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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 07-09-1992Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting July 9, 1992 Page 27 Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Burk, Gutzke, Johnson, Waage, Wahl, staff Bisek, Blank, Sankey, Sobania Absent: Commissioners Burk, Watson 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Anderson called the July meeting to order at 7 p.m. in the Council Conference Room. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion was made by Commissioner Wahl and seconded by Commissioner Waage to approve the minutes of the June meeting as presented. The motion carried with all ayes. 3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS a. Athletic Associations. None were present. b. Staff. Recreation Supervisor Cindy Anderson presented the July Employee of the Month certificates to John Cavanaugh, Elizabeth Williams, and Margaret Hess. All three are certified with Lifeguard Training, Professional Rescuer, and First Aid certifications. John is a fifth year employee and a third year captain in charge of Medicine Lake East Beach. He is excellent in leading the younger guards and dealing with the beach problems. Elizabeth is a fourth year employee and third year captain in charge of Parkers Lake Beach. She has also served as concession manager. Margaret was unable to attend the meeting. She is a fifth year employee and third year captain in charge of Wayzata Beach. She excels in conducting inservices and emergency drills. Mary Bisek announced that the Water Carnival was coming up on Tuesday, July 14, with a variety of games and activities. The Puppet Wagon and Trish & the Tunes are the featured entertainment. Six to seven hundred people usually attend. She also spoke about the current summer programs. The concert series is doing well, even with the weather problems. A tennis tournament is coming up on July 18 & 19. Fall Soccer registration is nearly complete, and Fall Softball registration is about to start. Staff is working on the Fall Brochure. The new Senior Citizen Coordinator from Senior Community Services, Sarah Mittelstadt, has begun working with the department. She works with the senior clubs and has been active in the Wayzata School District. The HIPP program attracted twelve youngsters who are doing a good job volunteering for K Ball, T Ball, PITS, and Day Camp. The Music in Plymouth Fireworks have been rescheduled for Thursday, July 16, at 9:45 p.m. preceded by a concert with Bob & the Beachcombers at 7:30 p.m. Target plans to announce it on WCCO radio. C. Others. PRAC Minutes/July 1992 Page 28 4. REPORT ON PAST COUNCIL ACTION No Report. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Volunteer program discussion. Personnel Coordinator Jeanette Sobania reported on information she had gathered. She spoke with Linda McGee, Personnel Coordinator of Columbia Heights who has just hired a volunteer coordinator. They had recruited through the Minnesota Association of Volunteer Coordinators. They had not received a lot of applicants, but had found them to be of high quality. Their person in this position reports to the personnel coordinator. The pay range is 29-33,000. She also spoke with Dave Wertz, Hennepin County Parks Personnel Coordinator. Their volunteer coordinator works with 15,000 volunteers per year and has developed a computerized skills bank/interest inventory to tap into. The pay range is $25-35,000. She handed out position descriptions for both of these positions. Brooklyn Park also has a volunteer coordinator, but she has not talked to them yet. She said that one thing the other agencies mentioned was that there are issues of liability. The city is liable for injuries to the volunteers. The commissioners wondered what steps would be involved in the hiring process. Jeanette said that first the Council would need to be convinced that this position is needed. A job description would be developed. An evaluation would be done to set a pay scale. Applicants would be recruited, then the interview process would begin. The person would need strong writing and presentation skills and would need a good recruitment style. Once the choice was made, physical and psychological exams would take place. The whole process would take approximately one month. She felt the hardest part of the process would be convincing the Council of the need. Commissioner Waage felt that since they had initiated this study, they probably were already leaning towards agreement. Director Blank pointed out that Hennepin County volunteers must be 16 or over. Younger people must have direct adult supervision. They have a system of rewards for their volunteers, such as a free park pass after 30 hours. Further information can be requested from the Minnesota Office of Volunteer Services in St. Paul. Mary Bisek mentioned