. Artist of the Month Kristen St. George is the photographer on display this month at the Discovery Center gallery. Her art features Minnesota animals and north woods scenes. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Commissioner Kuchenmeister will have his Cub Scout group participate in the Adopt a Park program at Goosepond Park. The troop is chartered out of neighboring House of Prayer church. The troop already cleans it once a year, now they will do it twice. He requested that his Cub Scout troop be added to the agenda next month for an Eagle Project at the dog park.
Page 6 Commissioner Bethke announced that the November meeting will have Bob Streetar giving a short rundown of the 3M property plan. ADJOURNMENT A MOTION WAS MADE BY VICE CHAIR SWEDBERG, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER CUNNINGHAM TO ADJOURN THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE, DATED SEPTEMBER 18, 2018, AT 7:40 P.M. 6 AYES 0 NAYS Respectfully submitted, Laura Heimkes