PRAB Meeting Date: January 22, 2025
To: Members of the Park and Recreation Advisory Board
From: Charlie Fredericks, Streets & Parks Manager
Title
Consider Confirming the Approval of Relocating the Archery Range to Meadows Park
Body
Action Requested:
The Northfield Park and Recreation Advisory Board considers a motion to approve relocating the archery range to Meadows Park.
Summary Report:
The City is scheduled to begin construction of a new water treatment facility in spring 2025 on the site where the current archery range is located. Due to the proximity of the range to the future facility and the need to utilize the existing site for related infrastructure, the range must be relocated.
Staff, in consultation with the City Attorney, determined that the new location must be within a city park to comply with zoning laws. After evaluating the park system, Meadows Park emerged as the preferred location due to its available acreage, relatively low park usage, and the lower costs associated with this site compared to other options like Hauberg Woods Park and Sechler Park.
The Meadows Park Master Plan (Attachment 1) will not require amendments for this relocation. Staff recommend that when future development or funding becomes available for Meadows Park, the location of the archery range be re-evaluated within the park system. At that time, either a permanent space for the range can be budgeted, or the master plan for Meadows Park can be updated to include it.
Currently, no development or planned improvements to Meadows Park conflict with the proposed archery range location, and no improvements are identified in the Parks Capital Investment Plan over the recommended 10-year implementation.
Attachments:
• Attachment 1: Meadows Park Master Plan
• Attachment 2: Photos of the Existing Archery Range
• Attachment 3: Public Feedback Materials (resident letters, initial proposed layout and trail impact map, map of parcels receiving letters, and yard sign photos)
• Attachment 4: Survey Results Summary and feedback received via email
• Attachment 5: Proposed map of the archery range based on public feedback
• Attachment 6: Currently proposed map of the archery range
Public Survey Summary Results (survey was only publicized via the letter to surrounding residents and via the yard signs posted within the park in an effort to hear primarily from the users of Meadows):
• How often do you utilize the current archery range?
o 17%: Frequently
o 7%: Occasionally
o 19%: Rarely
o 57%: Never
• How important do you believe it is to maintain an archery range in Northfield?
o 26%: Extremely Important
o 26%: Somewhat Important
o 36%: Neutral
o 12%: Not Important
• Do you support relocating the archery range to Meadows Park?
o 52%: Yes
o 31%: No
o 17%: Unsure
Based on survey feedback, staff then revised the initial recommended location of the range to the eastern side of Meadows Park, rather than the initially proposed location. That adjustment would have required archers to walk a longer distance to the range but allows the walking trail on the southern side of the hill to remain open-a request echoed by several survey respondents. Attachment 5 shows this proposed location, which would have impacted a small number of the walking trails and positioned the archery range on the eastern side of the park.
At the December 2024 Board Meeting, the motion to recommend the relocation of the range was postponed allowing staff to have a conversation with the Cannon River Outdoors Club (formerly the Cannon River Sportsman’s Club) to discuss the feasibility of the walking distance to the parking lot, the need to relocate trails, and where those trails would go within Meadows Park.
Following the December 2024 Park Board meeting, staff met with members of the Cannon River Outdoors Club to discuss the proposed range location within Meadows Park. The Outdoors Club stated that they would prefer to move the range to the south side of the existing park as shown in Attachment 6.
Attachment 6 shows the current recommended location, which preserves all existing walking trails within Meadows Park, allows for potential future expansion of the range to the east or west as requested by the Outdoors Club, and retains a significant portion of the land for agricultural use.
The current agricultural lease for land within Meadows Park will be adjusted to accommodate the archery range, reducing the tillable acreage from 20.95 to 19.2. Staff have collaborated with the tenant throughout this process to ensure a smooth transition.
Alternative Options:
1. Permanently Remove the Archery Range:
The Board could opt not to relocate the range, resulting in its permanent removal.
2. Explore an Alternative Park Location:
The Board could recommend further exploration of other park sites. However, this would require removal of the existing range in the spring and potentially years of budgeting and planning for construction at the new location, leaving Northfield without an archery range in the interim.
Financial Impacts:
$19,720 - estimated cost of initial relocation to Meadows Park (Includes: concrete platform, concrete foundations, turf establishment and tree relocation/planting; excludes staff time)
Tentative Timelines:
Spring 2025 - initial relocation to Meadows Park (establish turf, move targets, etc.)
2025-2027 - establishment of trees, shrubs, and other landscaping.