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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 01-12-1995Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting January 12, 1995 Page 1 Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Bildsoe, Fiemann, Johnson, Priebe, Wahl and Willegalle; staff Bisek, Blank, Busch and Pederson; and resident Mona Domaas 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Anderson called the January meeting to order at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion was made by Commissioner Wahl and seconded by Commissioner Bildsoe 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. b. Staff Mary Bisek discussed the upcoming Fire and Ice Festival. She stated that this year's festival includes some new activities and some new sponsors. Approximately 150 volunteers, including PRAC, help with this event. Flyers advertising the festival will be distributed in the elementary schools the week of January 16. Mary announced that the next recreation activities brochure will be mailed to residents in early February. She stated that it will have a new look and invited commissioners to call the recreation office with their comments. c. Others. See item 5a. 4. PAST COUNCIL ACTION a. Council approved the 1995 work plan, but added item 8, regarding the study of youth athletic facilities. b. Council approved the name Heather Ponds for the neighborhood park in the Heather Run/Seven Ponds development. c. Council approved the concept plan for the proposed high school/playfield in northwest Plymouth. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Proposal for park in neighborhood 17. Director Blank showed a video tape to the Commission that he had videoed earlier that day highlighting the two areas proposed for park in neighborhood 17. He also discussed his staff report which recommended that site 3 be chosen, because of its location, its visibility from the road, and the number of trees on it. Site 2 has no trees. Director Blank's staff report explained that this site would be PRAC Minutes/January 1995 Page 2 connected with the Autumn Hills development by a trail running up through the Lundgren Bros. plat and then going along Glacier Lane to the park site. Director Blank then stated that he had received an easement agreement from Lundgren Bros. earlier on Thursday that stated Lundgren Bros. would grant trail easement only if site 42 was chosen for the park. Commissioner Willegalle asked if Mrs. Domaas had a preference for one site over the other. She indicated that it didn't really matter, as long as there were trails on Vicksburg and Schmidt Lake Road if site 43 was chosen. Director Blank responded that trails are proposed for Vicksburg and Schmidt Lake Road. The Vicksburg trail will likely be on the shoulder of the road for now, and will become an off-road trail once Vicksburg is upgraded. Commissioner Wahl asked if there were homes on the east side of Vicksburg across from site 43. Director Blank stated that there were. Commissioner Wahl then commented that these residents would have to cross Vicksburg to get to this new park. Director Blank responded that the residents on the east side of Vicksburg can walls to Turtle Lake Park, which doesn't require crossing any major streets, but he agreed with Commissioner Wahl that some may choose to cross Vicksburg to get to the new park. Commissioners asked what age group the new park would serve. Director Blank indicated that it would be primarily for pre-school through age 12. Commissioner Bildsoe asked about the possibility of developing something for the older kids at the water tower site. Director Blank stated that although there were no plans for any activities at the water tower site, that it was a large enough area that something could be considered such as an open field for informal pick-up ball games. There would be no lights, fences or backstops, etc. Commissioners then wondered about the easement agreement that Lundgren Bros. had presented if they were to recommend site 43 over site 42. Director Blank responded that site 43 would still be available to the residents in the Lundgren Bros. plat, but that it would be a little more inconvenient for them to get to. Commissioner Fiemann asked if Lundgren Bros. might agree to a trail through their development even if site 43 was selected. Director Blank said that PRAC should make a recommendation requesting that staff work with Lundgren Bros. to get trail easement through Autumn Hills if PRAC decides they want site 43 for the park. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER ANDERSON AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER BILDSOE TO ACCEPT STAFF'S RECOMMENDATION FOR SITE 43 FOR A PARK IN NEIGHBORHOOD 17. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER FIEMANN AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER WILLEGALLE RECOMMENDING THAT STAFF NEGOTIATE WITH LUNDGREN BROS. TO SECURE TRAIL EASEMENT THROUGH AUTUMN HILLS. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. PRAC Minutes/January 1995 Page 3 b. Private swimming pool update. There was no new information to report on this item. c. West Medicine Lake Park update. Director Blank reported that the last home located within the boundaries of the park had been removed. The current priority at this time is the road alignment, so the project has been turned over to the Engineering Department for now. They are busy fine tuning the alignment in order to save as many trees as possible. Director Blank explained to PRAC what surcharging a road means in response to a question from Commissioner Fiemann. Director Blank stated that PRAC could begin studying a location for the tennis court at their February meeting. Commissioner Johnson wondered about some property that is currently for sale on the northern edge of the West Medicine Lake park. Director Blank indicated that it was very expensive land and that he would prefer to find a spot for the tennis courts within the boundaries that the City currently owns. d. Unique open spaces update. Director Blank explained that the City Council directed the Open Space Committee to select the sites that should be acquired and determine a method for fiunding any acquisition. The Open Space Committee is recommending four sites, 41, 45, 46 and 412. Each quadrant of the City is covered by one of these sites. The Open Space Committee's preferred method of fiunding is a bond referendum. Director Blank further explained that in order to come up with an estimated dollar amount for the bond referendum, purchase options need to be secured on the four proposed sites. PRAC asked Director Blank if the Open Space Committee had some idea about the dollar amount of the bond referendum. He responded that the Committee was considering $3,000,000. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER PRIEBE AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER WAHL ENDORSING THE OPEN SPACE COMMITTEE'S RECOMMENDATION THAT STAFF BE AUTHORIZED TO NEGOTIATE PURCHASE OPTIONS ON SITES 41, 45, 46 AND 412. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. Commissioner Fiemann asked about the likelihood of the bond referendum including money for trail development. Chair Anderson responded that it was a possibility. e. Playfield/highschool update. Director Blank reviewed how much property the City would own and how much the school district would own. He stated that constriction on the highschool building could start in October. The Planning Commission must still re - guide the property to public/semi-public. The EAW (environmental assessment) hasn't been completed yet, either. Commissioner Willegalle asked if there were plans to include an ice rink at the new highschool. Director Blank said there are no plans for an indoor ice rink at this time. He feels that if any new ice sheets are added, it would be at the old high school on Vicksburg. Director Blank informed PRAC that the Mighty Ducks Ice Arena Task Force, set up by the Legislature in 1994, has been meeting regularly and plans to propose legislation in 1995 for a state-wide grant program that would give qualifying communities up to PRAC Minutes/January 1995 Page 4 250,000 to build ice rinks. It has been estimated that at this time the communities of Plymouth, Wayzata, Maple Grove, and New Hope are short ice rinks by at least two. f. Trail system segment review - consultant report. The City's traffic consultant, SRF, has concluded that the trail system plan needs to be modified by adding trails on Medina Road, Xenium Lane, 10th Avenue, Old 9 and County Road 6. The traffic consultant determined that the trail on County Road 6 does not need to be built at this time, if fiirther development does not take place in the southeast quadrant of 6 & 494. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER BILDSOE AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER JOHNSON RECOMMENDING THAT THE PLANNING COMMISSION HOLD A PUBLIC HEARING ON THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE COMPREHENSIVE TRAIL PLAN. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Study of youth sports facilities. Director Blank explained that this item is an addition to the PRAC work plan, added by the City Council. Council wants the Commission and/or a subcommittee to study current and future needs of both outdoor and indoor facilities for youth sports. The study should address the priority of constriction and how to fiind any such constriction. Commissioner Bildsoe asked if Council is looking for specific facilities, such as ice arenas, or a wide range of facilities in some sort of priority. He suggested that a starting point for this study might be the survey that was conducted in 1993 by the Minnesota Center for Survey Research. Director Blank agreed and added that a phone survey is being conducted sometime in 1995, and that PRAC will have an opportunity to suggest some questions relative to parks and recreation to be included in the survey. Director Blank will put together more detailed information on this item for continued discussion at next month's meeting. b. 1995 rental fees. Director Blank informed PRAC that it was time again to review park facility rental policies/fees and to make recommendations for 1995. Recreation Supervisor, Rick Busch, presented the policy on renting fields and rinks, explaining the changes that are being proposed. Some of the changes include providing lights for practice for youth athletic groups. In the past, lights for practice were provided only to youth hockey. A park attendant is no longer required to be on duty when a field is rented, however, a warming house attendant is required to be on duty @ $9 per hour when an ice rink is rented. Any group selling beer is required to provide two portable satellites at their event. Rick then briefly reviewed for PRAC what some of his duties involve as recreation supervisor of athletics. He explained that he schedules all fields and rinks for Plymouth Park and Recreation activities, as well as for all youth athletic associations. He also now schedules all the facilities in School Dist. 284 that youth athletics use. In the past, Wayzata Community Education would schedule those facilities, but it became far too confiising for the youth athletic groups to deal with two different agencies when trying to schedule fields. Rick also distributed to PRAC a chart showing enrollment in adult team PRAC Minutes/January 1995 Page 5 sports from 1985-1994. Adult team participation climbed fairly steadily until 1990, but has since leveled off Rick attributes this to limiting our leagues now to basically resident teams only. This was done due to increasing demand on our facilities and our desire to offer our leagues to resident teams first and non-residents second. Non-resident teams are still permitted to play in our leagues but on a more limited basis. Director Blank then reviewed the other policies, Parkers Lake Pavilion, Parkers Lake picnic shelter, Bass Lake shelter and canoe racks. Changes proposed in the pavilion rental policy are an increase in fees. School district use would remain at $8 an hour, Plymouth non-profit groups would increase from $18 to $19 per hour, private Plymouth groups would go from $30 to $31 per hour, and non-resident groups would go from $36 to $38 per hour. The only change proposed for Bass Lake shelter was to accept rentals on holidays, which wasn't done in the past. There were no changes proposed on canoe rack rentals. Changes proposed in the Parkers Lake picnic shelter policy are to accept rentals on holidays, accept rentals from non-residents and an increase in fees. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER JOHNSON AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER FIEMANN RECOMMENDING KEEPING FEES THE SAME FOR RENTALS DURING THE WEEK, BUT INCREASING THEM ON SATURDAYS, SUNDAYS AND HOLIDAYS, TO $50 FOR RESIDENTS AND $60 FOR NON- RESIDENTS FOR HALF-DAY RENTALS, AND $100 FOR RESIDENTS AND $120 FOR NON-RESIDENTS FOR FULL DAY RENTALS AT THE PARKERS LAKE PICNIC SHELTER. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. Commissioner Priebe also suggested that a clause be added to all the policies holding the City harmless in case of illness, injury, loss, or damage incurred by any user of any facility. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER WAHL AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER JOHNSON TO RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF PROPOSED CHANGES TO ALL OTHER RENTAL POLICIES AS OUTLINED BY STAFF. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. c. Review draft of 1994 Annual Report. Director Blank briefly reviewed the 1994 Annual Report, explaining that it will need PRAC's approval at the February meeting, so that it can be forwarded to the City Council. 7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION None. 8. STAFF COMMUNICATION None. 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m.