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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes 01-14-20211 Approved Minutes January 14, 2021 Approved Minutes Park & Recreation Advisory Commission Thursday, January 14, 2021 MEMBERS PRESENT: Vice Chair Dick Burkhardt, Commissioners: Margie DuPuis, Ann Hoekstra, Allie Storti, Marilyn Sunseri, Vita Wilson MEMBERS ABSENT: Chair Tricia DeBleeckere STAFF PRESENT: Parks & Recreation Director Diane Evans, Deputy Director Barb Northway, Recreation Manager Kari Hemp, Plymouth Creek Center Manager Jess Riley, Project Coordinator Sonya Rippe, Office Support Specialist Sarah Josephs COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES: City Council Member Jim Willis, Planning Commissioner Michael Boo 1. CALL TO ORDER Vice Chair Burkhardt called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Commissioner Wilson and seconded by Commissioner DuPuis recommending approval of the November 12 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. Plymouth Creek Center Building Update Director Evans provided a summary of construction taking place at the Plymouth Creek Center since groundbreaking in October. The new facility will have two parking lots and two separate entrances. When construction started, the first step was to begin removing a large portion of the current parking lot to prepare the area needed for the active wing. The sidewalk and retaining wall that separated the parking lot from the fieldhouse was slowly removed to make room for t he new exterior walls. Footings were then installed for the walls of the gymnasium, followed by for the outside walls of the active wing. Pre-cast gymnasium walls were installed in December. The curved exterior wall along the indoor playground leading toward the new main entrance was installed. Updates to the project are added to the City website under the Plymouth Creek Center Project page. Phase 1; including the gym, walking track, playground, fitness rooms, will be around mid -November 2021. At that time all activities will move into the active wing so that renovations can start on the existing facility and construction can start on the Education wing. Overall construction should be complete towards the end of 2022. 2 Approved Minutes January 14, 2021 5. NEW BUSINESS (ACTION ITEMS): 5a. 2021 Work Plan (Action) Director Evans presented a Work Plan for Commissioners to review. Once approved, the Work Plan is forward to City Council for their approval. The Work Plan is split into on-going projects, First Quarter, Second Quarter, Third Quarter, and Fourth Quarter projects. Projects coming up in 2021 is the completion of the 2020 Annual Report. The new Horseshoe Hill neighborhood park is scheduled to be developed. Playground replacements are scheduled at Heritage, Nature Canyon, and Turtle Lake Parks. The Disc Golf Course is scheduled to be re-designed along with the construction happening at the Plymouth Creek Center. Later this year Commissioners will be asked to review department rental policies and fees for any updates. Additional projects include approving the 2022-2026 Capital Improvement Plan. Depending on how the pandemic is going, a ribbon cutting is planned for the Northwest Greenway Trailhead/Challenge Course. Also, pandemic-permitting, Commissioners are also invited to a Park Tour this summer as well to view recent park renovations and updates. A trail connection in the Creekside Hills neighborhood will connect the residents to the Wayzata High School property. In partnership with Hennepin County, a trail will be added along Hwy 101 from CR 47 to Northwoods Elementary School. The parking lot at Plymouth Creek Playfield will have a mill and overlay completed this summer. Parking lot lights will be added at West Medicine Lake Park. The Plymouth Ice Center will be replacing some water heaters and adding infrared heat. They also are working on a roof replacement. A new challenge course playground built last year on the Northwest Greenway Trailhead has been heavily used since it first opened. The pavilion just north of the playground is nearly complete. The roof and interior spaces are done. This spring, concrete and final asphalt will be finished. This shelter will be available for larger private and public events and can accommodate several hundred people. There is a serving area and green room available onsite. The shelter is scheduled to be open and available after July 4, 2021. Director Evans shared that this site will likely host 5K races, walks, and smaller private events such as weddings and family parties. The building fees and policies will be brought to PRAC later this year for approval. Commissioner Wilson shared that she has visited this site several times already and it is beautiful. She has heard recent feedback from residents of “why is the city spending money on a park during a pandemic?” and is inquiring if the Parks & Recreation department ever puts out messaging to the public that parks are a good place to go for mental and physical health and that everyone benefits from having clean, well-kept parks to visit and explore nature in. Director Evans replied that we have noticed a huge increase in the number of park and trail users this past year. Marketing the benefits is a good idea and we will investigate ways to start sharing the message about the benefits to being outside and in the parks. Commissioner Hoekstra suggested reaching out to an academic facility to help quantify some data to publish when marking the benefits of being out in the parks. Motion by Commissioner Wilson, seconded by Commissioner Sunseri, recommending the approval of the 2021 Work Plan. With all members voting in favor, the motion carried. 