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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 05-09-1996Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting May 9, 1996 Page 20 Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Fiemann, Priebe, Thompson and Willegalle; staff Bisek, Blank and Pederson; Councilmember Wold Absent: Commissioners Johnson and Wahl 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Anderson called the May meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. in the City Center Lunchroom. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion was made by Commissioner Fiemann and seconded by Commissioner Willegalle to approve the minutes of the April meeting as presented. The motion carried with all ayes. 3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS a. Athletic Associations. None were present. b. Staff. Mary announced that recreation division revenues were down the first quarter of `96. She thinks this may have been due in part to the bad weather we had. She stated that staff was working on the City's first ever mail -in registration for swimming. Several hundred registrations were received, and most people did get either their first, second or third choice. Phone inter -active registration is still being studied, and Mary indicated that if all goes according to plan, this process would begin in the fall of `96. An Over 55 Softball league began this past week, and the participants involved are quite excited that this league finally materialized, after having been offered and cancelled in past years due to lack of registrations. Mary announced that the City's volunteer coordinator has now been with the City three years, and in that time, the volunteer work force has tripled. c. Others. 4. PAST COUNCIL ACTION Council approved the feasibility study for the East Medicine Lake Regional trail. Another public meeting will likely be scheduled in August or September. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Review ice arena/pool complex. Director Blank announced that trees have been removed and dirt is being pushed around on the site. Bid packages are out. The project continues to move on the fast track, with a projected opening PRAC Minutes/May 1996 Page 21 sometime between December 15 and March 15. At next month's PRAC meeting, a name for the facility will be discussed. b. West Medicine Lake Park update. The bridge is back on the Council agenda for May 15. Director Blank stated that the road is scheduled for paving in October or early November. c. Open spaces update. The purchase of the Johnson Bros. parcel is on the next Council agenda for final approval. The Seitzer property has numerous spruce trees that are being removed and planted in other parks. d. Playfield/high school update. The bid package for the playfield complex will be out next week. The City's portion of the project should be completed by the end of this year. e. Senior citizen needs analysis update. The report on the needs of seniors in Plymouth will be available by next month's meeting. f. Golf course discussion. Ken and John Hampton, the owners of Hampton Hills golf course, were present to discuss the future of their course. Director Blank explained to them that the City is interested in golf courses continuing to exist in Plymouth, and is concerned that the possibility of future development may cause some golf course owners to sell their property. The Hamptons asked if sanitary sewer would bypass their course or pass through it? Director Blank responded that according to the map, it appears that the sanitary sewer will pass through the course. The Hamptons indicated they don't need sewer, because they have their own septic system and their own wells, which adequately serve the golf course and the family homes that are located there. Mr. Hampton stated that it is his wish to keep the golf course as long as possible and to pass it on to his children, with the hope that they would then pass it on to their children. He feels that a lot of the course wouldn't even be developable because the land is quite wet. He indicated that the course is about 145 acres in size. He said that he didn't know how many rounds the course does per year, because they don't keep records that way. They keep track of the revenue, instead. Mr. Hampton indicated that he wasn't particularly interested in selling to developers, even though he's had offers, and if he ever did decide to sell, he would rather sell to the City. Director Blank asked him what the City could do to help out and encourage him to stay in the business. Mr. Hampton responded that the course suffers a lot from storm water runoff and that they've had problems specifically with the railroad's culverts being directed toward the golf course. He requested that the City look into the water runoff problems and talk to the railroad. Councilmember Wold directed staff to refer this problem to Dan Faulkner in Engineering, because he is in charge of the City's new storm water management program. The Hamptons asked Director Blank what the City's thoughts are regarding the golf courses in Plymouth. He stated that the City would like the PRAC Minutes/May 1996 Page 22 golf courses to remain, rather than sell to developers, but that the City also understands how desirable the land is to developers. Mary Bisek asked Mr. Hampton if he could rank the difficulty of his course. He explained that average courses usually have a ranking of 100, and that Hampton Hills' ranking is 106. g. Review northeast neighborhood park plan. Director Blank explained that if PRAC is comfortable with the master plan for this park it needs to be approved this evening and forwarded to the City Council. George Watson, the design consultant, then made a brief presentation to PRAC, explaining that the parcel is 43 acres in size, with 12.7 acres above the 100 year flood plain. After subtracting the areas that are wooded and sloped, about two acres remain that can be developed. He described the various amenities in the park and using a few colored displays, he showed PRAC how the park would look, describing where