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Memo - Hopkins Dog Park .. Public Warks Department Memorandum To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council Copy: Rick Getschow, City Manager Park Board Members ~ From: Steven J. Stadler, Public Works Director Date: March 23, 2006 Subject: Hopkins Dog Park Backaround Creating a Hopkins dog park is an initiative that the Park Board is interested in pursuing. The project was discussed by the Park Board at their January 23, 2006 meeting and it was presented to City Council for consideration at the March 14, 2006 work session. The City Council provided the following feedback to the Park Board: City Council feedback: City Council aGrees with the benefits of creatinG a city dOG park. However. they want the Park Board to further review the current and potential future uses for the maintained open spaces in the park system before committinG to the proposed Valley Park site for a dOG park. Further, they want the Board to consider the possibility of constructinG the dOG park and/or archery ranGe within the 17.8 acre natural area iust east of the current archery ranGe that was donated to the citv for park purooses in 2001. In response to the City Council feedback, the Park Board again discussed the dog park project at their March 20 meeting - see attached draft Park Board meeting minutes. Following their discussion, the Park Board voted unanimously to continue with their original proposal to develop a Hopkins dog park. Hopkins Doa Park Staff provides the following additional information for consideration in regards to opening a dog park site at Valley Park adjacent to the current archery range. . There is a need for athletic fields in support of the following sports: football, soccer, rugby, lacrosse and ultimate frisbee. All of these sports require football fields (160'x360'). However, the demand will be reduced with several initiatives in the City of Minnetonka including 2 new football fields being constructed at Minnetonka High School, 2 new practice fields being added at the Minnetonka Community Center and a soccer field being added at Big Willow Park. The Park and Recreation Dept is planning to use a portion of Oakes Park this year for ultimate frisbee. If the City of Hopkins wanted to move forward with dedicating some park space for another football field, besides the one at Maetzold Field, this low area at Valley Park is not the best option. The entire archery range area is within the flood plain and could be a maintenance problem, especially during a wet year. The parking demand for a dedicated field for the aforementioned sports is 40+ cars if games are held back to back. . There is currently space for 25+ cars to park within the parking lane along the east edge of Westbrooke Way. . City dog license fees have not been increased in many years. In order to recover some cost of installing and maintaining a dog park, fees could be increased. The current rates are: $8/0ne year, $14/two years and $18/three years. These fees could be increased to $12/year, $20/two years and $28/ three years. The increase would provide an estimated additional $300-400/year of revenue/year. We currently sell about 100 licenses/year. For comparison purposes, the City of St Louis Park charges $25/year for a resident dog tag to use any of their dog parks. Non-residents pay $50/year. If approved to proceed, staff recommends the following next steps: . Park Board refines the specifics of the new dog park, i.e., exact layout, rule & etiquette signs, license fees, etc. & updates City Council . Park Board sends notice of May 15 dog park informational meeting to south Hopkins area . Park Board reports results of informational meeting to City Council - final decision and agreement on final plans and schedule for park opening. Staff and Park Board members look forward to continuing the discussion of this proposal with the City Council. ~ P~'c- t>.:......-tto........ plo.....-.... ~: /11:::1001 D~ltr:-l ( CITY OF HOPKINS PARK BOARD MEETING MINUTES March 20, 2006 A regular meeting of the Hopkins Park Board was held on March 20,2006. I. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Joshua Montgomery called the meeting to order at 6:40 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Present were Park Board members: Kari Kyllo*, Robert Edmonds, Ron Helgeson and Joshua Montgomery. Also present was Hopkins staff liaison Steve Stadler. *Kari Kyllo had informed the Board that she would arrive late for this meeting - she arrived at 7: 15 pm. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR JANUARY 23, 2006 R. Edmonds moved and Ron Helgeson seconded a motion to approve the minutes for the January 23, 2006 meeting. On the vote, the minutes were approved 4-0. IV. BUSINESS A. Report on privately owned natural, green spaces within the city - continued from January 23, 2006 meeting. The Board members briefly discussed this item and decided to carry it over to one more meeting before acting on the various natural, green spaces. R. Niemann moved and R. Helgeson seconded a motion to continue this item to the May IS, 2006 meeting. On the vote, the motion carried 4-0. B. Park Board Mission Statement - continued from the November 21, 2005 meeting. Steve Stadler provided Board members with a copy of the City of Minnetonka Park & Recreation Board 2006 Strategic Plan including vision and mission statements, goals, objectives and action steps. The Board had a broad-ranging discussion on the objectives stated in the Bylaws, the Park Board role regarding city parks spaces, natural spaces, city facilities and their role through the Hopkins- Minnetonka Joint Recreation Board. Kari Kyllo then moved and R. Niemann seconded a motion to adopt the Minnetonka Park and Recreation