PRC 1990 05 08
~ CHANHASSEN PARK AND RECREATION COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING
MAY 8, 1990
Chairman Mady called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m..
MEMBERS PRESENT: Jim Andrews, Jan Lash, Jim Mady, Curt Robinson, Wendy
Pemrick and Dawne Erhart
MEMBERS ABSENT: Larry Schroers
STAFF PRESENT: Lori Sietsema, Park and Rec Coordinator
APPOINT ACTING CHAIR: Lash moved, Andrews seconded to appoint Curt
Robinson as Acting Chair for the meeting. All voted in favor and the
motion carried.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Madymoved, Lash seconded to approve the Minutes of
the Park and Recreation Commission meeting dated April 10, 1990 as
presented.
Mady moved, Andrews seconded to approve the Minutes of the Park and
Recreation Commission meeting dated April 24, 1990 amended as follows: Jan
Lash noted a change on page 1 in Lori Sietsema's comments changing the
figure of $3,500.00 to $35,000.00; Jim Mady noted on change on page 8
changing the word "aggressive" to "progressive"; and Dawne Erhart noted a
change on page 20 changing the word "property" to "proper". All voted in
~ favor of the Minutes as amended and the motion carried.
CONSIDER REQUEST TO AMEND 1990 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT BUDGET TO INCLUDE PHASE
II DEVELOPMENT OF CURRY FARMS PARK.
~
Sietsema: I wanted to give a little bit of a history on this item for the
benefit of the newer commissioners. Last year the Curry Farms neighborhood
came in, they are nearly completed. Filled in their development. Came in
and asked what they could likely expect for development in their park and I
had indicated that it was likely that in 1990 there would be funds
allocated for first phase of development and plans were to be drawn up and
approved last year. They organized themselves and asked the developer to
do the rough grading and seeding, put in the volleyball and donate
$2,500.00 which would be matched by the City for the first phase of tot lot
equipment or playground equipment. They did that. The developer did that
and the City approved the matching $2,500.00 and the equipment was
installed with the border and the pea rock. The volleyball will be
installed this spring and it has to be reseeded which will happen this
spring. Then again about budget time the neighborhood came in and asked if
funds would be allocated in the 1990 budget for further development of that
park. The Commission felt that there were other parks that didn't have
anything and that they should put the money into other parks and that
request went onto City Council and was not acted on at that time either.
The budget was sent onto the City Council and they did not amend it or
change what the recommendation of the Park and Recreation Commission was.
So the neighborhood has now asked again. The development is filled. There
are 80 homes or so in there and there a vast number of children in there
and they feel that there is a great need for additional facilities in their
park and have asked that we amend the 1990 budget to include funds to
provide additional facilities. I took a close look at the budget, which I
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
JI1""\ May 8, 1990 - Page 2
.",....
included the listed items and at City Center Park there are funds allocated
towards City Center Park to improve the park and to install the totlot
equipment. We rolled that over from last year. We had allocated the same
amount of funds but we rolled that over because we didn't know what was
going to happen with the community center. The Community Center Task Force
has recently recommended that the City Council approve going to referendum
in the fall for a community center and if that happens, if the Council
approves that, then we still won't know until November what's going to
happen with that park. If there's going to be a community center there or
not and that has a significant impact on how those funds could be used. So
there are funds available that could be reallocated that won't be spent
this year. So I wanted to bring that to your attention. The other thing
that I did was I felt that it was important that the neighborhood come to a
general consensus as far as what items they felt had a priority in the
park, given the park plan that had been approved. The neighborhood met
last night and discussed all of the items and they came up with a two phase
plan for the park given the facilities again that are in the plan. They
feel that the trail and the walking path through the park, the meandering
trail that gets you access into the park so you're able to stroller around
the park or whatever, was within the first top priority and also phase 2 of
the playground equipment. They felt that the tennis court, basketball
court and softball field could be a second phase. It's the recommendation
of the Curry Farms and the request of the Curry Farms residents to amend
the 1990 Capital Improvement Program budget to allow construction of what
they've outlined as Phase 1 in 1990. Also have requested that we keep in
mind at budget time that Phase 2 be funded in 1991.
Lash: How much would phase 2 amount to?
Sietsema: Phase 2.
Robinson: $25,000.00.
Lash: Boy you're quick Curt.
Robinson: If you look on the second page, it's the $3,000.00, the list
there.
Lash: Okay.
Sietsema: They had a lot of good conversation last night and discussed 'the
facilities at great length. They talked about moving the softball field up
because it was less money but given that the seed isn't even growing out
there yet, it has to be reseeded, they felt that perhaps they should wait
on that to discourage if anything, use of that area until the grass has
taken hold. So from the standpoint of what they felt would be most used,
this is the recommendation and the request that they have submitted. Bruce
and a few others are here. They may want to make comments.
Robinson: Did anybody want to comment?
"'*'"
Bruce Kotziak: I guess I submitted a letter to Lori earlier describing
what she said...
11""",
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 3
Robinson: Do we have anything else that we think may not be used in 1990?
The tennis court at South Lotus.
Sietsema: That's not in the 1990 budget.
Robinson: Oh, they ended up taking it out?
Sietsema: Sorry Curt. Just the general improvements at South Lotus may
not happen this year because we won't know until mid summer what's
happening with the TH 101. What the for sure alignment is going to be but
I'm keeping right on top of that so that we can get in there and do some
work in there and provide something even by late summer or fall so it'd be
in place for next spring. That's why I didn't point that one out is
because there's still a pos~ibility that that would happen. Everything
else I think is going to happen.
Erhart: What happens if we go to a referendum in the fall, I should say if
we don't go to a referendum in the fall? How does it impact the City
Center Park?
Sietsema: Then we could go right out there and start.
.~ Erhart: I mean would we have any money to do anything?
Sietsema: If you take this money? Well there's other funds available.
There's funds available for upgrading of the warming house, the master park
plan and general development. The $40,000.00 was just for the playground
equipment.
Erhart: Do you have any idea how many kids would use City Center Park? A
lot? A few.
Mady: 600 kids in the school there everyday.
Erhart: Okay, so in other words it is a pretty important...
Sietsema: That's our most used park by the youth. That's really what we
consider our youth athletic complex right now.
Erhart: Okay, that's what I was wondering. I thought so but I wanted.
Lash: Is it possible for the commissioners to get a copy of the I believe
the Council had a surveyor had some information or something done on the
community center and the financial, according to the paper and I read some
of that and I guess I'd be interested in seeing what that report had to
say. I think that should impact 'our decision here because if it ends up it
doesn't go to referendum, I would just as soon proceed with City Center as
soon as possible and try and get some of these things done by fall so it
can be done yet this year.
,....
Sietsema: Perhaps then you want to table this decision until the Council
has reviewed that recommendation from the Task Force.
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Park and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 4
Lash: Do you know when that's?
Sietsema: June. The first meeting in June.
Mady: There are some items I'd like to discuss. Not necessarily, if you
want to table Curry Farms until June, that would be fine with me but I
think there's some large items that this kind of impacts that we should
talk about. That has to do with how do we go about looking at budget
amendments? I'd like to talk about how we look at budget amendments and I
understand that Curry Farms came in here. Staff found some money. That's
wonderful. In the past, since our budget got set up however, we've talked
to people from Chan Hills, Pheasant Hills. Numerous different groups have
been in front of us asking for differen~ money and just because staff found
$40,000.00 this time doesn't mean Curry Farms should get it. I think each
one of the groups who's made a request in at least the past year should be
told that okay, we found $40,000.00. Now let's see where it goes. Those
groups shouldn't be forgotten about just because they're not here today 0,
they didn't sent somebody every meeting to make su,e that if some money got
found, that they could be he,e. That they wouldn't lose out. So the needs
are there. We've got neighborhoods who have been waiting 8-10 years fo,
playg,ound equipment and so it's not just, it may not be just Cu"y Fa,ms
that needs something.
,....
Lash: And it's not necessarily that we found $40,000.00 that we could use
anyway. We don't know that yet. I think City Cente,'s been on hold for a
couple of years and it's something that's maybe kind of a top p,io,ity
since it's been in the budget and held ove, fo, a couple of yea,s and it's
something like you said, that's used extensively. If it's feasible for us
to go ahead with it, I'd just as soon get going on that instead of waiting
another year so the sooner we get the info,mation on that. If it looks
like it's a go, I'd just as soon get going on it. And if that means we
need all the money to do that, then I would want to use all the money to do
that.
Mady: A lot of head shaking.
Robinson: Do you have a comment?
record?
Would you give us you, name fo, the
Bruce Kotziak: Sure. B,uce Kotziak at... Jim, what you said earlie, is
cor,ect... I guess what we would like to do is get the funding that the
other parks have gotten... We're not asking fo, any mo,e than any other
pa,k is getting... We had felt this past yea, the,e was $30,000.00 to be
divided up between 3 parks...
Lash: I think giving that $10,000.00 to those othe, parks kind of brought
them to be a little mo,e comparable with YOU guys. They had nothing and
basically all we're doing there is grading, seeding and putting in a first
phase tot lot aren't we?
~ Sietsema: Right. We're spending $10,000.00 at those parks.
,....
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 5
Lash: But that's because we got a good deal. Thanks to you guys we got a
good deal and you got it in last year and we didn't get a good deal with
those guys so it's costing us $10,000.00 to do the same thing in those
parks that you guys already have.
A Resident made a comment that could not be heard on the tape.
Mady: We've got parks like Chanhassen Hills that got nothing this last
year. They got nothing last year. We've got North Lotus Lake Park, for 8
years sat there with nothing. They finally got something last year. We
don't give, we didn't give $10,000.00 to every park. We didn't give
anything but what we try to do is look at where the population is growing
and build something there. It'd be wonderful-if we had all the money in
the world so we could put everything you need there but we simply don't hae
that so you try to do as much as you possibly can keeping in mind that
we've got the whole city to deal with. I guess that's what I'm trying to
come f,om is we do have a whole, I mean we could fill this room almost
every a,ea that wanted something this yea, and didn't get it. It's
unfortunate but that's just the way it is. So we've got to budget and
we've kind of got to live by it as much as we can.
