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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 01-13-1994MINUTES OF THE PARK AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING January 13, 1994 Page 1 PRESENT: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Burk, Gutzke, Mikula, Wahl, Watson; staff Bisek, Blank and Pederson, Planning Commissioner Witt ABSENT: Commissioner Johnson 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chair Anderson at 7:05 p.m. in the Council Chambers. Director Blank stated that PRAC needed to elect a Chair and Vice Chair for 1994. Chair Anderson indicated that he was willing to continue in that position. The commission unanimously agreed that Don Anderson should be the Chair in 1994. Nominations were then sought for Vice Chair. Commissioner Wahl stated that he was willing to serve in that capacity. Commissioners unanimously approved Mark Wahl as Vice Chair in 1994. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion was made by Commissioner Gutzke and seconded by Commissioner Burk to approve the minutes of the December meeting as presented. The motion carried with all ayes. 3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS a. Athletic Associations. None were present at the meeting. b. Staff. Mary Bisek announced that the senior coordinator's position had been doubled to 20 hours per week. Plymouth has had a senior coordinator for 12 years, and the position has been at 10 hours per week all that time. Based on the Census Bureau's findings that the senior population in Plymouth is growing at a rate faster than the general population, staff asked that the budget for this position be increased in 1994. The sixth annual Fire and Ice Festival is scheduled for Saturday, February 5. Mary asked commissioners if they would again supervise the bonfire and the selling of s'mores. A sign up sheet was circulated, so that commissioners could choose a time slot. Mary announced that the Panthers Ski Club (for students at Plymouth Middle School), co-sponsored by Plymouth Middle School and the City, is doing well. This is the City's third year of involvement with this program. Ski trips are planned every Friday after school, from January to mid-February, to area ski resorts. PRAC Minutes/January 1994 Page 2 Mary indicated that the volunteer coordinator is very busy placing volunteers in various positions throughout the City. She is presently working with a man retired from Northwestern Bell who is studying ways to make our swimming registration procedures more efficient. c. Others. See item 5.a. 4. PAST COUNCIL ACTION Council approved the reformatting of the Open Space committee as recommended by PRAC. This committee will now be comprised of one citizen from each ward, one Planning Commissioner, one Council member, and four members of PRAC. Council also authorized negotiations to begin for the purchase of homes within the boundaries of West Medicine Lake Park. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Request for City to take over Amberwoods Park. Director Blank stated that staff had completed research they had been asked to do at last month's meeting. Regarding using the playground, staff was informed by Superintendent Landswerk that the School District does not have any objections to people using the playground equipment during school hours. As far as access is concerned, Director Blank indicated that there is internal access to this site via a trail system, which does not require that people walk on County Road 101 or County Road 24. In reference to the play equipment not being suitable for pre-schoolers, Director Blank said that the equipment does appear to be designed more for K-6. A concern was raised at the December meeting that a precedent might be set if the City accepted ownership of this private park. Director Blank indicated that he now took a neutral stance on this issue based on the fact that we currently maintain public neighborhood parks in close proximity to at least five other private neighborhood parks, and thus far, these private parks have not been offered to the City. Director Blank also stated that when the preliminary plat for Amberwoods was approved back in 1972, the developer did pay a park dedication fee of $10,000, which he was unaware of at the December meeting. Director Blank then commented that if PRAC was inclined to accept the property, that the upgrade not take place until 1995. This would also require an amendment to the Parks portion of the CIP. Pat McDonald, President of the Amberwoods Homeowners Association, indicated that the trail access referred to by Director Blank was not usable in the spring because of flooding, causing portions of it to be underwater much of the time. He also stated that the trail's surface is pretty impassable in the winter by strollers, etc., because of how hard and uneven it is. Mr. McDonald continued to stress his feelings that the playground equipment is not suitable for pre-schoolers. Mary Hernandez, 3405 Urbandale Lane, announced that she had spoken directly with the principal of Greenwood Elementary, who had made it quite clear to her that people should not use the play equipment during school hours. PRAC Minutes/January 1994 Page 3 Mary Lindman, 3850 Walnut Grove Lane, stated that the trail access to Greenwood from Bridlewood Farms stops at the property line. She also indicated that she would not permit her preschoolers to use the equipment at Greenwood at the same time as the older children, because she didn't feel it would be very safe to do that. She urged the City to accept the donation of Amberwoods Park and to go the extra "mile" to install trails throughout the area, thus providing access to the park for the other neighboring developments. Pat McDonald surmised that when the new park is built on the east side of County Road 101, kids will cross that busy road to go use that park, which he feels will be very unsafe. Commissioners inquired about the cost to maintain Amberwoods on a yearly basis. Director Blank stated that it would be approximately $3,000 yearly for things such as weekly mowing, trimming, fertilizing, trash removal, playground inspection, etc. The cost to build a new playground would be about $17,500. When asked what it would cost to remove the tennis courts, Director Blank indicated that it would not be reasonable to take out the tennis courts as long as they are in good shape. Robert Karaniemi, 18010 33rd Avenue, said that there isn't any access from his development, Boulder Crest, to Greenwood. The closest park to him is in Churchill Ponds. In the past, he has used Greentree West. He strongly supports the City accepting the donation of Amberwoods, but he would also like the City to buy a vacant lot in Boulder Crest and build a a park there, too. Libby Collins, 3195 Walnut Grove Lane, stated that this issue is not going to go away. She feels that if the City does not accept Amberwoods, it will just be a matter of time before residents from Saddlewood and Bridlewood come in requesting a park. Becky Engen, 3205 Urbandale, said that Greenwood School comes over and uses the tennis courts in Amberwoods every spring. Amberwoods has never charged them anything for this. Commissioners Burk and Watson stated that they support accepting the Amberwoods property. Commissioner Gutzke asked if the City would ever consider donating funds to a development, so they could upgrade and still keep their private park. Commissioner Burk asked how you would go about keeping others out of the park then, because it would still have its private status. