North St. Paul City Council — Transcript
Saturday, March 15, 2025
Wildlife Safety and Road Mortality
Park Conceptual Design and Community Engagement
City Finance and Capital Improvement Plan (CIP)
Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Review and Update
Park and Open Space Master Plan Approval
Park Operations and Public Safety (Park Hours)
Votes (6)
Constituent Email Regarding Southwood Nature Preserve Turtle Fatalities
An email from a North St. Paul resident detailed an alarming number of turtle deaths on Holloway Avenue near Southwood Nature Preserve. The resident suggested several solutions including reducing the speed limit, painting larger signs on the road, installing bigger signs, limiting sign display to active seasons, or initiating an educational campaign. The 'gold standard' of a turtle tunnel was mentioned but recognized as cost-prohibitive. There was a discussion about whether the Parks Commission had jurisdiction, with the consensus that the issue had been communicated to other city entities and was outside the commission's direct control.
HGA Architecture Presentation on Park Conceptual Designs
Trig Hansen and Noah from HGA Architecture presented their progress on conceptual designs for the McNignt Athletic Complex, the Downtown Park, and the Passive Park. They outlined their six-step community engagement process, emphasizing inclusivity for a diverse and growing North St. Paul population. The discussion covered identifying current usage, understanding future community needs, and addressing potential gaps in representation for groups like older adults, renters, and young adults without children. Key upcoming engagement events like the Autumn Art Fest and Roundup Days Parade were mentioned.
Finance Director's Presentation on 2025 Levy and Capital Improvement Plan (CIP)
Dan Whitenight, the Finance Director, presented the city's financial outlook, including the 2025 proposed Levy with a 9.88% increase, driven primarily by personnel costs and increased funding for infrastructure (streets, parks, facilities). He explained the operational (general fund) and capital (Park Dedication Fund, Park Fund) budgets for parks. He highlighted a past issue where park dedication fees from a development were not collected, and presented a plan to rectify this, making the fund whole. Whitenight urged the commission to make sure their 10-year CIP plan accurately reflects their needs and priorities, emphasizing that it's a living document that informs the city's overall financial planning.
Discussion on Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and Future Priorities
Commissioners discussed the existing CIP for parks, noting that it didn't cover all city parks or align with new planning initiatives (like the HGA study). There was a strong call to update the CIP to reflect current and future needs. The commission decided to dedicate their next meeting in September to a line-by-line review of their Park Improvement Plan documents and individual park needs, with the aim of formulating concrete budget requests for 2025 and beyond. Commissioners were encouraged to come prepared with their assessments, particularly for parks under their oversight, and to consider both short-term maintenance and long-term development projects.
Approval of Park and Open Space Master Plan Recommendation to Council
Moved by Dave Andren [0:46:17] · Seconded by Unknown [0:46:18]
The master plan, having undergone requested edits, was presented for final approval by the Parks Commission, which would then recommend it to the City Council.
Reports from Staff and Commissioners & Discussion on Park Hours
Sarah Zarka reported on Public Works activities, fixed doors at Casey Lake Park, and a donated picnic table at Jan's playground. Commissioners provided updates on specific parks, including Silver Lake's condition, storm damage at Southwood, activity levels at Northwood and Antt Tower Park, and the success of the Houshy Park ribbon cutting. A major point of discussion involved temporary park hours posted due to 'popup parties' and a shooting incident at Casey Lake. Cassidy Schweer explained the rationale behind these measures, while Dave Andren raised concerns about the impact on law-abiding citizens using parks late, prompting a decision for the commission to discuss proposed park hours for council input.
Notable Quotes (19)
I moved to North St Paul almost 3 years ago and live near the Southwood Nature Preserve I work from home and take a daily walk through the park which used to be a pleasure and now comes with considerable stress last year I noticed I started noticing that many turtles were running being run over as they tried to cross Holloway Avenue
the gold standard solution would be to install a turtle tunnel I believe one was installed outside of Still Water several years back to some great success funding is the issue along with visibility to this matter
sounds like it's been shared with all of the people that it needs to be shared with to make decisions around it and it sounds like it's outside of the Parks Commission control
this is a a first wonderful step in implementing some level of of the master plan moving forward
the goals that we identified for why engagement is necessary for these projects is understanding the current usage and and the stakeholder relationships to each of these sites and then the fact that North St Paul is becoming denser and more diverse and if we're going to create parks that work for folks well into the future we need to understand what that future Community looks like and what those people need
somebody who's renting an apartment next to this park might be highly impacted but they might not have a large voice in this process so we're trying to understand who are those folks who are going to be heavily impacted and whose voices we need to speak out so that we're hearing them
I would say older adults so I think especially the folks who live in care settings in the downtown area... making sure we hear their voices
the parks are a huge part of of the city and there's something that is a valuable asset for the city and for the residents that are here and it's very important that you have a voice and that you're a part of our budget process
I want to start to move ourselves to a cash basis versus a p a bond basis because if we do Bond bonding forever and ever we're just going to pay more and more and more
my ask of this commission is to make sure that what you have in your Park plan is what you really want and what you need and as soon as reports come in that it gets put into our CIP
Sarah was kind enough to to give me a little bit of heads up that there's been a a little bit of a discussion on that Park dedication fund and obviously and rly so I'll call it more angs that there was a development that was done in the city a number of years back that did not pay the park dedication fee to that
I want you to put your first blush is I'm going to call it your wish list of needs that you see that are needed okay that's the first look because then I can take that I can throw that into a financial plan
as I look through here it doesn't really cover all the parks that we do have so and I want to know you know being this is with the CIP there's going to be some improvements on some of our parks that I didn't see listed here
is it possible in the like September meeting that we could set aside time to maybe go through those line by line I don't feel like we have done that maybe because we've cut some meeting shorts we haven't had a full Quorum in a while I think that would be a good exercise
the problem is we don't know we don't know a rough budget for that so that what I'd want to talk about with the commission and potentially if we're talking about those completely new spaces that would be a great space to use that Park dedication fund which we have a large amount of money in that to use
we spent all that time in our Park plan that talks through we all agreed as a park Commission on the 35 10 20 year plan for things I think we all need to take our time to go back look at that that's the factual document
they are calling them popup parties and now the individuals that are showing up have found that they're they're coming into our neighborhoods now and having these popup parties thankfully the PD is aware of that and they're catching them but right now we have found that temporary Park uh times was the best way to start getting rid of those
it's individuals from the outside coming in it's not it has from my understanding don't quote me it's not been identified these are not same
my concern is what happens to the individual who's out there at 10:30 walking their dog if we say we want to set time for the parks is there going to be some penalty placed upon a person walking their dog
Ordinances & Resolutions (14)
App used to track high fatality areas where wildlife collide with humans.
Guiding document for park development and a key reference for HGA's project and the CIP.
Document HGA responded to for the park study and conceptual design project.
City's proposed tax levy for the upcoming fiscal year, with a 9.88% increase.
Policy city employees must follow for all expenditures.
The current 10-year Capital Improvement Plan for Parks and Recreation.
The proposed 10-year Capital Improvement Plan for Parks and Recreation.
Capital fund with statutory restrictions for park acquisition, development, or improvement.
City capital fund for parks, receiving local government aid, used for CIP.
Financial planning documents developed by the Finance Department.
Capital planning documents developed by the Finance Department.
Report currently being finalized, to be incorporated into the CIP plan.
Agreement related to a past development that did not pay park dedication fees.
Previously built documents outlining short- and long-term park plans.