3 Approved Minutes January 14, 2021 5b. Heritage Park Playground Renovation (Action) Deputy Director Northway shared plans for the Heritage Park playground renovations, scheduled in the 2021 CIP utilizing Park Replacement Funds. Every 17-20 years playgrounds are replaced per department standards. While in the park completing the renovations, other areas of the park are improved for ADA guidelines, landscape improvements, and asphalt and concrete repairs. A proposal was sent to Little Tykes/Northland Recreation for playground designs. An open house invite was sent to residents around the park in early December. In addition, targeted social media posts were made on Nextdoor. Residents were invited to review playground options and complete an online survey. The park renovation includes playground replacement, shelter replacement, bench replacement, and concrete and asphalt repair. Two items were adjusted based on comments received from the survey. A versa climb was added and a rung ladder was swapped out for a fire pole. One of the options on the survey was to choose the color options for the playground. Choices were between red, white & blue or metallic gray, white, green & brown. The neighborhood selected the red, white & blue option with 29 votes while there were 10 votes for the other color option. Residents were also able to choose play features to put in the renovated playground. The tunnel slide/freestyle feature received 27 votes and the double-wide slide and climbing wall received 12 votes. Commissioner Hoekstra inquired if there was a price difference between the different features. Deputy Director answered that there was a slight price increase for the climbing wall feature. After reviewing survey results and looking at the overall playground design, the climbing wall feature was determined to be the best choice. Commissioner Wilson asked how the feedback to this park renovation compared to past renovations and if Covid may be impacting the number of responses. Deputy Director Northway shar ed that at typical in-person open houses anywhere from 20-30 residents attend. With this virtual open house we had 39 residents respond to the survey. In the future, our open houses may be a hybrid of in- person and virtual to connect with more residents. Motion by Commissioner Wilson, seconded by Commissioner DuPuis, recommending the approval of the Heritage Park Playground Update. With all members voting in favor, the motion carried. 5c. Turtle Lake Park Playground Renovation (Action) Project Manager Rippe shared plans for the Turtle Lake Park playground renovations. The playground proposal was sent to Little Tykes/Northland Recreation to provide a playground design. Invitations for the virtual open house were mailed to residents and targeted social media posts were placed on Nextdoor. There were 78 residents who responded to the online survey. Typical in -person open houses have 20-30 attendees, so this was an excellent turnout. In addition to the playground replacement, the park will have additional benches installed, as well as concrete and asphalt work. Based on the survey results, the color option was a tie with 39 votes each for option 1: blue, yellow, grey & green and option 2: green, brown, brownstone & chartreuse. There were 65 votes for the inclusive spinner feature on the playground and 13 votes for the hammock style climber. Based on 4 Approved Minutes January 14, 2021 survey feedback, a more accessible portable toilet pad will be added to the park. Additional benches were also requested by many residents; those will also be added. Because the community vote for color scheme ended up as a tie, Commissioners are asked to make a final decision on which color to go with for the plan. Commissioner Sunseri inquired as to what the current color scheme is. Project Coordinator Rippe shared that the current scheme is a dark green and brown. Over time the brown has faded to a cream color. Vice Chair asked if there was a cost difference between the two color choices. Project Coordinator Rippe replied that there is no cost difference between the color options. Commissioner Wilson asked if there was any feedback on the survey regarding additional amenities the neighborhood would like in the park. Project Coordinator Rippe responded that there were many requests for additional benches and accessible toilet access. The design plan will include for 5- 6 benches. Commissioner DuPuis shared that she prefers the blue and yellow color choice. Kids tend to be drawn toward brighter colors. Commissioner Hoekstra asked if there was any indication what the colors would look like in several years when the colors may start to fade. Project Coordinator Rippe shared that in talking with the company, blues tend to hold their color longer. Technology has also improved over time, allowing for colors to stay vivid over a longer period of time. Vice Chair Burkhardt shared that he preferred the blue and yellow color scheme. Motion by Commissioner Wilson, seconded by Commissioner Hoekstra, recommending the approval of Color Scheme Option 1: Blue, Yellow, Gray, and Green. With all members voting in favor, the motion carried. Motion by Commissioner Sunseri, seconded by Commissioner Storti, recommending the approval of Turtle Lake Park Playground Renovation. With all members voting in favor, the motion carried 5d. 2021 PRAC Meeting Schedule (Action) Director Evans shared that the previous 2021 meeting schedule had our November meeting fall on Veterans Day. Staff recommend moving the November meeting date to November 4. Motion by Commissioner Sunseri, seconded by Commissioner Wilson, recommending the approval of the 2021 PRAC Meeting Schedule. With all members voting in favor, the motion carried. 6. COMMISSIONER/STAFF UPDATE • Director Evans thanked Vice Chair Burkhardt for his 6 years on PRAC. He has been a great asset to the committee. His hard work and support will be greatly missed. Deputy Director Northway thanked Vice Chair Burkhart for his service in painting the numerous hearts on the trails throughout the city. • A full 2021 special event calendar will be available at the February meeting. • Fire & Ice is being held with several smaller events. A holiday light display, coloring contest, medallion hunt, selfie contest, and snow sculpture contest will make up this year’s events. • We are launching an online winter market with many of our summer market vendors. More information will be online soon. 5 Approved Minutes January 14, 2021 • When the Plymouth Creek Center first opened, Franklin Bank donated a piece of art that hung on the wall between the ballroom doors. With the renovations taking place at the building n ow, we packaged up the artwork and sent to a fine art auction house in New York. When knew the value of the art was around $40,000 and the style of the art was not going to fit with the new style of the building. The painting did sell to a collector in Miami for $80,000, and after commission we will receive $74,000. The money raised will be used towards enhanced artwork at the Plymouth Creek Center. 7. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Commissioner Wilson, seconded by Commissioner Hoekstra, recommending adjournment of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission meeting. With no objection, Vice Chair Burkhardt adjourned the meeting at 8:13 p.m.