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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 02-11-1999Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting February 11, 1999 Page 7 Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Fiemann, Musliner, Thompson, Wahl, Willegalle, staff Bisek, Blank and Pederson; Community Development Director Hurlburt; Councilmember Spigner Absent: Commissioner Priebe 1. CALL TO ORDER Vice Chair Wahl called the February meeting to order at 7 p.m. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion was made by Commissioner Willegalle and seconded by Commissioner Musliner to approve the minutes of the January meeting as presented. The motion carried with all ayes. 3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS a. Athletic Associations. None were present. b. Staff Mary stated that Fire and Ice was a success, with near perfect weather. She thanked those who volunteered. She talked about the power outage at the end of the day. Mary announced that Rick was officially named the new activity center manager, which means that we now will need to advertise for a new athletic coordinator to take over his responsibilities. Commissioner Willegalle asked if Rick would no longer be doing scheduling of fields. Mary said he will continue in that capacity until the new person is fully trained. She said that staff is starting to look for summer seasonal people. We are currently working on summer programs for the next brochure. Baseball/softball programs were in the February issue. Mary mentioned the E -Connect project, which is an interactive internet program that puts our recreation brochure out on the internet and will eventually allow people to register for classes using their computers. It will be a while before it is available, because there are a number of issues that need to be worked out. Primavera is coming up on May 14 and 15 and will again be held in this building. Lots of local artists, high school artists, and local performing groups will be featured. Mary announced that Karol Greupner is working on her masters program. Her paper is on the value of special events to the community. Commissioner Musliner asked about the deadline for submissions to Primavera. Mary said she didn't know. Director Blank said that the community band has really taken off and is in need of a band director. The band director from Wayzata High School has applied for the position. They will play at Music in Plymouth this year. In addition to Music in Plymouth, they will also perform PRAC Minutes/February 1999 Page 8 another concert in the amphitheater this summer. Mary stated that other smaller groups are spinning off from the community band, such as a jazz ensemble. 4. PAST COUNCIL ACTION Council approved the name Gateway Park for the neighborhood park at Schmidt Lake Road and Vicksburg Lane. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Comprehensive plan update by Anne Hurlburt, Director of Community Development. Director Hurlburt attended the meeting to discuss the process for updating the city's comprehensive plan. She explained that comprehensive plans must be updated every 10 years according to state law. A big issue for Plymouth is whether or not to continue to expand beyond the MUSA (Municipal Urban Service Area). Approximately 3,200 acres exist outside the MUSA. The city has spent the last year and a half wrestling with that question. The process involved lots of public participation. In October, the Council adopted the partial urban expansion alternative. The expanion area is generally limited to the area east of Vicksburg Lane, with some limited expansion west of Vicksburg along the Soo Line Railroad and Schmidt Lake Road. This area includes about 1,300 acres and could develop within the next 20 years. The remaining acres would not be available for development until after 2020. The Comprehensive Plan will also address other issues, such as the preservation of wetlands, lakes and woods, and the establishment of greenways and open space park areas within the urban expansion area. The parks portion of the comprehensive plan is now 20 years old. Hurlburt explained that a draft overall comprehensive plan needs to be ready by the end of the year. Since October, the city has been working with consultants. Hurlburt said that next week the Council is getting the recommendation that SRF be hired to help finish all the plans and pull everything together. She stated that currently there is a moratorium on new development in this area until everything has been ironed out. She handed out drafts of the overall schedule for updating the comp plan, as well as meetings on the calendar, lists of tasks, key dates for public meetings, a summary of major events, etc. The first major meeting is March 31, when the Planning Commission and City Council will hold a joint meeting to discuss overall goals and policies for major elements of the comprehensive plan. PRAC will be invited. Hurlburt hopes that PRAC can discuss some of these things prior to that meeting. Element 6 (Parks, Open Space and Trails Element) is crucial for PRAC. This schedule will take us to the point of having the plan all in one piece by October, explained Hurlburt. Adoption of the comprehensive plan is scheduled for March, 2000. There will be some nights during the next several months when the Planning Commission and PRAC will all have to meet together. At the March meeting, the consultant Barry Warner, from SRF, will make a presentation. Neither the 11th or the 18th will work for Director Blank or Mr. Warner, so the 15th and 17th are being considered. Commisioner Fiemann asked about the city's policy of putting bike paths along major roads. Director Blank said the update of the comprehensive plan will address the issue of putting sidewalk on both sides of the road on some major roads. The comprehensive plan is for PRAC Minutes/February 1999 Page 9 the entire city of Plymouth, Hurlburt explained, not just northwest Plymouth. Commissioner Willegalle said by the year 2025, 25% of the population will be over age 65. We are now seeing a trend toward different styles of housing. There aren't as many large homes on large lots being built. Commissioner Fiemann asked if Vicksburg would eventually be a four lane road. Director Hulburt said most likely it will, all the way to Maple Grove. The Interstate will continue to become more congested, so Vicksburg will be an alternate route. Commissioner Willegalle asked about the surface water plan. Hurlburt said the City Council did approve the surface water plan and that it was to be implemented in the year 2000. She said that approval of the capital improvements budget will dictate when the surface water plan takes effect, but that it is a small part of the overall plan. She informed Commissioner Willegalle that if he needed more specific information on the surface water plan, he should get in touch with Dan Faulkner in the Engineering Department. Chair Anderson introduced the new Council liaison Saundra Spigner. She stated that she really is looking forward to working with PRAC. Chair Anderson thanked Director Hurlburt for her presentation. Director Blank explained the exercise the consultant asked PRAC to do, a brainstorming session of items they think are important to put in the comprehensive