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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 02-13-1992Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting February 13, 1992 Page 4 Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Waage, Watson, Wahl, Gutzke; staff Bisek, Blank, Kissinger and Pederson Absent: Commissioner Johnson 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Anderson called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. in the Council conference room. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion was made by Commissioner Waage and seconded by Commissioner Gutzke to approve the minutes of the January meeting as presented. The motion carried with all ayes. 3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS a. Athletic Associations. None were present at this meeting. b. Staff. Mary thanked the park commissioners for assisting with the bonfire at the Fire and Ice Festival. She explained that the employee of the month for February would be presented in March, so that Rick Busch could make the presentation, since the employee is someone that he supervises. C. Others. Residents living north of Plymouth Creek Park in the Parkview Ridge development were present at the meeting, because they recently learned of a 12 -car parking lot proposed for the northern boundary of Plymouth Creek Park to be located south of 38th Avenue at Minnesota Lane. The residents claim there is too much traffic in this area now, and they fear that a parking lot will only increase the amount of traffic. They would prefer to have this area left natural, or to have some sort of playground installed here. Although they recognize the need for a parking lot at some point in the future, they would prefer that it be located farther west on 38th Avenue closer to Plymouth Boulevard. They stated that their development is fairly new, and they plan to form a homeowners' association. Once that is done, they would like to meet with PRAC again to help plan something for this area. Director Blank explained to the residents that the plan for the future expansion of Plymouth Creek Park is only a concept plan at this time and has been in existence since 1982. There are no current plans to go ahead with the parking lot, and it would only be constructed if the need is eventually demonstrated. Chair Anderson stated that residents are notified in advance when park development is scheduled in order for the city to receive their input. 4. REPORT ON PAST COUNCIL ACTION Council approved the park facilities fee and rental policy as recommended by PRAC and the rental policy for Parkers Lake Pavilion. PRAC Minutes/February 1992 Page 5 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Adopt annual report. A draft copy of the annual report was distributed to each commissioner at the January meeting for their review and comment. Commissioners were invited to make suggestions for additions or corrections prior to the February meeting, so that approval of the annual report could take place at that meeting. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER WAHL AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER WAAGE TO APPROVE THE 1991 ANNUAL REPORT AND FORWARD IT TO THE CITY COUNCIL. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Review 1992 recreation fund budget. Mary distributed copies of the recreation fund budget to the commissioners and gave them a brief overview of the tax supported and fee supported programs. She also explained the kinds of items charged off against each of our programs such as salaries, materials and supplies, uniforms, rental of private equipment and/or property, telephones, etc. She indicated that 72% to 81% of the recreation budget goes to pay the salaries of the part-time employees needed to run the programs. She explained that approximately 25% of the recreation budget comes from the general fund, but that the remaining 75% is generated by fees. Commissioners commented that adult softball appears to bring in more revenue than any other program. Mary stated that it's been somewhat of a dilemna trying to decide if its fair to permit adult programs to subsidize children's programs, and right now the softball program's revenues are used in this way. Mary explained that although the softball program does produce high revenue, it could be offset somewhat by field maintenance being charged against it, which currently isn't being done. Mary went on to explain how we got involved in offering recreation programs to the citizens of Wayzata and that Wayzata's city manager has not yet indicated if they want us to continue this practice in 1992. In past years, we have contracted with the City of Wayzata to offer summer swimming lessons, tennis lessons, and to provide guards for their city beach. In exchange for this service, they have paid us an administrative fee. Mary also stated that this year, for the first time, the Wayzata Community Education Department will be charging us a rental fee of 750 per pool to run our summer swimming program. This additional cost will have to be recovered by charging higher fees for swimming lessons. b. Review city forestry program. Don Kissinger gave a short slide presentation to the commissioners on identifying Dutch elm disease, the beetles that carry it, and on the city's reforestation program. He explained that our city crews do two types of plantings throughout Plymouth, bare root stock and balled/bur lapped. He stated that his division is responsible for the care and maintenance of the trees, shrubs, and other plantings located on all city property, including the parks and trails. He explained that he works with developers in designing a landscaping plan, and if any of the trees/shrubbery in that plan fail to grow, the developer must replace them. The forestry PRAC Minutes/February 1992 Page 6 division will plant several coniferous and deciduous trees in Parkers Lake Park this spring, which will be located mainly around the entrance to the tunnel and the fountain area. This is being done as a way to direct people to the tunnel and away from crossing County Road 6. There are plans also to plant about 70 coniferous trees south of the Zachary Playfield along County Road 9, which will act as a noise and sight barrier from the traffic on the road. The forestry division also includes a weed inspector who inspects about 500 properties per year, looking for and eliminating noxious weeds. The forestry crew marked approximately 831 trees this past year suffering from Dutch elm disease and oak wilt. That number is down from past years. Don feels this is due in part to there being fewer elm trees, and there was more plentiful rainfall this year, preventing elm trees from going into a stressful state, something which the elm beetle can sense. C. Review goals and objectives from the Comprehensive Plan. This section of the Comprehensive Plan was sent to the commissioners in their packet as an information item. Directly Blank did a brief overview of the goals and objectives section and explained that the entire Comprehensive Plan was last updated in 1990. d. Review park and trail comprehensive plans. Director Blank displayed a map of the park system plan explaining which parks resulted due to park dedication and which were purchased by the city. The plan showed existing parks and future parks. Most of the future parks are in the northwest corner of the city, outside the boundaries of the MUSA line. Director Blank explained that development in this area will be limited until sewer is extended. He indicated that the city hopes to purchase 14 acres west of the Zachary Playfield and that once this property is acquired, park development east of I-494 will be completed as proposed in the parks portion of the Comprehensive Plan, with the exception of some homes within the boundaries of West Medicine Lake city park. He explained that except for a park proposed at the corner of Highway 101 and County Road 24, all of southwest Plymouth is completed too. The second map on display indicated what the trail system will look like when it is completed, and the third map was a current rendition of the parks and trails in place as of February, 1992. e. Review proposal for city acceptance of Deerwood Glen Outlet A. Director Blank explained that the city has a public trail easement over this outlet at this time and we are currently maintaining it. The outlet abuts Rolling Hills Park and was specified in the Deerwood Glen development contract to be owned and maintained by the Deerwood Glen homeowners' association. However, ownership was never legally transferred to the homeowners' association, and they now think it makes more sense for the city to own the outlet and to make it an extension of Rolling Hills Park. Director Blank stated that he supports this view. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER WAAGE AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER WAHL TO RECOMMEND THAT COUNCIL ACCEPT TITLE TO OUTLOT A OF DEERWOOD GLEN FOR INCLUSION IN ROLLING HILLS PARK. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. 7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION Commissioner Watson asked about the possibility of having a canoe rack PRAC Minutes/February 1992 Page 7 available at Parkers Lake for residents to rent. Director Blank indicated that we currently have two racks at Medicine Lake and could probably relocate one of them to Parkers. This item will be on the March agenda. 8. STAFF COMMUNICATION Director Blank announced that a commissioners workshop was scheduled Saturday, February 15, at the Crystal Community Center, and all commissioners were invited. 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m.