Lash: And you're not being penalized. I mean you've got you, things put
in last yea,. If you we,e like the parks this yea, that we,e getting
~ $10,000.00, it will be towards the end of the summer by the time those
things, by the time they get thei, things in so you'll have already had
yours for almost 2 yea,s.
Resident: Well we got it in October.
Lash: Well okay. So for a year. But you know that's the bonus that you
guys got and you got a year earlier than everybody else and it's costing
the City, which is all of us a little more to put it in these other places
because they weren't as industrious as you people were to push and get
their developer to do the things that you got yours to do. It's tough.
Robinson: It is tough. Jim mentioned Pheasant Hills. It's an area that's
park deficient. We don't even have the land for a park there so it's tough
allover. We got behind here. We're definitely behind...
Mady: Lori, I had a question on this specific neighborhood. What, and I
don't remember, in Curry Farms, what percentage of park fees and trail fees
were paid and how much?
Sietsema: They got 100% c,edit for the pa,kland. I think they asked the
question last night and I told you that you had paid, your development had
paid, your development didn't pay any fees. The developer dedicated the
parkland and so there are no fees collected.
,....
Mady: It's a balance. I mean you can get 50% credit. It depends on how
much you get so realistically the money that, we didn't get any money so
the cash we payout has got to come from other parts of the city to build
your park. We don't get any money from property taxes so, to build those
things, so it's getting park dedication fees from other neighborhoods to
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Park and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 6
build your neighborhood park. That's a problem we've had all along. I
don't like it but no one's come up with a better solution at this point in
time. I move to table.
Pemrick: Second.
Mady moved,' Pemrick seconded that the Park and Recreation Commission table
amending the 1990 Capital Improvement Budget for Curry Farms Park until the
second meeting in June, June 26, 1990, until after the City Council decides
on the Community Center referendum issue. All voted in favor and the
motion carried.
Kathy Clark: I'm sorry. My name is Kathy Clark and where the parking lot
is intended to be, the hill is so steep and bumpy. ..anyone with a stroller
can't get out of the park...
Sietsema: I will ask the street department if they can do that and if it's
a nominal fee,' for a nominal amount, I'll bring it back to you.
Robinson: Would you let us know at the next meeting?
Sietsema: Sure.
~ APPROVE JULY 4TH BAND CONTRACT.
Sietsema: Todd is not here tonight. He had to be at a banquet in Mankato.
I think that his update at the bottom on the staff report is pretty self
explanatory. If there's any other questions, I can.
Mady: There's no motion? Yes there is.
Sietsema: Yes.
Lash: Okay, I make a motion that we accept the contract for the Hi-Tops
for the 3rd of July with the 4th of July as a back-up.
Mady: Second.
Lash moved, Mady seconded that the Park and Recreation Commission recommend
to accept the contract for the Hi-Tops to perform at the 1990 Fourth of
July Celebration street dance in the amount of $1,300.00. All voted in
favor and the motion carried.
Sietsema: For the record, that would be a recommendation to the City
Council to authorize execution of that.
Lash: That's what I meant.
REVIEW COMPREHENSIVE TRAIL PLAN.
,....
Sietsema: At our last meeting we talked extensively about the need to
relook at the trail plan and make revisions, prioritize or throw it out and
start over. So I was directed to schedule this for discussion at this
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Park and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 7
meeting. I wanted to make sure that you had the complete document that's
included in the trail plan and I don't know if you want to go through from
the beginning and start it that way or if you want to go with alignments
but anyway you want to do it. For history sake, if you want me to go over
how we got to where we are now?
Robinson: Yeah, I think that's in here. You might as well. I think it's
really in here because you included the March 23rd and February report but
would you mind going through that?
Sietsema: Well I'm going to go way back. In 1987 the Park and Recreation
Commission had the park needs survey. Conducted the park needs survey and
as a result of that survey, it was determined that 5 of the top 7 or 7 of
the top 10 items that were requested most often as having too few of in the
city had to do with trails. And the commission at that time felt that that
was a significant number and decided to put a trail plan together. And so
staff worked with a consultant or this commission worked with a consultant
and staff to come up with the trail plan and the document that was included
in that packet. After that, let's see it was the spring, February of 1988
the Council authorized that it would go to referendum with the other big
items that we had as long as we were going to referendum, to ask the voters
if they would like to fund this trail plan, or the first phase of it. It
was I believe $800,000.00. That trail plan, the funding for that failed at
~ that time and in November another referendum was held and funding for the
trail plan at that time failed as well. The direction that has been taken
by the Council and commission is where we're at to date in trying to
accomplish as much of that trail plan. I think what was confusing is that
when a subdivision comes in, it's confusing to know why does staff make the
recommendations that we do but when the subdivision comes in, what I
typically do is look at the comprehensive plan and see what it calls for.
Is itin a park deficient area? Does it call for a park to preserve a
specific area? Is there some certain amenity that needs to be preserved
and then I look at the trail plan as well to see what it calls for in
trails in the area. That's what I typically base my recommendation on and
other circumstances and then we bring it in here. We discuss it.
Determine if we want to go with the comprehensive plan. Go with what has
been laid out. Choose not to do it at that time or to not to do it ever.
This commission makes a recommendation to the City Council and the City
Council makes the final decision. So there was some discussion last time
as to well if they don't approve doing it at that time, does that mean that
it's still on the trail plan? The trail plan, the comprehensive plan is
still intact but it would be up to someone to bring it up again to request
that it be done or someone to bring it up to request that it's taken out of
the comprehensive plan. So in the instance of the trail that goes across
the Erhart property, when they come in for subdivision I recommend that we
acquire that trail easement because it's part of the subdivision process
and if we truly want it and that's our goal, that's the time that we would
acquire it. The commission reacted to it and I don't even remember for
sure what they did. I think they recommended that we acquire it as well.
~
Erhart: It wasn't a subdivision though Lori. It was just a mortage we
came in with.
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
,... May 8, 1990 - Page 8
Sietsema: But it was a subdivision.
Erhart: One lot split. It was not a subdivision for development. That is
now it is written in our plan here. Even in your letter it says at the
time of subdivision for development. Does that mean one lot for my own
personal use because then if it does, then I do want it off the map?
Sietsema: If the lot is being subdivided, I would recommend that we
acquire it.
Erhart: Why? Why would you make that recommendation at that time?
Sietsema: To insure that we get it. And because it's in the plan that we
should get it.
Erhart: That wasn't the original plan though when it was put on.
Sietsema: I don't understand.
Erhart: When somebody comes in and does a subdevelopment and you have
other homes that are going to use that, I'm creating a need for a trail,
then at that time, yeah you want to come in and take it. I wasn't creating
any need. It was just for a mortgage.
".,...
Sietsema: Right, and I understand that but what I'm trying to say is that
because it was on the comprehensive plan, it would typically be my
recommendation that anytime it's a lot split or whatever, if we have the
opportunity to acquire the things that are on the comprehensive plan, I
will always Tecommend that that happen and it's up to this commission to
decide if they want to continue that recommendation and ultimately up to
the Council if they want to because I have to bring that out to them that
that's on the plan.
Erhart: I realize that. That's why in my letter that I wrote, I said it
becomes a nuisance at that time because every time I come in and I want to
do something for my own personal use or build a home in the future, I am
going to have to go through that again. I have no problems with having it
on and the City taking it and I keep wanting to state that so people don't
think I'm taking it away and I don't want to give it. Just for my own
personal use, I don't like having to come in every time I go for a mortgage
or something. And I don't know why we have to go through that for my own
personal use. That's the only reason why I said I wanted it off. If that
hadn't been the case, I wouldn't ask to have it off. If we could reach a
compromise there, we wouldn't even need to take it off the map.
Andrews: ...nuisance because there might be other landowners who aren't as
gracious as you are and that may not be as cooperative as you are. The
whole object is to make sure that it is brought in front of the Park Board
every time a piece of property is altered, it's a part of the plan.
,...
Erhart: I understand that. I understand that Jim but that's why it is a
nuisance.
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Park and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 9
Andrews: But what you have to realize then is that the Park Board is going
to look at the merits of the proposal and make a decision at that time.
Should we go ahead or should we wait until the next time this property
is. . .
Erhart: But they still have the right to take it at that time.
Andrews: That's true. That's why you've got a board to look at the pros
and cons of should we or shouldn't we.
Erhart: Okay, I understand that. That's the only reason why I stated in
my letter though it was a nuisance because you're going to have me in here
every time.
Andrews: That's true.
Mady: How do you suggest we change the procedure?
Erhart: I was just saying, if I wouldn't have to come in here before I
were to subdivide my property for a development, we can keep it on the map.
Mady: I want to look at the broader issue, not just your property.
,... Erhart: No, no, I know and we weren't supposed to get off into just one
little piece of it.
Mady: How do we change procedures so that, because all staff is doing is
every time a property is subdivided for whatever reason, it's their duty.
Their job to bring it in front of us and tell us what's happening and we
make a recommendation and the Council makes the decision. I don't know of
a way of getting around the problem.
Erhart: I don't either and that's why I'm asking to have it removed. I
was hoping that we could come up with some solution but I will be a
stickler on this and I will push for this to be off the map unless we can
come up with something.
lash: Well could it be something like, not just a subdivision but when it
comes before the City for development?
Sietsema: We review every subdivision regardless and typically they don't
tell us it's just for mortgage. I mean we review virtually every
subdivision. Are you telling me then you don't want to review every
subdivision?
Andrews: We have to.
Erhart: Yeah, I understand that. I don't see a way around it either and
like I said, that's the only reason why I'm asking to have it removed and
this commission can vote how they want on it but.
,.....
Andrews: I think in order to vote we need to have an alternative and
that's why we're here now is to discuss are we going to make changes to the
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
,.... May 8, 1990 - Page 10
plan which is come up with an alternative route for your...maybe other
areas of the plan that we think need to be changed.
Erhart: Well yeah, and that's why it's a real small piece of the whole
picture and that's why I said we needed to discuss the whole thing.
Andrews: It's sort of like Pandora's box.
Erhart: Yeah, I know.
Robinson: Do you see any alternative?
