i'd like to call the April 24th 2025 Newport Park Board meeting to order Roll call please Chairperson Fur here Vice Chairperson White Board member Perkins here Board member Edgler here Board member
Westerberg here All right Do we have a motion to adopt our agenda i'll make a motion to adopt the agenda Do we have a second i'll second All in
favor i opposed Motion carries Uh March 27th 2025 parkboard minutes Um everybody have a chance to review and any additions or subtractions of any sort
corrections if not do we have a motion to approve a motion to approve And do we have a second i second it All in favor i I opposed Motion carries All
right Executive director's report All right Uh first things we have a presentation from Bolton and Mink on the trails uh Newport city trails If you would like go from there Perfect All right Well thanks for having me Um to start with a
quick introduction My name is Connor Cox I'm a senior transportation planner with Bolton and Mink and we've been contracted uh by the city to develop a trail network plan for the city of Newport So uh the plan here today is I'm going to run through probably about a 15minute presentation if that's all
right Um and then we'll have uh questions and answers answer any questions that you might have So uh quickly the agenda for my presentation So I'll talk a little bit about the background of the plan and the purpose you know why the city had interest in developing the plan I'll go
through the contents of the plan Uh and then I'll talk a little bit about the existing trail network in Newport today Um followed by a recap of the community engagement efforts that we did for the plan And then I'll get into our recommendations So talk about some of
the future trail network recommendations that we have in the plan And then uh lastly I'll talk about some of the priority trial corridors that kind of rose to the top um through the plan and some of the conceptual design uh work and recommendations that we have in the
plan Uh so just a bit of background on the plan and kind of the purpose why um this plan is being conducted So um improving trails became a priority for the city council over the past couple of years Um that's something that came through in in surveys um and and other
efforts through the city And so um city got a grant to conduct this trial master plan and uh that's where we came in to to help develop that and and conduct community engagement So um you know I guess the main purpose of the plan is to identify future uh
trail corridors and facilities as well as locations where uh crossing enhancements should be made to increase safety for people using the trail system Um quickly kind of what's in the plan So uh start out by generally u
assessing the existing conditions So understanding what the trail network is today both in terms of trails or shared use paths but also the sidewalk um system in the city Um and then identifying new trails and starting to prioritize those trails Um and then
lastly we have a section on you know implementation and funding So we have uh some recommendations for different grant programs that could be pursued to help um get some funding to build these trails in the future So I'll talk just briefly about the existing trail network today Uh on the
right side of the screen here you'll see a map Uh the solid green lines are trails that exist today Um I'm sure everyone's familiar with the system A lot of the trails today are on either side of the highway Um there are also some this size that's a very good uh
survey participation and we promoted that through social media as well as newsletters Um following the draft plan that we developed we uh developed a second survey and then posted that online uh we had a dedicated project web page that we
put the survey link on Um so this survey received 12 responses and this was specific to comments on the draft plan So the draft plan was developed based on the initial feedback that we got at those events Um and then this one was just kind of reactions to what the
recommendations were Um I won't go through this through this all in detail but generally we had a lot of really positive comments on that survey People were very supportive of seeing the recommendations um and are very supportive of seeing new trails u recommended in the future Um
some of the specific comments that we heard most frequently um folks cited 7th Avenue as a major concern Of course 7th has an existing trail in the northern part of it but the southern part of 7th Avenue doesn't have a trail today we have a recommendation for a trail there
Um and several people mentioned uh that they support that idea and that they would like to see that trail on the west side of the road in the future Um other comments that we heard a lot uh better connections between La Lake Park and Bailey Meadows neighborhood to that trail system there
Um and then generally improving conditions along Century Avenue and Military Avenue kind of in that that area near uh the Bailey uh school forest park Um I'm going to transition to talk a little bit about our recommendations
that we have in the plan and then I'll show you the the plan trail network Um so the long-term this is a long-term vision This is not something that you know would be built out in the next couple of years It would take um a lot of effort probably grant applications and funding um from the city Some of
