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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 01-10-1991Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting January 10, 1991 Page 1 Present: Chair Freels, Commissioners Anderson, Hanson, Beach, Rosen, Waage; staff Bisek, Blank, Busch, and Pederson 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Freels called the January meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. in the Council Chambers. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion was made by Commissioner Anderson and seconded by Commissioner Rosen to approve the minutes of the November 1990 meeting as presented. The'motion carried with all ayes. 3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS a. Athletic Associations. None were present at this meeting. b. Staff. Employee of the month awards were given out by Mary Bisek to Gerry Rapson, a clerical assistant in the Park and Recreation office; Ann Rein, a lifeguard and children's program leader; and one by Rick Busch to Michelle Severson, a scorekeeper for our athletic programs. Mary stated that an all time high attendance was recorded for a warming house, at Parkers Lake on Sunday, January 6, when approximately 800 people used the facilities there. A Plymouth Speed Skating Club race was being held that afternoon at Parkers, which contributed to that figure. Mary discussed the Fire and Ice Festival coming up on February 2, and asked if the commissioners would again tend to the bonfire. A sign up sheet was made available to the commissioners with three, two-hour shifts indicated. Mary stated that some new attractions at this year's Festival include a kite show, -clowns, and a dog sled demonstration. A couple of new programs that Park and Recreation is involved in are a Youth Leadership Workshop cosponsored with Wayzata and Robbinsdale Community Education, Camp Fire and the Red Cross, and a Folk Arts grant. Mary explained to commissioners that the recreation section of Plymouth News will be changing formats again. It will go from a two column publication to three columns, with no front or back cover, separating it from the rest of the newsletter. It will still have a table of contents, however. Program descriptions will be condensed as much as possible to take up less space, and recreation information will be in six issues instead of four. January 1991 PRAC Minutes Page 2 4. REPORT ON PAST COUNCIL ACTION a. Council approved charging a $5 non-resident fee to youth participating in athletic associations who live in cities that do not provide athletic facilities. This was done during their budget study sessions as a way to hold down maintenance costs. Commissioners were surprised at this action by the Council, since PRAC had recently discussed the issue but had not made any recommendation to Council at this time. b. As part of approving the 1991 budget, Council chose to close the West Beach for the summer of 1991. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. 'Special facilities - continue discussion. This item was tabled until the next meeting. 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Review plan for lighting Parkers Lake skating rinks. Director Blank stated that the Plymouth Speed Skating Club had appeared before the City Council requesting the installation of lighting on the rink for reasons of safety. Council referred it to PRAC to hold a public meeting, so that citizens living on the lake could be invited to comment. Steve Miller, a member of the Plymouth Speed Skating Club, spoke of the benefits that speed skating has offered his family. He stated that lighting the rink would provide for greater safety when night skating, which is when practices are held, and when most families can attend. He indicated that Tuesday and Thursday nights are for practice, and that the Club might start a speed skating clinic on Monday nights. Greg Oly, president of the Plymouth Speed Skating Club and a Plymouth police officer involved in the DARE program, stated that the club is the largest in the state, and he is confident it will become the largest in the nation. He indicated that the Parkers Lake speed skating rink is very well maintained, so that the ice conditions are excellent, however, cracks do develop in the ice with temperature changes, and these cracks are difficult to see at night. Speed skaters can attain speeds of 30 mph, and injuries can occur if skaters hit these cracks. Lights would help skaters see these cracks in time to skate around them. Members of the club range in age from 4 to 50, and membership continues to rise. Marsha Videen, 1151 Kingsview Lane, lives on the east side of Parkers Lake and is concerned about the lights shining into her living room. She stated she doesn't wish to look out her window at light bulbs. She asked about the cost to install the lighting and wondered if it would come from funds that are meant to fund some other project. Director Blank stated the estimate is $15,000 for two light poles, and that the money is coming from the park dedication fund and would not mean giving up some other project. He indicated that the intensity of January 1991 PRAC Minutes Page 3 the lights is about the same as a common street light, which is six or seven foot candles. He stated that the placement of the poles would be such that the lights would shine down on the rink, rather than out over the lake. Henry Willegalle, 1525 Juneau Lane, lives on the northeast side of the lake, and is an avid skater himself. He often uses the speed skating rink and is pleased at the possibility of having the rinks lighted. He feels that Parkers Lake is an ideal place to skate, with the pavilion serving as the warming house and feels that lights would be a welcome addition. He urged the park commission to recommend approval of the lighting and is confident that it will be done in such a way so it won't affect the residents living on the east side of the lake. Chair Freels closed the public meeting at 7:45 and then asked commissioners if they had any