Board of Commissioners Meetings

Superintendent's Recommendation:

MOTION TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF PLYMOUTH ESTABLISHING THE PROPERTY RIGHTS, OWNERSHIP, DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, OPERATIONS, AND MAINTENANCE RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE MEDICINE LAKE REGIONAL TRAIL, CONVEYING ABOUT 5.75 ACRES TO THE CITY, AND ESTABLISHING A SHARED TRAILHEAD ALONG CHESHIRE PARKWAY.

Prepared By: Kelly Grissman, Director of Planning

Background:

Over the last five years, Three Rivers and the City of Plymouth have been working in partnership to establish or update regional trail agreements for trail segments within the City and to convey property rights between the two parties to best support each agencies' parks and trails goals. Luce Line Regional Trail and Bassett Creek Regional Trail Cooperative Agreements were recently completed, and Eagle Lake Regional Trail Cooperative Agreement is anticipated to occur later this year.

At this time, staff have collaborated on a draft Medicine Lake Regional Trail Cooperative Agreement (See Attached: Medicine Lake Regional Trail Cooperative Agreement) which would accomplish the following items if approved:

• Establishes typical regional trail property rights, ownership, design, construction, ownership, and maintenance responsibilities which are generally consistent with regional trail agreements with the City and other municipalities.
• Conveys missing easements and limited use permits from the City to the Park District for purposes of forming a continuous and contiguous trail corridor.
• Cancels previous agreements or portions of previous agreements spanning several decades which are no longer applicable or are now covered by the new cooperative agreement.
• Conveys trail responsibilities from the City to Three Rivers for the locally owned/operated trail segment along Northwest Boulevard/CSAH 61 following planned reconstruction in 2027 and establishes cost participation for associated design and construction from the City of up to $300,000 in lieu of providing land which Three Rivers no longer needs from a previous land exchange agreement.
• Conveys about 5.75 acres of regional trail land no longer needed to complete the Medicine Lake Regional Trail corridor (PID 04118221140003, appraised at $85,000 - see exhibit F of the Medicine Lake Regional Trail Cooperative Agreement) and $50,000 from Three Rivers to the City in exchange for use of the City's existing Cheshire Parkway trailhead to support the Medicine Lake Regional Trail, a city commitment to construct a bathroom facility with potable water at the trailhead by 2030, and to convey an easement for regional trail signage to Three Rivers.

If approved by the Board, the agreement will be considered by the Plymouth City Council on July 22.

Relationship to the System Plan:

The Request for Action supports the following goal(s) of the System Plan:

Goal 1: You Belong Here

Goal 2: Parks Matter

Goal 3: Lead by Example

Attachments:

Medicine Lake Regional Trail Cooperative Agreement

Superintendent's Recommendation:

MOTION TO ENTER INTO A CONSULTANT AGREEMENT WITH SHORT ELLIOT HENDRICKSON, INC. TO PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING CONSULTING SERVICES FOR THE BRYANT LAKE REGIONAL TRAIL IN MINNETONKA, MN, WITH A TOTAL HOURLY NOT-TO-EXCEED FEE IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,187,959.00 INCLUDING REIMBURSABLE EXPENSES, AND TO ESTABLISH A TOTAL CONSULTANT FEE BUDGET IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,306,754.90 INCLUDING A TEN PERCENT CONTINGENCY WITH FINANCING FROM THE 2025 ASSET MANAGEMENT PROGRAM.

Prepared By: Josh Bowe, Senior Manager of Engineering

Background:

SEH successfully completed the schematic design for the Bryant Lake Regional Trail project with a contract awarded at the January 14, 2025, Regular Board of Commissioners meeting. The next phase of the project includes schematic design through bidding of the Bryant Lake Regional Trail along Baker Road (CSAH 60) and Rowland Road between Minnetonka Boulevard (CSAH 5) and Bryant Lake Regional Park. The scope of this contract includes continued trail design, geotechnical evaluation, water resources design, structural design, traffic analysis, right of way services, and bidding assistance. The Bryant Lake Regional Trail will provide connections to the Lake Minnetonka Regional Trail, Minnesota River Bluffs Regional Trail, and Bryant Lake Regional Park, as well as local destinations including Minnetonka Mills Park, Hopkins West Middle School, and Lone Lake Park. Design will be compliant with Federal State Aid requirements as the Park District was awarded a Federal State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) grant for Fiscal Year 2027.

The Park District has established a pre-qualified professional consulting services pool for standard areas of consulting practice, such as the type considered in this proposed agreement. Staff recommends the prequalified consultant Short Elliot Hendrickson, Inc. (SEH) be hired based on one or more of the following criteria:

• Expertise and experience with similar projects
• Particular knowledge of relationships, processes, methods, time frame, and services required
• Schedule and personnel available to complete the work
• Appropriate fee schedule
• Past performance and responsiveness
• Workload capacity, particularly with respect to current contracts already held with the Park District

The proposed consultant fee and scope of work was cooperatively developed between Park District staff and the consultant in order to be consistent with Three Rivers’ design best practices and appropriate for the established project scope and complexity. Staff recommends the consulting firm of SEH be hired to provide schematic design through bidding services for the Bryant Lake Regional Trail - Minnetonka Project.

Relationship to the System Plan:

The Request for Action supports the following goal(s) of the System Plan:

Goal 1: You Belong Here

Goal 2: Parks Matter

Goal 3: Lead by Example

Attachments:

20250106_TBL_ContextMap.pdf

20250106_TBL_Map_Final.pdf

Superintendent's Recommendation:

NO ACTION REQUIRED; THIS ITEM IS FOR INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION.

Background:

Commissioners are encouraged to share announcements and discuss ideas for future topics of interest.

Attachments:

Board Proposed Discussion Topics.pdf

Superintendent's Recommendation:

MOTION TO CLOSE THE REGULAR BOARD MEETING TO EVALUATE THE SUPERINTENDENT’S ANNUAL JOB PERFORMANCE IN ACCORDANCE WITH MINNESOTA STATUTES SECTION 13D.05, SUBD. 3.

Background:

The Board Chair will review the Superintendent’s Annual Performance Evaluation with Commissioners.

Following the Closed Meeting, the Board will reconvene in open session to summarize its conclusions regarding the evaluation. These procedures comply with Minn. Stat. §13D.05 subd. 3.