Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 01-09-20201 Approved Minutes January 9, 2020 Approved Minutes Park & Recreation Advisory Commission Thursday, January 9, 2020 MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Tricia DeBleeckere, Vice Chair Dick Burkhardt, Commissioners: Margie DuPuis, Ann Hoekstra, Marilyn Sunseri, Vita Wilson MEMBERS ABSENT: Michael Swanson STAFF PRESENT: Parks & Recreation Director Diane Evans, Deputy Director Barb Northway, Recreation Manager Kari Hemp, Creek Center Manager Chris Fleck, Office Support Specialist Sarah Josephs COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES: City Council Member Jim Wilis, Planning Commissioner Bryan Oakley 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair DeBleeckere called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Vice Chair Burkhardt and seconded by Commissioner Sunseri recommending approval of the November 14 Park and Recreation Advisory Commission meeting minutes as written. With all members voting in favor, the motion carried. 3. OPEN FORUM: 4. PRESENTATIONS (NON-ACTION ITEMS): 4a. Parks & Forestry Operations Deputy Director Northway introduced Commissioners to the Parks & Forestry division. This division manages, repairs, and protects parks, open spaces, park assets, and natural resources. The park system currently includes over 1,700 acres of land with 67 developed parks, 12 open spaces, the Northwest Greenway, 174 miles of city trail, 18 park buildings, 55 shelter structures, the Plymouth Creek Center/Fieldhouse, the Plymouth Ice Center, and the Hilde Performance Center. They are also responsible for lawn and snow maintenance along right of ways, medians, parking lots, the Fire Stations, City Hall, the Maintenance Facility, and utility sites. The division is housed at the Maintenance Facility on 23rd Avenue. The team is made up of 23.6 full time staff. Making up that number are 6 managerial, supervisory, technical, and support staff. There are 17.6 full time maintenance crew members during the growing months of April – October and 16 during the snow months. There are 20 part time seasonal/temporary crew members hired on during the growing months. The staff are a highly trained group of workers. They have a range of certifications and licenses including; Class A Commercial Drivers License, Certified Playground Safety Inspector, Certified Pesticide License, Certified Arborist, Tree Inspector License, Chainsaw Certification, Smart Salt Certification, as well as other on-going safety certifications. During the growing months their top tasks are mowing, maintaining athletic fields, constructio n projects, forestry, and inspections of playgrounds, weeds, and other assets. Staff also complete a lot of park support during the evening and weekend hours, as well as help set up and tear down at 2 Approved Minutes January 9, 2020 special events. Staff are also responsible for building cleaning and maintenance, as well as collecting garbage and recycling throughout the parks and trails. The Yard Waste Site sees a large number of residents each year bringing their leaves and grass clippings as well. During winter months the staff switch their focus to clearing trails and sidewalks of snow, clearing pakring lots of snow, preparing and maintaining outdoor rinks, tree trimming, and other repairs and maintenance as needed. The top five contractors that the division works with to complete all of their tasks are; tree maintenance ($147,000), asphalt and concrete ($93,000), lawn service ($92,600), portable toilets 83,000), and integrated pest management ($50,000). The managerial team works on preparing and planning for improvements and renova tions of the parks and assets within the parks. They also manage and plan out CIP projects and look for new ways to implement technology to make tasks more efficient. They also work on updating ordinances and policies for the division. Looking ahead to the next decade, staff anticipate challenges to include asphalt, water/drainage, work force, recycling, and invasive species. In terms of water, new areas are flooding in heavy rains that are making previously usable fields now unusable. At times, water is covering assets such as covering a trail. Staff are working on adding storm basins and drainage tiles to improve older parks. 4b. Plymouth Creek Center Playground Manager Fleck shared photos and a 3D map of the playground renderings for the indoor playground at the Plymouth Creek Center. The playground is made by Burke and would be assembled by St. Croix Recreation out of Stillwater. The idea behind the playground was to take a typical outdoor playground and bring it indoors in a 7,000 square foot container. Flooring around the playground is proposed to be a poured in place surface to increase accessibility for all to access the playground and its features. The playground includes a 2 -5 year old area and a 5- 12 year old area. Commissioner Burkhardt suggested for Manager Fleck to keep maintenance and cleaning needs in mind with the flooring and surfacing choices as the site will want to make sure spills and messes are easy to clean up. Another consideration is to use materials that do not create a lot of static as that tends to attract and collect dust and other small trash. Lighting and seating components are still being determined. Architects plan to use a combination of lighting components and technology to create a unique experience inside for all ages. Staff are also mindful of the best entrance option and ways to ensure a smooth traffic flow through the building and the playground. They want to make sure that they can accommodate many people in the playground, but without it feeling too crowded. The next step is to continue making any adjustments to the plans and eventually include in seating, lighting, and entrance flow locations. Installation of the playground wouldn’t take place until fall/winter of 2021 or early in 2022. In the meantime, they are working with contractors to choose color options, establish safe fall zones, and ensure all building codes are met. Commissioner Wilson asked what the anticipated capacity of the playground would be. Manager Fleck shared that they are expecting the playground capacity to be 200 people, and would have 3 Approved Minutes January 9, 2020 seating inside for up to 50 people. They will work closely with Fire to determine the appropriate capacity, but are hopeful to be near 200 people. Noise concerns were brought up and how they would affect users in other parts of the building. Manager Fleck shared that there are several opportunities to use decorations or design themes to incorporate acoustic panels, fabric, or other sound proofing features. Commissioner Sunseri asked how the number of users was going to be monitored during the day. Manager Flecked shared that the plan right now is to handle in a similar way to how open play is run. If an admission rate is used, that revenue can be applied toward maintenance of the playgrou nd and would provide an accurate count of how many people are in the gym at a time. If it is decided not to charge an admission rate a check-in process will still be set up to help control safety and the amount of people inside. 