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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 03-10-1988Minutes of the. Park snd Recreation Advisory Commission. Meeting March 10, 1988 Page, 11 Present:: Chair Edwards, Commissioners LaTour, Rosen, Reed, Beach, Hanson, and Anderson; Councilman Sisk; staff Anderson, Blank, Patterson and i Pederson; and George, Watson of Brauer and Associates 1. CALL TO ORDER I Chair Edwards called the March meeting to order at 7:30 p.m, in the Council Conference Room, 2 APPROVAL OF MINUTE A, motion was mode by Commissioner Rosen and seconded by Commissioner Basch to approve the minutes of the February meeting as presented., The motion carried With all ayes.: 3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS a. Athletic Associa%iona,, None were present at this meeting.. b. Staff, Mary Patterson stated that softball registrat.un had began and: that: .150 teams had registered so far. New this year will be morning softball leagues. for players who work night shifts.. She announced that NoC'thwedtern Bell Telephone will. be a co-sponsor, along with The 'Bank Wayzata, this summer for our summer concerts in. the parks Shs indicated that we are running; an indoor soccer program in April for elementary school children and that enrollment is going very - wells, She said that most of the children signing up are new, and have not been in our programs at least withinthelast 15 months. Mary also stated that she is in the process of helping form an Arts Advisory Board that includes representation from: the Art Center of Minnesota and Wayzata Community Education. P!smbers, of the board will be used for program planning, input, marketing and solicitation of funds. They will also act as a clearinghouse for art activities coordinating a community calendar of events. Mary then introduced Cindy Anderson, our neva recreation specialist, who replaced Mary Tilley. Cindy's last employer w:s the Flagship Athletic Club:. Cindy has an extensive background in soccer coaching,aquatics and you..h programming_. Cindy stated that our youth ski trip to Afton. Alps on Presidents Day b of Apt -4r4 ants. . Shehadbeenalargesuccesswithtwofulluaeapr also announced that 45 students had taken the "Learn to Ski" program. at Hyland, Hills. She in currently busy putting together her summer staff for aquatics and playground programs. FRAC Minutes/March 10, 1988 Page 12 4, REPORT ON PAST COUNCIL ACTION a Parkers Lake Pavilion y- Award`of Bid. Council awarded the bid. for the Parkers Lake, Pavilion, to Belair-Builders and they also added the, small picnic shelter to the award, b. -A nucualAep2XJ2Theyacceptedthe19871Annual 'Report as submitted by PRAC. C. St. Mary's Master Plan. Council accepted. the St._ Mary's neighborhood park master plan and expressed some concern regarding. the cost to install several large trees. It Was explained that the trees were included tri provide shade, since the residents had indicated they were not interested in a picnic shelter.. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. P+rk UsagelCos -Study Discussion. Director Blank, briefly reviewed the sheet distributed to FRAC, on the. number of participants involved' in the youth athletic associations. Based on; the number of Plymouth residents: involved (4,327), approximately $21,635 would be raised if they were all chargeda $5 user, fee. Discussion then centered. around how you; make user fees fair? It was pointed out that much of the wear and tear on school fields comes from the many phy•, ed, classes using the fields on a daily basis throughout the fall and spring, and these children would not be charged any fees., The youth athletic associations use the fields mainly in the early evening at the school sites, with more use being seen at Zachary and Plymouth Creek Playfields by the. athletic associations. Commissioners then wondered how the City would collect these fees, and Director Blank stated that: theassociations would be charged a. lump sum fee for the field and it would be, up to them to collect it from the participants any way they wanted, Commissioner Reed asked what account the money would _go into, and Director Blank stated it. would' be deposited in the park maintenance fund, or, it could' be Put into a general fund to be used by some other, department if necessary. He further indicated that the Council could decide to lower, the , mill levy equal to the amount of the fees, resulting in a savings to tax payers. Commissioners continued their discussion and agreed thrt they were still, not ready to make any recommendations to the Council. Mary Patterson asked Chair Edwards if it would help the Commission if staff were to try and survey other cities nationally to see if user fees are 'being charged.or being considered. Chair Edwards felt that that sort of information would be extremely useful, so staff will try to have something available by the April meeting. b. Parkers Lake Update.Belair Builders was awarded the contract on the pavilion, and they are very anxious to get started. Director FRAC Minutes/March 10, 1988 Page 11, Blank indicated that they were at the park this past week checking the depth of the frost, because they would like to begin work as soon apt possible. C. Plvsiouth Creak Site P annJU, Director Blank reminded FRAC that Council approved the original concept plan for this park. back in 