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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWK - May 10, 2017H 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W. • ANDOVER, MINNESOTA 55304 . (763) 755-5100 FAX (763) 755-8923 • WWW.ANDOVERMN.GOV City Council Workshop Wednesday, May 10, 2017 Conference Rooms A & B 1. Call to Order— 7:00 p.m. 2. Joint Meeting with Open Space Commission. a. Open Space Management Plans b. Potential CIP Projects c. Open Space Branding 3. Other Business © 4. Adjournment C AA C I T Y • F 0 LNIDOWE^ ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING —MAY 10, 2017 MINUTES The Workshop Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Julie Trude, May 10, 2017, 7:08 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Councilmembers present: Mike Knight, Sheri Bukkila, Valerie Holthus and James Goodrich Councilmember absent: None Open Space Advisory Commissioners present: Acting Chairperson Kim Kovich, Commissioners Joy Faherty, and Jim Olson Commissioners absent: Chairperson Gretchen Sabel and Commissioners Rebecca Dahlberg, Anna Dirkswager and Aaron Jarson Also present: City Administrator, Jim Dickinson © Kameron Kytonen, Natural Resources Technician Derrek Schotzko, Andover High School Student JOINT MEETING WITH OPEN SPACE COMMISSION The Council and Commission members introduced themselves. a. Open Space Branding Acting Chairperson Kovich explained there has been discussion with members of the Park and Recreation Commission about rebranding `open spaces' to `preserves' which better fits the intent of these properties. Commissioner Olson stated following the discussion with the Park and Recreation Commission he did some research and found preservation to be used very often and would validate the change in term. Mayor Trude confirmed the consensus of the Council to approve the change from open space to preserve. She noted if formal action is needed that could simply be placed on the Consent Agenda for a future Council meeting. Mr. Kytonen asked if the name of the group would then change as well from the Open Space Advisory Commission. It was the consensus of the Council and Commission that the name of the group would remain the same as it currently exists. © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes —May 10, 2017 Page 2 b. Open Space Management Plans and Potential CIP Projects Mr. Kytonen stated the Open Space Advisory Commission has met on several occasions and continues to plan for on-going management and development of the properties. He displayed the open space comprehensive priority list and provided a brief summary of the Martins Meadows site. He noted Commissioner Faherty has been working on posters that would be displayed in the kiosks at each site that would include historical information and information specific to the site. Councilmember Knight stated perhaps it would be nice to have informational signs throughout the open space areas along the trails. Acting Chairperson Kovich noted that could be placed on the list for the future once some of the management activities have been completed. He reviewed the information for Northwoods. He noted the access to Northwoods sometimes makes it difficult to access the site during wet conditions. He noted the intent would be to use the White Pine Wilderness cul-de-sac as a secondary access when the site has wet conditions and asked the Council to keep that in mind as the plat moves forward for that site. City Administrator Dickinson stated the preliminary plat for the property has been approved and is designed to have access to the open space off the cul-de-sac. Councilmember Holthus stated she visited the site to walk the trails this past weekend and identified sections of the trail which are impassable because of wet conditions and other areas of the trails that are not evadent. Mr. Kytonen stated staff could look into that to see if something could be done to improve the conditions. Mayor Trude stated she stopped visiting the site with her dog because of the poison ivy. She asked if the trails could be treated for poison ivy. Mr. Kytonen stated if poison ivy pops up on the trails themselves, staff would remove that. Acting Chairperson Kovich noted the Commission has discussed the presence of poison ivy and the need to post pictures in the kiosk educating visitors about the presence. Councilmember Holthus stated she does like the design of the trails that you can use to go from North Woods to Maple View. Acting Chairperson Kovich moved on to Maple View and displayed a photograph of the site © which identifies the trail. He stated they are working to better establish the trails and place signage. © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — May 10, 2017 Page 3 Councilmember Holthus stated she found the trail very confusing. Acting Chairperson Kovich stated they are going to work on the trails and they have a Boy Scout interested in building a kiosk for the site. He noted the other items they would like to do on the site would need to wait until the group is able to secure grant funds. Mr. Kytonen stated the trail is clearly established but needs maintenance because of the vegetation growth that has occurred. Mayor Trude stated perhaps signage could be placed for safety to ensure that smaller children that may visit the site without parents do not get lost. Councilmember Holthus stated the site can be confusing because there are other established trails that people could wander off on. Mr. Kytonen stated the signage will help