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER BURK AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MIKULA RECOMMENDING THAT THE CITY ACCEPT THE DONATION OF AMBERWOODS PARK AS A CITY PARK AND RESEARCH THE STEPS NECESSARY TO INCLUDE THE PARK IN A FUTURE CIP, SO THAT THE IMPROVEMENTS CAN BE SCHEDULED. HE FURTHER REQUESTED THAT THE AMBERWOODS HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION MAKE A FORMAL WRITTEN REQUEST OF THE CITY TO ACCEPT THE PROPERTY. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. b. Capital improvements program revision. Director Blank stated that some revisions were necessary to the 1994-98 CIP. These include increasing fiinds available in the community playfields and trails account in 1994 and decreasing funds in the PRAC Minutes/January 1994 Page 4 neighborhood parks account. Instead of developing the Cardinal Ridge park in 1994 at a cost of approximately $185,000, additional land will be acquired at a cost of $90,000. The development would then be pushed back to 1995, thus increasing funds required in the neighborhood parks account that year. The reasons for acquiring additional land is due to Daniel Development's park dedication of 23+ acres, nine on high ground and 14 acres of wetlands. Their dedication is 3.1 acres above what is required, thus, the City is considering acquiring the extra. The developer has indicated he would sell it for 30,000 an acre. This acquisition, plus what we already own at this location, would make Cardinal Ridge our largest neighborhood park. The park is now proposed for development in 1995 in the revised CIP and would include playground equipment, as do our other neighborhood parks. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER ANDERSON AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER GUTZKE TO ACCEPT THE REVISIONS TO THE 1994-98 CIP AS PROPOSED BY STAFF AND DATED 1/12/94. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. c. West Medicine Lake Park master plan update. Director Blank stated that a subcommittee consisting of Commissioners Wahl and Watson and himself reviewed applications from 20 different residents interested in serving on the West Medicine Lake Park Focus Group. Of those 20 residents, the subcommittee is recommending eight, four men and four women, based on criteria such as address, age, number of children, years living in Plymouth, and their reasons for wanting to be involved in this process. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER WATSON AND SECONDED BY COMMISSONER WAHL TO ACCEPT THE INDIVIDUALS RECOMMENDED TO SERVE ON THE FOCUS GROUP. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. Director Blank stated that three meetings will be scheduled with the focus group to work on the master plan. He indicated that he would ask Commissioner Johnson to be a liaison to the focus group. d. Study of unique open spaces update. The Council is in the process of interviewing citizens from each ward for appointment to the Open Space Committee. e. Accessible playground update. Director Blank said a meeting was held with the City Attorney for direction on how to properly bid the project. PRAC Minutes/January 1994 Page 5 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Review draft of annual report. A draft copy of the 1993 Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Annual Report was reviewed for additions and corrections. It was suggested that a new goal be added about the study of open spaces. Commissioners were asked to contact the Park and Recreation secretary within the next couple of weeks if they discover typing errors, etc., so that final copies can be assembled in time for the February meeting. b. Review park rental policies and fees for 1994. Annually, the park and recreation staff reviews the park policies and fees that have been in effect for the previous year and makes recommendations for changes in fees, etc. Regarding the park facility rental policy, no changes have been proposed in fees. No changes were proposed in the Parkers Lake Pavilion policy or fee schedule. Regarding the Parkers Lake picnic shelter, staff is proposing an increase from $30 to $35 for half-day rentals, and from $60 to $70 for fill day rentals. New in 1994 is a policy for the rental of Bass Lake. Staff is recommending that Bass Lake be available to Plymouth non-profit groups such as homeowner associations, crime prevention, etc., free of charge, with a $25 key deposit. For Plymouth residents who wish to have private parties, staff proposes a rental rate of $15 an hour, with a two hour minimum and a $100 damage deposit. Staff proposes that canoe racks at Medicine Lake and Parkers Lake rent for $40 for residents and $45 for non-residents. Those rates were $37 and $40 in 1993. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER GUTZKE AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER ANDERSON TO RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE 1994 PARK FACILITY RENTAL POLICIES AND FEES, WHICH INCLUDES ATHLETIC FACILITIES, BASS LAKE SHELTER, PARKERS LAKE PAVILION, PARKERS LAKE PICNIC SHELTER AND CANOE RACKS. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. 7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION Commissioner Burk suggested that the Park Commission sponsor some sort of fiun run to help introduce residents to the city's trail system. 8. STAFF COMMUNICATION Director Blank thanked Commissioners Burk and Gutzke for their service on the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission. Mr. Burk and Mr. Gutzke will not seek re -appointment when their terms expire on January 31. 9. ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 9 p.m.