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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-12-17 PRC packetCITY OF STILLWATER STILLWATER PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION NOTICE OF MEETING MONDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2012 AT 7:00 PM The City of Stillwater Parks and Recreation Commission will meet on Monday, December 17, 2012, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of Stillwater City Hall, 216 North Fourth Street. AGENDA 1. Approval of the October 22, 2012 Minutes 2. Open Forum - The Open Forum is a portion of the meeting to address the Board on subjects which are not a part of the meeting agenda. The Board may take action or reply at the time of the statement or may give direction to staff regarding investigation of the concerns expressed. Out of respect for others in attendance, please limit your comments to 5 minutes or less. Informational Items 3. Bergstein Warehouse and Shoddy Mill Buildings Commission Items/Topics Following the meeting, park board members will be gathering for a holiday social at the home of Solveg Peterson located at 350 North Main Street. No business will be conducted during this function. Note: Park Board Members please bring a dish or beverage to share and spouses are invited. j J water 7 H E B I R 711P �Fhi �NF �A> CITY OF STILLWATER STILLWATER PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION NOTICE OF MEETING MONDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2012 AT 7:00 PM The City of Stillwater Parks and Recreation Commission will meet on Monday, December 17, 2012, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of Stillwater City Hall, 216 North Fourth Street. AGENDA 1. Approval of the October 22, 2012 Minutes 2. Open Forum - The Open Forum is a portion of the meeting to address the Board on subjects which are not a part of the meeting agenda. The Board may take action or reply at the time of the statement or may give direction to staff regarding investigation of the concerns expressed. Out of respect for others in attendance, please limit your comments to 5 minutes or less. Informational Items 3. Bergstein Warehouse and Shoddy Mill Buildings Commission Items/Topics Following the meeting, park board members will be gathering for a holiday social at the home of Solveg Peterson located at 350 North Main Street. No business will be conducted during this function. Note: Park Board Members please bring a dish or beverage to share and spouses are invited. CITY OF STILLWATER PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION OCTOBER 22, 2012 Present: Chairman Linda Amrein, Commissioners David Brandt, Don Stiff, Solveg Peterson and Councilmember Mike Polehna Absent: Commissioners Scott Christensen, Rob McGarry and Sandy Snellman Staff present: Public Works Superintendent Tim Moore Chairman Amrein called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Approval of Minutes: Amrein pointed out the minutes say August 27 but should be September 24. Motion by Brandt, seconded by Amrein, to approve the September 24, 2012 minutes with the date being corrected. All in favor. OPEN FORUM - There were no public comments. ACTION ITEMS Outdoor Winter Rinks Open House An open house was held to give residents an opportunity to provide input to the Commission on the proposed elimination or expansion of some neighborhood rinks. Ray Roemmich of Crestwood Terrace stated Meadowlark Park isn't used much in the winter so he would be in favor of closing the rink to save money. Chad Bahneman, who lives near Triangle Park, commented that the maintenance there is a lot of effort for little use. The ice quality is not good which has to do with the time of day the rinks are flooded. Mr. Moore replied that public works /parks staff has many duties. If there were fewer rinks to flood, staff could spend more time making the remaining rinks better. He added that he has received preliminary approval from the school district to expand the Old Athletic Field rink to be about twice the size it is now. Motion by Amrein, seconded by Stiff to recommend the Commission approve the proposal by Public Works Superintendent Moore to eliminate four of the rinks and improve the quality and size of other city rinks as able for 2012 -13 season. All in favor. Memorial Benches Moore explained that for a number of years, families and friends have been able to pay tribute to a person or occasion by purchasing a memorial bench through Friends of Stillwater Parks. City staff has worked with Friends of Stillwater Parks to inventory all existing memorial benches, and would like the Commission to help determine where future benches might be placed. He added that he has received comments that there are too many benches in Pioneer Park. There