HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 04-14-1988Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting
April 14, 1988
Page 16
Present: Chair Edwards, Commissioners Hanson, Reed, _Anderson,, LaTour and,
Beach; staff Blank,. Patterson and Pederson; and George. Watson of
Brauer and Associates
Absent: Commissioner Rosen
1, CALL TO ORDER
Chair Edwards called the April meeting, to order at 1:40 p.m. in the
Council Chambers.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A motion was made by Commissioner Reed and seconded' by Commissioner
LaTour to approve the minutes of the March meeting as presented. The
motion carried with all ayes.
3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS
a. Athletic Associations. None were present at this meeting.
b. ,Staff. Mary Patterson discussed the success of Plymouth's first out
of state trip to Florida during spring break. to see the Twins at
Spring Training Camp. A formal evaluation will be done by sending a
questionnaire to the participants.
She informed the Commission that 200 adult softball teams had
registered: for our spring/summer softball season and that: play
begins on Friday, April 22.
She indicated that she continues to work on the Arta Advisory
Council with members from the Art Center of Minnesota, Wayzata
Community Education,, staff from Wayzata: Senior Nigh and interested.
residents. The purpose of the Arts Council is to determine what
direction to go with cultural events. in this community..
Mary discussed how busy staff is gearing up for summer recreation
programs. The May/,rune Plymouth on: Parade is at the printers now
and will be in homes by May I. She stated that it is the largest
issue ever published and has many new programs..: Some of these
classes are: Sunday evening t -ball for children with both parents
working during the day, ball skills class for 4 b: S year olds too
young to take t -ball, Friday afternoon special events for toddlers,
etc;
Mary stated that many vendors have contacted us wanting to sell
concessions at Parkers Lake: this summer as well as at the
playf`ields. She indicated that we are currently having the City
attorney review, an agreement that would be signed by both a vendor
and the City regarding the individual responsibilities of each..
PRAC Minutes/April 14 198$
Page 17
She also mentioned that Plymouth will be sponsoring a. Volksmarch in
October which could be part of the Parkers Lake Pavilion grand
opening if the timing is right.
4. REPORT ON PAST COUNCIL, ACTION
a. P_ly=urh Creek SoccerField. Council approved the construction of a
second. soccer field at. Plymouth Creek which will be constructed in
1988, but will not be ready for use until the spring of 1989.
b. ,S,tMarv's Neighborhood Park Plans and Suecifications. Council
approved the final plans and specifications for St. Mary's park.
5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. PlXMouth Creek Site Planning- Update. George Watson presented a
preliminary master plan to the commissioners and staff and reviewed
with them how it combined aspects of plans 2 and 3, which were
studied, at the March meeting. This plan shows 10 tennis courts, two
banks of four courts each, and one bank of two, which would be for
spectator, tennis, with seating, surrounding it. One of the banks of
four could be domed at a later time for indoor soccer, by placing a
turf cover over the court's surface. Discussion also covered the
theme park area, and an explanation of the sculptured garden and
civic _plaza area. George, pointed out the proposed location of the
handicapped accessible tot lot, and commissioners had some questions
about this. They were concerned that it would be only for children
with handicaps, but were informed by Director Blank and George that.
it would .be an integrated playground for use by children of all
ability levels, it would simply have ramps to allow wheelchair
access to much of the equipment., Commissioner Hanson questioned
whether or not the trees could rea.>lly be saved once construction
begina on the expansion of the parking lot and the community center,
Director Blank responded that it would be difficult. if the
community center is moved farther north, onto the land that we do
not own at the present time, more trees will be saved.
Commissioners asked. George to amend the plan by adding an overlay
showing the community center pushed farther north, and changing some
of the descriptive titles for example, the title "civic,
plaza/sculpture garden" was, confusing to the Commission,because of
the many ways this could be interpreted. Following the Commission's
review of the amended plan at their May meeting, the plan. would then
be shared with the Council.
bi Park Usage/Cost Study Report Discussion. Chair Edwards. sta,te t that
this item does not have to be decided on at this meeting, but that
some decision needs to be reached no later than next month, so that
a recommendation can be forwarded to the Council in time for budget.
preparation She suggested three possible recommendations to the
Council. It was the general consensus of the commissioners that
they are not comfortable at this time making a decision on charging
user fees, until more information is available from other
communities. Staff is still waiting on the. results of a survey
being done by Edina on user fees, and this information should be
ready by the May PRAC meeting
FRAC !minutes/April 14, 1988
Page l8
C packers Lake_Ugdate• Belair Builders, is making great progress on
the: pavilion and hopes to have it completed by July 1, although
their contract specifies a September 7 completion date. They've
agreed to have the picnic shelters finished as soon as possible.
d.. Sti Mary's Ngighborh02d Park Update. The advertisement for bids has,
been published in the, newspaper, with bid opening scheduled for
April 27 at 2:00. The award of contract should go to the City
Council on May 2, with construction, beginning sometime in mid or
late May.
e. Public Hearing to Amend-CoMgrehensiye Plan. This has been
tentatively scheduled for the May PRAC meeting..
f i2ns Park Playground Update, Crews are now erecting this
playground and should have it 90% completed by Friday, April 22.
