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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 07-11-1991Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting July 11, 1991 Page 20 Present: Chair Freels, Commissioners Anderson, Johnson, Waage, Wahl, and Watson; staff Bisek, Blank and Sankey. Absent: Commissioner Gutzke 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Freels called the July meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. in the Council Chambers. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion was made by Commissioner Waage and seconded by Commissioner Wahl to approve the minutes of the May meeting as presented. The motion carried with all ayes. 3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS a. Athletic Associations. None were present. b. Staff. Mary Bisek spoke on behalf of the June employees of the month. Harvey Sheffert and Ron Farley are senior umpires who have officiated over 150 games per year over the last four years. They head up what Rick Busch considers to be the top group of umpires in the state. They both consistently score on top of the list for the yearly rules test for all of the umpires in Minnesota. They handle the pressure of officiating well and can usually diffuse a difficult situation before it escalates into a game ejection. Plymouth is lucky to have them in our program. Mary also spoke on behalf of the July employees of the month. Julie Berg began working for the city in 1987 as a WSA. She is now our senior head guard and supervises 29 lifeguards at three beaches and two pools. She has recently been teaching the new Jr. Lifeguard program. She has excellent working knowledge of aquatic skills and is strongly dedicated. Tina Swanson grew up in our aquatic program. In 1984 she started as a WSA. She is now our Head WSI at Wayzata East Jr. High Pool. She daily teaches over 85 children along with supervising the staff. She also coaches swimming for Hopkins, which is a testimony to her dedication to aquatics. The certificates will be given to them at the pool, which will be enjoyed by the students. Mary gave an overview of the recreation division for the benefit of our new commissioners. The recreation division employees 3 3/4 full time staff and operates with a half million dollar budget, 70% of which is covered by program fees. We annually have over 40,000 participants in over 800 programs, and in addition are visited by over 78,000 people at the beaches and warming houses. We have 700 adult teams and 100 youth teams participating in our own leagues, and schedule and maintain fields for the youth athletic associations which have many additional teams. We schedule over 4,000 games per year on our fields, which keeps the maintenance staff busy. July 1991 PRAC Minutes Page 22 Outside agencies are contracted for programming for seniors and handicapped citizens. Senior Community Services covers western Hennepin county. Their expertise is concentrated on the seniors. They provide a staff person on Monday mornings and administrate a large volunteer program. West Hennepin Community Center specializes in programing for handicapped individuals. Seven communities contract to provide these services, which is more efficient because of combined resources and participants. Many special needs participants are integrated into regular programs, which is a good experience for them and also a good experience for the able-bodied participants because of the social contact. Commissioner Wahl asked if any of the programs make a profit. Mary replied that many do. In fact, the profit from some of the programs serves to help cover the expenses of the free programs such as beaches, warming houses, special events, and seniors. Director Blank said that about $130,000 is transferred from the General Fund. The rest of the expenses are covered by collected revenues. Plymouth probably ranks in the top 5% of local agencies in paying their own way. Chair Freels suggested that the department should publicize how well it does and show how most of the programs are self supporting. Mary Bisek agreed that good public relations are helpful and that she would look into it. Commissioner Johnson asked if a program is ever kept on even if registration is low. Mary replied that this is done occasionally, especially if the department feels that the program will grow in the future. "Seed" money is also budgeted to get new programs going. Scholarship money is also included in the budget and is available to help children participate in programs. The department will usually cover 50% of the fee for a scholarship, and occasionally higher if needed. 4. REPORT ON PAST COUNCIL ACTION a. Plavfields. Bids were awarded to Shingobee Builders for Bass Lake and Parkers Lake Playfields. Preliminary grading has already begun on Bass Lake Playfield and will begin soon at Parkers Lake. Shingobee's goal is completion by the end of the year. Chair Freels encouraged the new members of the commission to contact staff and see the plans for the new playfields. b. Request for citizen survey. The old Park & Recreation Advisory Commission thought feed back was necessary before proceeding any further with consideration of special facilities such as pools and golf courses. Chair Freels and the mayor met to discuss the issue, and he subsequently sent a letter to the Council to request a citizen survey regarding wants and needs. The Council thought this should be a budget consideration item. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. 