Minnesota Mississippi River Parkway Commission 1st Quarter Meeting February 28, 2019 ● 2:30 – 5:00 p.m. State Office Building – Room 400 North DRAFT AGENDA _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2:30 p.m. Welcome & Introductions Pierson 2:35 p.m. Approve Today’s Agenda & Minutes from 11/29/18 Pierson/All 2:40 p.m. Informational Presentation - Riverview Corridor Project - Ramsey County Mike Rogers 2:55 p.m. Commission Business - Officer Election All - Budget Status Report Handout/Lewis/Miller - Executive Committee Report Handout/Committee Members - Legislative Updates & MN-MRPC Requests LCC/Legislative Members/Miller 3:25 p.m. National MRPC - 2019 Semi Annual Meeting, Clarksdale, MS Miller - Committee Updates Committee Members 3:45 p.m. Commission Projects - Plan Your Trip/Plan Your Project – Updates Zoff - New MN GRR Print Map Zoff 3:55 p.m. Old Business - Consider Revised MN GRR Logo Policy All - Review MN-MPRC Process for Letters of Support, etc. All 4:15 p.m. Letter/Action Requests - Consider Letters of Support Miller/All o Lady Slipper Scenic Byway o City of Brooklyn Park - Consider Letter of Comment Pierson/All o 311 2nd St SE Development, Minneapolis 4:30 p.m. Commission Member Updates - At Large Lewis - Lake Itasca to Grand Rapids Salminen - Grand Rapids to Brainerd Christianson - Brainerd to Elk River Samp - Elk River to Hastings Pierson - Hastings to Iowa Border Mulry - Agriculture Hugunin - Historical Society Kelliher - Natural Resources Parker/Bonsignore - Transportation Bradley/Zoff - National Park Service/MISS Anfinson 5:00 p.m. Wrap Up and Adjourn Minnesota Mississippi River Parkway Commission 4th Quarter Meeting – November 29, 2018 State Office Building, St. Paul MN MINUTES – Draft Commissioners Present Greg Hubinger – LCC Scott Bradley – Transportation Appointee Chris Miller – Staff Nancy Salminen – Lake Itasca to Grand Rapids Megan Christianson – Grand Rapids to Brainerd Commissioners/Technical Advisors Absent Karl Samp – Brainerd to Elk River Andrea Kajer – Historical Society Appointee Cordelia Pierson – Elk River to Hastings Sheronne Mulry – Hastings to Iowa Border Anne Lewis – At Large Lisa Havelka – Tourism Appointee (due to Sen. David Senjem technical difficulties in meeting room) Sen. Patricia Torres Ray Keith Parker – Natural Resources Appointee Rep. Sheldon Johnson Paul Hugunin – Agriculture Appointee Technical Advisors/Staff Present Guests and Speakers Present Carol Zoff – Transportation Liz Walton – MnDOT John Anfinson - NPS Boxuan Xia – MnDOT Gina Bonsignore – Natural Resources Jody Yungers, City of Brooklyn Park David Kelliher – Historical Society Diane Henry-Wangensteen – LCC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meeting called to order at 2:35 p.m. by Chair Johnson followed by introductions. A quorum was present. Approve Today’s Agenda and Minutes from 8/16/18: Motion by Cordelia Pierson and seconded by Karl Samp to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried unanimously. After review of the draft 8/16/18 meeting minutes, motion by Cordelia Pierson and seconded by Anne Lewis to approve the minutes as presented. Motion carried unanimously. Special Recognitions: Chair Johnson presented a letter of thanks to Greg Hubinger, LCC Director, recognizing his outstanding service to the Commission. Chair Johnson also recognized the President’s Award from the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota recently received by Sen. David Senjem. Cordelia Pierson, Karl Samp, Greg Hubinger and Sen. Senjem presented two special recognitions to Chair Johnson – the National MRPC Distinguished Service Award, and a Minnesota House Recognition Resolution. Members present also expressed their thanks to Rep. Johnson for his leadership and guidance and wished him well in his retirement. Informational Presentation – City of Brooklyn Park, River Park Master Plan: Jody Yungers, Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Brooklyn Park, shared information on the River Park Master Plan and the Mississippi Gateway Regional Park Master Plan. An overview of the plan was shared including details on community involvement and input and design concepts. Topics of importance to the community – connect with the river, preserve and protect natural resources, address storm water management issues, touching points. The River Park Master Plan includes an overlook, shoreline restoration, shore fishing spots, and a canoe/kayak access. Construction is to begin in 2020. The city has set aside funds and other sources may also be pursued. Commission members followed up with questions and discussion and thanked Ms. Yungers and the City of Brooklyn Park for their efforts. Budget Status Report: Chris Miller and Anne Lewis referenced the budget report in