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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJanuary 13, 2010 '- 0 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W. . ANDOVER, MINNESOTA 55304. (763) 755-5100 FAX (763) 755-8923. WWW.CI.ANDOVER.MN.US Andover Open Space Advisory Commission Meeting Agenda January 13, 2010 Andover City Hall Council Chambers 7:00 p.m. 1. Call to Order 2. Approval of Minutes - November 12, 2009 and December 9, 2009 3. Discuss Outcome of December 9th Joint Meeting 4. Discuss 2010 Site Selection Process 5. Discuss Stewardship of Acquired Open Space . 6. Funding Update 7. Other Business a. Next meeting 8. Adjournment 0 0 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W. . ANDOVER, MINNESOTA 55304. (763) 755-5100 FAX (763) 755-8923 . WWW.CI.ANDOVER.MN.US REGULAR ANDOVER OPEN SPACE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING JANUARY 13,2010 MINUTES The Regular Meeting of the Andover Open Space Advisory Commission was called to order by Chairman Deric Deischle, January 13,2010,7:00 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Miunesota. Commissioners present: Gretchen Sabel, Jody Keppel'S, Winslow Holasek (anived at 7:02 p.m.), Bruce Peny and Kim Kovich (alTived at 7:02 p.m.) Commissioner absent: Jim Olson Also present: City Planner, Courtney Bednarz Others APPROVAL OF MINUTES ~ November 12, 2009 and December 9, 2009 There were no changes. Motion by Peny, Seconded by Keppel'S, to approve the minutes as amended. Motion carried unanimously. DISCUSS OUTCOME OF DECEMBER 9TH JOINT MEETING Chair Deuschle thought the meeting went well and the minutes showed what was discussed. DISCUSS 2010 SITE SELECTION PROCESS Mr. Bednarz explained the Commission has an updated map with all the criteria and they have added four newer sites to the map and to the spread sheet. There is also a second spread sheet that includes the four new sites as well as those that the Commission wanted to discuss further. Mr. Bednarz reviewed Mr. Selmer's forty acre property with the Commission and noted they have expressed interest in working with the City on this. Q Commissioner Kovich noted this property is the one without access to it. Chair Deuschle stated they have discussed this one previously and it is landlocked by several property owners. He thought if there was a way to pair this with one ofthe sUlTounding properties it would be worthwhile to look at it. 0 Regular Open Space Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes -January 13, 2010 Page 2 Commissioner Kovich stated the score on this property is sixty-nine and there are only eight other properties higher than that. Chair Deuschle stated this property is one they have had previous interest in and with the grants coming before them it may be worth reviewing. Commissioner Peny wondered if they were going to purchase another large parcel of land with the rest of the money or if they wanted to look for some smaller parcels. Mr, Bednarz reviewed the Anoka Grain site with the Commission. They recently expressed some interest to the City. He explained there is some wetland on the property and a creek would need to be crossed in order to get access to the entire parcel. He noted Anoka Feed would sell an additional 3 acres to get from the park at the end of the cul-de-sac to the parcel ofland for access. Commissioner Keppers noted the upland part of the parcel was farmland. The location right next to the Rum River looks like it would be very nice but asked if they want to spend all oftheir money in one part ofthe City. Commissioner Peny agreed and thought they should look on the east side ofthe City for the next parcel. 0 Mr. Bednarz reviewed the Meadow Creek School property located west ofthe intersection of Round Lake Boulevard and 161 st. He noted there are actually three sites owned by Meadow Creek with a small City park next to the one parcel. Casey Breen representing Meadow Creek School stated they are interested in entering the process. Mr. Daninger thought they were interested in selling the entire forty-four acres to the City. He thought this fit the schools criteria and they would like to go through the process. Commissioner Keppers thought this parcel was deeper in the City than the others they have looked at and some of the parcels around it are small and would be nice to have some open space in the area where open space is rare. He thought in order to make this valuable open space it would need to be restored. Chair Deuschle agreed and noted the Anoka Grain site would also need to be restored. Chair Deuschle explained how the Commission reviews the sites and how they rate them for the audience. Mr. Bednarz explained to the audience how the Commission comes up with the scoring on the properties. Commissioner Keppers thought these parcels are in areas that do not have much open space left and should be considered even though the score may be low. Commissioner Kovich stated they needed to remember that they do not have any money to restore the parcels so what they purchase is what they get because they cannot use open space funds for restoration. Q Mr. Bednarz reviewed the parcel of land owned by Mr. Lany Emmerich by the White Pine Wilderness development east of the intersection of Hanson and 161 st. Mr. Emmerich stated this was a great opportunity for the City to purchase a beautiful piece of 0 Regular Open Space Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes-January 13,2010 Page 3 property with White Pines on it sUlTounded by a newer development and one to be further developed in the future. Commissioner Keppers thought this was an interesting concept by integrating City open space into a development process. He stated the question is if the City is going to contribute to creating some open space they need to make sure the open space is seen as an opportunity to the entire community and accessible by all and not just the CUlTent development. The Commission discussed where people would park to access the open space. Commissioner Keppers noted a plus would be to have a trail running through the parcel but he wondered if it would connect to anything in that area. Mr. Bednarz reviewed a future trail system that could be developed in the area noting a trail along CSAH 20 may not be there for twenty years. Chair Deuschle agreed with what has been discussed but his concerns are with the existing wetland, all the white pines on the land and he did not think this achieved preservation of the native community. 