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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 12-08-1994Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting December 8, 1994 Page 41 Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Bildsoe, Johnson, Priebe, Wahl and Willegalle; staff Bisek, Blank and Pederson; City Manager Johnson Absent: Commissioner Fiemann 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Anderson called the December meeting to order at 7 p.m. in the City Center Council Chambers. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion was made by Commissioner Bildsoe and seconded by Commissioner Willegalle to approve the minutes of the November meeting as presented. The motion carried with all ayes. 3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS a. Athletic Associations. None were present. b. Staff Mary Bisek stated that the December issue of Plymouth News had been mailed to the residents and that registration in winter programs begins December 12. Staff has already begun working on the next issue which will come out in February and will contain spring classes. She announced that Old Fashioned Christmas had taken place on December 4, with approximately 750 people in attendance. This program relies a lot on the help of volunteers, with many of them coming from Armstrong High School. Warming houses are scheduled to open December 17, weather permitting. Parkers Lake may open shortly after Christmas, if possible, but in the past, the ice hasn't been thick enough until around January 1. Safety Day, a spin-off of Safety Camp, is being held on December 29 at Plymouth Creek School, from 8-4 p.m. The program is for grades 3-6 and will feature visits from McGruff, Smokey the Bear and Sparky, as well as visits from the police and firefighters. Safety Day is meant to teach kids about winter safety, personal safety and safety at home. The Fire and Ice Festival is Saturday, February 4. Mary indicated that anyone wanting Fire and Ice sweatshirts needs to order them by January 13. New sponsors this year include Burnett Realty, and NSP. Smith -Barney of Wayzata may sponsor a hole -in -one golf contest for a new car. Research is being done on the insurance required for that type of activity. Entertainment includes a juggler who juggles flaming torches, ice surfer demonstration, dog sled demonstration, Viking kick sleds, the Plymouth Rockers and the PRAC Minutes/December 1994 Page 42 Wayzata Women's Choir. First Bank is working on trying to secure a celebrity to attend. Commissioner Willegalle asked Mary if any plans are being made to entertain people between the time the events wind down and the fireworks begin. He believes that some people get tired of waiting and leave. Mary responded that she is working on some activities, one of which is the juggler with the flaming torches. Another would be ice skating to music on the general rink. c. Others. Residents of neighborhood no. 17 were present. See their comments under item 5h. 4. PAST COUNCIL ACTION a. Approved trail study. Council approved the trail study as done by Strgar-Roscoe-Fausch. b. Accepted open space report. Council accepted the interim report prepared by the Open Space Committee 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Proposal for private swimming pool update. Classic Lake Aquatics is working with St. Thomas College on preparing an economic feasibility report which they expect by May 95. b. Study of unique open spaces update. Council accepted the interim report and then directed the Committee to begin researching ways to fiind possible acquisitions. Director Blank stated that the wetlands ordinance will be presented at a public hearing on December 14 held by the Planning Commission. c. Accessible playground update. The playground is done. Some sodding remains to be done and there is a short segment of trail that needs to be installed. A ribbon cutting ceremony will be planned for next spring that will include members of the accessible playground committee, PRAC, staff, Council, etc. d. Seven Ponds neighborhood park update. The playground equipment and the backstop are in, as well as the wood chip trail. The remainder of the project will be finished next spring. Director Blank announced that the project is coming in under budget. e. West Medicine Lake city park update. Director Blank stated that two road alignments have been staked. By next month's meeting the road layout should be available for PRAC to review. The tennis court location was proposed in a wetland area, so it will have to be moved. It may have to be dropped from the plan altogether if a suitable location can't be found. Because of some problems with the soils, the road constriction will be delayed. A surcharge is in effect and that could last through next summer. The road would not be ready then for use until the spring of '96. The earliest usage of the park would probably be ice skating that following winter. f. Playfield/highschool update. Director Blank displayed a master site plan for the Commission to review. He stated that it will be on the Planning Commission agenda PRAC Minutes/December 1994 Page 43 Wednesday, December 14. Schmidt Lake Road will be lined up to meet with the entrance to the school at Peony Lane. Director Blank described the features of the school and then explained the layout of the athletic facilities. Commissioner Bildsoe asked about ownership of the project. Director Blank responded that the City will probably own a little over 60 acres. The City Council has indicated that they would like the adult softball complex operational by the spring of '97. g. PRAC work plan for 1995 update. PRAC reviewed a draft of the work plan as submitted earlier by a subcommittee of PRAC members. No suggestions were made for changes to the plan. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER BILDSOE AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER WAHL TO ACCEPT THE WORK PLAN AS SUBMITTED. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. h. Request for park in neighborhood 417. Director Blank described the boundaries of this neighborhood and using overheads showed them to the Commission and the residents in attendance. Overheads were also used to show the locations of current neighborhood parks and school playground facilities, the locations of proposed neighborhood parks, as well as the two new proposed developments. He fiirther described the proposed alignment of Schmidt Lake Road and pointed out the possible location of the new water tower, which may be in the northwest corner of the Schmidt Lake Road/Vicksburg intersection. He indicated that a trail on Vicksburg Lane that currently stops at County Road 9, will be extended north to County Road 47. He also stated that Lundgren Bros., the developers of Autumn Hills, have indicated a willingness to install a trail between two of their lots on the northern border of their development, which will link Autumn Hills with Richard Bloom's development. He also pointed out two possible locations for neighborhood park facilities, one in the northwest corner of the Schmidt Lake Road and Vicksburg intersection and the other on the northern border of the Autumn Hills development, where it adjoins the Bloom development. Director Blank then explained that PRAC has a number of options with regard to a park for neighborhood 17. Those options included taking no action at this time, assuming that any water tower site will have sufficient space for park facilities; choosing the water tower site; or taking a small piece of property along the southern border of the Bloom development consisting of lots 9, 10 and 11, between 48th Court and Harbor Lane, where it adjoins with the north border of the Autumn Hills development. Mona Domaas, 15910 46th Avenue, commented that the proposed locations for neighborhood parks should not be relied on, claiming that they are moved and sometimes removed altogether from the City's comprehensive plan. She indicated that her neighborhood's number one concern is safe access to a park, and that she prefers option 42 for a park, which is lots 9, 10, 11 between 48th Court and Harbor Lane. The water tower site is not acceptable to her, because it will mean crossing Schmidt Lake Road, which is proposed to be four lanes wide and will not have a traffic light, only a stop sign. The existing parks at Turtle Lake and Plymouth Creek Elementary are not acceptable either, because of the traffic on Vicksburg and on County Road 9. A proposed park on the west side of Holly was met with resistance as well, due to the possibility that Holly Lane will get busy with the new high school. Mona fiirther contended that her PRAC Minutes/December 1994 Page 44 neighborhood deserved a park because all the residents had paid park dedication when they built their homes, in addition to the fact that they are tax paying residents. She also believes that it will give their neighborhood a sense of cohesiveness and community, qualities she feels are lacking now. Terry Kaine, 4490 Comstock Lane, agreed with Mona that option 42 was the best location for a park, claiming that County Road 9 was too busy for his children to cross in order to get to Plymouth Creek Elementary. Ruth Freese, 16105 46th Avenue, also supports option 42 for a neighborhood park. She believes that Vicksburg is a dangerous road, even for adults. Richard Bloom, the developer of the property north of Autumn Hills, indicated that he has been working on his development for the past two and one-half years. He owns the land all the way to the railroad tracks. When he initially began working on his project, he was told that the City would only want trails on Vicksburg Lane. He later learned that trail