that Sarah Mittlestadt said that a senior citizen chore service is needed, especially with leaf raking. Commissioner Waage felt that if the city needs a volunteer coordinator, it needs to be a paid position. It is a very big job. Chair Anderson asked whether the position should be full or part time. Director Blank said there are several options. It could be full time or part time. It could start out as part time and grow into full time. It could also be a job share situation. Starting out as part time would allow for experimentation to see how much time is really required. Jeanette Sobania pointed out that if you do decide to advertise for a part-time position, you will get a completely different pool of applicants. She said a decision would need to be PRAC Minutes/July 1992 Page 29 made on to whom the person would report and where the office would be. Commissioner Gutzke expressed concern with adding more to Director Blank's administrative responsibilities, since a coordinator could only do so much of the training. Each city department would have to do the bulk of this for their projects. Commissioner Waage said the volunteerism increased 500% in her school district since they hired coordinators. At $10.75 per hour, the volunteer hours are worth over 1 million in savings to the district. She works for the school district with Partners in Art, classroom assistants, companion reading, and many other programs. They provide training for the volunteers. Chair Anderson would like to get more input. He asked if a volunteer coordinator could be invited to the next meeting to speak on the subject. Director Blank said this could be done. The commissioners asked Jeanette to develop a job description, using the examples she provided, for the next meeting. b. Park development project update. Director Blank is meeting tomorrow with the developer of the new neighborhood parks. The neighbors near Shiloh Park are anxious for seed and sod to be completed. They may be willing to provide the labor of the City provides the sod. The City would water the new sod. He is working out the details. If they decide not to go ahead with the sodding now, the seeding would proceed around August 15. The Bass Lake Playfield walk through has occurredi and a punch list of items to be completed was developed. The tennis courts are finished and in use, and the last field has been sodded. At Parkers Lake Playfield trails are finished, so the finish grading can be completed. The final irrigation work is being done. In about two weeks, they should be able to do the walk through and develop the punch list. The tennis courts should be complete some time in August. C. 1993-97 CIP. Director Blank reviewed the draft of the CIP, pointing out how dollar figures were determined. He said that it costs approximately $1,000 per parking stall to construct a parking lot. He handed out a worksheet developed by Fred Moore, Director of Public Works, on the cost of building the West Medicine Lake Trail. This project could be done in August or September of this year. The commissioners could recommend that money be taken from park dedication funds this year for the project. Dan Faulkner, City Engineer, has said that some street improvements are coming to the Ridgemount Avenue area. This will affect construction of the Ridgemount trail. This project also needs to be coordinated with the City of Minnetonka. He will have more information next month. Director Blank pointed out that it would take about a year to develop a plan for West Medicine Lake Park and to secure grant money. Regarding the neighborhood park, this could be included as a "generic" park, without designating a specific park at this time. The Plymouth Creek tennis courts are really needed, since there are no courts in the north central portion of Plymouth. Commissioner Wahl wondered how many would be included. Director Blank said up to ten. Commissioner Gutzke suggested, and the commissioners agreed, that playfield #10 should be included in 1996. Director Blank said that the Minnesota Disk Golf Association is interested in helping the city plan and install a Frisbee Golf Course PRAC Minutes/July 1992 Page 30 at Plymouth Creek Park at a cost of about $15,000. Commissioner Gutzke wondered if the fishing dock at East Beach could be financed by a contribution from Ryerson Steel. Director Blank said he would ask them. Director Blank reported that the year-to-date figures for the park dedication funds had reached $311,000, compared to $150,000 this time last year. At this rate, the fund may reach $500,000 by the end of the year. He had projected $250,000. A motion was made by Commissioner Gutzke and seconded by Commissioner Wahl to use park dedication funds to construct the West Medicine Lake Trail this year. The motion carried with all ayes. d. Sidewalk and trail plan. Commissioner Gutzke asked how the procedure