Board mission statement with only the changes City of Hopkins Park Board Minutes March 20, 2006 ( Page 2 of 4 necessary to identify it as the Hopkins Park Board mission statement. There was further discussion on the mission statement, Park Board roles, modifying the language slightly and incorporating city goals, i.e., improving the quality of life in Hopkins, etc. The Board would like Steve Stadler to look over the bylaws and determine if the language in the objectives should be changed to better-match the Park Board's focus and mission, Following the discussion, a vote was taken and the motion passed on a 3-2 vote, with Board members Montgomery and Edmonds voting nay. Chairman Montgomery stated he will bring in an alternate mission statement at the next meeting for Board consideration. C. Hopkins Dog Park This item originally came to the Park Board at the November 21, 2005 meeting as a citizen request from two residents in the Westbrook Patio Homes/Meadow Creek Condominium area. Several Board members were interested in looking into establishing a city dog park. The item was further discussed at the January 23, 2006 meeting. The Board consensus was to proceed with developing a dog park. The Board requested to meet with the City Council to discuss a proposal to develop a dog park in Valley Park. The dog park proposal was subsequently discussed at the March 14, 2006 City Council work session - Park Board Chair Montgomery and members Edmonds and Kyllo attended. The Board discussed the City Council feedback, which was to consider the overall demand or need for the maintained open spaces at Valley Park before committing an area for a dog park. Additionally, the City Council wanted the Park Board to consider the possibility of construction the dog park and/or archery range within the 17.8 acre natural area just east of the archery range, This is the parcel of property that was donated to the City for park purposes only in 200 I. The Park Board discussed the natural area as a possible site and unanimously agreed that this area is valuable as-is and were opposed to degrading its natural environment by constructing a gravel parking area, an access drive from Smetana Road or a fenced dog park. It was mentioned that the area is entirely within the flood plain which would prevent building up any areas above the current elevations. Regarding the request by City Council that the Park Board consider demand or need for park maintained open spaces, Steve Stadler handed out a March 3, 2004 Athletic Field Needs Study. This study was prepared by the City of Minnetonka and addresses current athletic facilities, demand and opportunities within the Hopkins School District area, Staff had just received the copy of the report and hadn't had a chance to discuss it with Minnetonka recreation staff yet. Regarding the current uses of the Valley Park open, maintained areas, Steve Stadler reported to the Board that they are currently used as follows: - Rugby 3:30 - 6:00 pm May - July - HALL practice 6:00 pm - dusk May - July City of Hopkins Park Board Minutes March 20, 2006 ( Page 3 of 4 - Adult Football August - October - Wiffleballleague uses the hockey rink area May - September The Board discussed and considered the extent of the current uses of the open areas, The Board members believe that the greatest benefit to the Hopkins community would be achieved by constructing the dog park, as proposed, vs. dedicating this particular park space for an athletic field. K. Kyllo moved and R. Edmonds seconded a motion to proceed with the dog park as originally proposed. On the vote, the motion was passed 4-0. (Ron Helgeson excused himself from the meeting at approximately 8:15, prior to this vote) Following the vote the Board discussed various aspects of the dog park including: - lay-out of the existing archery range and whether it could be changed such that the target bales are along the east edge of the maintained area with the archers shooting to the east (currently the bales are placed such that the archers shoot toward the south). - Revisions to wording on rules and etiquette signs, as used by Eden Prairie at their Flying Cloud Drive dog park. . - Adding a small additional charge to the City's dog license fee to offset dog park expenses. - The next steps in moving forward with their proposal. It was decided that the Board could meet with City Council again at the work session on April II and, if approved to continue, a public information/input meeting could be held during the May 15,2006 regular Park Board meeting. (The following day it was determined that the April 11 work session would not work so the meeting date was changed to the March 28 City Council work session) D. Central Business District Trail Connection The Board briefly discussed this item. Chairperson Josh Montgomery stated that the City Council was not comfortable at this time with approving a new trail segment on the unimproved downtown HCRRA right-of-way from 6th Ave - 8th Ave. There are two large redevelopment projects that will be done in the next 2-3 years in this same area. Specifically, City Council wants to wait until the impacts of the large residential project between 5th and 6th Avenues is more fully known before considering a downtown trail extension. The Park Board decided to drop this initiative for now and concentrate on improving the existing trail connections in the Central Business District. V. NEXT SCHEDULED MEETING May 15,2006 at 6:30 p.m. City Council Chambers City of Hopkins Park Board Minutes March 20, 2006 ( Page 4 of 4 , VI. ADJOURNMENT R. Niemann moved and K. Kyllo seconded a motion to adjourn. The motion carried on a 3-0 vote. The meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m. Attest: Joshua Montgomery, Chairperson