Erhart: See I'm so new to this whole commission as far as how we got to
the trail plan and every~hing. That's why I did bring it up and I was
looking to some of the members here to brainstorm with me. And like I
said, it's just one small part of the overall trail plan and I do have a
problem with the trail left over in Curry Farms too. Where the people
asked to have that removed. We never made a motion to take it off the
Comprehensive Plan.
Lash: I guess because I didn't know that that needed to be done. I guess
I was under the assumption that if it was something that was acted on by
Council, then it just sort of was taken care of.
.,-..
Sietsema: The thing that's in the trail plan that requires, you'd have to
go back into the trail plan and take out the statement that sidewalks are
iequired along thru streets or the collector streets within a development.
That's what made that a stipulation. If you want to take that out or if
you want to, I mean I don't know who's going to come in. I can't see the
residents in Curry Farms coming in and requesting the trail be put on
anytime soon and who else is going to ask for it? So but if you take it
out of there, it takes away your ability to require it elsewhere in the
future.
Robinson: So in Dawne's specific case though, we concluded that every time
a proposal is made for subdivision, whether it be for a mortgage or
whatever, it has to come before the Park and Rec?
Sietsema: It will whether there's a trail located on the comprehensive
plan or not. And the commission has done in other instances, you've looked
at a subdivision that doesn't have a trail going through that piece of
property and required a trail to be on there. That wasn't on the plan.
You know it just shows that there was some foresight, there was some reason
that that's there but it doesn't limit us to that either. It's just a
planning tool. If you take it off and they come in for subdivision...
Erhart: You can still ask for it.
Sietsema: But if the person that's in my office or this staff person knows
that that was originally part of the plan or...
,....
Erhart: But we are asking for trails in areas of development that aren't
on the comprehensive plan right now when they come in. And all I'm saying
,....
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 11
is why can't I be treated like those developments?
Lash: If and when you decide to subdivide.
Erhart: Yeah, you might want to take another trail from me. When I
subdivide you may say well I want that trail or I want one over here. You
can have one wherever you want.
Mady: What we've done though Dawne is we've looked at your spot where you
actually live, we now have or were hoping to have a park down there a few
years back, we now do have a park there. There is no east/west access
through that big square block of land with no roads running through it at
this time. So all we did was set a line saying we want a trail through
here when the roads and stuff ~o through. It's a planning item.
Erhart: Why can't you do that when we come in for a development? Why do I
have to keep it on the map? You're going to ask for it...
Mady: So we remember.
Erhart: You'll remember Jim.
Mady: Well no.
,....
Sietsema: But the point is that it's a
from now and nobody is still sitting on
I'm not in my office any longer, nobody
suppose to be an east/west connection.
planning tool. If it's 10 years
this commission that's here now and
will then know that there was
It's for planning purposes.
Erhart: I don't mean to make a big deal about this but like I said, I am
having problems with it because it is a nuisance and that's why I brought
it up. I would have just left it alone otherwise.
Robinson: Ed?
Ed Hasek: When you get a minute.
Robinson: Go ahead.
,....
Ed Hasek: I think part of the confusion lies in what the comprehensive
plan really is. The comprehensive plan is the basic tool that you folks
have... For all practical purposes it's your Bible. The one thing that
you should know backwards and forwards when you come to these meetings in
order to make decisions. That's what the comprehensive plan is. It's your
tool to make decisions and you make your decisions based' upon that. Pass
them along to the Council. The Council takes it. They look at it. They
throw a bunch of other things at it and make the final decision. That's
what the comprehensive plan does. It takes, if you want to change the
comprehensive plan, correct me if I'm wrong Don, it takes a public hearing
to do that. You can't just simply say that we don't want this in there
anymore. Tonight we're going to vote it out and it's gone. It doesn't
happen that way because the comprehensive plan also entrusts the City and
makes them respond based upon what the citizens have looked at. That th~~g
,.,...
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 12
was not approved only by you. It was approved by the citizens of
Chanhassen as well and that's everybody.
Lash: When was that done?
Ed Hasek: What, the comprehensive Plan?
Erhart: No, when was it approved?
Lash: When was it approved by the citizens?
Ed Hasek: When was it approved by citizens? When it was approved by the
City Council.
Lash: So if we made a recommendation to the City Council that it be
amended and the City Council voted, basically the citizens are saying then
that.. .
Sietsema: But it takes a public hearing.
Ed Hasek: Yeah, except you've got to have a public hearing at this level
in order, that's where it starts. You make a recommendation. The public
hearing begins right here before this board and then they go to Council and
~ then they'll hold public hearings at that level. Then it's approved by Met
Council .
Erhart: I did talk to some of the old Council members and I was told by
one of them that when this comprehensive plan went before them to go on for
referendum, they said that they would approve it provided that the people
voted to fund it but then I was told by this Councilmember, being the
people didn't fund it, we should be looking at something that we can amend
and bring back to the people because it wipes it out then. And this is a
councilmember that told me this.
Ed Hasek: But that's not the way the process worked. It was approved by
the Council prior to it becoming a referendum. I mean that's a fact.
That's a simple fact. I don't know who the Council person is but I'm sure
that you could talk to the rest of them and find out that that isn't the
case at all.
Robinson: Specifically approved.
Erhart: Well this what I'm trying to find out.
"....
Sietsema: Yeah, it's an approved document and it takes, and we're going
through the whole revision of entire comprehensive plan. Planning's doing
it with their sections. We've done it through the recreation section.
Part of the recreation section was the trail plan and then they'll hold the
public hearings and present those changes, revisions and updating of the
comprehensive plan to the City Council and go through the public hearing
process and it will be approved and then that will stand for another 10
years. The one that we're working under now was developed in the late 70's
and adopted in 1980.
,....
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 13
Lash: So basically all of the commissions, as they're working on this, if
they are making changes would be holding public hearings?
Andrews: Does the public hearing process have to be initiated by us or can
"a citizen request that we do public hearings...possible amendments to the
comprehensive plan?
Sietsema:
every year
years. And
changes.
Well typically we don't make reV1Slons to the Comprehensive Plan
or every other month. We don't do that. We change it every 10
now this is the time that we should be looking to doing those
~1i ke Lynch:
If there was sufficient citizen input, I'm sure the Council...
Lash: Is it something that the Commission can initiate? I think that's
what we're initiating aren't we?
Erhart: Yes.
Robinson: Right. I think that's what we're asking. We're going through
the process.
,....
Lash: We're trying to find out what the process is.
Robinson: Of changing it right now I think. That's the process we're
going through right?
Erhart: That's what I'm trying to understand.
Robinson: This is a decade change and we damn well want to do it right.
We've got to live with it for 10 years.
Lash: Although if we look at these two plans that are in this packet, we
have one that's dated 1987 and one that's dated 1988 so I'm assuming that
this whole procedure was followed each time that these two changes were
made to the comprehensive plan?
Sietsema: Right.
Lash: There were public hearings?
Sietsema: Well when the last one, when the final one was adopted it went
through the public hearing process.
Andrews: So what we need to do is set a specific to begin public hearings
if we want to consider changes?
,.....
Sietsema: Well the public hearing process will all go through. That's all
in the works. The Planning Commission is reviewing the planning department
areas and recreation, the Park and Recreation is to review the recreation
and trail section and we've had it on the agenda and last time it came out
1"",
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 14
that you want to look at it again so we're here to look at it again.
Whatever decisions, revisions that you make, will be recommendations to the
City Council and will be considered at the public hearings in their
consideration. '
Lash: So can we, before having public hearings, can we have work sessions
to work on this ourselves?
Sietsema: Yes, you should be. That's what this is.
Lash: Okay. Well I just want to make sure we weren't doing anything
illegal here by discussing it without having a public hearing.
Sietsema: No. No. You want to have your work sessions and work out all
the glitches in it and add everything you want to add and make all the
changes and take out everything that's old and not applicable anymore and
then staff will retype it all up and put it all together with a pretty
little ribbon and present it to Council and they'll hold the public
hearings with the rest of the Comp Plan.
Lash: Now I thought we had to have public hearings at our level first
before it could go to Council? That's what Ed just said.
~ Sietsema: No. The City is going through the whole process. If we were to
change something at a non-decade time, then it's likely that the Council
would direct us to hold the public hearings.
Lash: So we don't have to have public hearings?
Sietsema: Not at this time because it happens to fall in.
Mayor Chmiel: You could if you so choose...
Robinson: Are there any other, or how do we want to approach this? Are
there any over and above Dawne's specific one that we want to address on
the trail plan or the comprehensive...
Erhart: Curry Farms.
Lash: I think it needs to have some major revisions and I don't know how
we want to go about starting those.
Mady: I think you have to propose them. You can't wait for someone else
to do it. You've got to do it. We've got a plan now that stands and we
keep talking, these things keep talking about...but we've got to change it.
We've got to change it. Well, let's get some specific proposals.
.~
Lash: Well okay. I think if we look back in the Minutes from several
meetings ago, it was the one where Todd was doing it and the tape missed a
whole bunch of what we said but he basically summarized it at the bottom
and I guess I said, he's got that I stated that I would like...certain
things and I sort of prioritized the trails as far as what I. I guess what
I would like to see done is for us to set our priorities of which roads we
"
Pa,k and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 15
would like to see done fi,st and basically put all the ,est on the back
bu,ne, 0, take them off 0, whateve, has to be done with them, I don't know
and basically sta,t getting ou, fees f,om develope,s and get ou,selves a
Rlan and whateve, ou, p,io,ity is. If it's TH 101 no,th 0, Minnewashta
Pa,kway 0, whateve, we want to say is the fi,st one we'd like to see done.
Get a ,ough estimate f,om Lo,i as to what she thinks the fees will be that
we'll be collecting next yea, and say okay, we can get 2 miles of this ,oad
done next yea,. That's what I want to do next yea, fo, the t,ails so we
get something accomplished that someone can walk on fo, a 2 mile st,etch
and get f,om Point A to Point Band sta,t collecting the fees. Then as,
you know I'd like to feel like we',e accomplishing something. We could see
that in a yea,'s time that something, we could look at TH 101 and say look
it. We got the trail done on TH 101. Next yea, let's do the one on South
TH 101 0, whateve, ou, next p,io,ities a,e. That's something maybe we all
need to sit down and figu,e out what ou, p,io,ities are and do it a piece
at a time and just chip away at it so we',e accomplishing something instead
of spinning our wheels and having a grandiose plan that seems like we',e
getting little bits and pieces and when we',e all dead and ou, kids a,e
dead, maybe it will be done and maybe it won't.