plan. Commissioner Thompson said sports fields, Commissioner Willegalle said open space and preservation of golf courses, Commissioner Wahl said trails in northwest Plymouth and the Elm Creek Watershed, Chair Anderson said open space and golf courses, Commissioner Fiemann said trails connecting key points, Commissioner Musliner said neighborhood parks in northwest Plymouth and updating play equipment. Councilmember Spigner said she is concerned about neighborhoods that don't have parks and they somehow need to be connected by trials to existing neighborhood parks. Commissioner Wahl suggested calling it retro -planning. Commissioner Willegalle stated that it's important to have trails that connect east to west and north to south, so that people can get across town safely. Director Blank said he had received a call from the Plum Tree Development saying their private park, put in by Lundgren Bros., is useless and they want a city park. He also said the current comprehensive plan prohibits putting tennis courts in neighborhood parks and that perhaps this issue needs to be reconsidered. He gets calls from people wanting tennis courts in their neighborhood park. Because they take up so much space, Commissioner Willegalle said the City has been putting tennis courts in where there's room, which tends to be in playfields. The activity center was added to the list, along with other facilities like skateboard parks, disc golf, dog park, etc. Mary suggested calling these special use parks. Commissioners then were asked to look over the entire list and pick their top three. These individual lists will be compiled by staff, put in order by most popular to least, and redistributed to PRAC. b. Activity center, Fieldhouse update. Director Blank stated that the Planning Commission held a public hearing two weeks ago on the activity center/fieldhouse. Two people spoke at the public hearing. One was Commissioner Willegalle and the other was Fred Lips, PRAC Minutes/February 1999 Page 10 one of our volunteer gardeners, who asked about the intersection of 34th Avenue and Fernbrook Lane and whether or not a stoplight would be installed there. Director Blank explained that the two new office highrise buildings going in there have dictated that there will be a stoplight at this intersection. He indicated that the site plan approval is on the Council agenda for next week, and then we will go back to the city council for authorization to bid in late March or early April. We hope to break ground in May. Rick Busch will be the manager of the facility. Part of his duties will be the overall coordination of athletic associations' use of the Fieldhouse. Del Erickson may be at the next meeting to discuss a number of things. There was some discussion then about whether or not a PRAC member should attend the Council meeting next week. Councilmember Spigner said a letter of support would probably be sufficient. Director Blank said two surfaces for the dome are being bid. The less expensive surface is the aggregate system. It plays like regular grass and doesn't cause turf burns. c. Approve annual report and work plan. COMMISSIONER WAHL MOVED TO APPROVE THE 1999 WORK PLAN AND ANNUAL REPORT AS PRESENTED. THE MOTION WAS SECONDED BY CHAIR ANDERSON. MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. Councilmember Spigner asked what PRAC wants in terms of golf courses. Director Blank said the goal is to protect for the long term the existing golf courses. Councilmember Spigner asked if the City lost one, would PRAC support building one? Commissioner Willegalle said PRAC's current strategy is to protect the three we now have. Director Blank said the three existing courses are 18 holes, while the two new proposals are for nine holes and will be geared to seniors and families with children, etc. They appeal to different clientele, he explained. Commissioner Fiemann asked if citizens are supposed to make comments to the Council regarding the golf course Hennepin Parks is proposing. Councilmember Spigner said that comments to the Council are welcome. 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Approve 1999 park facility rental policies and fees. There are nine policies this year. Director Blank explained the changes that have been proposed. Large groups of over 125 may require the presence of a police officer when renting the performance stages. Under the Parkers Lake stage, portable stage and amphitheater policies, the clause about lewd or obscene lyrics and behavior should be removed from the policy according to the city attorney, because you cannot prohibit free speech. Director Blank thinks we should strike the clause, because if push came to shove, we would lose on that issue. The showmobile policy has a statement that says the City can refuse to rent it if we feel it will be used in an unsafe or hazardous way or if the event isn't considered to be in the best interest of the city. Commissioner Musliner suggested changing the wording to better reflect the intent. She felt we should end the sentence after the words "hazardous to the showmobile or its operators." COMMISSIONER WILLEGALLE MOVED TO APPROVE RENTAL FEES WITH CHANGES AS PROPOSED; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MUSLINER. Councilmember Spigner asked about fees for the PRAC Minutes/February 1999 Page 11 showmobile, what they were last year, how we compare to other cities, and who rented the showmobile. Director Blank stated the fees are the same as last year and that we are higher than other communities. He said the Wayzata High School, a church, and the city of Richfield rented it. The motion was then voted on and carried with all ayes. Commissioner Willegalle asked if there was a policy regarding the picnic shelters down by the lake. He knows they are first come, first serve, but there was a problem last summer during the History Fest, when a group showed up and wouldn't leave, even though the History Fest was a city run event and had plans to use that shelter. Director Blank said he and Mary would look into that and try to come up with some kind of policy that would address the city having priority use of the shelter during city sponsored events. b. Discuss names for activity center and fieldhouse. The Youth Advisory Council has suggested the name Plymouth Pavilions. Director Blank pointed out that the name Pavilion is already attached to the Parkers Lake building and will also be used for the future Medicine Lake bath house. Commissioner Wahl said he didn't like that name for the activity center/fieldhouse, because it reminded him more of an outdoor band shell. Commissioner Musliner suggested Plymouth Community Center and Sports Dome. Councilmember Spigner suggested that PRAC consider holding a contest asking the public to help name the complex. Chair Anderson said that was a possibility. Commissioner Willegalle asked who would judge the names. Councilmember Spigner said PRAC would decide. She felt by giving the community an opportunity to buy in, it might make them feel better about the facility. 7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION None 8. STAFF COMMUNICATION Staff will try to schedule the next meeting for March 15, which is a Monday, because Director Blank is out of town on the 11th. 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.