City of Nowthen
Park and Recreation Meeting Minutes
March 5, 2013, 7:00 pm
Members in attendance: Judy Herrala Paul Reighard Chris Bassett
Dan Williams Council Liaison Mary Rainville
Meeting was called to order by Chairman Paul Reighard at 7:10 pm.
Meeting agenda approved/amended – Motion made by Dan Williams, seconded by Judy Herrala to amend the meeting agenda to add as number one, elect a chairperson for this committee. All in favor, motion passed. Other items were renumbered accordingly.
Approve Meeting Minutes-Motion made by Mary Rainville and seconded by Dan Williams to table approval of the October 2, 2012 meeting minutes as the minutes were not provided. All in favor, motion passed.
1. Elect Chair-Motion made by Mary Rainville and seconded by Dan Williams to re-elect Paul Reighard as chair of this committee. The committee is aware that appointments have not yet been made by the city council but elected a chair to be ready for when appointments are made. Motion passed unanimously.
2. Message Board-Information was provided at an earlier park and recreation workshop and message boards were looked at. The one currently being looked at is aluminum framed. Color chosen by the committee members is Stone. It was talked about that it can be bolted to the building and will be somewhat protected from the weather in that location. It was also discussed whether park users would see it in that location or was there a better location? No matter where it is, people will have to get out of their vehicles to see it. It was decided that this is the best place in the park for the display board.
Motion was made by Dan Williams seconded by Judy Herrala I move that we purchase the 72” x 48” board, Stone in color, display board to be place on the NE wall of the pavilion in Nowthen Park which will display information to include activities in the Nowthen area with final approval of the content by the mayor of Nowthen. All in favor, motion passed. Paul Reighard will send documentation to Corrie to provide to the council.
3. Committee Expectations and Goals-The packet given to us had an updated version of the expectation and goals in it, but this was not dated, so the committee was unsure which version was current. The committee has received several versions so would like to clarify which is current and then date it so we will always know we have the current version. The committee discussed that our main goal in this committee is to implement the Park and Trail Plan.
City of Nowthen
Park & Recreation Mtg. March 5, 2013 Page 2
It was discussed that the park and trail plan contains more than obtaining land for future plans. Also included in the plan is to maintain and improve existing facilities and opportunities for park users. Mary Rainville pointed out that part of the trails is looking at what our neighboring cities are doing, look for partnership opportunities and to research land acquisition grants and methods for residents wanting to donate property. It was also discussed that we need to focus on grants that are available to apply for. Dan Williams has received some communication from the DNR regarding grants that are available and he will share that with this committee. Last year there was a list shared with the group by the past liaison so we will also get that list out to the committee to look at. Mary stated that it is important that we look at what we can do down the road. The question was asked whether the Nowthen ball field was returned to the park and recreation committee to take care of. Several said yes that happened, it was in the council minutes.
4. Twins Grant/Ball Field-Judy states that the 6 month update to the Twins is due soon. They just want to know where we are at at this time. We do have a whole year to complete the grant project. Chairman Paul updated the committee with what has happened with this grant to date. There was an initial meeting of ball field experts that had a discussion of what needed to be done with this field to make is a great ball field for teams to play on. Judy then wrote the grant and we were awarded the matching grant funds for it. After that there was a meeting with the same people that provided the information at the first meeting and they brought a couple more people to the table who have said that the plans that were first made will make a great ball field, but it can be made even better and be used for more games vs. practice by moving the entire backstop ahead 14 feet. That way during games, spectators could be behind the backstop and better protected and a set of riser seats could then be placed there as well for spectators. After that second meeting a meeting was set up with the same people and also the fencing company that provided the original estimate to come and provide a second estimate of what the cost would be to make the changes moving the backstop forward 14 feet. The estimate showed that the cost would be $7,000 more than the original estimate. Judy did talk with the Twins and they said that they will not award more money. So the original estimate and the new estimate were presented to the city council for them to decide which estimate they would like to go with. The council had more questions and had asked the park and recreation committee to investigate further questions that Councilmember Pilon had regarding parking, future roadway plans, and restroom questions. Judy will send a list of items from that council meeting to the committee to look at. The committee would like to ask the city council if we can have an April 2, 2013 meeting if there isn’t one already scheduled to discuss these items for the Twins Grant.
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Motion made by Paul and seconded by Mary to ask the council for an April 2 meeting with the main agenda item being the Twins Grant. All in favor, motion carried.
5. Special Event Permit- This committee does not think that Nowthen has a Special Event Permit policy in place. The city does have Ordinance #20 which is Park Rules and Regulations. In May 2012, the park and recreation committee had talked about adding a Special Event Policy to this ordinance. At the May 8, 2012 City Council Meeting the park and recreation committee received direction to “review Ordinance #20 for possible amendments to include Special Events Guidelines.” Our goal in doing this is to investigate what our neighboring cities have in place, discuss how/what Nowthen needs and make recommendations to the council. It was expressed during tonight’s meeting that maybe not all organizations are being asked to provide the same information to the city for events so it is a good idea to standardize what the city is asking for. Looking at these guidelines and putting a plan in place will limit the city’s liability.
a. St John’s 5K Request-The park and recreation committee members do not think that Nowthen has a permit or event policy in place at this time. The only question is if St John is required to provide proof of insurance as the Lions and Heritage Festival have been required to provide to the city.
6. Newsletter-The Spring Nowthen newsletter was discussed and that the deadline to submit articles to this is March 13, 2013. Judy Herrala and Chris Bassett will submit items for the newsletter from the park and recreation committee by March 13 to Corrie.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:46 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by
Judy Herrala
ATTESTED BY: Debbie Mahutga
Admin. Assist.