these trails could be built as streets are either resurfaced or reconstructed in the future um that's a good opportunity to implement trails especially kind of on a short-term basis but generally speaking we're this is something you know thinking about the long term over the next 10 20 years um
key connections uh city hall is one of those uh connecting to schools and parks were really important to community members and then um lastly like I mentioned the Mississippi River folks mentioned uh better access to the river is really important um and then lastly
just better accessibility so opportunities to walk around the community for for recreation or exercise was was important to people Um this the recommendations in the plan were um really generated both from our
technical analysis so kind of looking at existing conditions today looking at the road network um and then supplemented with that community feedback So kind of understanding what is the system today and then where do community members want to see future trails recommended Um in
addition to the trail recommendations we also had a number of different uh proposed crossing enhancements So um looking at ways that we can improve the safety of of trail users crossing the streets at kind of key intersections So this is the future um
you know map the recommended trail network in the future Um not sure if folks have had a chance to take a look at this but the um solid the solid lines are those existing trails that are there today and then the dash lines are the proposed trails And then the last thing
to note on here is that those squares that are noted on the map here those are the locations that we identified or that community members identified where they want to see better crossing enhancements Um and so what you know that could mean a number of different things That could mean uh striping a crosswalk at that
location It might mean um flashing beacons Uh they're called RRFBs So kind of something to uh generate more attention to motorists to slow down in that area Um there's a number of different kind of engineering treatments that can be made to improve uh safety
for uh the crossing areas So um just from a highle look the plan there's about nine miles of existing trails today and then the the uh trail plan identifies another you know nine and a half miles or so So the the long-term vision is to kind of double that um that
network of trails that's out there today Um and as you can see on the map um a lot of those connections are you know connecting to the library connecting to the parks uh connecting to schools some of those areas that uh people want to get to especially children um you know
increasing safety for for folks that uh cannot or do not drive in the community And then you also notice there's a there's a couple of different connections to the river uh to the Mississippi River and some of those overlooks which um we heard a lot about through our community feedback process
Um I wanted to talk a little bit about some of the priority trial corridors Um in that uh image that I showed earlier at Pioneer Day uh there was that kind of ranking activity that we did with community members So we use the results of that feedback to um identify
different trails that were a higher priority to community members And then once we identified um those corridors we did a little bit of kind of preliminary engineering or uh conceptual design to understand what could this look like both in the short term as well as in the
long term So I'm going to walk through just a couple of those but um prioritizing trails is really important because we know that um building out the system is going to be expensive Um and we wanted to make sure that we were using um the voting results from the community to understand which corridor
should be uh built first Um so one of them I'll kind of go through these quickly generally speaking So um 4th Avenue was one of those priority corridors This is a corridor that you know connects um a lot of key
destinations in the community Um it's it's a pretty long corridor as you can see all the way from Arrow Arowwood Park to Second Street on the south Um and I'll talk a little bit about what our recommendations are So these graphics on the bottom show the um both existing
conditions on the far bottom left short-term conditions in the middle and then long-term uh recommendations on the right So uh just to give you a better understanding um of of kind of what this means So the short-term recommendation this is something that could be implemented with just a restriping of
the roadway So maybe the city is going to do a mill overlay project or something like that It's a relatively uh you know relatively easy thing to do to implement something like this You're not moving the curbs on any of these roads in the short-term condition Um there would be some additional striping um
that would need to be done but as you can see the recommendation here um is removing parking on the street and then kind of utilizing that space that was used for parking uh to develop that on street walking and biking path In the long term the image on the
far right um you can see that the roadway gets narrowed a little bit a curbto curb dimension gets narrowed and then you add that uh off- streetet walking path uh similar to what you see in the community today um outside of the roadway Um and then that also has a a
nice boulevard space which could be used for both snow storage in the winter as well as you know tree plantings and things like that Um another priority corridor that rose to the top was Cedar Lane and 16th Street um kind of basically connecting from where we are here at the city hall