0 Commissioner Holasek thought this parcel was definitely one to consider. Chair Deuschle stated all the parcels are worth looking at but they all have their pros and cons for open space. Mr. Bednarz asked if the Commission wanted to pursue one or more ofthe properties on the short list with the remaining money or do they want to wait for a pristine property that is not available yet for future purchase. Commissioner Sabel thought Site D on the list would be attractive for a grant type of parcel. Commissioner Kovich thought it had the highest grant potential out of all of them. Commissioner Keppel'S thought the cost of the Selmer property would be a potential for a grant process. Chair Deuschle thought because it was landlocked it would not be the best site. Commissioner Kovich thought it would be a problem for the site to be landlocked. Commissioner Kovich asked what time frame Mr. Emmerich was looking at for the second part of the development for the cul-de-sac to butt up to the proposed open space area. Mr. Emmerich stated the second addition has had preliminary plat approval for three years and has not developed because of the economy but the time table looks to be development in the next year or two. He stated he would provide an easement to the property for immediate access to the property. Commissioner Keppel'S thought another lot further south in the proposed development might be a Q more useful property for public access to the open space. He thought this parcel was worth pursuing. He suggested the park in the proposed development be moved to the south for access from the road and cul-de-sac. Commissioner Holasek did not know how they could cross the trail to access the parcel from the road. 0 Regular Open Space Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes-January 13,2010 Page 4 Mr. Emmerich suggested an access from the existing driveway off 161 st because the City already has an easement along his driveway so this could be where a bike trail is developed. Mr. Emmerich reviewed with the Commission how he would redraw the plans to allow lots 13 and 14 to become park land with a bike trail easement and joined to the proposed open space land. Chair Deuschle thought the Selmer, Emmerich and Anoka Grain and Feed wanant further discussion out of the eleven on the list but he did not know how they could work out access to the Selmer property. He thought the Meadow Creek property would be hard to purchase at this point because of the size and the restoration involved and he did not think the owners would want to sell the property at a loss. The Commission reviewed the parcels on the list to shorten the list down. Chair Deuschle summarized the different parcels and he concluded they should continue to look at the Selmer property. Commissioner Kovich thought they may want to wait on looking at the Selmer property for a future time because they need to provide access and unless they get Kuiken on board this will not happen. 0 Mr. Bednarz stated the Council would likely not consider this property without including some access. The Commission determined that the Kuiken family should be contacted. Commissioner Sabel indicated that the property to the southwest of V erdin Street and 161 st Avenue ranks as high as others they are considering and should also be included. Mr. Bednarz asked if the Woodland Creek Golf Course, Loftus, Ganter and Mau property should be to the larger list. He encouraged the Commission to stay in contact with Meadow Creek and keep them on the list. The Commission agreed. Mr. Bednarz summarized that there are now five areas left on the list for further review including those refelTed to as Selmer/Kuiken, Anoka Grain, Meadow Creek, White Pines Wilderness and SW corner of Verdin Street and 16lst Avenue NW. DISCUSS STEWARDSHIP OF ACQUIRED OPEN SPACE Chair Deuschle updated the Commission on the stewardship of the acquired open space. Commissioner Keppers thought they could put boundary markers around the parcel to indicate it is public open space. Q Commissioner Sabel stated she talked to someone who is involved with Master Naturalists and they may be interested in starting a program up here. Commissioner Kovich thought they should see what would apply for grant applications to help fund 0 Regular Open Space Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes-January 13,2010 Page 5 the open space to help manage it. Mr. Bednarz stated the Commission needs to consider preparation of a management plan for the long term care of the natural areas. The Commission reviewed the different management grants and indicated they wanted to get a plan in place. They thought they should look at what other cities with open space are doing and discuss this further at the next meeting. FUNDING UPDATE Chair Deuschle reviewed the different funds available to the Commission to apply for. OTHER BUSINESS Commissioner Sabel asked what the next newsletter should be about. The Commission thought it should tell about the open space land purchase that just happened. 0 Mr. Bednarz updated the Commission on the purchase. Commissioner Holasek asked if they are going to have a ribbon cutting. Mr. Bednarz stated that would be up to the Commission. Chair Deuschle stated if they are going to have a ribbon cutting they may want to include it in the City newsletter. Motion by Sable, Seconded by Keppers, to adjourn. Motion canied unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:23 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Osbeck, Recording Secretary 0