5. NEW BUSINESS (ACTION ITEMS): 5a. Draft 2020 Work Plan Director Evans presented Commissioners with a draft of the 2020 Work Plan. Once approved, the work plan will be forwarded to City Council. The work plan covers what the department plans to work on this year as well as other initiatives on the horizon. This year staff will be working with Wayzata School District to update their Joint Powers Agreements in place that expire this summer. Currently the city as agreements for use of the pools for aquatics programs, use of the community gymnasiums, and has playfield infrastructure in place on the school property. The Lake Camelot boardwalk along CR 47 has already been replace this year. New playgrounds will be installed at both Swan Lake Park and West Medicine Lake Parks. Open Houses will be scheduled for February for residents to share feedback on playground designs. East Medicine Lake Park is schedule to have parking lot improvements made. Improvements are also scheduled for the Plymouth Historical City Hall building. Park improvements include moving the bocce ball courts to Elm Creek Playfield and resurfacing the tennis courts at Plymouth Playfield. Plymouth Creek Playfield will have work completed to improve drainage problems, as well as resizing a ball field. The ballfield lights from Oakwood will be installed at Parkers Lake Park. Staff are waiting on new bids to complete trail gap 113 (near Fresh Thyme/Goodwill) to provide a crossing along Vicksburg Lane. A trail is also scheduled to be installed from 32 nd Ave along Elm Creek to the driveway of Wayzata High School. The Northwest Greenway South Trailhead is scheduled to be installed starting this year. Other large projects include a new automation system at the Fieldhouse dome, new PIC dasher boards, and replacing PIC water heaters. Motion by Vice Chair Burkhardt, seconded by Commissioner Sunseri, recommending the approval of the 2020 PRAC Work Plan. 5b. Plymouth Creek Center Exterior Design 4 Approved Minutes January 9, 2020 Staff presented Commissioners with three proposed options for exterior color schemes for the Plymouth Creek Center. Commissioners are asked to share their feedback and choice of color scheme. The first option is deep blue with a light concrete base. The second option is light gray with a dark concrete base. The third option is light gray with a bronze concrete base. There is not a cost difference between the three choices. Discussion amongst the Commissioners took place. Commissioner Sunseri felt that the deep blue against the fieldhouse wall looks out of place. She prefers the grey and bronze options as they have a more outgoing feel to it. Knowing that the outdoor lighting will change the look of the walls as well would add an interesting effect. Commissioner DuPuis shared that the bronze color adds a nice richness to the outside of the building. Grey is also a color that will last forever and look nice on the building. Commissioner Hoekstra asked if there would be an energy savings by having the darker color keeping the building warmer in the winter. Director Evans was going to check with the architects to see if there was a potential savings by choosing once color over the other. She also added that the lighter colors would be easier to maintain as the darker colors would show dirt quicker. She prefers options 2 or 3. Vice Chair Burkhardt likes the look of the blue contrast on the building. Chair DeBleeckere mentioned that while the blue looks good now, and is trendy now, she fears that it may make the building look dated in a few years once the color is no longer as popular. She also wants to consider which color would look better in the background of wedding photos that are taken in the Millennium Gardens. With those considerations, she prefers Option 2 or 3. Commissioner Wilson inquired if public art would be installed along the exterior of the building since the exterior options are very plain. Direction Evans shared that with outdoor lighting and the sun reflections, it will give the building exterior a unique look. At a minimum though, space would be left available for a future installation if an installation is not available or decided on at the time of the building reopening. 6. COMMISSIONER/STAFF UPDATE The 2020 Special Event calendar is included in the meeting packet. The first event of the year is Skate the Garden on January 16 from 6-8 p.m. at the Millennium Garden rink. After Hours at the Creek will be held on Friday, January 24 from 6:30 – 10 p.m. at the Plymouth Creek Center and feature a comedy performance by Mary Mack. Fire & Ice will be held on Saturday, February 1 at Parkers Lake Park from 3 – 7 p.m. A new event, Discover Plymouth, will be held on Saturday, April 18 at the Plymouth Fieldhouse. Bark in the Park will be on Saturday, May 30 at the Hilde Performance Center. The Farmers Market will start up in mid-June at the Parkers Lake Playfield parking lot. Vice Chair Burkhardt thanked Commissioner Swanson for serving on the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission for the past 6 years. Mr. Swanson’s service to the commission and to the City was very much appreciated. He was a great addition to the commission. 7. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Commissioner Sunseri, seconded by Commissioner Hoekstra, recommending adjournment of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission meeting. With no objection, Chair DeBleeckere adjourned the meeting at 8:33 p.m.