um down 20th Street Cedar Lane and 16th So kind of creating that connection uh north to south And I'll run through this as well Um so each of these streets is a little bit different What we're showing here is 16th Street So again this is very
similar to what I just showed on fourth uh with recommendations of kind of using the existing space in the short term but restriping it to provide that uh walking facility and then long-term having the uh off- streetet shared use
path Um Cedar Lane is a little bit different You can see the existing conditions on the image on the left Um this is a what we call a rural roadway In other words it doesn't have curbon gutter Um so one thing that could be done here uh in the short term is adding
what we call advisory shoulders So these kind of dashed lines that you see on that middle image just denotes that that's an area kind of dedicated for people walking or biking And then it's the roadway uh dimensions the pavement space doesn't actually change um de uh
dimensions in the short term but it's kind of reallocating that space It gets people to slow down a little bit when they're driving and calls more attention to people that might be walking on on the side of the road Um longterm you can see on the image on the left there we proposed a trail off streetet trail on the west
side that would um you know be you know closer to the river and connect to future parks that are planned in the area Um and with that I'm happy to take any questions Um there's some more information in the plan There's more information on funding recommendations
and and other things But uh to keep it brief here I thought we'd stop there So happy to answer any questions that folks might have Questions um not really a question comment Um it's it's just nice to hear the enhanced you know opportunities for pedestrian
crossings and things because yeah I can see where you know parents would have concerns with the existing conditions in certain spots So that's you know very nice thing to hear Yeah we heard similar things with the online survey Um and actually after we
launched that survey we added a couple of additional locations along Hastings Avenue that community members called out as you know important to to improve Great A couple of those those dots there the squares that you see on the screen there were based on community member comments All right
So when you're talking cost that's is that going to be just with the city or is everybody that lives along these areas going to be affected by assessments or whatever for this yeah So I mean a lot of times um you can get
grants for these like you know none of this is proposed to be constructed so I can't answer that question directly but the what this plan does is it tees up the city to go after grant funding to implement some of these So if if you do get grant funding there would be no impact on you know community members It
could be depending on the grant program It it might be something that's um you know fully funded Um so with this plan I think it puts a city in a much better position to go after grant funding because you you you know you can point to this plan and say hey we have a plan It recommends a trail on this corridor
and now you know now we're looking for the next step of funding So it just kind of depends on how the city implements it If it's through grant dollars or if it's through other local funding sources it could you know that could vary [Music]
So this is still in the proposal kind of realm There's no like set date in which this would start in terms of implementation Correct Yeah So think of this as like a long-term plan The first step is to figure out okay where should we build the trails
once this is published then it's like let's try to find money and and then you also would need to go through a design process most likely you know more detailed engineering plans to to iron out some of the details you know with with different intersection treatments or driveway crossings all these types of
things But consider this almost like the first step in a multi-phase process to to build out a system like that And that's why I mentioned you know building out this network could take you know many many years you know 10 10 20 years until it's fully implemented But it
needs to kind of start with a vision Um if you look at other communities that have built out trail systems it's it's very similar They maybe did a plan you know 10 or 20 years ago and they slowly built it out as different opportunities arose like a street reconstruction project Then you look at this map and say "Oh our trail plan identified a
trail here Um that's something that we should build out it was you know it was identified years ago as a community priority and and now we have an opportunity So most of these projects would probably happen uh with a roadway project It
would be unlikely that they would be standalone projects where you would you know build the trail without the street being reserviced or something like that just because of the cost Any other questions guys thank you Appreciate it Thanks for
having me Thanks Conor Next on the list is uh guest speaker Sarah Marie from the Newport Library calling Adventure 5505 Good evening Uh as Derek said I'm Sarie
Malowitz I'm the library coordinator down at the Newport Library on the end of 7th Avenue and I'm here to talk about our summer project Uh we we launched this program last summer And uh the