6. NEV BUSINESS
a,. Request for Matching funds -,Greenwood/Oakwood PTIJ, Director Blank
reviewed the written request from the Greenwood/Oakwood PTA for
matching funds from the City to build new playgrounds at these two
school 'sites. Maps with circles showing the, walking radius to all
neighborhood parka in the general vicinity of Greenwood and Oakwood
were, also reviewed and discussed. Commissioners then reviewed the
guidelines for requesting contributioxns to see if these two groups
met the guidelines. It was decided that the Greenwood neighborhood
did not meet the guideline for being 50% developed, although the
school's attendance is estimated at between 600 and 700 children,_
and these children all use the playground. Commissioners then
discussed that the majority of these children are bussed in from
other parts of Plymouth. The Commission decided that the Greenwood
request would be postponed until staff finds out how many children
attending there actually live chose enough to walk to the school,.
Bill Richardson, representing the Oakwood PTO, was present at the
meeting to request assistance for their playground and to answer any
questions. PRAC again reviewed the guidelines and discussed the
fact that Oakwood is not designated as a neighborhood park, but
rather as a community playfield, and that. Oakwood had received a new
parking lot two years ago, which is considered: as an improvement and
falls under guideline #8 Mr. Richardson felt that the new parking
lot was not as much an improvement to the playground as it was to
the community playfield, and therefore, should not be considered
when reviewing this request.
Commissioners asked Director Blank how funding these projects would
affect the construction of other neighborhood parks in 1989. He
stated that funds for the school playgrounds would come from the
some budget as neighborhood parks and would have to be budgeted for
accordingly. He felt, however, that no new neighborhood parks would
be built in 1989, but, that two could be possible in 1990,,one of
which might be Swan Lake. Kilmer Park needs minor construction and.
would probably be the next park _scheduled for any redevelopment
funds.
PRAC Minutes/April 14, 1988
Page 19
Commissioners decided that neither of these requests for matching
funds can be approved at this time, because both need further study,
and the Commission would like an opportunity to look at the UP for
1989-94 Mr. Richardson Was asked to provide the Commission with a
site plan and a. list of what equipment they would like added and,
which Pieces: they will be removing prior to the May meeting.
b unity Center General Discussion, Director Blank stated that
the City Manager has requested that PRAC have a report prepared by
Judy regarding the needs analysis for the community center. In
consideration of this. request, he feels. that PRAC will need to meet
twice. a month between now and then in order to accomplish this.
Because so many interest. groups need to be heard from, it was
suggested that, several could speak at one meeting and be given some
guidelines in order to make their presentat,ons more effective and
timely.. Groups would be limited to 30 minutes each and -should
provide as much written information as possible to PRAC prior to
making their presentation. Groups that need to be 'heard from
include: both District 281 & 284 community education departments,
youth hockey, swimming groups and senior citizens, as well as other
smaller groups that will want to hold meetings in the community
center. Meeting space is a. very important consideration, and in
talking with other cities that have built community centers,
Director Blank has learned that they did. not plan for enough meeting
rooms.. Commissioner Hanson asked if the original plan for the
community center included room layout, and Director Blank responded
that it did. Chair Edwards stated that FRAC should review that plan
to see if it's still appropriate now and that PRAC should also
review the task force report prepared in 1984 prior to the May
meeting. She suggested that commissioners start a separate folder
on community center issues,
Director Blank and Chair Edwards will work out a calendar of ineeting
dates to discus's the community center and will inform everyone of
those dates.
c. Parkers Luke Peace Gardens. Unites Properties and Laukka:, the
developers of Parkers Lake North, will cc.,tribute $5,000 toward the
development of the peace gardens, and have had their landscape
architect, Gene Ernst, prepare the concept plans. Director Blank
shared, those plans with the Commission and discussed the various
components of the plan. It consisted of several nodes, with each
node priced separately. The peace gardens could be constructed in
phasem, and it is anticipated that some of the gardens would be
planted this year.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER REED AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER
HANSON TO APPROVE ACCEPTING THE $5,000 DONATION BY UNITED PROPERTIES
AND LAUKKA FOR THE PEACE` GARDENS AT PARKERS LAKE CITY PARK. THE
MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES.
7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION
None