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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/19/2006 CITY OF APPLE VALLEY PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE September 19, 2006 Minutes of the September 19, 2006 Apple Valley Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee. PRESENT: Committee Chair Russ DeFauw, Committee Members, Charlie Maus (arrived at , Loren Hegland, Erica Robinson, Lee Strom, Patrick Sullivan, and Tina 6:40pm) Rankin; Parks and Recreation Director Randy Johnson; Public (arrived at 6:40pm) Works Director Neal Heuer; Natural Resources Coordinator Jeff Kehrer; Police Chief Scott Johnson; Police Captain Mike Marben; Park Maintenance Superintendent Tom Adamini; Recreation Superintendent Scott Breuer. ABSENT: None ITEM #1. Chair Russ DeFauw called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. ITEM #2. Approval of Agenda MOTION: by Lee Strom, seconded by Erica Robinson to approve the agenda as presented. VOTE: Yes – 5, No – 0 ITEM #3. Approval of the May 16, 2006 Meeting Minutes MOTION: by Loren Hegland, seconded by Patrick Sullivan to approve the May 16, 2006 meeting minutes as printed. VOTE: Yes – 5, No – 0 ITEM 4.A . Alimagnet Disc Golf Course Staff presented a power point presentation with Alimagnet Park layout, larger map, and photos of each disc golf hole. Public Comments: Dave Katzenmeyer - Walnut Lane resident since 1980. Traffic: 16-25 year old drivers driving fast and not stopping. No sidewalks available in the area. Garbage situation is better with the additional containers, still have trash back in the park. Foul language graffiti has been seen on the frisbee baskets. The trails are widening - 1 - CITY OF APPLE VALLEY PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE September 19, 2006 due to erosion. Not against disc golf, it’s making more family traffic. Would like to see the park more family oriented. Suggested the City look into privacy fencing for homes adjoining the park. Also suggested the City and homeowners work together. Corinne Johnson – Provided a packet of information containing an excerpt from the January 18, 2005 Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee minutes, letters from professionals giving their opinion of Alimagnet Park, and photos of some of the park areas of concern. Poster boards with photos of the park were provided for review. Ms. Johnson stated that the park is a “jewel.” In 2005 disc golf was proposed as a low impact use on a one-year trial basis. Ms. Johnson estimated between 700 to 1,000 people walk the course each week. She stated she’s not against disc golf, just believes it’s in the wrong location. She noted that going into the wooded area, the paths are getting wider and wider, trees are being damaged. “This is an oak forest; we’ll lose our trees if this continues.” She states there is a huge need for the way we use our natural resource. One of the photos showed remnants of a wood duck house destroyed near basket #1. A 4-H club has volunteered to rebuild wood duck houses in the park. Ms. Johnson believes the park resources have been turned over to disc golf and the rest of the park hasn’t been taken care of properly. “It’s not a multi-use park any longer; it’s just disc golf.” She noted trespass issues and the signage regarding disc retrieval from private property. Ms. Johnson sees more drinking in the park and an increase in crime within a three block area. Betsy Doring – lives at the entrance of the park Reviewed her email message included with the packet of information from Corinne Johnson. Highlights of the message include; disc golf is ruining Alimagnet Park, large areas of undergrowth in wooded areas have disappeared, significant drop in large group picnics, the park does not have enough room for the disc golf course, vandalism, armed robbery and graffiti in the park. “It seems that the golf has attracted problems and unsafe situations, rather than discourage them.” Ms. Doring also noted the signage regarding retrieval of discs from private property. “They don’t have permission to retrieve their disc, it’s mine, or they can ask politely.” Dion Erbes - disc golfer – Apple Valley resident The park is being used for something positive. Started playing this summer, met new friends. He sees many families using the park, not just 16 to 34 year olds. Thinks 700 to 1,000 people per week is a good thing. Believes grafitti happens in all parks. “Holes #8 - #12 are what make the course challenging.” Mr. Erbes played in an Alimagnet Park Monday evening disc golf league of 94 players. He reported an average of 30 to 35 players per Monday during the seven week season. He noted - 2 - CITY OF APPLE VALLEY PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE September 19, 2006 that the players in the league pick up trash along