1982, and at that timet they stated they would not. approve a master plan until public hearings were held. to get input from the community. Director Blank stated further that the site and shape of the park has changed somewhat since then,, because of the additior, of the Park Place Apartments and the continuation of 34th Avenue out to Fernbrook Lane George. Watson then presented th ae new concept plans for FRAC to review and discuss. A11, three had some features in common, including the location of the proposed community center, along the western border of the park, an athletic area in the northeast corner, a group picnic area) a large water area in all three concepts, but. of a different size and shape in each one;, a prairie restoration area, a historic/cultural area, tennis courts, and extensive trails.. Concept #1 was unique in that it had a par 3 golf course located in the southwest corner near the community center-. Concepts 2, and 3 shored a water slide area and a civic plaza. Concept 1 had a spectator tennis area, and Concept. 3 had a sculpture garden, boat rental area, and indoor soccer. Mr. Watson explained that Concept 1 ha,d more active recreation and less passive recreation, Concept 2 had quite a bit more passive recreation than Concept 1, and, Concept 3 had slightly more passive recreation than Concept 2. He also indicated that in order to construct the community center in its proposed, westerly location, Concept 1 would: require an additional five acres; Concept 2, an additional 1.4 acres; and Concept 3 an additional 2.5 acres. The commissioners then discussed each concept's features in an attempt to give Mr. Watson some direction on how to narrow down to one concept. The par 3golf course prompted a lot of discussion among PRAC members.. Commissioner Reed felt that it would be far too costly to construct and maintain: to justify its inclusion in this park. Director Blank pointed out that golf is ,a very popular activity And a big revenue producer, and that 20 years from now, it could be in very big demand. He feels that its possible. that Elm Creek, Hollydale and Hampton Hills golf courses might not be there in the future, once sewer is installed in western Plyr•outh. Most commissioners agreed that golf courses are an important feature to have in a city park system, but they weren't sure if it belonged in this particular park.. jCommissioners then. discussed tome of the other features in each concept and asked if the tennis court would have a bubble over it, Director Blank responded that, it may and could then be used in the winter for tennis.' FRAC Minutes/March 10, 19$8 Page, 1.4 Mr,. Watson and Director Blank will work on a new concept plan that does" not: show a par 3 golf course and will have j. ready by the April meeting, d. ,, Mary's_Nsisbhorhood Park Update. Director Blank indicated that, e contractor working on 1-394 will be bringing in free dirt fill for some areas of this park, which will then be covered with better top soil. He said that he has not made a final selection on the playground_ equipment. He indicated that bid letting will be sometime in May. 5. NEW BUSINESS a. Now Plats Review Neighborhood Park - _494 6 Co. ad. 9. Director Blank reviewed the proposed size, shape and location of this future park and stated that in order to save as many trees as possible in and around the marsh, the City must hold a public hearing for the purpose of amending the comprehensive park sytem plan, so that this park can be: enlarged on the pian. By holding a public hearing, the current hand owners can be legally notified that the City will be proposing to take more land from them. Commissioners agreed that it was a good idea to save the trees. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER ROSEN AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER HAN.SON TO RECOMMEND THAT A PUBLIC HEARING BE CONDUCTED ON APRIL 14 FOR THE PURPOSE OF AMENDING THE COMPREHENSIVE PARK SYSTEM PLAN. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. b. Reeort on Plymouth _Crgek Soccer Field. Commissioners reviewed a staff report from Dan Campbell, Engineering, and from Director Blank, on the costs of installing a natural turf soccer field vs: an artificial turf field in Plymouth Creek Playfield. The cost for an artificial, field would be $361,000. The cost for a natural turf field would be approximately $33,000. Commissioners agreed that it was not worth it to install the artificial turf. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER ROS7N AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER REED TO RECOMMEND THAT THE CITY INSTALL A NATURAL. TURF' SOCCER FIELD AT PLYMOUTH CREEK PARK WITH A BUDGET ESTIMATED AT $50,000 FOR THE, PROJECT,` AND FURTHER THAT THE COST FOR THIS IS TOCOMEFROM 218-218 COMMUNITY PLAYFIELDS-PARK DEDICATION ACCOUNT. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. Director Blank stated that this field should be operational by August 31, 1988, c. Joint Meeting with Council on April 4. Three items were discussed' by PRAC to be part of the agenda for, the joint meeting: the proposed community center, Plymouth Creek park site planning, and the cost usage report. Commissioner Rosen stated that he feels the sole ,purpose of the joint meeting should be to get firm direction from the Council on the community center and to find our,, exactly how they stand on this issue.