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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 03-19-1998Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting March 19, 1998 Page 9 Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Fiemann, Musliner, Wahl, Willegalle, Planning Commissioner Koehnen, staff Bisek, Blank and Pederson Absent: Commissioners Priebe, Thompson 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Anderson called the March 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 Fiemann to approve the minutes of the February meeting as presented. The motion carried with all ayes. 3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS a. Athletic Associations. None were present. b. Staff. Mary Bisek said the touch tone registration system is up and running. At first, 30%-35% of our registrations were conung in that way. People seem to like it, and they're even using it in the middle of the night. Mary indicated that Primavera will be holding its second annual arts event in April. There will be live entertainment during the event, and the Westside Players are also doing a presentation. Track work has been installed in City Hall so art can be displayed here year round. The Sixth Annual Spring Sing including six different choirs is April 26. Our Plymouth Rockers will be performing. Commissioner Willegalle asked if we had pictures of the showmobile. A member of our staff is working on designing some art work to go on the side of the showmobile. Our summer brochure is at the printers and is expected to be delivered to residents on March 31. c. Others. There were no guest presentations. 4. PAST COUNCIL ACTION a. The mobile stage was approved. b. The skateboard park was approved. We'll be going out for bid to solicit parties to operate the skate park. c. Minor capital expenditures were approved; things like the flower garden in the amphitheater. d. Council approved a contract with the DNR for a fishing pier at West Medicine Lake. e. The Council accepted the PRAC annual report and thanked the Commission for their contributions to the City in 1997. PRAC Minutes/March 1998 Page 10 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. West Medicine Lake Park. Mark is working on some signs. Concrete ramps have to be installed for boat launching. Sod has been ordered. We're trying to get these things wrapped up by Memorial Day weekend. b. Elm Creek Playfield. Irrigation has to be turned on. Bleachers are being built. Adult softball will start there in May. c. East Medicine Regional Trail. Retaining walls are almost finished. The road is now one way going north. Some fencing needs to go in and some more sod. This project may be done by June. d. Activity center/fieldhouse. The Council voted unanimously to hold a bond referendum in May. They chose bonding of $4.5 million. The tax implication on a $200,000 home will be about $18 annually, with $4 per year to cover the operating costs. Several seniors and members of the Fine Arts Council spoke at the Council meeting in favor of the activity center/fieldhouse. City staff will now start working on literature regarding the bond referendum, which will be sent to all households in Plymouth. The timeline, if this passes, is to spend about four months designing it, with grading of the site planned for fall. Building the facility will begin in February or March of `99 with the opening scheduled for New Year's Eve in 1999. A citizen's group consisting of seniors, members of the fine arts community, athletic associations, etc., will be going out and encouraging voters to vote yes. Director Blank will try to get information out to the Commission, so they will be armed with facts in case they get questions from the public. 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Amend comprehensive trail plan to extend trail on Northwest Boulevard from 44th Avenue to Schmidt Lake Rd. Director Blank discussed the petition received last year from the residents asking for this trail extension. The petition asked that the trail only be extended to 46th, but staff believes it should go all the way to Schmidt Lake Road, because of the new church being built on that corner, and the location of the Bass Lake Playfield, etc. The City has also received a petition for a sidewalk on 36th Avenue from Zachary Lane to Plymouth Middle School. Armstrong is building a new entrance to their school, which would impact this trail. The need for trail on Northwest Boulevard has been proven due to traffic volume and speed. COMMISSIONER WAHL MOVED TO RECOMMEND AMENDING THE COMPREHENSIVE TRAIL PLAN EXTENDING THE TRAIL ON NORTHWEST BOULEVARD AS PER STAFF'S RECOMMENDATION. THE MOTION WAS SECONDED BY CHAIR ANDERSON. ALL AYES. b. Develop rental policy for mobile stage. The Council would like the City to generate some revenue from the showmobile, which they recently approved purchasing. The showmobile will cost the City $82,000. We need a policy on use and rental rates. The City of Robbinsdale has a rental policy for their showmobile, which they sent to Director Blank to review and share with the Commission. Most of the groups using it will be non-profit PRAC Minutes/March 1998 Page 11 agencies. Keeping that in mind, rental rates need to be reasonable, stated Director Blank. We could have a secondary fee for businesses in Plymouth, private groups, etc., and a third fee for outside agencies. Commissioner Fiemann likes the idea of a three tier rental policy. $200 per day for a non-profit group to rent it seems like a fair price, Commissioner Wahl said. Requests to use it are coming in already for dates from June through July. Our crews will be responsible for delivering the showmobile and setting it up. Our risk manager is working on an insurance policy that would be fair and equitable. Most groups don't know how to acquire one -day insurance riders. This seems to be the biggest obstacle of the Robbinsdale policy. Commissioner Wahl thinks Robbinsdale's rental policy is quite good, and that we should develop our policy based on their ideas. By the April meeting, Mary and Eric will have a draft rental policy. Director Blank explained that it takes only one person to operate the showmobile if no extensions need to be added. Commissioner Musliner asked about security when groups like the Westside Players use it for several days in a row. Director Blank said it closes up nicely, and in this case it would be located right in the amphitheater, close to the police station. 7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION Commissioner Fiemann asked what was going on at the hockey arena. Director Blank explained that the boards on the Olympic Rink didn't match in color. They are three different shades of white, but since it was so close to opening day, the City accepted the boards. The company was never paid, however, so they have now returned to replace these unacceptable boards. Also, the ice on that rink is discolored in some places. Silt has migrated up through the ice due to flooding from heavy rains right before the arena opened. Mud came pouring into the arena through an open door, ran down the bleacher area and onto the sand, prior to the ice being made. By noon on Saturday, the new boards will be in place, and new ice will be made in time for a big event coming up in April. An ice skating show will be presented by the figure skating club in June. The arena finished in the black by about $26,000 for the year. The City will be hiring a new assistant arena manager to replace a maintenance person that has resigned. 8. STAFF COMM[_]NICATION The next meeting is April 9. 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8 p.m.