HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 02-13-1997Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting
February 13, 1997
Page 7
Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Fiemann, Johnson, Priebe, Thompson,
Wahl, Willegalle; staff Blank and Pederson, Councilmember Wold
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chair Anderson called the February meeting to order at 7 p.m. in the Council
Chambers.
2. APPOINT CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR
Commissioner Fiemann moved to reappoint Don Anderson as chair. Commissioner
Wahl seconded. All ayes. Commissioner Priebe moved to appoint Wahl as Vice
Chair. Commissioner Johnson seconded. All ayes.
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A motion was made by Commissioner Thompson and seconded by Commissioner
Johnson to approve the minutes of the January meeting as presented. The motion
carried with all ayes.
4. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS
a. Athletic Associations. None were present.
b. Staff. There was no report from staff.
c. Others. See item 5a.
5. PAST COUNCIL ACTION
a. The dasher board rental program and the Zamboni rental program were
approved. The ice center behavior policies and zero tolerance policies were
approved. The Activity Center subcommittee was appointed. Councilmember
Wold is Chair of that subcommittee.
6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. West Medicine Lake park update. Director Blank briefly explained the history of
the West Medicine Lake Park project and the work that has been completed to
date. He stated that we are now at the phase 3 planning stage. Letters were
recently sent out on this subject to approximately 1,200 residents. Included with
the letter was a proposed master plan of phase 3. A consultant from the design
firm of Barton Aschman was present at the meeting to explain the various
components of phase 3, which include a parking lot off West Medicine Lake
Drive, a future community building, swimming beach, skating area, picnic
shelters, a possible warming house, tot lot/play area, fishing dock, seasonal boat
PRAC Minutes/February 1997
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rental, and pathways. Phase 3 includes the more active recreation areas.
Concept A shows a 92 space parking lot, relocated lake access for seasonal
access of boats, future lake pavilion building, parking lot connected to beach by
bituminous path, picnic shelters, open space for informal recreation, play
structure, a pathway to connect to pedestrian bridge, and fishing dock. Another
path would go down and connect to boat slips and continue on. Also part of this
concept is a boardwalk which would connect parking lot to wetland. Concept B is
different in that it has tennis courts. The play area has been shifted and sand
volleyball was added, and the picnic area was moved to the north. The preferred
concept incorporated what the Commission wanted: parking lot, picnic shelters
adjacent to the parking lot, sand volleyball, the pathways stayed the same, the
tennis court was replaced by a hardcourt area, and open area for informal
activities like throwing a Frisbee, etc. This concept is a hybrid of the other ones.
Louis Lavoie, 2675 Larch Lane. Excited about concept and process used. Visits
site often. He feels there are too few picnic shelters. Original plan showed
seven. Number of parking spaces concerns him. He thinks there are too many.
There used to be only 40 spaces, and those were never full. He suggested that
staff defer the one parking lot that's shown on the prime land and put more
picnic areas there. He would also like staff to think about ways to reduce the
speed of traffic in certain areas. Remembers a lot of support at earlier meetings
to ban motor boats. Thinks hard court is good idea but maybe not where it is
proposed. Thinks lake area should be preserved for picnic areas.
Tim Flugaur, 12023 23rd Avenue. Objects to seasonal boat access. Believes
that people will take their bicycles right through beach/swimming area. Thinks
people will prefer to ride along the lake instead of on the path. Concerned about
landscaping. Pointed out where full grown trees are. Doesn't want trees cut
down that are in the location of the boat launch. Wants trees planted to obscure
his view of headlights.
Paula Pursley, 2790 Evergreen Lane. She was concerned about the seasonal
boat access and wanted an explanation of what it was and who could use it.
Director Blank said it is a boat access with a locked gate across it. It would be
open two weekends in the spring and two weekends in the fall and will primarily
be used by deep hulled sailboats. It is not meant to be a daily operation. No
parking has been designed for cars with boat trailers. The shallowness of this
launch area is going to be the issue. It may have to be dredged some more, and
we will need to get a permit from the DNR for that. Director Blank says people
will call him when they need to use it. The launch will also be used in the winter
by ice fishermen.
Erica Urban, 1541 West Medicine Lake Drive. Ms. Urban was concerned that at
some point in the future, the City would rent boats, etc. She asked for
clarification on seasonal use. Director Blank explained rental would be canoes,
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paddleboats, etc. not motorboats. She also was concerned about silt run off into
lake. Director Blank said construction is following regulations as established by
the DNR. She also commented on how rough the new road is. Director Blank
stated that the road only has a base course down right now. All the potholes will
be fixed and final paving will be done later this spring.
Director Blank said picnic shelters are a matter of budget. One large shelter is
planned with three or four smaller shelters (satellite shelters). When funds are
available, we will build the large shelter. Commissioner Wahl said several picnic
tables will be scattered around the park without shelters over them.
Director Blank said the parking capacity is being downsized. There are 125
stalls at Parkers Lake on the lake side that are always full. His concern is that
the way the road is designed, there is no other place to park, and staff doesn't
want people to park in surrounding neighborhoods.
The City's Forestry department is looking at landscaping the northwest curve.
They will be planting evergreens there and will preserve trees as much as
possible. Walking/biking path will wind through there.
Commission agreed that biking along the beach could be a problem. Need to
look at alternative place. Will try to find one to preserve safety of beach users. It
will be somewhat similar to what's at French Park.