the course during play. He suggested signage to tell players that pathway walkers have the right-of-way. Mr. Erbes thanked the Park Department for the added trash containers and for the course upgrades. Rick Vance - Apple Valley resident Believes the goal of Parks and Recreation Department is to promote park use. There is always impact with increased use; key is to balance impact on the environment and what the recreation provides. The disc golf course created a place for kids to recreate in the community. He is 100% in favor of enforcing the alcohol and litter laws. Knows parties were a problem before disc golf became part of the park. Suggested installing a second course in the city to reduce usage and balance growth. Jim Furey – lives at the top of the hill by Hole #5 Believes the addition of disc golf has been positive. He’s walked the course with more than fifty groups and hasn’t seen a negative group yet. Stated that the course has been one of the finest and friendliest in the area. He is not in favor of destroying forest. He is in favor of taking care of our resources and would like to see more education around it. Stated that as a resident, he’s in favor of the course. Would like to see a way to minimize the impact and educate users to take care of the course. James Wagner – Apple Valley resident Reported playing the disc golf course as many as fifty times. Wasn’t aware of the park before the disc golf course was installed. As a public park, it is a jewel. He’s against having a locked gate to the park entrance. Believes disc golf has cut down on the negative use of the park. “If we close the course, we bring back the negative.” Louise Anderson – Apple Valley resident near Johnny Cake Ridge Park As a resident near Legion baseball field, she’s used to people retrieving balls from her yard. As a family, disc golf is good for a variety of abilities and ages. She has three sons, 19, 16 and 12 years old, two “A” students and one with challenges. Disc golf is great because it’s inexpensive compared to any other youth sports. The 12 to 16 year old age group needs healthy activities. Alimagnet Park is a good location for kids to ride their bikes to play. Andy Schneider – Eastview High School Senior Started going to the park about two years ago and estimated he’s there about every two weeks. As an Eagle scout he’s aware of the need to protect our natural resources. He suggested installing steps, and repositioning holes away from trees. He also recommended installing disc golf course in another park. Suzanne Crow – Recording Lives near the park. Would like to have disc golf removed from the park. Attributes drinking, loud music, trespassing, trampling of the plants, and too many unwanted people in the park to disc golf. - 3 - CITY OF APPLE VALLEY PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE September 19, 2006 Dave Truesdell – Walnut Lane resident Reported an increase in police calls to the park. As a parent and citizen he is concerned with traffic. There aren’t any sidewalks in the area. It’s not disc golf, but a location problem. “People that live there deal with it hour by hour, day by day. It’s ridiculous as taxpayers to have to.” Allen Ferguson – Lived there since 1964 Vandalism has always been there. It’s not his issue. Would like to have a usage fee and an attendant to monitor the park. “It’s impacting all of us, sunrise to sunset. It’s disc golf only, not other activities. Golfers take away from the other users.” Angela Crane – Walnut Lane resident Believes there were safety issues before disc golf. She chose to visit or not visit the park based on who was there. That’s no longer the case. As a result of the added disc golf participants, her family used the park more often. Likes the feeling of being safe at the park. Reports no problem with the disc golfers. Has found a mutual respect for the park users and disc golf users. Reports all kinds of socio-economic statuses and ages of park users. Erosion control is her biggest concern. MacGregor Grier – Resident Enjoys the game with his wife and step-daughter. Suggested the holes in the woods greatly increase the course value. It’s a multi-use park with many things happening, and disc golfers play around other users. Believes disc golf has brought more safety to the park. Grateful of the resource and would like to see it remain as is. David Chase – Ridgeview Drive Plays disc golf and likes the course. Reports players walking across his yard to retrieve discs. Would like to see holes removed that are close to residential property. Suggested Shakopee’s disc golf course has a better design in relationship to houses. Some people play the course at dark and we should be concerned with them. Judith Doyle – Burnsville resident Disc golfers are polite, but destructive to plants. Suggested the