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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 11-08-1990Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting November 8, 1990 Page 48 Present: Chair Freels, Commissioners Anderson, Hanson, Beach and Waage; staff Blank, Pederson, and Peterson Absent: Commissioner Rosen 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Freels called the November meeting to order at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion was made by Commissioner Anderson and seconded by Commissioner Waage to approve the minutes of the October meeting as presented. The motion carried with all ayes. 3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS a. Athletic Associations. None were present. b. Staff. Mark Peterson, Superintendent of Parks, presented the Commission with a map showing winter trails that will be maintained. He explained that 29-30 miles of trails will be plowed this winter, which is three miles more than last winter, and 10 miles more than the winter of '88-89. He stated that the City purchased a special sidewalk plow that is narrower than the blade on a pickup truck, which makes plowing the trails a more efficient operation. He explained that additional winter maintenance for the parks crew involves plowing City owned parking lots, building maintenance at Parkers Lake Pavilion, and the flooding and maintenance of City ice rinks. Two new rinks will be operational this winter, one at Swan Lake Park and one at Turtle Lake Park. Rinks at Olive Pond and Lions Park will be removed from the maintenance schedule, because they are both close to other rinks where warming houses are located. Rink flooding will begin around the end of November, with rinks ready for skaters by mid- December. Rinks on ponds and lakes usually take longer, because crews will not take equipment on the ice until it is at least eight indhes thick for safety purposes. Matk stated that a winter maintenance manual has been assembled for maintenance employees, which explains in detail what's to be done in each park. Mark also explained the projects that were completed this past summer by the Twin Cities Tree Trust, a group comprised of low income teens and adults. Some of the the projects done by them for the City of Plymouth included a keystone retaining wall in Plymouth Creek Park and in the Parkers Lake Cemetery, and replacing the old wooden timbers surrounding the play equipment at the East Beach and Mission Hills Park with new recycled plastic timbers. C. Others. None. November 1990 PRAC Minutes Page 49 4. REPORT ON PAST COUNCIL ACTION a. Council approved the list of ice rinks to be maintained during the 90- 91 winter season. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Proposed trail on County Road 6 from Fernbrook to Juneau Lane. This item was tabled at the October meeting in order to give each commissioner a chance to visit the site. All commissioners present agreed that the trail was necessary after observing the speed of traffic on County Road 6 and witnessing pedestrians and bikers using the road. Henry Willegalle, 1525 Juneau Lane, stated that he did not agree with staff on the location of this segment of trail. He thinks the people north of County 6 will come down Niagara Lane to get to the park, and those who choose to use Fernbrook should be routed down to the Luce Line and then over to the park. He also explained that it is difficult for him to envision the trail system completely in place by just looking at it on a map, and it's hard to understand how all the different segments will fit together in the end, when it's being constructed in pieces. Director Blank tried to explain to Mr. Willegalle that the trail along County 6, when it is all completed, will start at Oakwood Elementary (on the north side of 6) and go east to the Parkers Lake Park tunnel at Co. 6 & Niagara, where it will then cross to the south side of 6, continue along the park boundary to Juneau and then go on to Fernbrook. Mr. Willegalle stated that it did not personally matter to him where the trail is placed, but he does feel that the residents on 6 have given up a lot of their property for the widening of the road, and regardless of where the trail goes, someone will be unhappy. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER HANSON AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER WAACE TO RECOMMEND THE CONSTRUCTION OF TRAIL ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF COUNTY ROAD 6 BETWEEN FERNBROOK AND JUNEAU LANE AS PROPOSED IN THE COMPREHENSIVE TRAIL SYSTEM PLAN. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. b. Proposal to build ice rink. Robert Furst and Andy Benson, 462 Williams St., Excelsior, presented their proposal to the Commission to build an indoor ice arena on the site proposed for the community center arena. This item was tabled at the October meeting, because these two gentlemen couldn't be present that evening. Director Blank stated that this item has been forwarded to the Financial Task Force for their review. Mr. Benson indicated that the proposed arena would be Olympic size (there are no Olympic size arenas in the metropolitan area at this time), and that he and Mr. Furst would come up with the funds to build it, with the understanding that the City would buy the building once it is constructed and be responsible for the costs of maintenance. They would operate and manage it the first two years at no cost to the City. If the operating costs exceeded the