the children's playground, trails, benches, boardwalk, fishing docks, etc. would be located. He indicated that the majority of the park will be left in its natural state, and the trail will be paved in some areas and crushed rock or wood chips in other areas. He explained that the C.P. Railroad wants to formalize the crossing that people have been using over the years to gain access to that park. He stated that a non -signalized crossing would be the least expensive and that the train would blow its whistle at a non -signalized crossing, while it would not do the same at a signalized crossing. He explained that the most expensive access at this site would be a bridge crossing, however, most people would continue to cross the railroad tracks where they always have. Another access point to the park could be through the Cardinal Ridge development, but this is a private development, so the access would have to be worked out with them. Another issue of concern to the residents is the color of the play equipment. They want it to be as neutral as possible, so it blends in with the surroundings. They prefer earth tone colors such as green and beige or wood -type structures. Commissioner Priebe voiced a concern regarding the attraction children have for water and what was being done to keep them away from the water's edge. Mary Bisek responded that there are no steep slopes leading to the water and that the ponds' edges are not manicured but rather have tall grasses and cattails bordering them. She explained that toddlers usually will not wade through this, because they don't like to have things brushing against their faces. As for the bridges and docks, these all have railings, which should help prevent kids from falling off. Commissioner Fiemann commented that he didn't see any plans for a hard court area anywhere in this park, so he was concerned about the basketball players in the neighborhood. George responded that this was not a facility that would really fit well in this park, because of the park's nature. He also felt it would not be a popular activity with the residents around this park. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER ANDERSON AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER PRIEBE TO ACCEPT THE MASTER PLAN AS PRESENTED FOR THE NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD PARK. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. PRAC Minutes/May 1996 Page 23 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Birchview Elementary School playground request for funding. Marie Egger, representing the playground committee, made a presentation to PRAC and requested funding for their new playground. She explained that this park is the neighborhood park for this area, as well as the school park. She displayed several drawings showing the equipment they've purchased thus far, and the equipment they would like to still acquire. The park is being built in three phases, she said. She indicated that the project is being installed completely by volunteers and that they've saved thousands of dollars doing it this way. Other sources of funding for Phase I have included about $15,000 from the Birchview PTA's fundraising efforts and cash donations and $2,900 from the school district in various areas, such as securing ADA suitable equipment, site amendment fee, etc. Fundraising efforts will continue as well as soliciting donations from businesses and civic groups, so that the project can proceed with Phases II and III. Ms. Egger requested that the City consider a contribution of at least $15,000 toward this project. Director Blank then explained to PRAC that the first school playground improvement the City helped finance was in 1985, and it was Pilgrim Lane Elementary. After that first request came in, the City decided to develop some guidelines that all school groups had to follow when requesting funding from the City. The guidelines stated that the City would contribute up to $10,000 in matching funds. Director Blank explained that the policy is now over ten years old and should perhaps be updated. A contribution of $10,000 may not be realistic anymore, when you consider that a playground can cost from $50,000 to 100,000 to build. A good time to redo the policy would be at the time of planning the 1997-2001 parks CIP, according to Director Blank. b. Sunset Hill Elementary School playground request for funding. Director Blank stated that the City has also received a request for funding from Sunset Hill for upgrading their school's playground, and a request has now come in from Pilgrim Lane, which was the first school to get funding, back in 1985. c. Letter from Carol Creelman. Director Blank explained that Mrs. Creelman is interested in replicating the log cabin on County Road 6 for personal and historical reasons. She has offered to fund the project herself. The log cabin would serve as an educational tool and could be used by the Plymouth Historical Society when discussing the history of Plymouth. Director Blank explained that the cabin is in such poor condition that it would probably fall apart if any attempts to move it were made. Mrs. Creelman is proposing to have an exact replica of the log cabin built somewhere in Parkers Lake Park. It's possible that a log or two from the original cabin, or a block of stone from the chimney, could be salvaged and incorporated into the new cabin. d. Pick date for annual park tour. A couple of dates were discussed, with Thursday, May 30, being the preferred choice. The bus will leave City Center at PRAC Minutes/May 1996 Page 24 4 p.m. and get back around 9. Box lunches will be served. Invitations will be sent to the Council, the Planning Commission, the Water Quality Committee, and other staff. 7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION Commissioner Willegalle announced that the Parkers Lake Improvement Association submitted an application for and subsequently received a full $10,000 matching grant from the DNR for the construction of NURP ponds at the new high school site. 8. STAFF COMMUNICATION None. 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m.