to guide visitors on the correct trails. Acting Chairperson Kovich moved on to Dalske, which is the newest acquisition. He stated © there is a minimum maintenance road used to access the site. He stated the Commission has been working with the access. Mr. Kytonen stated he met with the neighboring property owner of Dalske to discuss concerns and the conversation went well. He stated they will be posting some guiding signs for visitors of the open space to help guide visitors on the site and ensure that they do not trespass onto his property. He noted additional signage was posted on the open space property which states "no hunting open space property" as people could be confused as the nearby State land allows hunting. He stated the neighbor is in agreement with making the entrance more welcoming to the public while still protecting his own property. Acting Chairperson Kovich stated the top priority for this property is signage, noting the Commission will walk this property prior to their next regular meeting. He stated trails would be the next priority following signage, noting that both items would be done with in-house staff. He stated once the trails are established they can determine vegetation and deadfall management. He stated the Dalske property is bisected by the County ditch. He stated the Commission would like to request Capital Improvement Funds to create a crossing of the ditch which would allow the visitors to walk the remainder of the site. He stated if they want access for the other half of the property they will need a method to cross the ditch. Councilmember Bukkila stated the Council would need cost estimates and if there are available funds at the end of the year they could be repurposed for that use. © Mr. Kytonen stated staff will also investigate whether grant funds could be obtained for the ditch crossing. © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes —May 10, 2017 Page 4 Councilmember Knight stated there are a lot of deadfall trees partially in and out of the river at Martins Meadows that could be a safety hazard. Councilmember Holthus noted she has noticed a rope swing at Martins Meadows. C. Kiosk Information and Communications Commissioner Faherty provided the mockup drafts that she has created for the two open space areas that currently have kiosks, noting the poster is meant to have welcoming information for the space. She noted the kiosks are three sided and the other sides will have information on poison ivy as well as photographs of some of the ecological features that visitors can look for while in the open space. She stated there is a Boy Scout interested in building a third kiosk and the kiosk for Dalske would be pushed out a bit further. Mayor Trude stated perhaps some of the information from the kiosk posters and pictures from the sites could be published in the City newsletters. She noted perhaps the trails could also be rated to make it easier for families to decide which areas would be best to visit with young children. OTHER TOPICS Acting Chairperson Kovich noted the Commission will be joining the Council at the Fun Fest event again this year. City Administrator Dickinson stated he will organize two tables for the Council and Commissions. Mayor Trude stated a resident survey was just completed and noted the awareness of the open space increased from 51 percent to 83 percent. She stated Northwoods was the most visited open space followed by Martins Meadows. She stated the Council will make sure the Commission receives a copy of the survey results. She stated perhaps the Commission can review how easy it is to find the information on the City website and whether tweaks are needed. Mr. Kytonen stated they did review that information and there are about four different ways from the website that people can access the information. Councilmember Bukkila stated perhaps an introduction on preserves could be done in the newsletter to make that connection and ease into that transition from open space to preserve. Derrek Schotzko, a student at Andover High School, commented that a cedar bridge would be a nice option for Dalske because of the natural look and the fact that you would not need to treat © the wood. He commented it is nicer to have gravel parking lots, like Northwoods has, to prevent issues with runoff from the impervious surface. He stated in reference to the wet trails at Northwoods preserve, if you build the trail up it would disturb the ecosystem and perhaps © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes —May 10, 2017 Page 5 another option would be to make that an outlook with information on what visitors could try to spot from that location. Councilmember Holthus agreed that the trail could be abandoned in that section and that would be a good location for a lookout of the wetland. Mr. Schotzko commented there are not many wetland lookouts in Andover and that would be a great spot for people to observe or read books. City Administrator Dickinson stated it sounds like seating and interpretive elements would be favored for that site. Acting Chairperson Kovich stated it is a work in progress and they are working as they go along. Mayor Trude stated the Council appreciates the work of the Commission. Acting Chairperson Kovich welcomed members of the Council to attend the walk of Dalske in July. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Councilmember Bukkila, Seconded by Councilmember Goodrich, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Amanda Staple, Recording Secretary H