program consists of six adventure packets that are in little free libraries or libraries on a stick in parks in Newport So there's one at um
Busy Beaver there's one at Pioneer um there's one at each of the parks there's one in front of Newport Elementary School uh by the main entry doors and there's one in front of the Newport Library and Community Center And so the youth find this packet and in this
packet there is um an envelope and we call it the passport envelope And the passport envelope has the rules of the quote unquote game but basically with these envelopes is also something that looks like this This is just an example of one of our projects we've done And so
they rip the little worksheet off do the worksheet put it in their packet and um then they bring those little envelopes to the library And so they get uh a reward They get a prize for every three they do so they can do twice they can
receive a prize from us And so um we launched this project last year We purchased 500 envelopes We handed out all 500 envelopes We had to make little flyers with the envelopes and we handed
out another I'm going to say maybe 30 flyers We got 100 responses that came back with at least three of them done Um and so we were thrilled This year we're looking to order at least 600 envelopes
Um I've also uh one of the things that works out really nicely is I take the first 250 envelopes and I drop them off at Newport Elementary School and all of the teachers hand them out to all the kids at Newport Elementary School So that gets us a really great start which is super exciting Um but I've also been
contacted by teachers who say "Hey I have a bunch of kids that live in Newport that go to our school you know." So what I actually brought you all tonight is the new flyer which I've made for those teachers Um I have a color
version like with color photos that we'll also use for um any online distribution emails and things like that But I brought you guys a print out of that flyer um today and that will go out to the teachers particularly the reading
specialists at um some of the Swashko schools um and anybody else who's interested in promoting the program So what I'm asking of the park board today is just your continued support with this program Like I said we were really excited that a hundred kids came in over
the course of the summer and said "Hey I did three." Which is amazing right um and so that's our our big project Um so that's what I have to present I will stand for any questions you might have Thanks So I guess one of my questions is
in the packets and stuff So it involves like is it reading math just different types of Yeah So um this the one I brought with me today they illustrate the water cycle Um so kind of just that idea of what happens how water works So
that's more scientific Um one of the new ones I'm super excited about for this year is a little map of Newport and it has a letter by the different parks including the four parks that are um
attached to the bridges And so those parks a lot of people aren't familiar with those park names and so they can go on the website and look up the park names or they can go to the different parks And so um I'm super excited about
that um project Um another one we do we did a poem last year This year I pulled the words to Hail Minnesota which is the Minnesota State song and they answer three really easy questions about the song Um and so we do something like that There's a cross word puzzle So they're
all some sort of learning One of my favorite moments it was about a week into the project and I was walking out of the building at the library and a couple of young men were sitting on the stairs of the library They had just pulled from the packet in that library
on a stick and the little boy looked at me and said "You're tricking us into learning." And I looked at him and I said "Is it working?" And he's like "Yes." And I was like "Okay see you tomorrow." So that you know the the kids enjoy it um they get you know they get
that prize and and they they get to go around Um my associate Stephanie reported to me that one Saturday when she was in 12 kids came in with three adults and they live on the west side of the city And so their adults had driven
them over to the east side to go to all those parks and they had finished their envelopes and they were so proud And um the group took a picture on the stairs inside the building together holding up their little envelopes It was super fun Um and so they got to spend an afternoon you know going around all the different
parks and and doing those things and finishing their projects And um some of them we strategically put in places where you know like the most difficult ones the one in front of the library so that our staff can help them with any answers they don't have Um and things
like that So great Thank you for your time and all the you know effort put into this Sounds really amazing Thank you Any other questions all right Thank you so much Pleasure to see you Thank you
Next is uh just a reminder that uh the school district will be doing some planting of seedlings at Beta School Forest And the first day that they'll be doing that is tomorrow So you have a little map there I sent out just so you guys see where they're kind of planting
that's exciting for him All right And do you have anything else uh the next thing is the last thing I have is a sport court design discussion And that's just you'll see the design for the new