Commissioner Johnson agreed with comments by residents that the one parking
lot is taking up one of the nicest pieces of land. This concerns him. Could it be
scaled down somewhat and then use that vacated portion for another picnic
shelter? Director Blank commented that if we don't build the permanent building
right now, we could cut back on the parking lot up to 20%. But once that building
goes in, we may need to expand parking lot to accommodate the people coming
to use the building. Commissioner Johnson thinks the northern parking lots will
end up being overflow lots like the ones across County Road 6 are for Parkers
Lake. Commissioner Fiemann also thinks the lower lot will fill up the fastest,
because of its location to the beach, etc. Commissioner Thompson asked when
the permanent building might go in? Director Blank said probably not for at least
three or four years.
Chair Anderson asked where we would reroute bikers? Commissioner Johnson
suggested we replace part of the path with a boardwalk and then sign the area
to say that bikers have to walk their bikes across the boardwalk. This is what
they do at East Beach, so they can do it in this location, too.
Tim Flugaur wondered about the Indian burial mounds. Director Blank said after
all research had been done, consultants said there were no traces of burial
mounds. Mr. Flugaur was concerned about what new foot bridge would cost?
PRAC Minutes/February 1997
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COMMISSIONER JOHNSON MOVED TO RECOMMEND PROCEEDING WITH
PHASE 3, BUT SCALING DOWN PARKING LOT TO 62 SPACES, AND
ADDING ONE PICNIC SHELTER IN THIS NEWLY VACATED AREA, LOCATED
TOWARDS WOODS IN THE GRASSY AREA. COMMISSIONER WAHL
SECONDED. ALL AYES.
Director Blank asked the Commission to give staff and the consultant some
leeway for where to put the picnic shelter, how to reroute the bike path to keep
bikers away from the beach and to scale back the parking lot in the most
economical way.
b. Ice Arena/Life Time Fitness update. The ice arena building is now totally
enclosed. The practice rink sub -floor heating system is being installed. We
should be skating on one rink in May. We have been interviewing staff and will
start off with two maintenance employees. One will start about two weeks prior to
rink opening. An open house may be scheduled for the same night as Music in
Plymouth, which is July 2. An official grand opening hasn't been scheduled yet.
Life Time Fitness is about one month behind the ice arena schedule and may
open in early June.
c. Open spaces update. We are continuing to negotiate on the fourth site. Open
space committee will reconvene soon.
d. Elm Creek Playfield update. The high school is on track to open in the fall. The
playfield is also on schedule. We'll be out for a re -bid on shelter building and
fencing for softball fields, and are scheduled to open those bids on February 26.
e. Golf course discussion. No new information. Owners are vacationing out of
state.
f. East Medicine Lake Regional trail. This item is scheduled for Council review
February 19. The first phase will be the entire east shore of the lake.
Recommending one way road going north. The Post Office was unhappy with
one way southbound traffic for delivering mail. The owner/operator of this project
is Hennepin Parks. The Upgrade of the road will also finally be completed from
Medicine Ridge Road to 36th Avenue with construction of the trail.
g. Approve 1996 annual report/1997 work plan. COMMISSIONER FIEMANN
MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE ANNUAL REPORT AND THE 1997
WORK PLAN AND FORWARD THEM TO THE CITY COUNCIL.
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON SECONDED. ALL AYES.
7. NEW BUSINESS
PRAC Minutes/February 1997
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a. Review and approve 1997 rental fees and policies. No increase was
recommended in 1997 for facilities such as fields, rinks, etc. For use of the
Parkers Lake Pavilion, a slight increase in fees is being recommended to allow
for attendant to arrive early to set up and stay after to clean up. Rick Busch is
doing research on letting seniors reserve Parkers Lake tennis courts. Right now
we don't reserve any tennis courts for anyone. Commissioner Willegalle
reminded everyone that seniors only want to reserve these courts on Saturday
mornings.
COMMISSIONER WILLEGALLE MADE A MOTION RECOMMENDING
APPROVING RENTAL FEES AS PROPOSED. SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER PRIEBE. ALL AYES.
b. Indoor soccer/tennis facility. Staff has identified two locations, first choice is Elm
Creek Playfield. The next step is to meet with the school district. We are a year
ahead on this issue. Right now we are gathering information on operations and
rentals etc.
c. Skateboard park grant update. Director Blank attended meeting at Oakwood on
this subject last week. Representatives from the YMCA, churches, schools,
library, and City were in attendance. The school district has stumbled onto a
grant that could be applied for, and it's due February 14. The City has indicated
they would contribute $5,000, and the school district will contribute the same. It's
a matching grant. Volunteer labor would be used. The preferred site for a
skateboard park is Oakwood Elementary. A back up site is Parkers Lake Park.
The major issue of insurance and liability has not been fully addressed yet. The
YMCA has offered to secure the insurance, and they also offered to provide
staffing. The area outside of baseball field is where it would go if installed at
Parkers Lake Park. Director Blank thinks Oakwood is a better location. The
skateboard park will be fenced off and locked when not staffed. If we end up with
one at Oakwood, we may study a location in the northeast part of Plymouth for
another skateboard park.
8. COMMISSION PRESENTATION
None.
9. STAFF COMMUNICATION
Eric thanked everyone who worked at Fire and Ice. The winning fish was a 1 1/2 Ib.
Northern. Contest participation was at an all time high. We may try a curling
demonstration next year based on a suggestion. S'mores were sold out.
The letter sent by Mrs. Domaas requesting a park at the intersection of Vicksburg
and Schmidt Lake Road was discussed. Director Blank said this park may not be
built until 1998. He suggested that PRAC consider allocating funds for this project
PRAC Minutes/February 1997
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when reviewing the 1998-2002 CIP. There are two other locations for new parks to
consider as well.
10.ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m.