Mady: I think you',e missing a point he,e Jan in that this is the plan.
This is a plan. It's not an implementation p,og,am. It is a plan of how
we want the City to look 50 yea,s f,om now. I don't think anyplace in he,e
.~ you'll find time lines for" anything. What we're going to do next year, the
yea, afte, because in a plan that's a 10 yea, plan, there is no way you
l~ant to be looking at that every year and saying well gee, 1993 we didn't
get the one there so we',e going to ,011 that fo,wa,d. That's not what the
idea of the whole plan is. All it is is a grandiose picture of what the
City wants to develop into 50 yea,s down the ,oad. And the implementation
of that is looked at eve,y year to follow the plan. Okay, we have
$50,000.00 next yea,. He,e's the whole plan fo, the next yea" what does
this group of people feel you need to do this year to get the plan to whe,e
it is fo, 50 yea,s f,om now. That's all this tool does is tell us what we
want the city to look like far into the future. It is not meant to be the
implementation p,og,am fo, this yea" next yea" 5 yea,s down the ,oad.
That's a diffe,ent tool.
Lash: Okay, that's something that we can do at our own level is figure out
each yea, what we want to accomplish but, the p,oblem and Ed summed it up
by sayi ng that the Comprehensive Plan is ou, Bible., It's somethi ng we have
to live by. It's something we have to believe in and Lo,i has summed it up
by saying that it is her ,esponsibility in he, position to come to us and
make a ,ecommendation to go by the Comp,ehensive Plan. Now if we've set a
prio,ity of doing TH 101 fi,st and nothing comes along to us on TH 101
whe,e we have an oppo,tunity to do anything with the developer, we are not
getting TH 101 done because no develope,s are doing anything on TH 101.
We've got to wait until we get some money to do it and we',e never going to
get the money to do it if we keep having the develope,s not give us the
fees and put in all these othe,s things on ,oads that a,e not ou, top
p,iorities right now. Are you following me?
,...
Mady: I know what you',e saying. I have a ,eal basic p,oblem though in
taking money f,om the people who live in Chanhassen Hills South and putting
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
~ May 8, 1990 - Page 16
that money to build a trail along North Lotus Lake Park.
Lash: We do that with the parks all the time.
Mady: I don't think we can legally do it. I've asked staff to go back to
our attorney. I don't think you can take money from the north side of the
city and spend it in the south side because the park dedication fee, under
the State Supreme Court ruling, was a fee you can charge a developer for
the need that he is creating for the city.
Lash: Does that work for the parks?
Mady: That's how you can legally do it. The trail fee grew out of the
park fee. The trail fee has never gone to the State Supreme Court. The
park fee did. That was a Bloomington case. And so I have a real problem
when Curry Farms comes in here and says they want us to build their
playground equipment and they didn't pay a dime into the park program.
They didn't pay any money yet we're going to take money out of the park
dedication fee program to build their park yet they didn't pay any money
into it.
Lash: But we're doing it for the parks.
~ Mady: And I don't think we can do it legally.
Robinson: That's how we got into trouble in the first place...
Mady: Yeah, we were always robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Robinson: . ..and now they don't have a park so they're not going to get it
any other way.
""....
Ed Hasek: I think where the problem came in to start with is that you have
a certain amount of existing. homes in the City trying to implement your...
and all of a sudden now there's a need there that wasn't being fulfilled
anywhere so you had to start someplace. Right? You've got 5,000 people in
town here.. .however that works out. Now the new people are coming in and
there isn't enough money to pay for that so you're behind the 8 ball to
begin with. You're going to continue on being behind the 8 ball unless you
want to take the responsibility to ask the City to help catch up like a lot
of other cities have done. They simply go through, and that's what the
referendum is really all about. Basically saying we've got a need out
there. You folks are asking us for these trails...that's the on~ thing
that more people than anything else but they did not want to have to pay
for them through the referendum. That's what the referendum was about. It
wasn't about whether we do or don't want trails in this town. It's how do
we pay for them is what the referendum was about. Now you're stuck. The
Board is stuck. How do we get what we want? Do you go back again and you
try to take some money out of the general fund? Do you up the taxes to pay
for trails? Do the people want them that bad or not? No. I would submit
to you that if you took the trail plan the way it is to the City and ask
them, do you still want this trail plan, they'd probably say yeah. Do you
want to pay for it? No. We don't want to pay for it but we want the plan
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
~ May 8, 1990 - Page 17
so that's where the dilemma comes in. I don't think you have to hack away
at the plan in order to get down to something that's real. I think,
I honestly believe that down the road someplace 10-15 years from now when
the neighborhoods start going in, they're going to have people asking for
sidewalks. The City is growing. It's not going to be a rural community
forever. It's the next part of this metropolitan area that really wants to
grow. If you talk to any realtor in town they'll say Chanhassen is flying.
It's ripe. It's one of the few areas where homes are actually increasing
in value. We're going to grow. The problem is that the program that we've
had to put these trails in place in through these neighborhoods, it's been
so laxidasical over the past 3 or 4 years, getting them into the ground,
that when people come in they don't want a trail going in there after
they've got their driveway in. After they've started mowing their lawns.
Of course they don't want it. I wouldn't want it in then. Do you
understand what I'm saying? I don't think the plan is the problem. I
think it's the implementation is the problem. The specific issue that you
talked about Dawne on your property, that's a line on a piece of paper.
Erhart: Yeah, and like I said, when I brought mine up, it was just one
.small piece. I didn't even want it to be discussed by itself. There's an
overall picture here and it's the trail system as a whole.
Lash: They're all just lines on a piece of paper and until we can figure
.~ out hOvJ to get some money to do it, they're all going to remain lines on a
piece of paper and they're never going to be trails and I'm trying to
figure out a way that we can start getting some at least on the roads that
we consider to be our top priorities and I don't see that we're getting
that done because we're not collecting the fees. We're putting them in
roads that I do not consider to be top priorities.
Robinson: That's a policy change is it not outside of the comprehensive
plan I believe and Lori, can we if we see fit to take trail fees and put
them on TH 101 or someplace else?
Sietsema: Yeah, as long as they're public trails. As long as it's a
public park. The park in Cur,y Fa,ms is open to and North Lotus Lake,
they're open public pieces of propelty and serve the whole city. They
happen to serve the immediate facility mOle readily.
Robinson: Then I think you brought that up 2 weeks ago I think and I think
we should talk about that if that's what we want to do. But definitely a
change, you're proposing a change...
,....
Lash: If the wordage in this, if it's not shown on the plan. If it's in
the verbage as you called it, says that we',e to put sidewalks on 'all thru
streets? If that's something that I'm seeing as a hinderance to getting a
trail onto a major priority for me than I'd like that removed also. When I
see people walking on TH 101 or walking on CR 17 Ol walking on those busy
roads and then I see the money that's been spent on a sidewalk in a small
development on a very small quiet street, I find that f,ustrating that I
can walk for 5 blocks down a street and not see a car go past me and then
yet I've got to walk fOl 2 blocks on CR 17 and wor,y about getting run
over.. .
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
~ May 8, 1990 - Page 18
Ed Hase k: '" t r ai Is on all thru streets. Is the desire still there? Just
simply that question. Is the desire still there?
Lash: No. The desire is not there for me. And what you're saying, this
is our Bible and it's got to be something we can live by. If that is not
something we want to live by anymore, it should then be taken out.
Ed Hasek: If that's the way you want it for the next 50 years and you
don't want to go back...
Lash: 10 years. You said it's 10 yea~s.
Ed Hasek: It's 10 years until it's next time but you have to have, with
the Comprehensive Plan you have to look into the next 10 years and beyond
and the next 10 years beyond that. It's like you and your personal goals.
You have short term goals and you have long term goals right? This is a
long term goal that's put on a short term priority simply because it's
mandated by Met Council.
Robinson: Is that all true Lori?
Sietsema: Yes.
,"'" Lash: What is mandated by Met Council? You lost me.
Ed Hasek: That we have to have it updated every 10 years. So that's a
State law. So that's why we have to review it but if we had our chioce
we'd probably look at it a little bit longer term simply because it gets in
the future. You can make all the short term changes you want to. The
comprehensive plans for example, if you look at land use. If the land use
isn't there when somebody comes up and wants to put something on a piece of
property, the City Council's going to change the policy. They're going to
change the zoning to accommodate that if they want it there. That's
something that's short term that happens that the comprehensive plan...
The trail system, there's no question that it wants to happen eventually.
There isn't a single community in the metroplitan area that's not trying to
develop a trail plan right now. Some of them put them in to begin with and
some of them and this community is growing much slower than that but all of
a sudden it's going to take a giant leap and unless, we've missed
opportunities along Minnewashta Parkway. A month before I joined the Board
in 1987 we had two opportunities that were missed to pick up pieces of
property simply because it wasn't important then to that particular board.
The policy was still there.. .well it wasn't important enough.
Lash: Well if this plan is supposed to be our Bible that we're supposed to
be living by, then why wasn't the board at that time living by the plan?
~
~1ady: We had other priorities. Just like we have $40,000.00 to spend and
we've got $80,000.00 worth of needs. You've got to prioritize them. You
can only spend so much on a short term basis. That doesn't mean that the
plan is bad or that it has to be amended. It just means that it's going to
take a little bit longer to get to that point that the plan is looking for.
II""'-
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 19
Lash: Okay, and if it's Lori's responsibility to make recommendations
based on the comprehensive plan yet it's something that say we may the
decision that we didn't want to live by that anymore, it just seems foolish
to not take it out because then she'll be making a recQmmendation to us all
the time of something we already know that we don't want to do.
Robinson: Oh I agree with you on some of it. I think we've got to address
that. That's a hard point.