revenues, Mr. Benson and Furst would cover those losses. If, on the other hand, revenues exceeded expenses, they would get those profits. November 1990 FRAC Minutes Page 50 Chair Freels commented that as a business man, he believes the construction of an ice arena of this magnitude would be a great risk to these private individuals and he questioned why they were willing to take such a risk? Mr. Furst responded that they are confident it would be a successful venture for both the City and themselves and that after conducting research with different skating clubs, they are positive enough use would be generated to make a profit or at least break even. He went on to say that at this point, they aren't interested in making a profit, they just want to build an ice arena. Mr. Furst also commented that if PRAC had been willing to include an ice arena in their community center plans, these same risks had to be considered and how was this proposal any different than that? Commissioner Beach asked which skating clubs they had talked to, and Mr. Benson said that he had spoken with the Edina Figure Skating Club, and the Minnetonka Figure Skating Club. He also said that the Olympic Skating Committee had contacted him about their proposal to build an arena in Plymouth. Commissioner Beach said she believed the Minneapolis Figure Skating Club was looking for a "home" arena, and Mr. Benson might want to contact them, as well. Several commissioners questioned how the arena would be managed in terms of who would assign the ice time and how those decisions would be made, such as what hours hockey clubs would get for practice and when the general public would be allowed to skate and how much groups would be charged. Director Blank responded that the management of the ice arena and fees haven't been discussed at this point, because this is only a proposal. Mr. Furst said that an example scenario would be to assign ice time to hockey groups based on the percentage of Plymouth children involved. He also indicated that about ten hours a week would be set aside for "open" skating. He further stated that he had talked with the Wayzata Hockey Association, and they would be willing to contribute some of the funds needed to build the arena, if they could be guaranteed 1/6 of the ice time. Chair Freels asked each commissioner for his/her comments on the proposal to build an indoor ice arena on the site set aside for the community center's arena. Commissioner Hanson commented that she believes there is a need for indoor ice, but she isn't sure about the project being built by private individuals who would later turn it over to the City to run. She feels the City should have more control at the beginning of the project and remain involved throughout, and she's also concerned about the future of the community center if an ice arena is constructed alone. Commissioner Anderson feels the whole proposal is too vague, and he is also concerned about the City's commitment to buy the building once it is constructed. What happens if it fails? What would the City do with the building? Commissioner Waage questioned how Plymouth residents would view the project? Would they see it as a private ice arena and have trouble November 1990 PRAC Minutes Page 51 connecting it to the City, and as a result of that, not use it? She also feels it's somewhat a moot issue, since the Council is the body who will decide if it will be built, not the Park Commission. Commissioner Beach was concerned with how ice time would be assigned what fees would be charged to groups and single individuals, and would the construction of this building compromise the community center? Chair Freels stated that he could not endorse this proposal or recommend it to the City Council, because he feels it is such an enormous risk on the part of Mr. Benson and Mr. Furst, and he doesn't believe the City should get involved with a private venture like this. Director Blank reminded the commissioners that their first task at this point in the process is to decide if there is a real need in Plymouth for indoor ice. It is up to the Financial Task Force and the Council to decide how it will be funded. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER BEACH AND SECONDED BY CHAIR FREELS TO INFORM THE CITY COUNCIL THAT PRAC BELIEVES THERE IS A NEED FOR INDOOR ICE IN PLYMOUTH, THAT AN INDOOR ARENA SHOULD BE INTEGRATED INTO THE COMMUNITY CENTER CONCEPT, AND THAT PRAC DESIRES MORE DIRECTION FROM THE CITY COUNCIL ON WHAT TO DO WITH THIS PROPOSAL. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. c. Special. facilities - comprehensive plan -, continue discussion. Director Blank distributed some information on national golf and pool standards. Discussion on this item will continue at the next meeting. d. 1990 project report. Swan Lake Neighborhood park is finished except for dormant seeding in some areas, trails on 46th Avenue and West Medicine Lake Drive are also complete. 6. NEW BUSINESS a. New plats. There were no new plats. 7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION Chair Freels stated that he will be out of town on December 13 and could the PRAC meeting be changed to another night, or cancelled for December. It was decided to meet on a "need to meet" basis. 8. STAFF COMMUNICATION Director Blank indicated that the 1990 Annual Report draft copy would be available for PRAC's review at their January meeting, with the final copy needing approval at the February meeting. 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.