are about four different styles of benches in City parks today. Stiff suggested there may be other items besides benches that people could purchase, such as bicycle racks. Moore agreed that would be a good idea. He added that people also have donated trees for planting in the parks. Polehna remarked that Washington County has a very popular program that allows families to plant a tree in someone's memory. Amrein suggested that in some parks, it might be appropriate for those wishing to donate money for a memorial bench to contribute funds to replace an existing bench. Moore said staff will look at some options for benches, garbage cans and bike racks, and come back to a future meeting for further discussion. Park and Recreation Board Minutes October 22, 2012 Page 2 of 2 Amrein offered that the Commission could help survey and catalog existing parks and amenities if needed. Moore responded that the parks inventory is getting fairly complete. Chad Bahneman informed the Commission that his daughter, Annie, who died two years ago at age seven, was the first girl who died of amoebic meningitis from Lily Lake. He has met with Mr. Moore about memorial items and commended him on his approach. Mr. Bahneman explained that his family would like to donate a memorial for Annie in Triangle Park, for instance a bench, but there are already two benches in Triangle Park and it's a small park. He feels that the desire to contribute for memorial items is there and donors should be given some options besides a bench. Brandt added that upkeep of memorial items is important. The memorial needs to be kept in good condition, so some items such as flowerbeds might not be good choices for memorial donations. Moore commented that the present size of the City crew makes maintaining planting areas difficult. Peterson remarked that one of the nice things about Pioneer Park is the benches which inspire her to think about the people who are memorialized. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS Meeting Date Changes Moore indicated that because the fourth Monday in May 2013 is Memorial Day, the Commission may want to reschedule for May 20, the third Monday. The Commission agreed to change the meeting date to May 20, 2013. Amrein pointed out that the fourth Monday of December 2012 is Christmas Eve. The Commission agreed to change the meeting date to 7 p.m. December 17, 2012. Shoddy Mill Moore reported the grading work downtown is close to being completed and he thinks they are getting ready to move the building in a couple of weeks. Millbrook Park Moore stated that the playground has been installed, curb, gutter and sidewalk are in, and also a pad for a picnic shelter. Staff is proposing to move the picnic shelter that was torn down at Legends to Millbrook. This park is looking good. It's not open yet as the wood chips are not in. COMMISSION ITEMS/TOPICS Municipal Swimming Pool. Amrein asked if the Commission's recommendation not to proceed with the pool came before the City Council. Moore replied that the Council voted 5 -0 in agreement with the Commission's recommendation. The Council understands that at this time, given the amount of land needed and the cost, developing a self- supporting family aquatic center doesn't seem feasible for the City. Lily Lake Amrein asked if any decision has been made about Lily Lake. Will it be open next year? Moore replied that the City was to have a meeting with the Washington County Health Board and the State, about a procedure to monitor Lily Lake. He does not know the particulars and has not received any further information. The meeting was adjourned at 7:56 p.m. on a motion by Amrein, seconded by Brandt. Respectfully submitted, Julie Kink Recording Secretary ater �l THE BIRTHPLACE OF MINNESOTA Memo To: Parks and Recreation Commission From: Tim Moore, Public Works Superintendent Date: December 12, 2012 Re: Bergstein Warehouse and Shoddy Mill Buildings Mike Pogge, City Planner will be attending the meeting Monday to discuss the Bergstein Warehouse and Shoddy Mill Buildings with the Parks and Recreation commission. More information will be available then. Moritz Bergstein Shoddy Mill and Warehouse: 9/5/12 BACKGROUND: During the 2006 Supplemental Final Environmental Impact Statement (SFEIS) stage of the St. Croix Crossing Project, a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was finalized to address the project's impacts on the known historical and archeological resources within the area of potential effect. One of the historical /archeological resources impacted by the project is the Shoddy Mill and Warehouse. The MOA has documentation on page 13 for the Bergstein Shoddy Mill and Warehouse at http: / /www. dot. state.mn.us / metro / projects /stcroix /pdfs /sfeis2006 /Full %2OChapters /Appendices /St CroixSFEIS AppendixG.pdf HISTORICAL CONTEXT: The shoddy mill and warehouse buildings that Moritz Bergstein built in Oak Park (Heights) are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. They are important to our understanding of history because these two buildings illustrate an important story in America's long history of immigration. The two buildings tell the story of many Jewish immigrants who came to Minnesota as part of a large migration of eastern European and Russian Jews to the U.S. between the 1880s and 1910. Moritz Bergstein and a brother Ignatz, immigrated from Hungary to the U. S. in 1880 and 1883 respectively. Stillwater City Directories indicate the Bergstein brothers operated a restaurant on North Main in Stillwater in 1884, but by 1887 the brothers are listed as peddlers. The words "peddler "or "junk collector" generally meant collecting and selling used materials for reuse. Assessor's records in 1888 indicate that Moritz Bergstein possessed two horses and two wagons, certainly allowing for the collection of a fair amount of materials and probably an indication of his success in the business. The business of collecting and reusing, or trading, cast -off materials was widely practiced in Europe before it was pursued in the United States. Until the 1880s, the US imported millions of pounds of rags to be recycled into paper or new fabric. As the population of the U. S. doubled between 1880 and 1910, and consumption and waste increased, the recycling of American waste such as rags, bones, and metals became possible and profitable. Jewish - American immigrants like Moritz Bergstein were likely acquainted, if not familiar, with the business of collection and reuse of discarded materials in Europe, especially when coming from countries that severely restricted what occupations could be practiced by Jews. When Moritz married Bertha Gardner, a Jewish immigrant from Bohemia in about 1890, they bought the property in Oak Park on Stage Coach Road (then Main Street) at the end of a spur to the St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Omaha Railway. Here they established the current shoddy mill operation and also their home. The location was perfect for transporting Bergstein's finished shoddy to mattress factories in Minneapolis. At about the same time, Ignatz Bergstein moved to Minneapolis where he eventually established Bergstein Brothers, a mattress factory, which is listed in the Minneapolis directory from 1900 to 1929. Only two buildings from the Bergstein enterprise remain: the small stone building that contained the mill machine (called a 'devil') that shredded the material into shoddy and the large wood -frame warehouse where fabric was stored and then made into mattresses. When national brand mattress makers eclipsed businesses like Bergstein's around 1910, Moritz Bergstein began collecting scrap metal, and other "junk" that could be traded for a good price at the right time. Flexibility and good business sense were essential characteristics of successful immigrant entrepreneurs like the Bergsteins who found their way into the American economy. Shown are the Shoddy Mill and Warehouse buildings in their existing location in Oak Park Heights. Both the Shoddy Mill and Warehouse are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 111011011 Since 2006, MnDOT has been implementing a number of the St. Croix Crossing Project's mitigation items, including the relocation of the Shoddy Mill and Warehouse. Agency coordination meetings between MnDOT, the City of Stillwater, National Park Service, Corp of Engineers and MnDNR have developed this relocation project. MnDOT has hired a contractor to relocate the Shoddy Mill and Warehouse buildings to the prepared site as proposed in the City of Stillwater's 2006 Proposed Site Assessment report. The relocations are expected to take place by November 2012. MnDOT maintains information on the Shoddy Mill and Warehouse Relocation Project on the project website at: http: / /www. dot. state.mn.us / metro /projects /stcroix /documents mill.html This is an image of the relocated buildings incorporated into the City of Stillwater's park adjacent to the loop trail system of the St. Croix Crossing Project. For a full description of the individual historical /archeological resources of the St. Croix Crossing Project area, please see Chapter 11 of the SFEIS at http: / /www. dot. state.mn.us / metro / projects /stcroix /pdfs /sfeis2006 /Full /`2OChapters /Chapters /StCr oixSFEIS Chll.pdf Chapter 11 describes the determination of effect on each of the historical /archeological resources and if necessary, the appropriate mitigation of that effect. } F- W 0 O n- W J CL z 0 z 0 U D LU w w co D x y 0 z ¢ m J ; Y y � w U o D � U Z' ie y J W