disc golf baskets in the park have a negative impact on the environment. Would like to have the holes in the woods removed. Andrea Rivers – Resident near holes #2 and #3 Questions what is the mission statement of the park? Suggested disc golf has changed the personality of the park, given up more of the nature aspect to get more people into the park. Reports kids trespassing to access the park. Lisa Huston – Parent of a child in a wheelchair. Reports that her child’s nurses don’t feel comfortable taking him to the park. Has seen people drinking and heard people in the park at 5:30 a.m. Believes disc golf has detracted from people that want to use the park for other things like nature. - 4 - CITY OF APPLE VALLEY PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE September 19, 2006 Jason Hoffa – Initially liked the disc golf; but he gets 5 to 12 discs in his yard on a Saturday. Issue is with the holes that are along the properties. Suggests doing something to try to minimize that a player has to go onto private property. Bill Ashton – Worked with Parks and Recreation Department staff on course design. Meeting was held as a follow-up to the first year of operation. Added additional signage as requested to ask players not to play from private property. Some holes have erosion and has made suggestions where changes could be made. Willing to try to compromise where it needs to be addressed. Thanks the City for bringing disc golf to Apple Valley. Ken Burrels – Burnsville resident Trails to #10 and #11 baskets have been damaged. Phil Josten – Lives across from Holes #4 and #5 Issue is the amount of foot traffic. Disconcerted to have that many young people, occasionally intimidated by that many people in groups. Would like to see disc golf removed. At a minimum, would like to see hole #5 addressed. Jim Doyle – Burnsville resident “Residents should not have to take subsidiary interest for the good of the public.” Diane Grier – Park Lane near Hole #7 Used to walk the park daily before going back to work. Sees the disadvantages with nature, but has to temper that with the positive of her family. The positives of disc golf far outweigh the negative impacts. Her kids congregate in new ways. Richard Johnson – Resident Perspective of disc golf is frisbees in his yard and on the roof, people coming into his yard, trespassing, speeding, trash, drinking, and bottles smashed in the park. Lisa Gossman – Walnut Lane resident Believes for the average person, the disc golf course is not compatible. Concerned with erosion. Marlys Gage – Garden View Drive resident Used to go to Alimagnet Park as a nature area. It isn’t anymore. Reported people using her fenced yard for practice and trash. Jim Doring – Next to Hole #3 If we continue the layout with all the trees, how long before it’s destroyed? - 5 - CITY OF APPLE VALLEY PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE September 19, 2006 Police Chief Scott Johnson – Apple Valley has 49 parks, Alimagnet is one of them. Officers recorded information each time they went to Alimagnet Park. The number of calls have increased: every time you have more users, you have more calls. Police will continue to patrol the park, crack down on reckless driving, and drinking. Can’t give you a crime-free park. If people are on your property and refuse to leave, call the police. Natural Resources Manager Jeff Kehrer – Walked the park in early July, saw little scuffing in the early season. Walked the park again with Pat Lynch of the DNR. Didn’t see any open wounds on oak trees. Vegetation destruction – you’re going to have this with that many people. Anytime you have people in an area, you’ll have compaction. This is also present in State parks. There may be significant impact, but it won’t kill the trees. Will revisit the park to check for open wounds on the trees. Park Maintenance Superintendent Tom Adamini – If disc golf stays, we’ll adjust our activities: 4 to 5” of woodchips on trails to cushion tree roots, retaining walls here and there, garbage cans along pathways wide enough to get the trash truck through. Park Advisory Committee Member Loren Hegland – Lots of concern for the damage by disc golf. Propose we do what we can to mitigate damage with the course as is. Rather than design the course around existing paths, maybe move the course south, taking off Hole #8, and push Holes #9 through 11 to the west. Give up a portion of the forest, but keep the part closer to the lake. Park Advisory Committee Member Lee Strom – Thanked everyone for coming. Heard this is a nice sport, there are a lot of new courses around the Twin Cities. “We’ve gotten more usage than we’d originally thought. We’ll need to design a course, define ways to work with nature.” Park Advisory Committee Member Tina Rankin – Appreciates the passion. Has confidence