sport courts up at Lovelin Park that MSA and the city council have been working hard on trying to focus on how to get some pickle ball courts there and uh new surface and basketball courts and a tennis court So that's the latest and greatest design and just wondering any
comments and comments concerns So it'll leave one basketball court one tennis court and three pickle ball courts Okay at the moment Now there's two tennis courts and a basketball court and that's it Okay And we're using the same space
We're not expanding it or anything Yeah roughly Sounds wonderful When do you expect to start uh I'm not sure Hopefully earlier this uh summer They still have to go out for bid for the project and stuff but this is just hopefully get completed
this year been on the bids So is this also adding on parking as well so I'm seeing proposed parking area Yeah there will be some proposed parking down at where the drinking fountain is currently Okay And then there will be a trail to get up there so it's ADA accessible And
then same on the other side So future meetings then you'll have some updates for us as far as timeline goes and stuff like that Okay Perfect Perfect All right Any other questions all right Thanks Derek
All right So I know we've got a few um well I shouldn't say a few Time is going to go pretty quick you know May here and stuff Um but just a little talk about possibly some of the activities and things that we would like to do for our family fun night in June Um and I I
think that you know kind of limit the time with the games and stuff because we've only got like a two-hour window and and I know the ice cream truck will be a big hit So um last year there was the kickball game Um
anybody else have any other kind of suggestions we also had a lot of lawn games Um like um what do you call them cornhole was one Okay Uh ladder
golf And I have ladder golf so I can bring that Uh I think Emily had cornhole I don't know if she still has that or not Okay Um I think we might have had a couple other little things for all right guard
games just for anybody to pick up and play And then I think it was Emily that reached out to the Washington County Sheriff's Department and had the deputy stopped by and he talked with the kids and had some bracelets and stickers and things like that So we'll make sure that
we check with her on that All right Anything else um we should talk about for the fun night Are we going to try and do music or anything i know it was kind of a a failure for our winter
family fund but we're Was there a speaker or anything that Yeah we can get a Bluetooth speaker that seems to work that somebody can show one of us how to work it Okay Okay Yeah I couldn't connect to the the speaker that was there Yeah You're in charge of
technology All right Um and I would it be nice to do so for the little kids i'm assuming there'll be some little ones like bubbles or sidewalk chalk or something that they I don't know if there's like space for that But something if they bring little ones that maybe kickball
might be a little intimidating right it's kind of a everybody kind of do does what they want Yeah it's really not organized unless there's a group that wants to play Sure Um a lot of the kids go to the playground and play on the playground but um I don't remember about little
kids Maybe some bubbles would be good Are the tables in the pavilion movable so that way maybe in the center smaller kids could do side block chalk inside the pavilion I have no idea Yeah they can be moved if needed Okay all right So those are things that we
can add to the list for possibilities All right Anything else anybody would like to add to that do you know if McMart's been contacted yes they have Okay Yeah Emily took care of that I think we got an email on that I could go back and look for sure Okay Thank you And then I
know she requested that they send two people in the truck this year to make sure that they had more help and stuff so they can have more treats quicker All right Um them kids out And that's the third from 6:00 to 8 Yes 3rd of June
So that'll be neat because then the um the uh adventure 55 because there will be a um 5505 will be there and they pick up their envelope that night That'd be kind of neat And so we can Is there a
possibility we could get a table up for um Sarah to work off in absolutely Okay All right Super All right Anybody else have anything else they'd like to add for the um family fun night in the
summer if not we're going to pass the time to um Emmy She can update us on uh Pioneer Day Yeah So just continuing that conversation from last time Um just a reminder it will be on a Saturday this
year So instead of Sunday we're shifting it to the date before which I believe is August 9th Um and so it will be similar in the fact that there will be a parade with the event in the afternoon at um Briner Park Um there will be a Friday
night movie the night before So on the 8th um kind of the timeline and exact movie is still to be determined what's next um with that But um plan for um a Saturday event instead of a Sunday um
and more information to come All right Thank you for the update All right Anyone else have any they would like to add i do Um April is usually a volunteer appreciation month So I'd like to thank
all of our volunteers that clean the parks and the trails and thanks for helping with the keeping the city clean Super All right Very good Anything else do we have a motion to adjurnn
a motion to adjurnn Second A second All in favor i opposed Motion carries Thanks