HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 04-09-1992Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting
April 9, 1992
Page 10
Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Burk, Gutzke, Johnson,
Waage, Wahl, Watson; staff Bisek, Blank and Pederson;
Councilmembers Edson, Tierney, and Vasiliou
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chair Anderson called the April meeting to order at 7 p.m. in
the Council Conference Room.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A motion was made by Commissioner Waage and seconded by
Commissioner Wahl 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 Bisek made several announcements including
that staff is busy working on summer programs, which will
be advertised in the May issue of Plymouth News; swimming
lesson registration is scheduled for Saturday, May 16; the
spring Ballet and Tap Recital is May 20; a new spring
Shape -Up Challenge gets underway the week of April 13,
with city employees competing with other companies located
in Plymouth to earn points; the International Folk Arts
Celebration held March 21 was well organized, with five or
six groups providing entertainment and about a dozen or
more crafters displaying and selling their handcrafted
items. Attendance was disappointing, but could have been
due to the snowstorm.
4. REPORT ON PAST COUNCIL ACTION
The Council voted 3-2 to deny the acquisition of the Forster
property. The Council felt the money could be better spent
on the acquisition of property in northwest Plymouth.
Council also recommended that an aquatic study be done on
Parkers Lake during 1992, with the possible application of
the chemical Sonar to control milfoil to be done in 1993.
5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Volunteer program - continue discussion. Commissioner
Waage reported that she had not had time to contact Mayor
Bergman for more information on the role PRAC should be
taking in the volunteer program. She stated she would be
calling him within a day or two and would report back at
the May meeting.
PRAC Minutes/April 9, 1992
Page 11
6. NEW BUSINESS
a. Review request from Hewitt -Peterson to purchase land for
park. Hewitt -Peterson and Associates approached city
staff recently requesting that the city consider acquiring
approximately 10 acres at a cost of about $208,000. This
land is located north of County Road 9 just west of 494
and east of Fernbrook Lane. The city currently owns two
other parcels of wooded land in this same area. In
addition, the City's comprehensive plan does contemplate
that more land in this area will be acquired via park
dedication when the property to the north is developed.
Larry Liles, representing Hewitt -Peterson, stated that
this land was platted once already, in 1988, but that the
Planning Commission reguided the property from LA 3 to LA
2, so those plans were later scrapped. In order to build
there now, a lift station would have to be installed,
which is quite costly, and something the city has
indicated they are not very eager to do. Another option
is to run the sewer lines down from the north, also a
costly venture and not a very practical one from the
city's standpoint.
Commissioner Burk asked Mr. Liles for an estimate on the
cost of the homes that would be built on this site, if the
city did not buy the land for park purposes. Mr. Liles
estimated. somewhere between $150,000 and $200,000, with
the lots selling for about $40,000.
Commissioners asked Director Blank what the future plans
are for the land the city currently owns in this area. He
stated that nothing definite has been proposed for this
site. He also stated that PRAC needs to decide if it is
appropriate at this time to acquire more of the woods than
what is proposed in the comprehensive plan, if the asking
price is reasonable for this property, and to also keep in
mind that part of this property would likely be obtained
through park dedication when the land is developed.
Commissioner Burk indicated that he felt the asking price
was too high, and if he was asked to make a recommendation
right now, he would vote against purchasing the land.
Commissioner Johnson indicated he would rather see the
money spent on the development of West Medicine Lake City
Park, which has been in the comprehensive plan for many
years.
Commissioner Wahl stated the land is a valuable piece of
property and the city should acquire it for future park
purposes. He also believes the asking price is a matter
the Council should negotiate, not the Park Commission.
Councilmember Edson commented that the price of property
should not be mentioned during PRAC discussions when
considering a particular property's acquisition.
PRAC Minutes/April 9, 1992
Page 12
Commissioner Watson stated she needed more time to
consider the acquisition, because PRAC had been given the
information just two days prior to the meeting.
Commissioners agreed that before they can make any
decision, they want to know the assessed value of this
property, who owned it before, and the history of the
property up until now. They also want to know what funds
are available to acquire property. Director Blank
responded that this information will be part of the CIP
discussions, which will begin during the May meeting.
Commissioners unanimously agreed that they could not make
a decision at this time. The representatives from Hewitt -
Peterson stated they would be willing to wait for an
answer for at least 30 days. The Commission discussed
this timeline and decided that it might not be sufficient
either, so they suggested that Director Blank inform Mr.
Liles that they may not have an answer for him until after
they've had a chance to review the CIP, scheduled for PRAC
discussion during the months of May, June and July.
Councilmembers Edson, Tierney and Vasiliou agreed that
asking for a decision with such a short time to consider
it, was not very practical. They also stated that Hewitt -
Peterson's plans to come before the Council by April 20
was not very realistic, since they have not presented
their proposal to the Planning Commission yet, either.
