HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 04-14-1994Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting
April 14, 1994
Page 13
Present: Commissioners Fiemann, Wahl, Mikula, Willegalle and Johnson, staff Bisek, Blank,
Buck, Pederson and Peterson
Absent: Chair Anderson (Commissioner Watson resigned after the March meeting)
1. CALL TO ORDER
Vice Chair Wahl called the April meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. in the Council Conference
Room.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A motion was made by Commissioner Fiemann and seconded by Commissioner Willegalle
to approve the minutes of the March meeting as presented. The motion carried with all ayes.
3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS
a. Athletic Associations. None were present.
b. Staff Mary announced that the Recreation Division started summer registration a month
earlier this year, because so many residents had requested it. Registrations are up in most
classes. Adult softball registration is down by a couple of teams. Credit card registrations
are now being accepted by the department on a limited basis. This is a new service the
department has made available to the public. We've been trying it on a trial basis and plan
to go public with it in the August brochure. Residents will be permitted to use their credit
card with mail -in registration, in-person registration, and eventually over the telephone.
Mary announced that the Fitness Challenge Kick -Off Walk was held Wednesday, April
13, and the weather cooperated for a change. She explained that the Fitness Challenge is
friendly competion with other companies in Plymouth, whereby employees exercise for
points, and the company with the most points each week is the winner. There are t -shirts,
mugs and a traveling trophy as prizes and incentives to work out.
Mary stated that the Recreation Division will hire someone this year to help with the
integration of special needs individuals into our programs. The City also now has a policy
for administering drugs to children in our programs who are required to take medication
during the day.
Mary has been receiving requests to offer youth golf and other youth programs in the
evening for working parents who are unable to get their kids to these activities during the
day. Commissioner Willegalle also commented that he hears from a number of residents
that the parks department doesn't offer enough youth sports on summer evenings to
accommodate working parents. Director Blank commented that the majority of the
athletic fields are used in the evening by youth baseball, soccer and softball and that the
PRAC Minutes/April 1994
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only fields used by adults are Zachary and Plymouth Creek. Mary added that we simply
don't have enough facilities to accommodate a lot of evening programs and wondered if
the residents Commissioner Willegalle had talked to would be willing to participate in
programs if they were offered on Saturdays. He responded that he would check with them
and get back to Mary.
City Forester Paul Buck announced that Arbor Day is scheduled to be celebrated in
Plymouth on Friday, April 29, at Wayzata East Junior High, at 1 p.m. Members of the
youth group Y.E.S. (Youth Extended Services) have been doing some fundraising and
have managed to purchase 14 trees which will be planted in one of the courtyards at
Wayzata East. The fundraising consisted of selling t -shirts, which raised $500. The
Y.E.S. group also succeeded in securing a grant for $750 to help with the purchase of the
trees. Park commissioners were invited to attend the Arbor Day celebration.
c. Others. None were present.
4. PAST COUNCIL ACTION
Council approved the acquisition of properties on 18th Avenue, which are part of the
proposed West Medicine Lake Park. One of the homeowners is already in the process of
moving to another home in Plymouth. The second property is close to being settled, but an
agreement has not been reached yet with the third property owner.
5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. West Medicine Lake Park update. At the last PRAC meeting, a master plan for West
Medicine Lake Park was endorsed by the Commission and a recommendation was made
to forward the plan to the Council. However, the Council has not had the opportunity to
review the plan, because they are very involved right now in the process of reviewing the
acquisition of the ninth playfield site. Director Blank also pointed out that the '94 capital
improvements program has not been approved by the Council, because it hasn't yet been
approved by the Planning Commission. Director Blank stated that he would keep PRAC,
as well as the focus group, informed as to the status of the West Medicine Lake Park
project. It will be important to have community support of this project at the Council
meeting when it is finally placed on their agenda.
b. Study of unique open spaces update. Mark Wahl stated that the Open Space Committee
has met three times within the last few weeks and has now identified 34 sites which meet
the criteria established earlier by the committee. Most of the sites are, at a minimum, at
least 10 acres in size, which was one of the criteria. The sites range in size from 10 acres
up to 78 acres. The next step is to hire a consultant to visit the sites and identify the types
of trees, plants, etc., and rank the sites. Prior to the consultant being hired, though, the
Open Space Committee will meet again to try to reduce the number of sites. There is a
limited three week period when the consultant can visit the sites, which is prior to trees
and shrubbery leafing out. Commissioners asked if the sites are mainly wetlands, and
Parks Superintendent Mark Peterson responded that several of them have wetlands
contained within them, but they are mostly heavily wooded sites. Mark went on to explain
that there are other methods for conserving wetlands, such as ordinances, etc., therefore,
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the Open Space Committee looked more for wooded areas. When asked if the committee
tried to identify sites so that there would be an even distribution throughout Plymouth,
Commissioner Wahl commented that it wasn't always possible, because most of southwest
Plymouth is fully developed, and any open spaces that may once have existed there are
now gone. They did attempt to identify sites in all four quadrants of the City, however.