Ed Hasek: I think related to the sidewalks what you need to do and what we
tried to do. ..when we set that whole thing up when I first joined this
board, was to figure out which ones were necessary to accomplish some of
the greater goals. To connect parks to each other. The downtown to the
parks. The schools. From shopping areas. Roads of residential areas. If
you can accomplish that without doing all those side streets...but imagine
what. ..would be like and the problems that would have been eliminated if 30
years ago when that was developing that had put a sidewalk down that road.
I mean the people that live there now would be absolutely thrilled because
they couldn't imagine that road ever not having a trail on it but it ~as
something that when that ar-ea was developed, that hadn't been considered.
Robinson: Have you got a specific, do you want to make a specific
recommendation Jan in regards to sidewalks?
II""'-
Lash: Well yes. I'd like to make a recommendation that the verbage.
Sietsema: That's a word Jan.
Lash: It's just a new word to me, be remDved from the comprehensive plan.
Sietsema: That was a motion?
Andrews: I'd like that more specific on what you want removed.
Lash: Okay, I'd have to find it in here. Where is it Lori? Can you tell
me that? Off the top of your head which page.
Sietsema: No.
Lash: Sidewalks, page 27. Sidewalks are required by the City to be
constructed by the developers. Sidewalks are to be placed along thru
streets. Any street that is not a cul-de-sac for the purpose of moving
residents within the development to the walkways, bikeways and on
collectors. I'd like to see that removed. That paragraph.
Sietsema: Did you want to leave something in there as to easements instead
of construction?
,...
Lash: Yeah, I guess I would think that the Park and Rec should, it should
be up to their discretion as to asking for easements in the areas that they
think would be appropriate. If in the future those things need to be
added. Now I don't know exactly how you want that worded. Does it have to
be more specific than that?
IfI""'.
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 20
Sietsema:
I think so.
Lash: Well.
Mike Lynch: How about saying easements for the construction of. Easements
for the construction of with a description of where you want them and what
you want and when you want them. So you have a choice.
Lash: But it says sidewalks and that doesn't necessarily mean that down
certain roads that we're going to want sidewalks. We may ~Jant a trail of
some sort or another but it may not be a sidewalk. It may be bituminous.
Robinson: By sidewalk do you mean cement?
Concrete?
Lash: Yes. Well I mean we've got here bikeways, walkways and nature
trails and sidewalks.
Mike Lynch: Okay, that could be a walkway. That could be a trail Of...
Lash: Well I think we've got to put in there someway that Park and Rec
still has the option of requiring easements on any thru street.
Mike Lynch: Easement for the construction of.
.,.....
Lash: For potential or future. Okay, so we take that out and include in
there, or replace it with that the Park and Recreation Commission would
continue to have the option of requiring trail easements on all thru
streets for future construction.
Ed Hasek: I think that's a may require leaves you an option.
Robinson: So would you go through the whole thing? Delete that whole
section on sidewalks and start over?
Lash: Right. And we may Just want to take that out and put in easements
are required by the City for the purpose of moving on any street that is
not a cul-de-sac. On any thru street.
Sietsema: So you're taking out the first sentence altogether. That
sidewalks are required by the City to be constructed by the developer and
you're saying sidewalk easements are to be placed along thru streets for
the purpose of...
Lash: Not sidewalk easement. Why don't we just put trail easements and
then it will be up to the discretion of the commission at the time whether
they want it to be concrete or bituminous.
.,.....
Mady: I guess what you're saying is you're leaving us open to putting
blacktop in front of a person's house. This was worded this way so that we
were telling the people in the City that we were going to put cement in
front of homes. If it goes in front of your house on your front yard, we
wanted to put cement in there because it was aesthetic.
,....
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 21
Lash:
have.
Well it's leaving us open to either.
Maybe they don't care.
If they don't care, which they
Mady: I guess every meeting here we've had in the last 3 years they've
said they care. That's why the plan was written the way it was beca~se
they said they cared.
Sietsema: I can put sidewalks/trail easement or walkway easement. Why
don't we do that? Pedestrian easement?
Mady: What this does is effectively removes the burden from the developer
ever constructing a sidewalk.
Sietsema: That's correct.
Mady: You can't ever require a sidewalk to be required because we're
saying all he has to do is provide an easement.
Robinson: It says we're going to get fees from them.
Mady: See what I'm saying right now is it's the City who has the power now
to do it. You're taking the power away from the City. The power now
becomes in the hands of the developer.
,...
Lash: We can require. Can we not require instead of the fee, we can
require. That's the same thing with property for a park. We can either
require the property or we can require the park or we can take part and
give credit. It's the same as now. What this is doing is this is
requiring us.to ask that the sidewalk construction be done if we live by
the plan. If we don't want to live by the plan, then change the plan. The
plan is too inflexible for what we want to accomplish, then the plan needs
to be more flexible. Basically right now Lori's required to come to us
every time a development goes in with a thru street and recommend that a
sidewalk go in and if we want to live by the plan, we make the
recommendation to City Council that the sidewalk goes in whether we think
it's. . .
Sietsema: You're not obligated to.
Lash:
If we're going to live by the plan.
Sietsema: But I mean we don't always live by the plan.
Lash: But generally that's the way it goes.
Mady: See what you want to do is tie us down. You want to tie our hands
dO~'Jn .
Lash: No, I want to untie our hands. I feel our hands are tied right now.
"...
Mady: We've been flexible on every development that's come in though.
Lash: No, I've been flexible. Not all of us have been flexible.
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
",...... t1ay 8, 1990 - Page 22
Mady: I'm saying the City's been flexible. I think you're wrong.
Personally I think you're wrong because what you're doing is saying is that
any child in this city is safe being on a street.
Lash: No, that's not what I'm saying Jim. That's what you're
interpretting what I'm saying and that's wrong.
Mady: See that's where I'm coming from. I have a real serious problem
telling kids that they have to be in the street if they're going to go
from Point A to Point B.
Robinson: I really don't see how you could possibly interpret that from
her proposal Jim. I really don't.
Lash: What I'm trying to say is that if a kid is going to go from Point A
to Point 8 and they're going to be on a busy road, I would like to provide
them a trail to get there and I can't provide that trail to get them there
now because we're putting it on the streets that aren't that busy.
,....
Mady: I think then what you have to do in the planning process is define
your terms. You haven't defined busy and you haven't defined non-busy.
What we did is we looked at it and said we could define that term and so we
put it on all thru streets because when this city gets to the point where
it's full, and it will, everyone of those streets will be considered fairly
busy by my definition.
Lash: Fairly busy by your definition.
Mady: Yeah. That's why you have every major city in the country has got
sidewalks on all their streets. They all took a look at it. I mean back
in the frontier days they put boardwalks along all the roads. There's
reasons for that. Because you want to separate uncontrollable vehicles
from people. That's fine. In your plan of the City you don't need them
apparently. My plan of the City we need them and we have a difference
there. What I'm seeing here is we're weakening the City's ability. We're
saying, all of a sudden we're putting a may require in here. Right now we
don't may require. Right now a developer comes in here and says, he knows
right now by looking at this that he's going to have to do that and that if
he asks the City otherwise, he may get out of it. But what you're doing is
he's going to come in and say, well gee I don't even have to do this. I'm
not even going to try to and that's, we've been weakened.
Lash: Well then when he comes before us we'll tell him if he has to or he
doesn't. And if he has misperceived to this part of the plan, that's his
problem.
Mady: How do you make the judgment without being arbitrary and capricious?
Lash: I don't know. Where do you make the Judgment on what's...
,...,
t1ady:
plan.
I look at the plan. I can point to the plan and say this is our
This is how we do it.
,....,
Pa,k and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 23
"
Robinson: But that's what she's t,ying, she thinks it's tying us down too
much. ..flexibility in there.
Pi ndr- ews :
them the
costs for
sidewalks
Isn't it easier though when a developer comes before us to offer
option of reducing his development costs than to try to incur more
the developer? It's much easier to say we don't need to do the
than it would be to require them as a change.
Lash: It isn't going to change how much he pays if he's putting in a
sidewalk or he's giving us the fee.
Sietsema: They would all rather pay you the fee. All of them would rather
pay you the fee.
Lash: But at that point in time it's our option to say we want the
sidewalk or we want the fee.
,...,.
Mady: I guess I'd like to be able to talk to a developer who's trying to
get away with the minimum, to argue from a side of strength instead of from
the side of weakness which is saying well it's either or and we're going to
say this another time where when he comes in here he knows from the start
where it is and he's going to try to get something less instead of coming
in and saying, knowing that he may get something less right from the
beginning. That's what you're doing with the plan is giving him something
less.
Lash: I'm not really looking at this from the developer's point of view.
I'm not. I don't really care what the developer thinks when he looks at
this. I'm trying to look at this from the point of view that something
that I think that we can live with, something that's flexible that gives us
the freedom of living by the plan and giving us the option of putting them
where we think they need to be and that leaves it up to 7 individual people
to decide and we have the option of making our own decision. We don't have
. it written here telling us, we're going to live by the plan. We must do it
this way and Lori's recommendations must come to us saying that we should
do it because that's her job.
,....
Ed Hasek: Jim, I think there's one thing that needs to be considered and
that is.. .greatest extent there is...7 people and they can decide whatever
they want to and that's called arbitrary and capricious. That's what you
have to be careful with because that's where a developer with enough money
can stick it to you. We haven't had any big developers in town here but
that potential is going to corne if this city grows over and starts
developing like I think it's going to. I think that you have to be very
careful in putting policies and goals in place that accomplish a plan that
you have. It doesn't matter how that's done. I fully understand where
you're corning from about the sidewalks being built and developments that
may not be consistent with specific areas. I fully agree with you that the
plan addresses the major trails. The policies and goals address the minor
. ..and so forth and I think you want to be very careful and you want to
have designs that identify exactly what it is you want to do so that like
what Jim says, you're coming from the position of power. Because as soon
as you put a may in there, that's an out for the developer and what he's
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
~, May 8, 1990 - Page 24
going to do with a may is he's going to go back to the last development
that came through and he's going to come in here and he's going to say, my
traffic volumes are the same as on that road there. You don't have a trail
on that road. The distance is the same from the highway. The houses are
the same range. He's going to bring in the proof to say that he doesn't
have to do it which puts it back on you to say yes you do and here's the
reasons why. So the more you can tie it down to what it is you really
\~ant, the easier it's going to be to get the developer through here and in
the ground and get the taxes out of whatever it is that you want to do.