Councilmember Edson indicated that the Council is
interested in long term development and the acquisition of
land. However, before PRAC makes recommendations to
acquire more land, the Council wants to be sure that PRAC
definitely sees a need and has a plan in mind for the
land. He stated that he voted against acquiring the
Forster property, because he did not see a definite need
for it, and he also believes land acquisition should be
considered in northwest Plymouth. He also was not
comfortable with the parks portion of the CIP being
changed at the last minute. He further stated that the
Council would like to see PRAC take an aggressive role in
debating the long range goal for parks, identifying land
in northwest Plymouth that is needed, developing existing
land and maintaining current facilities. The Council
would also like to have more communication with PRAC and
would like PRAC to hold something similar to Town Meetings
in order to get the views of the citizens, the athletic
associations, etc.
Councilmember Tierney indicated that she voted in favor of
purchasing the Forster property, because she had been
assured that it was what PRAC wanted.
I
PRAC Minutes/April 9, 1992
Page 13
Councilmember Vasiliou stated she voted against the
acquisition, because no one could answer how access to
this property was going to be obtained. She further
stated that a turn lane off County Road 9 would cost
approximately $92,000, which she didn't believe had been
considered in the overall price. She also remarked that
during Town Meetings, the residents are not indicating any
needs when asked if there is anything the City should be
providing them. The most verbal residents"are those that
want trails kept free of snow in the winter.
b. Request for use of soccer field. A resident of Plymouth
contacted Director Blank regarding the use of a soccer
field on a regular basis for an adult team comprised of
people from all over the metropolitan area. When he was
informed that our fields are in such great demand by
Plymouth residents that we are unable to schedule them for
outside groups, he indicated he'd be attending the PRAC
meeting. Since he was not present and hasn't contacted
the Parks Department since his initial conversation with
Director Blank, there was no need to discuss this item
further.
7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION
Commissioners questioned Director Blank about what items
would be discussed at the joint meeting. Director Blank
stated it was up to the Commission to decide, but that one of
the items will be the sidewalk -trail plan prepared by Strgar-
Roscoe-Fausch, who will also attend the meeting. Director
Blank also indicated that a petition has been received by the
City from residents living along Ridgemount Avenue near
Wayzata East Junior High and Sunset Hill Elementary. Some of
these residents live in Plymouth and some in Minnetonka.
They are requesting that the two cities jointly construct an
off-road trail along Ridgemount to provide safer access to
these two schools. The trail plan calls for a striped trail
on the road, which is what is currently maintained here.
8. STAFF COMMUNICATION
Director Blank stated that work on the new 10th Avenue Park
began on Monday, April 6, and that as soon as the road
restrictions are lifted, on or about April 13, crews will
move into Shiloh and Gleanloch neighborhood parks to begin
work there. Work will also begin again on Parkers Lake and
Bass Lake Playfields.
The Council would like PRAC to recommend which trails should
be plowed next winter when they begin their budget work for
1993. The Council is often receiving calls from residents
asking that the new trail along Schmidt Lake Road be part of
the snow removal plan.
PRAC Minutes/April 9, 1992
Page 14
Councilmember Tierney remarked that the athletic associations
are in need of some place to store their equipment. She
commented that there are three small garden -type storage
sheds on Oakwood School property, but this is not sufficient
or very secure. She wondered what other cities do in terms
of storage of athletic association equipment. Director Blank
responded that staff had conducted a survey of other cities,
and the results will be shared with the Council and PRAC.
9. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 8:41 p.m.
Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting
May 14, 1992
Page 15
Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Burk, Gutzke, Johnson,
Waage, Wahl and Watson; Councilman Edson; staff Bisek,
Blank, Busch and Pederson
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chair Anderson called the May meeting to order at 7:25 p.m.
in the Council Conference Room.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A motion was made by Commissioner Waage and seconded by
Commissioner Wahl to approve the minutes of the April
meeting as presented with a correction on pg. 12, para. 6,
that Councilmember Tierney supported the Forster property
acquisiton, and wanted assurance that FRAC was involved in
that process. The motion carried with all ayes.
VISITOR PRESENTATIONS
a. Athletic Associations. None were present at this
meeting.
b. Staff. Rick Busch introduced himself and briefly
described some of his responsibilities, including being
the staff liaison to all the athletic associations,
attending their board meetings, scheduling all athletic
complexes for the associations' activities, as well as
the programs sponsored by Plymouth Park and Recreation.
Rick stated that the February Employee of the Month was
Amy Lou Asche, one of the temporary employees he
supervises. Amy's positions have included basketball
scorekeeper, youth t-ball/softball/baseball instructor,
and warming house attendant.
Rick explained that over 200 adult teams are playing
softball, Monday through Friday evenings, using Zachary
and Plymouth Creek softball fields. The Zachary complex
is also heavily used on weekends by groups holding
tournaments. Rick indicated that almost all fields in
Plymouth are in use every weekday evening by either
organized youth sports or Plymouth Park and Recreation
sponsored programs. Both new playfields, Bass Lake and
Parkers Lake, will also be in constant use once they
open. Responding to a question from Commissioner Waage,
Rick indicated that groups wanting to get together for an
informal game of softball may find an open field on a
Sunday morning or afternoon. Commissioner Gutzke asked
Rick if there are enough softball/baseball fields in
Plymouth to accommodate all the groups wanting to use
them. Rick feels that even with Parkers Lake and Bass
Lake, there will still be a shortage. He explained that
at the present time, we offer a daytime youth t -ball and
instructional softball/baseball program, because we