for adding and changing the plan worked. Director Blank replied that the critical portion of the plan was the master map. The commission needed to approve the master plan. The rest of the document was a resource to aid in deciding when and where to schedule the projects. He said that these plans must be update every ten years, but Plymouth likes to do it every other year. Commissioner Gutzke stated that he would be interested in hearing the consultant's reasons for the specific additions to the plan. Director Blank said he will invite them to a future meeting. e. Focus groups and surveys. Chair Anderson said that Commissioner Burk had talked to the Council about PRAC's concerns about using an outside consultant. PRAC will sit down with the council and discuss this issue before proceeding. Commissioner Gutzke asked if the commission could get a copy of the City of Hastings survey. Mary Bisek said that John Schultz, a University of Minnesota Professor, has copies of at least a half-dozen surveys, and perhaps she could get a copy. f. Amendment to park plan - plavfield site. Director Blank showed a video prepared by Mark Peterson and himself on various possible playfield sites. 1) Dunkirk Site - This site has the advantages of excellent location, a trail system, a creek, no needed grading, good top soil, and no needed tree removal. 2) Peony Lane Site (south of tracks) - This site has a good location and a minimum of trees to remove. It does have wetlands and a change in elevation. 3) Peony Lane Site (north of tracks) - This is a large site (about 120 acres) with a large piece of flat acreage (40-50 acres). It is next to Elm Creek Golf Course and has no development around it. It is a beautiful site with a very nice stand of trees and a small creek running through it. 4) Gun Club Site - This site has good location and access and would not need much grading. It has residential areas on the east and west sides, some trees to remove, and an irregular shape. PRAC Minutes/July 1992 Page 31 5) North of Hollydale Golf Site - This has a triangular shape which is hard to fit rectangular playfields into. It has two major wetlands and some houses on it. 6) Playfield #10 - This site is located at Vicksburg and County Road 47. It is a beautiful piece of land and a very good location. Another site bounded by Highway 55, Peony Lane, and County Road 9 near Kimberly Lane School was also discussed. This has a good location and access and a buffer around it. However, it is small and contains a wetland. Director Blank stated, and the commissioners concurred, that ideally the planning for the playfield site should be coordinated with the school district. 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Request for City to purchase land at 494 &.County 9. Director Blank stated that the five year payment schedule that was proposed would be beneficial to the City. David Shea, an environmentalist, has informed Director Blank that he is very much in favor of this park site. Commissioner Wahl said that he feels this is a good park site, but the price is too high. Chair Anderson suggested that the commission should ask the Council to authorize proceeding with negotiations, but not to approve the purchase price at this time. A motion was made by Commissioner Wahl and seconded by Commissioner Waage to ask the Council to authorize staff to proceed with negotiations to purchase the land for a park site from Mrs. Ess. The motion carried with all ayes. b. Name the 10th Avenue Park. Director Blank said that he is still looking for suggestions. C. West Medicine Lake Drive trail. This item was discussed with the CIP. d. Report on water quality issues.. Director Blank reported that the Watershed District is working on a program to improve the quality of Medicine Lake. One idea is to create settling ponds in Plymouth Creek Park. This would help cleanse Medicine Lake through Plymouth Creek. They have money budgeted, and have the permits to do the project. This is approximately the same location as a dredging project that the City had planned and applied to the DNR three years ago. The City could add money to this project and make the ponds larger. Director Blank will keep the commissioners apprised. The Water Shed District, Water Quality Commission, and the Parkers Lake Improvement Association are working on improving the quality of Parkers Lake. A spraying project for milfoil may proceed next year. e. Ice rink locations. Chair Anderson and Commissioner Wahl volunteered to meet with the Maintenance Department to discuss the issue within the next two weeks. PRAC Minutes/July 1992 Page 32 7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION Commissioner Wahl agreed to go to the Council meeting to present the two motions. 8. STAFF COMMUNICATION The next meeting is scheduled for August 13 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 9:40 p.m.