You just have to be a little more careful...we want the option because as
soon as you start manipulating options, that's where the figures...
Robinson: Your reason for this change I think is still that you would like
to see a trail someplace and not little pieces allover.
Lash: Yes. I'd like to see the trails being constructed on the major
corridors and I cannot see that that is going to be done as long as these
things are being approved by this commission or by the City Council because
the funds are then all being eaten up.
Robinson: But do we then have to go by, I mean it will come before us
every time. That's your job and we say hey, that's what the comprehensive
plan says and that's what we've got to do or do we have the option?
""
Sietsema: Yes, you have the option. You have the option because you've
laid out what your plan is and you may decide that this isn't our priority
and we want to do it differently. But I would still always come to you and
point out that...
Lash:
.~ .doesn't happen.
Mady: Well see you're just disagreeing with how these 7 people up here
have set up a recommendation to the 5 people at Council. You're having a
problem with how we have dealt with specific items in the past couple years
and now you're saying let's deal with the whole plan of the City.
Lash: But that's what in the plan. People think they are under the
assumption, and I don't think it's that difficult to understand why, that
if this is our Bible, we're supposed to be living by it. We're supposed to
be doing what it says in there and so every time we make a recommendation
that does not go along with Lori's recommendation from the comprehensive
plan, then we're sort of internally saying well gee, I'm not really going
along with the plan and there can be the big argument made by people, but
it says it's in the plan and I've heard that before.
,....
Mady: Let's take it to the next step then. If we're going to always live
by what's in the plan, there's no need to have this commission but once
every 10 years. You need people up here every 10 years to look at the plan
and then that's it. From that point forward all you need is a few people
in City Hall who follow the plan to the letter and that's it. You don't
need a City Council. You don't need nothing. You have a plan nailed down
and that's the way it is, period.
",.....
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 25
Robinson: But if you're going to deviate every time.
Mady: I don't think we've deviated every time. We've looked at different
pieces.
Robinson: She's saying we've never deviated.
Lash: We've very seldom deviate. I mean occasionally it's happened but
very seldom. Most people tend to go along with what's in the plan.
Robinson: So it's an understanding of that plan and what it takes to
deviate.
Sietsema: It's an understanding by you that you have the flexibility to
deviate from the plan. It's like when the Pheasant Hills development came
in, that was within the last 10 years. That area was marked as a park
deficient area. It was determined at that time by whoever that the
topography in the area was too rolling. Wouldn't accommodate an active
playfield and that this was not the spot to acquire a piece of property.
And therefore it was deviated from.
Ed Hasek: The basic reasons why you deviate from the plan...
",..... Lash: That' s pretty vague.
Robinson: What about financial?
Ed Hasek: The plan is supposed to put together and the zoning ordinance
will... but there's always things that come up that aren't existing. ..and
it just doesn't develop that way. That is your option and your option...
limitations and I beg to differ with you Jan. I think we've deviated from
the plan an awful lot, at least in the 3 years I was here. We did it a
lot.
Sietsema: Well and the other thing to consider is that the plan gives you
the best, having a comprehensive plan gives you the best of both worlds as
a city. You can say, yeah it's not a priority for us right now and we'd
rather have the fees and we'll come back and build those later if the
people that end up moving in there come in and ask for them and the funds
are available or if they want to be assessed for them, we can do it then.
But on the other hand, if it is something that you need, you know you're
going to need right away, whether it's a part or whatever, you can show the
developer, this is part of our plan. We require this. We've always
counted on it. We've always looked to this and so it gives you kind of the
best of both worlds. We can always ask for less but it's hard to ask for
more if it's not in here.
Lash: Well there's got to be a way that this can be reworded that does not
tie everyone so much or make people feel compelled to do things that maybe
they aren't thrilled with just because it's in the plan.
I""'"
Mady: To be honest with you Jan, I don't take the Bible down every day and
look at it to see if I'm suppose to on this development do this or do that
,...
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 26
,....
because I have staff that points things out and I have in my own mind what,
whe)"e personal priorities are just as you have. They're seen in all of our
decisions. If the other were the case, we wouldn't have to be here but we
always have to look at everything that's happening in the City f,om eve,y
angle. I mean the trail plan has evolved over the last 10 years. Maybe it
needs some wo,k. Maybe it needs no work. I'm fai,ly ce,tain that the,e is
a majority of the people in this city like it just the way it is. I mean
when we lost on funding, we lost by 3 votes one time and 6 votes the othe,
time and that was strictly on do you want to raise your taxes to do this.
So there's a la,ge segment of the population who wants to do it and are
willing to pay to do it but when we get down to the point of paying is
whe,e the problem has. It's not whether or not we',e going to do it on
thru streets or not. You don't want to do it on thru st,eets at this time
because you want to major thoroughfares. That's fine. That's your point
of view. Other people on the commission have felt that we want to be able
to do it as we can do it. When the opportunity's the,e, let's take them
because they may never come back again. We've seen what happens when
Pheasant Hills didn't get a pa,k. It doesn't have a park now. We saw what
happened when North Lotus Lake didn't get a park. It took them 8 years to
get a pa,k. We didn't get a park in South Chanhassen ,ight away. We
should have. They should have done that 20 years ago but they didn't. l~e
always are being penalized because what didn't happen previously. Now we
have a plan, an idea of how we want the City to look like 20-30-40-50 years
in the future and that's what this is trying to do is p,event those
mistakes from happening. To me the way you prevent those mistakes from
happening is doing them ,ight away when you have the opportunity. I don't
think you go by rectifying your errors in the past by doing away with what
you can do right now. Put off what you can do today until tomor,ow so you
can solve what you didn't do yesterday. What I think you need to do is do
what you can do today to p,event you, problems in the futu,e and also deal
with your problems from the past but you don't just take a sliding scale
and move you, problems down the road and hope that they'll go away. You've
got to deal with the present now so they don't cause the problems in the
futu,e and you've got to deal with you, p,oblems f,om the past as you can
do them in a fiscally responsible way. That's where I come from. I'm
trying to p,event the problems in the futu,e.
Robinson: But all that I believe is an implementation or a funding issue.
It's not a plan issue. And I don't know if you',e still not satisfied ~Jith
the plan and we should add,ess the funding issue I think 0, the
implementation issue late,. Maybe you',e exactly right. We'll conclude
that we can't have the developments do them in small chunks. We've got to
just do the major pieces...but I think what Lo,i is saying, we can still
leave this in the plan and make those decisions as they come up. Is that
co)',ect?
Sietsema: Yes you can. Now you may want to, if you',e uncomfo,table with
the wo,dage of it so you have mo,e flexibility or it indicates you have
more flexibility, I can go back and ,eword it. Taking into conside,ations
of othe, pending p,io,ities.
.,...
Lash: And giving us the option of, I still think we need to just have the
option of taking the easement if that is what we choose to do.
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
~ May 8, 1990 - Page 27
Sietsema: And that's easily, I think we could accomplish that
satisfactorily.
Lash: Because right now it's just hard for me to live with. Maybe I was
raised too much to live by the rules and do what I was told but when I look
at this and it says to me that sidewalks are to be placed along all thru
streets, that sounds to me like they're supposed to be placed along all
th'ru streets.
Sietsema: Well you know what we could do is there's verbage in the
ordinance requiring that we require the park dedication. It requires that
the developer dedicate parkland or fees in lieu of or a combination of
both. We can word this so that sidewalks are required by the City to be
constructed by the developer or a payment of fee or a combination of both
you know depending. That gives you as much flexibility as you ~an get.
Mike Lynch: . ..commission on 1979 I think. I've observed a number of
things. ..when we thought we were catching up, we still weren't moving far
enough ahead. When I first joined the commission we were establishing
nature preserves because that was the condition of the town at that time.
That's where the interest of the citizenry was and the people that were
active in the commission and the people that were active in the city,
that's where their interest were. We're ~~eren't looking at 20 or 30 years
~ down the line and we said oh, oh. We need active play areas. One of the
reasons why I got involved...and we really have an instant need right now
and we have to be looking 20 years down the line or 10 years down the line.
Now that we needed a trail system. So we beat ourselves to death...active
play areas. Develop Lake Ann. Develop City Center and these other things
and see the trails. Now we got some easements. We got nothing done.
That's just history for you. Another piece of history or piece of
experience that I picked up is that you cannot economically expect the City
to develop large chunks of major thoroughfare into trails because there's
going to be condemnations involved. We don't have, no one would happier
than me to see a trail on north TH 101 but the highway plans are up in the
air. Perpetually. Forever. We don't know what they're going to do with
the highway and we don't have the easements. We don't have easements so if
you give up all these major chunks and you don't have all the easements,
mark my words you're not going to develop trails along there. Last but not
least is that it's never cheaper than right now to do something so if you
can require on a thru street a sidewalk, put it in now. It's never going
to be cheaper than right now. Your thru street, no matter how quiet it
looks, it's never going to be more quiet than today. It's going to be
busier next week. The next year. I think Jim used the example of Frontier
Trail. When that first went in. We don't need sidewalks. This is not
a.. .and that was before the population of that area is what now, 1,500-
2,000 and 2 to 3 cars per house. Now you're taking your life in your hands
walking down there so again, it's never cheaper than now. It probably will
never seen less useful than now but it's going to be in another 10,
probably another 20. That's my observations.
".....
Sietsema: If you'd like me to reword that, I'd need a motion to do that.
",......
Pa,k and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 28
Lash: Okay. I made a motion once befo,e but I guess that one's sc,atch
,ight?
Sietsema: The,e was no second.
Lash: Well we ended up kind of getting. Okay, then I make the motion that
we di,ect Lo,i to ,ew,ite the pa,ag,aph ,ega,ding sidewalks in the
Comp,ehensive Plan and b,ing that back to the Commission at the next
meeting fo, ,eview.
Robinson: She knows some of the wo,ds?
Sietsema: Yes.
E,ha,t: I'll second that.