the meeting packet. Regional Meeting Updates: Chris Miller provided an update on status. The Bluffs Regional Meeting was held at the Winona County History Center on November 8 and Sheronne Mulry was re-elected as Regional Commissioner. Interpretive Center training was provided that same day at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum. The Metro Regional Meeting is planned for December 5, 1:00 p.m., at the Transportation Building in St. Paul and all Commission members are welcome. At-Large Member Election: The At-Large Member of the Commission is to be appointed by the other 14 members, currently on a two year cycle. A call for nominations was recently sent to members via email. Two nominations were received for Anne Lewis, along with a second and a statement of support. Lewis stated her interest in continuing. Chair Johnson called for additional nominations from the floor. None received. Motion by Karl Samp and seconded by Scott Bradley to close nominations and elect Anne Lewis to the At-Large position for a two year term. Motion carried unanimously. A recommendation was made by Sen. Torres Ray to consider diversity of Commission membership and increase outreach to interested and active candidates when positions are up for election. Staff will work with LCC on this. Legislative Updates/2019 Session: New House and Senate appointments to the MN-MRPC will be needed. LCC will facilitate the requests. Sen. Senjem noted looking forward to Great River Road/MN- MRPC information sharing at the Capitol. There was discussion on timing and a recommendation that this take place early in the session. The Executive Committee will meet to plan details. Megan Christianson mentioned that Explore Minnesota will be holding a Day at the Capitol in conjunction with the Minnesota Tourism Conference, February 4 – 6 and that Hospitality Minnesota will also be planning Capitol activities. MRPC Strategic Plan Summary: A strategic planning session was held for the ten state MRPC just prior to the Annual Meeting in West Memphis. A summary will be available soon and will be sent to MN- MRPC members via email. Karl Samp mentioned the following priorities/highlights – diversify funding sources (sponsorships); seek full participation from all ten states; pursue grants; increase/improve partnerships; and organizational effectiveness. 2018 MRPC Annual Meeting – Oct. 23 – 25, West Memphis, Arkansas: Anne Lewis reported on the presentation from former U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater describing it as motivating, uplifting and challenging for byways. Karl Samp noted that the 2019 Semi-Annual Meeting will be April 2 – 4 in Clarsksdale, Mississippi. Also at the Annual Meeting – Anne Lewis was elected as Pilot Pro Tem. Carol Zoff reported for the Transportation Committee – the ten state Corridor Management Plan (CMP) was reviewed and complimented by Secretary Slater; all four standing committees reviewed the CMP and the Board will consider for final approval in December; the final copy will be emailed out to the MN- MRPC; and it was noted that all ten states have the MRPC defined in statute. Nancy Salminen reported for the Culture & Heritage Committee – two new GRR Interpretive Centers were designated (Genoa Fish Hatchery, WI and Museum of the Grand Prairie, AR); Iowa reported on their new Interpretive Center Passport Program; each state has been asked to send three key stories and Sheronne Mulry has submitted for MN; there was discussion on development of rack cards for Interpretive Centers and ways to provide recognition for Centers; a database of ordinances is being developed to provide examples of intrinsic resource protection (Salminen has submitted the Mississippi Headwaters Board plan, and Pierson suggested MRCCA community comprehensive plans as examples). Anne Lewis reported for the Marketing Committee – a marketing report is included in the meeting packet; a new travel guide, Road Tripping Along the Great River Road (Klinkenberg), has just come out and the National MRPC Office will be working to partner/promote. Drive the Great River Road Month Report: The MN report for 2018 Drive the Great River Road Month was included in the meeting packet. Relay of Voices: This event, organized and produced by “A House Unbuilt” will involve a Lake Itasca to Gulf of Mexico relay run with arts activities and community stories along the way. The MRPC will be partnering on marketing to feature the Great River Road and several MN-MRPC members have assisted with local contacts. Minnesota portions of the events will take place in July 2019 and a full closing report will be presented at the MRCTI 2020 Annual Meeting in Bemidji, where the MRPC will also hold their Annual Meeting. Plan Your Trip Mapping/Regional