1992-96 C.I.P. Director Blank stated that a problem has arisen in that the Council has passed a motion to take $500,000 out of park dedication fees to cover maintenance of the two new playfields. This greatly affects future projects. On July 22, the final specs on the July 1991 PRAC Minutes Page 23 new trail projects will go to the Council for approval. M.S.A. Road funds will pay for most of these projects. Funding for Shiloh and Gleanloch remodeling is in place, and the projects will be completed. Tennis courts at Plymouth Creek Park is a dead issue for this year, as there is no current funding. Chair Freels felt that the tennis court project should be moved to 1992. The 10th Avenue Park qualifies for federal money and will be covered by C.D.B.G funding. The playfields are being covered by the Public Improvement Revolving Fund. The Forster property west of Zachary Playfield is being negotiated and will likely cost approximately $400,000. Director Blank will meet with the Director of Finance to project revenue and expenses for the remainder of the year to determine the unallocated balance available for new projects. He will come back in September to the Commission with these figures. Director Blank stated that the 1991 C.I.P. should be approved by Council at the July 22 meeting. U.S. Homes may be coming in with a plat for the Dunkirk -County Road 9 area, and a decision will have to be made by District 284 and the city as to whether to purchase the land needed for a new school and a playfield. The school district has a need to build a new junior high or senior high. Nearly all of the current schools are in the southern part of the district. They would very much like to build in conjunction with a new city playfield, as less land is needed that way. In order for U.S. Homes to develop this land, it would have to be reguided. The money for the purchase could be borrowed from the other funds, and park dedication fees could pay it back. Director Blank felt that 1992 should be a slow year for building, which should allow the park dedication fees to replenish. Commissioner Waage asked about anticipated trails in 1992. Would a trail be constructed on County Road 47? Director Blank said that this was possible. Ditches along the road make a class 1 trail impossible, but a bike lane could be constructed by paving the shoulder. A trail in this area could become a priority with the construction of the new Bass Lake playfield. b. Review of field rental fees. Mary Bisek stated that when the playfields were opened nine years ago, the payment structure was set up to allow no charges for league play and end of season tournaments. A fee has been charged when the associations host an invitational tournament for which they charge fees. Additional charges are also collected if extra set up is involved, such as lining new fields, etc. We have allowed them to provide their own field attendants if they wish to save money on their fees. Tournaments do cause greater wear and tear on the fields, especially if the tournament directors let the play go on under wet conditions. Mary surveyed 17 communities and found that half charged fees for these tournaments, two others charged for maintenance costs, and that Burnsville is considering instituting fees. Mary also presented the bill for the Wayzata/Plymouth Soccer Club's tournament which was recently held in the city involving over 90 teams. They had gone to the Council and asked for it to be reduced. The Council approved that it be reduced by half. Director Blank said that PRAC needed to look at this issue. July 1991 PRAC Minutes Page 24 Chair Freels opened discussion by asking if the fee had ever been waived or reduced before. Director Blank said that the Wayzata/Plymouth Soccer Club had gone before the council three time's before and had been turned down. Commissioner Waage asked if PRAC was to discuss giving approval for fee reductions for years to come. She couldn't understand why the soccer club received approval for this. Commissioner Anderson also asked why this was done. Director Blank said that the association told the Council that the fee was so high they couldn't make a profit. Commissioner Johnson said it could be a good reason if field rental was competitive and the tournaments could go somewhere else. Commissioner Wahl asked how many tournaments are held in a year. Director Blank replied that only one this major is held. He also said that the associations couldn't go to a different community because the other cities wouldn't want to incur the wear and tear on their fields for the profit of a different city's youth association. Commissioner Watson agreed that extra charges should be paid for extraordinary maintenance. Chair Freels felt uncomfortable with the fee reduction, because if you give it to one group, all of them will want it. Since the association covered the $2,600 charged last year, a fee of $3,080 for this year was not much more. Commissioner Waage felt a 50i reduction was excessive. Commissioner Johnson asked if the associations had sponsors to help cover their expenses. Director Blank thought that they did. Commissioner Johnson asked if $1000 per day for the tournament was high - are we out of line compared to the other communities? Mary Bisek pointed out that this involved 13 fields, and Director Blank noted that there was extra set up to paint extra fields. Commissioner Waage felt that the fee was in line with the other cities. Chair Freels asked if the fees were fair and equitable. Mary said that Plymouth is not at the top of the fees list for comparable communities, and that our fields are top quality. She feels comfortable with the fee structure. Commissioner Anderson suggested that PRAC talk to the associations. Chair Freels asked that PRAC invite the youth athletic associations to the next meeting in September to discuss this issue. 6. NEW BUSINESS None 7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION Chair Freels issued a welcome to all the new members of the commission. 8. STAFF COMMUNICATION none. 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:37 p.m.