Lash moved, Erhart seconded that the Park and Recreation Commission direct
staff to rewrite the paragraph regarding sidewalks in the Comprehensive
Plan on page 27 to be more flexible by including that sidewalks are
required by the City to be constructed by the developer or a payment of fee
or a combination of both, and to bring it back to the next meeting for
review. All voted in favor except Jim Mady and Jim Andrews who opposed and
the motion carried with a vote of 4 to 2.
",....
Sietsema: We,e the,e any othe, changes 0, ,eV1Slons that you wanted to
make to the Plan? It sounds to me like there's a lot of implementation and
p,io,itizing discussion that still needs to go on and talk about what
funding mechanisms the,e a,e available. Whet he, it's th,ough tax increment
prog,am 0, the t,ail fund 0, whatever so I can put this back on an agenda
if the,e a,en't any othe, ,evisions that you want to make to the actual
plan and talk about implementation and p,ioritization again.
And,ews: Can we do that next time specifically about funding because
that's an a,ea whe,e I don't have any understanding of.
Robinson: A,e those things gene,ally in the plan Lo,i? The implementation
and the funding?
Sietsema: No. It talks about ways that lmplementation can take place.
Some funding sou,ces and some options available but it doesn't talk
di,ectly about time lines 0, how much is supposed to be gotten f,om which
fund 0, anything like that. It doesn't get to that level of detail and
that's something we need to look at and see what's available and go f,om
the,e. See what we can do with what we've got. I think that you want to
know mo,e about that.
Robinson: Yeah, we do but yet would we put anything that definitive?
Sietsema: In the plan? No. No. This would be policy. This wouldn't be
pa,t of the plan.
"......
Robinson: Okay.
,-..,
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 29
Sietsema: This would be more for your information to set up kind of a
policy of implementation.
Robinson: From the discussion, I think that's what we need.
Sietsema: Sounds like it. But again, if there are any revisions, any
additional changes to the plan, I need to get those back to the Planning
Department so they can change the documents.
Resident: I have a question.
...is that going to be discussed?
Sietsema: That would be more a park issue because it wouldn't be, the
overall trail plan has to do with corridors. Getting around the city.
It's like the Curry Farms. They were asking the same thing, if the trail
fund couldn't fund the trail that's going to be within their park. That's
really a park amenity. Different. It's a trail but it's different than...
Resident. . .
Sietsema: Right. That would be more a park amenity that would be included
in the park plan.
Lash: I think we need to go back to Dawne's thing too and maybe see if we
I"""'- can, do you think we can make a decision on that tonight what we're going
to do?
Robinson: We talked I think before last time about it briefly and said
we've got to look at alternatives and I haven't heard any alternatives.
Lash: I have to, since she's sitting next to me, I have to just make sure
I understand what you're. Is this what we're talking about right here or
are we talking about right here?
Erhart: Right here.
Lash: Right along here? Okay. Is it a real high priority for us? I mean
I'm just throwing this out to see how people feel, that since this segment
going on the top part, it's kind of going south.
Erhart: To goes west and east.
Lash: Yeah okay but not the one you're talking about removing. The one
above that. If that's a nature trail and what you're saying is you want
this all to connect and to take it out to TH 101, I mean is it really
necessary for that to be all nature trail? It looks to me like it connects
on both ends here with a regular trail so could we just have that section
at the top there be a nature trail and then ending it at both of the
regular trails and people could take those trails if they wanted to make a
complete circle it would be part nature and part not.
,.....
Robinson: I'm not sure we're all following. Do you have an overhead?
Sietsema: I don't have an overhead of the trail plan.
,.....
'\
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 30
Lash: This is what she's talking about right now. Right here. So what
would be the problem with people walking along here and ending up at this
trail... It looks like it starts and ends at a regular trail so I just
wanted to know if it's a big deal for us to connect the whole. Because
here it ends and they're going to have to walk this way.
Erhart: Because you've already told me you don't care if there aren't any
natural amenities there. I've already told you there aren't any.
Andrews: We're talking about this piece right here?
Erhart: Right.
Robinson: What's that like out there? Just open field?
Erhart: It's just an open field. Now if you want natural amenities, there
are some on the other side but if you want it for linking...nature trail.
To get you from Point A to Point B.
Lash: So if say you were coming... It's not that much further to cut
here.
~ Erhart: No it's not. In fact these homes, they can get on these trails...
Andrews: Why don't you recommend that we move it to the other location?
Lash: I was just trying to find out...
Mady: Why don't we change it to being a trail? My concern is getting
people out of here.
Lash: Right. We can't just have it dead end in there someplace.
Mady: And that's what that does is moves people out of there.
Erhart: It moves all these people down here onto this trail to take them
over here right?
Mady: But see we're talking about a plan. A 50 year plan type of thing.
Erhart: How come we don't put the trail in over here?
Robinson: Like Jan said, I'm not sure that this adds to this piece here.
If it's a nature trail and there's nothing there.
Andrews: What's on the north side of that parcel?
1'1ady: A swamp.
,....
Erhart: There's a trail right now that we have mowed that goes all the way
around.
,....
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 31
Mady: We want us to change it to designate you from the south side to "the
north side?
Erhart; No. Because we've already given you the proposal that we want you
to change it to.
Ed Hasek: Two things. First of all Dawne, this is personal for you and I
would ask that you not vote on this.
Erhart: I don't plan on it Ed and I'm not even making a motion. And also,
you're a part of the audience right now too.
Mady: Well it's just like anybody else. He can at all our meetings.
Erhart: Yeah, but I mean I can discuss it too when they're asking me a
question. She's just asking me.
Ed Hasek: Absolutely. When that was put together, the intent was to have
a trail go along with the highway. Off the highway.
Erhart: I know what the intent was because I put it on the map. We put it
on the map. We came to the City and asked for it to be put on the map.
~ Ed Hasek: Okay, and what has changed in your mind that you're now back
here asking that it's taken off the map?
Erhart: Because every time I come in here for any personal thing, you want
to take it. Otherwise we wouldn't even be discussing this. We'd leave it
on the map.
Ed Hasek: Dawne, look at it this way. You come in. You divide out 5
acres for mortgage purpose right? Whatever it is. You sell that to
somebody now. They can build on that lot without coming in here. They
could build on that. We lost that piece of trail. Okay? The next time,
you do another split. You want another mortgage. Alright? You split that
one off. We haven't got a plan. We haven't taken it. So now you sell
that to someone else. They build on it. We've lost two sections of it by
now. Do you understand?
Erhart: I understand.
Ed Hasek: Every single time you subdivide...
Erhart: Okay, we're coming up with another alternative and I won't vote on
it but...
Robinson: We're getting out of oTder here.
Erhart: Yeah, I think so. I'll sit down and you and Jan can work it out.
~" Robinson: Do we know why this was put in here in the first place?
,....,
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 32
Mady: Tim came in here and put it on. There's a road. It existed. Tim
came to Lori with it. Came in here and told us about it and that's where
it got put on. What I'm hearing for the alternative is for the audience to
remove that trail segment and tell people to go other places. We're not
putting anything else in it's place. We're putting them in other places
that already exist on the map. Right? So we're not, all we're doing is
removing it. We're not providing anything to get people out of here. This
big area. We're just saying, well somehow you get down to Pioneer Trail
but somehow you get down to it.
Lash: There's a trail. Eventually there's supposed to be a trail.
Ed Hasek: Can I ask how that trail is going to function compared to the
one that's already on the plan? Would it accommodate a nature trail?
. ..would it accommodate horses or is it going to be a paved trail because
the people down there are very interested in putting horse trails in.
I know that when I was on the Board, we promised that we'd take a look at
it and address it if we could.
Lash: I think that's something that was discussed along with TH 212 isn't
it?
.",-....
Sietsema: The horse trail along TH 212?
Lash: Yeah. Sue brought that up at one time. Didn't she?
Sietsema: I mean it's something we can look at. Depending on how much
right-of-way is left over.
Lash: I think all that we're asking people to do, before it made sort of a
half circle or a three quarter circle nature trail with one side of it
being a trail along TH 101. Anyway so it wasn't like they were going to be
out walking all through the woods for their whole walk and never seeing a
car or never seeing a paved trail anyway so I don't see that it makes
really that much difference for them to walk that little extra.
Andrews: The alternative is Pioneer Trail then? Is that what you're
saying?
Lash: I guess it would be yeah and then TH 101.
Robinson: Then is there a motion?
Lash: Yeah, I'll make a motion that we take that segment of the trail be
removed and that the connection for that would then become Lyman Blvd. and
the little strip.
Robinson: Is that Pioneer Trail?
.,....
Lash: Or Pioneer Trail, I'm sorry. And the north/south connection, that's
not on a road so I don't know what that's supposed to be right there but
the north/south connection of the trail shown on the trail plan. I don't
know what's on west.
,....
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 33
Pemrick: TH 101.
Lash: No, that's not 101. It's on the west side of that development,
whatever that development's called.
Robinson: That's got to be 101.
Lash: No, on the east side is 101.
Sietsema: That's another field road.
Mady: That goes around a wetland is what that goes around.
Erhart: Where does it go around a wetland Jim?
Mady: The wetland's right here.
Lash: Do you know where I'm talking about Lori?
Sietsema: They're talking about the north/south dark line?
Lash: Yes.
.IfI1". Sietsema: I believe that's just a field road at this time.
Lash: Okay, so that field road. Whatever it is. Lori says it's a field
road so the north/south connection right the~e would be the field road and
the east/west connection would be Pioneer Trail. That's the motion.
Robinson: I'll second that.
Mady: So we're taking away, once again we have no east/west, very few
east/west connections in this City? It's the same problem we have over by
Lake Lucy. We have no, from TH 5 to TH 7, the~e's one east/west
connection. Period. And now you're saying for the next 50 year plan,
we're not going to put anything else in the middle here.
Robinson: There's a motion and it's been seconded.
Lash moved, Robinson seconded to change the trail segment along the Erhart
property to run as follows: the north/south connection would be the field
road and the east/west connection would be along Pioneer Trail. Lash,
Pemrick and Robinson voted in favor, Mady voted in opposition and Erhart
and Andrews abstained and the motion carried.