questions. Commissioner Hanson asked Greg Oly if two light poles would be enough to provide sufficient lighting. He responded that they would be placed in such a way that they cross over each other, so that both the pleasure skating rink and the speed skating rink would benefit from both poles. Commissioner Rosen questioned whether the speed skating rink could be placed somewhere else, perhaps in one of the playfields. Director Blank responded that no other warming house is large enough to accommodate the numbers of people that turn out for speed skating, and that the size of the rink is such that it would be difficult, but not impossible, to place it in one of the other parks. It does destroy the grass underneath, however, and if PRAC chose to move it to another park, it would not make sense to try and reseed that area every spring, which would be rather costly. When informed that people all over the nation would soon know about the Plymouth Speed Skating Club, Commissioner Rosen remarked that the good publicity for the City will be worth the $15,000 cost of installing the lights. Commissioner Rosen also commented that the minutes should reflect PRAC's belief that the approval of lighting would be to benefit all the skaters of Plymouth, not just the speed skating club. Commissioner Hansen stated that adequate funding should be allocated to ensure a good lighting job. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER ROSEN AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER HANSON TO RECOMMEND THE INSTALLATION OF PERMANENT LIGHTING AT PARKERS LAKE FOR THE PLEASURE SKATING RINK AND THE SPEED SKATING RINK. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. Director Blank stated this item will be on the City Council's January 28 agenda. If passed by the Council, the lighting probably would be installed sometime in 1991, but would not be ready until next winter's skating season. Greg Oly asked if it was possible to install some sort of temporary lights for the remainder of this skating season. Director Blank said he would look into it. b. Review Pike Lake Regional Park Plan. Director Blank had sent out with their packets copies of the Pike Lake park plan to commissioners to review and make comments on. He stated the plan had not changed any since originally done in 1976. This was not an action item. None of the commissioners made any comments on the plan. January 1991 PRAC Minutes Page 4 C. 1991 Fee Schedule. Rick Busch reviewed the changes proposed for 1991 and pointed out that items being deleted were lined out and new items were underlined. He stated that in previous years, there have been two rental policies, one for the Zachary softball complex and one that covered all other parks. For purposes of simplicity and to relieve any confusion, the policies have been combined into one. Rates proposed for 1991 all increased with the exception of lights and the fee for the park attendant. When asked why those rates were not increasing, Rick responded that they were at an appropriate level now. Other changes include the new policy that facilities will not be available to non-resident groups, because of their high demand by resident groups, and the new $5 non-resident fee being charged to youth in athletic associations that live in cities not providing facilities. Commissioner Beach stated she heard that the Wayzata Traveling Soccer Club will be approaching PRAC requesting that the $5 non-resident fee be waived. They also assert that Plymouth is the only city to charge athletic associations field rental fees during tournaments. Director Blank stated he would have a staff member check with other cities to verify that. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER BEACH AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER WAAGE RECOMMENDING APPROVAL OF THE 1991 PARK FACILITY RENTAL POLICY AND FEE SCHEDULE. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. d. Review draft of annual report. A draft copy of the 1990 PRAC annual report was made available to commissioners for their comments. Comments should be made by the February meeting so they can be included before the final copies are run, which will be distributed at the February meeting. 7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION Chairman Freels commented on the need for a sidewalk along Plymouth Boulevard from Highway 55 to County Road 9. On more than one occasion he has almost collided with pedestrians and bikers using the roadway, and he feels the situation is very dangerous. He has written to the City Council about his concerns and has had no response from them. Director Blank commented that the downtown Plymouth sidewalk plan does call for sidewalk along Plymouth Boulevard and that normally it would be installed as the downtown area develops. Chairman Freels believes the sidewalks should be installed now, before a tragedy occurs. A MOTION WAS MADE BY CHAIR FREELS AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER BEACH RECOMMENDING THAT COUNCIL AUTHORIZE THE INSTALLATION OF CONTINUED SIDEWALK ALONG PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD TO COUNTY ROAD 9. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. 8. STAFF COMMUNICATION Director Blank stated that the new Kimberly Lane elementary school is requesting funding for the installation of a playground. If PRAC chooses to recommend funding, they would need to designate this school site as a neighborhood park for this area, in order to meet the requirements of the City's policy on funding school playgrounds. Staff will report further on this subject at the February meeting. January 1991 PRAC Minutes Page 5 Former commissioner, Barb Edwards, will be receiving her plaque from the City Council at their meeting on January 28. Commissioner Rosen then commented that this would be an appropriate date to recognize her on WCCO radio as a "Good Neighbor." Director Blank said that he had not been successful in talking to anyone at WCCO about their "Good Neighbor" program. 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m.