was going to be needed on the south side of Schmidt Lake Road, and now he's been told trail is also desired on the north side of Schmidt Lake Road. He believes that the best location for a park is the water tower site because it will have access from trails on Vicksburg and Schmidt Lake Road. It will also benefit more people and it will be larger than any other site. He indicated that he would like to use lots 9, 10 and 11 as a drainage pond. He commented that he supports a neighborhood park for the residents south of his development, but also believes the residents north of Schmidt Lake Road deserve consideration, too. Commissioner Bildsoe asked Mr. Bloom about the timetable for the development north of Schmidt Lake Road. Mr. Bloom responded that that area is outside the MUSA line, and would not be built until sanitary sewer is installed there, a few years from now. Lynn Fawcett, 16125 46th Avenue, stated her support of option 42 for a park, claiming that both Plymouth Creek Elementary and Kimberly Lane Elementary are home base sites, resulting in their playgrounds being inaccessible to the neighborhood kids nine months out of the year. She fiirther stated that Turtle Lake's playground isn't usable at the present time. Director Blank responded that that's just a temporary situation due to some vandalism. Mike Freese, 16105 46th Avenue, stated that he babysits a lot of children in his neighborhood and that it is very difficult to cross Vicksburg Lane with small kids in tow. He also supports option 42 for a park. Howard Sturtz, 4700 Xene Lane, supports option 42 for a park. He believes that the 1/2 mile walking distance guideline used by the City doesn't always work out the way it's intended. PRAC Minutes/December 1994 Page 45 Mona came forward again to say that the park should be placed south of Schmidt Lake Road, because it will serve over 150 residences there, as opposed to only 100 residences north of Schmidt Lake Road. Jamie Ruzicka, 16110 46th Avenue, and Halle Eggom, 4555 Weston Lane, told the Commission that they like option 42 for the park, because their moms won't let them cross Vicksburg Lane to go to Turtle Lake Park. Chair Anderson closed the public meeting and then asked Commissioners for their questions and comments. Commissioner Wahl asked how large lots 9, 10 and 11 were. Director Blank stated that, with wetlands, it's approximately 2-2 1/2 acres and could support a small playground. Commissioner Priebe pointed out that this is an isolated, relatively small neighborhood, and consideration should be given to providing them with a small park on the south side of Schmidt Lake Road. Commissioner Bildsoe commented that option 42 seems exclusive, almost private. He feels it doesn't have access from other areas, but he agrees that Vicksburg is too busy to cross. He asked Director Blank how much playground equipment would fit. The response was one piece for ages 2-5 and one piece for ages 6-11. Commissioner Johnson indicated that he doesn't have a problem with small, exclusive parks and pointed out that there are some parks like that such as Hemlock and Heritage, which are close to his neighborhood. A MOTION WAS MADE BY CHAIR ANDERSON AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER JOHNSON RECOMMENDING THAT STAFF WORK WITH THE DEVELOPER, RICHARD BLOOM, TO COME UP WITH A LOCATION SOUTH OF SCHMIDT LAKE ROAD FOR A PARK THAT WOULD BE SUITABLE TO ALL PARTIES. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. Commissioner Wahl asked if additional park facilities would be built on the water tower site in the fiiture. Director Blank indicated that trails would likely be installed. 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Name for Seven Ponds/Heather Run park. Residents of these two developments submitted a list of possible names for their park which included Leuer's Park, Zitur Park and Heather Ponds Park. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER BILDSOE AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER PRIEBE TO RECOMMEND THE NAME HEATHER PONDS PARK. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH FIVE AYES. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON VOTED NAY. 7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION None. PRAC Minutes/December 1994 Page 46 8. STAFF COMMUNICATION Director Blank stated that the Wayzata and Armstrong youth hockey groups are working together to come up with a list of their individual needs. The new highschool will not have an indoor ice rink, and no money has been allocated in any budget for a separate ice rink. Director Blank feels that it may be better for a jointly shared ice rink to be located on City property rather than on school property. Some possible dates for taking PRAC on a tour of area community centers are January 21, 28 or February 11. 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.