Sietsema: Is that two nays or one?
Andl-ews: I didn't say anything.
1'1ady: 2 to 1 with 2 abstentions?
I"""'" Lash: I think it 3 to 1.
was
,.....
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 34
Sietsema: If he didn't say anything, that's a yes and she abstained?
Andrews: I will abstain...
Erhart: So it's 3 to 1.
Mady: Did you vote yes?
Pemrick: We can have the east/west on Pioneer Trail.
Mady: Well why don't we just leave it east/west on Pioneer Trail and this
thing east/west on TH 7 and east/west on TH 5. I mean there's only 3 miles
to get to them.
Robinson: To the contrary, why don't l~e put 5 more east/west roads across
there. . .
Mady: What we're saying is someone who came in front of us and gave us the
opportunity to do it and we did it. Now they want to take that off and
they're not providing us with another opportunity. That's a mile between
there and there. There's no way of getting people out of the middle of
that section.
.~ Robinson: Are there any other issues with the trail plan? Any other
changes we want to make? Anybody?
Tim Collins: I guess I'd just like to bring up a little about tr~il plans.
I see three fundamental issues. My name is Tim Collins. Three fundamental
issues. It seems like they're kind of hard to define but I was just
thinking if we said the three fundamental issue, (a) the first meeting
would be to prioritize the trails based on how busy they are... Number
two, after you've done that set up a time line for those trails after
they've been prioritized and then number 3, look at funding after you've
planned what trails and the timeline. You also have to look at long term
at the same time. What neat about doing this every 10 years is a good
point in time in which to define a 10 year plan. Instead of looking at one
major chunk or 3 major chunks, let's look at 10 small chunks or even
smaller than that but anyway, because that's what Eden Prairie's doing.
Every year they just go to the next phase. They add it. There's also a
little more.. .to prepare. Something that they could. ..but they Just keep
on doing it.
Mady: Just to bring you up to date. Separate from this document is our 5
year budget. I mean we do, we try to prioritize out to the future. We
probably need to do a better job of that but that is a completely separate
document that this commission works with and staff works with so we do have
basically an implementation plan. How hard set it is and has been in the
past,' maybe it hasn't been good enough but the tool is there. We just
maybe have to use that better but it is a tool that's probably distinct
from the Comp Plan itself.
"...,
Lash: It's been hard for us to do that because we haven't had any money.
,.....
Pa,k and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 35
Robinson: We would like you, help though if you want to sit down and do
that. We ,eally would.
Tim Collins: I have a lot of f,ust,ations with Chanhassen. ..and so do the
,esidents the,e. Ve,y disappointed in finding out afte, a lot of us moved
in that nothing's... We we,e all told that we we,e going to have a t,ail
right behind the pa,kland that was donated by.. .Development Company. That
would be put in within this next 2 yea,s. Well I find that's not even
close. Okay. Then Joe Mille" he's got on down in Lake Susan Hills and
that segment, whet he, he was fo,ced to put that in along Lake Susan and of
cou,se Chanhassen Hills was supposed to do that and it's like light yea,s
away. Eve,yone in that community was unde, the imp,ession that so... I
used to live in Eden P,ai,ie and I lived ,ight on a t,ail system and the
,eason I moved out he,e is because Chanhassen was on the move and I was
excited about having some of the same things the Eden P,ai,ie...
Lash: What was his develope, ,equi,ed to do?
Sietsema: The,e was no t,ail plan in place when Chanhassen Hills went
th,ough.
Lash: So they didn't have to pay any fees eithe,?
~ Sietsema: Yeah, they did pay. What came in afte, the plan was put in
place has to pay fees.
Robinson: If the community center.. .and I say if. Maybe we want to
conside, a t,ail plan the,e again.
Ed Hasek: Not unless the,e's a lot bette, info,mation that goes out.
Robinson: Well I think that's what we've got to do. ~Je've got to get,
like he says, get ve,y specific and p,io,itize and talk about funding and
specific dolla,s and what we',e going to put in exactly fo, those dolla,s.
Mady: I guess we did that the last time Cu,t and I know because I did a
lot of those meetings. I didn't do the t,ail segment on most of them but I
was at most of those meetings and it was ve,y specific. I mean it showed
Phase 1. Phase 2. phase 3. Phase 1 was the next 5 yea,s. Phase 2 was 5
to 10 yea,s. Phase 3 was 10 to 20 yea,s. We we,e ve,y open and up f,ont
to people with that. It was in the b,ochu,es that way. We told people
that yet when I come to this meeting in the last 3 months, all the new
people up he,e keep talking about how it was we we,e going to fund the
whole thing. It was neve, that way. The pape, said it wasn't that way.
Everything said it that way. I don't know how you teach people things. I
,eally don't. We t,ied everything we could do and we still wouldn't get it
done.
Lash: Maybe if it was scaled down to just a Phase 1 and that's it. This
is what we want to do and this is how much it's going to cost and not talk
"" about down the ,oad. That just gets everybody all worked up and confused.
,...
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 36
t1ike Lynch: You have a problem with small phases because the small phase
affects only a very small percentage of the residents and the other
residents are not going to vote for it.
L_ash: Well if we made it encompass the, I mean we'd have to sit down and
look at it. I'm not going to start trying to figure out tonight how we
would do that but it's something that we can certainly look at.
Sietsema: And we can put that together
prioritization and the implementation.
we're going to implement this thing and
of them would be referendum.
when we talk about the
I mean definitely funding is how
creative ways to finance this. One
Ed Hasek: Without raising taxes. Curt I have a request. before you get off
of this. I've got a list of.. .very interested in staying abreast of what's
going on with the trails allover town and they represent various groups.
I'd like to give that list to Lori and get it on your mailing so we get any
information. ..if that's possible.
Robinson: Can we do that?
Sietsema: Yeah.
~ Lash: At the last meeting you said there were quite a few people who
wanted to be involved in this. Were they all contacted?
Sietsema: Yep. A lot of them were here. Are here.
Robinson: Good.
COMMISSION PRESENTATIONS:
Andrews: I don't know if this is a presentation but I had somebody
approach me from North Lotus wanting to know what procedures there are if
they want to use the soccer fields for team practices. If they have to
contact the office or if they can just use them?
Sietsema: The soccer fields at North Lotus?
Andrews: Yeah. At North Lotus. It's not a league used area.
Sietsema: That is being scheduled for Little League practices so if they
want to have organized things, they need to call Jerry or Todd.
Andrews: Okay, the other thing was that the one tennis net is still
broken. The cable, the steel cable. All the wind screens are put back up
to be blown down again.
Mady: I had a question on the Adminstrative packet.
,.....
Robinson: I had a comment.
,.,..,
Park and Rec Commission Meeting
) May 8, 1990 - Page 37
Andrews: I've got one more thing on commission presentations if it's okay.
Just a comment about commission presentations. I guess I'd appreciate as a
Board if we more formally dealt with our agenda items so that we did, like
tonight we took specific action with specific follow-up dates on items that
were tabled. That would be helpful so we don't have.. .or some emergencies
jump on us like we've had. Most what the people are telling us if they're
frustrated because things are discussed and no action taken. It would help
me.. .if staff knows when it's coming so they can be prepared. The way I
see it if proper board action should be, if there's a motion it should be
approved or rejected and if it's tabled, it should be a specific date of
reconsideration.
Mady: Good idea. Lori, on your memo to Gary Warren on Lake Ann Park.
Have you had any feedback from Imperial Developers?
Sietsema: Yes. We sent them a letter, a registered letter declaring them
that if they don't have seed in by this week they'll be default of their
contract and we'll have someone else do it and take it out of their
bonding. When we met with them on Monday morning, they indicated that the
biggest concern is who's going to pay for the reseeding. The seeder felt
that it was an act of Mother Nature that was beyond anybody, nobody could
have stabilized that enough to get seed in the ground last fall with no
snow cover. With the winds that we had in January and with the amount of
.~ rain we had in March. Everything just washed away. So we came to the
agreement that we would pay for the materials and he would provide the
labor to redo it and equipment to redo it. And he was out there I
understand picking up some dust on Monday night, last night and someone
else said that, well I don't know. He may have been out there today but
since it rained this morning, I don't think that he got a whole lot done
and then it takes, if any moisture, it takes at least 3 days to dry that
clay soil out so then we're behind again. But the impetus is on them
and it's very much to their benefit to get that thing seeded.
Lash: Basically they'll be out money right?
Sietsema: Their bonding.
Lash: And I have a question about Lake Ann and I don't want to sound like
a broken record but did the playground equipment come in?
Sietsema: No.
Lash: It didn't come in?
Sietsema: No, it's not here yet.
lash: 2 weeks ago you said it was going to be any minute.
Sietsema: It should be any minute. I'll give them a call.
~
Lash: Good. I was there Sunday and I was disappointed because I thought
it would maybe be there.
I"""
Pa,k and Rec Commission Meeting
May 8, 1990 - Page 38
Robinson: I just wanted to say that this lette,...
Sietsema: I talked to Laurie last week and said if tge,e's not seed in the
ground by F,iday I'm going to have a hissy fit and the,~ wasn't.
Robinson: Does anybody have anything else?
And,ews: Yes I do. I'd like to have a list of what fees we cha,ge fa,
the.. .and an idea of how we',e ,aising ou, funds because it seems like ou,
funding is au, c,isis he,e and maybe, I'd like to see what we a,e cha,ging
and maybe iecommend that we inciease OUi fees.
~1ady: Most of au, fees, outside of like entrance fee at Lake Ann. That's
about it. All the iest either go thiough CAA Oi community seivices.
Sietsema: Well we have a lot mo,e piog,ams than what CAA does and I can
get you what those budgets are.
Andrews: I'd be inteiested because I feel if we can't raise it th,ough
taxation, then usei fees is an option. And if we have...
E,ha,t: Good idea. I'd like one too.
,....
Sietsema: I'll put it on the agenda.
Mady moved. Lash seconded to adjourn the meeting. All voted in favor and
the motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 9=27 p.m..
Submitted by LOii Sietsema
Park and Rec Cooidinator
P,epared by Nann Opheim
r-