Commissioner Fiemann commented that he likes the idea of selecting sites so that there
are some in each of the four wards of the City. Commissioner Mikula would prefer that
some of the sites be large in size. Commissioner Willegalle asked about getting advice
from the City of Eden Prairie, since they have already been through this process. Find out
what mistakes, if any, they might have made, or what they would do differently.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER FIEMANN AND SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER MIKULA RECOMMENDING THAT COUNCIL HIRE A
CONSULTANT TO VISIT AND RANK THE SITES IDENTIFIED BY THE OPEN
SPACE COMMITTEE. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES.
c. Review plans for accessible playground. Director Blank explained that the City currently
has 26 playgrounds spread throughout the community, and the one at South Shore Park
has one or two accessible components. With the passage of the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA), we are now required to provide "like" experiences for children of
all abilities. As our older playgrounds need refurbishing, approximately 20-30% will be
made accessible when improvements are done. In addition, the City decided to create one,
large, centrally located accessible playground in Plymouth Creek Park. Part of this
planning process included forming an accessible playground committee to get input on the
types of features to include in the playground. The committee was comprised of area
residents with physical disabilities, professionals who work with the disabled, and park
and recreation staff members. Five manufacturers of playgrounds were contacted and
asked to submit an accessible playground design based on a specified dollar amount and
based on standards developed by the Consumer Product Safety Bureau, the American
Society for Testing and Measures and ADA. All the submitted designs were reviewed by
the Accessible Playground Committee, and eventually a design was chosen that met with
the approval of the playground committee. Director Blank shared with PRAC a drawing
of that approved design and explained the features. The playground will be 100%
accessible to wheelchair bound individuals. One of the more exciting features involves
the use of water when the children are playing. They will be able to manipulate the water
by turning on a faucet and creating a shower like effect. Commissioner Mikula
commented that this is an excellent feature to have in the playground, but also wanted
staff to be aware that although the kids enjoy being able to manipulate the water, they may
not want to get wet. Commissioner Wahl also wondered if water might damage
wheelchairs. Director Blank commented that the kids could operate the water in such a
way that they would not get wet if they didn't want to. Commissioner Mikula also
wondered if the overhead bars shown in one of the drawings were reachable by the kids,
so they'd be able to do pull-ups from their chairs. Director Blank wasn't sure if it was
designed for that purpose and said that he would check into it. As shown, the accessible
playground will cost approximately $130,000. Part of this cost will be covered by
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Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. This is because projects designed
using ADA standards are eligible for CDBG grants.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER MIKULA AND SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER JOHNSON RECOMMENDING THAT COUNCIL APPROVE THE
CONCEPT PLAN AS SHOWN FOR THE ACCESSIBLE PLAYGROUND AND
ADVERTISE FOR BIDS. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES.
d. Review 1994 trail constriction projects. Three segments of trail remain to be constricted
that were part of the projects started in 1993. One segment goes around a wetlands and
runs between Niagara and Vicksburg, another segment is to close a gap in a trail running
north of city hall, and the third trail goes around the west side of Turtle Lake. There is
100, 000 in the 1994 budget to complete these projects.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER FIEMANN AND SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER JOHNSON TO ACCEPT THE TRAIL PROJECTS PROPOSED FOR
1994 CONSTRUCTION. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES.
6. NEW BUSINESS
a. Review of city trail plan (referred by Planning Commission). Director Blank explained
that due to the proposed development of a McDonald's restaurant and a 7-11 convenience
store at the southeast intersection of County Road 6 and 494, the Planning Commission
has asked that PRAC consider an extension of trail along County Road 6 that would
provide access to these businesses. Director Blank fi rther stated that no trail is shown at
this location in the city's master trail plan. Commissioner Fiemann asked how often
PRAC reviews the master trail plan, and Director Blank said about every two years, even
though by law it's only required every ten years. He further explained that in order to
amend the trail plan, a public meeting must be held by PRAC, followed by a public
hearing held by the Planning Commission. Parks Superintendent Peterson commented
that the City can add trails without amending the plan, but they cannot remove a trail that
shows in the plan without holding both the public meeting and public hearing.
Commissioner Fiemann discussed the need for a trail along Medina Road allowing the
residents in the Hans Hagen and Lundgren Bros. developments to have access to the new
park located south of Medina Road and east of 101.
7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION
Commissioner Willegalle announced that the East Parkers Lake Improvement Association is
having a clean up day on Saturday, May 7, to clean along the shore of Parkers Lake. This
discussion prompted other commissioners to ask if Plymouth had a city clean up day.
Director Blank responded that several years ago, the City did sponsor a spring clean up,
which included the placement of large dumpsters at locations throughout Plymouth's
numerous neighborhoods. The program came to an end when residents began abusing the
purpose, which was to clean up the neighborhood, by using the dumpsters to clean out their
own personal basements, etc. Commissioner Mikula commented that a short paragraph in
the Plymouth News might be helpful, encouraging residents to clean up their surroundings
PRAC Minutes/April 1994
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when going out for a walls. She suggested that they take a plastic or paper bag with them and
fill it with the paper and aluminum cans they find lying in the street or on the trail.
8. STAFF COMMUNICATION
Director Blank reminded commissioners that the park tour is set for May 25.
9. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.