the staff can make thinks work. Alimagnet is a jewel. The committee and staff have been trying to find ways to engage teenagers and disc golf is a great activity. It’s a 65 acre park and disc golf is involved with .39 acres. Park Advisory Committee Member Erica Robinson – Concerned with anything that’s going to damage the park. Thinks we should do whatever we need to do to minimize damage. It’s a good idea to get other cities to open courses. Sympathizes with neighbors, but is certain that not all issues are due to disc golf. Park Advisory Committee Member Pat Sullivan – Disc golf caught everyone by surprise with the success. Has walked with groups several times this summer. Believes the course is good for the community, but erosion must be addressed. - 6 - CITY OF APPLE VALLEY PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE September 19, 2006 Park Advisory Committee Member Charlie Maus – Has seen a lot of changes in Apple Valley. Alimagnet has had many problems over the years even with the locked gate. We have been very successful with disc golf. The City will do its best to minimize erosion and trespassing. Park Advisory Committee Chair Russ DeFauw – We’re in the parks and recreation business. It’s the classic conflict of the dual mission and how to balance this. In the near future, we have no alternative, but to have another course. No other neighborhood parks are suitable. Possibly include disc golf in a bond issue th for the athletic complex at 160 Street and Pilot Knob. Clearly we’ll have disc golf in 2007 at Alimagnet Park, because it’s a success. The more we do about erosion, those have to be more permanent. Public Work Director Neal Heuer – Traffic Safety Committee was created to address traffic issues within the city. Public is invited to address their concerns to the committee. Traffic counts on Ridgeview show 150 – 170 cars per day; Walnut Lane has 400 cars per day weekdays and 300 cars per day weekends. Average speed is 25 miles per hour. Streets can handle 1,000 cars per day. Alimagnet has a large parking lot for the park. There’s no history of increased accidents in the past year. Director of Parks and Recreation Randy Johnson – You’ll find trails through oak forests. Part of the fun is to interact with nature. The Parks and Recreation Department encourages people to use the park. Proposed Changes: Hole #2 – Issue: Disc come around the corner, into woods and neighbors’ yard. Propose: Arborvitae planting and additional signage reminding players to respect private property, reduce trips into the woods, and respect the environment. Hole #3 - Issue: Right handed thrower hooks to the right, into woods and backyards. Propose: Move target and incorporate additional trees. Hole #7 - Propose: Extend asphalt path to make path more permanent. Have steps terrace up to the basket. Hole #8 & #9 – Propose: Enhance crushed gravel/woodchips on paths. Hole #10 - Propose: Locate approach from west – take off hillside. Re- establish undergrowth and planting. Hole #11 - Propose: Move away from lake a little so it doesn’t cross the path. Remove dead tree area to locate the basket. Hole #12 - Issue: Presents a few blind spots, difficult. Propose: Move tee pad up 100 to 125’past the wetland, keeping it close to the way it is, but shortening it. Maybe have two tee boxes. - 7 - CITY OF APPLE VALLEY PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE September 19, 2006 MOTION: by Russ DeFauw, seconded by Tina Rankin recommending adoption of the revised plan for 2007 and continuation of the review process to make it better, under the auspiciousness of this plan. DISCUSSION: Mr. Strom questions whether this is a budget issue. Mr. Johnson replied that it would be $5,000 to $10,000 tops, most of it done in-house and with Twin City Tree Trust group. Mr. Strom questioned whether this is an annual review. Mr. DeFauw replied that the motion is stated this way because we’re new at this. Would like neighbors to continue to have a chance to interact for another year or two. Mr. DeFauw recognized that living next to a park is not easy, but the committee will continue to work with the neighbors. To disc golfers, “police your own.” VOTE: Yes – 6 (DeFaus, Erickson, Hegland, Maus, Rankin, Sullivan) No – 1 (Strom) ITEM 4.B. Kelley Park Construction Update Deferred to a future meeting ITEM 5.A. Fall Brochure Deferred to a future meeting ITEM 5.B. Erica Robinson’s Resignation from the Committee Committee recognized Ms. Robinson’s work on the committee by presenting her with a plaque noting her years of service and a formal thank you. ITEM 6. Adjourn There being no further business, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee meeting was adjourned. MOTION: by Lee Strom, seconded by Tina Rankin to adjourn the meeting at 10:00pm. VOTE: Yes – 7 No – 0 - 8 -