HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 10-14-1993Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting
October 14, 1993
Page 43
Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Gutzke, Johnson and
Wahl; staff Blank and Pederson; City Manager Johnson
Absent: Commissioners Burk, Mikula, and Watson
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Anderson called the October meeting to order at 7:05
p.m. in the Council Chambers.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A motion was made by Commissioner Gutzke and seconded by
Commissioner Wahl to approve the minutes of the September
meeting as presented. The motion carried with all ayes.
VISITOR PRESENTATIONS
a. Athletic Associations. None were present.
b. Staff. None were present.
C. Others. Save French Woodlands representatives.
REPORT ON PAST COUNCIL ACTION
None.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Accessible playground update. Director Blank indicated
that he plans to have the accessible playground up and
operational by June 1, 1994. Delays have been caused by
new regulations and guidelines for accessible playgrounds
and safety issues. Our Parks Superintendent, Mark
Peterson, will be attending a conference the week of
October 18 conducted by the American Society of Testing
and Measures, which will explain the new guidelines.
Commissioner Gutzke asked if any of the designs for the
accessible playground included recycled plastic
components. Director Blank responded that all of the
submitted designs are of steel and metal construction.
rem
adjacent to French Park. Bob Donley, 11740 38th Avenue,
representing the Save French Woodlands group, distributed
copies to Commissioners of a handout on creating a nature
preserve in Plymouth and then briefly reviewed some of
the statements from that handout. The statements
indicate that there is strong citizen support (2,000
signatures on a petition) for not developing this parcel;
because the land is next to French Park it will have
expert staff that will maintain and improve its
potential; it will be available to a large number of
visitors; based on the City's survey, at least 240 of the
residents would be willing to pay for a nature preserve,
PRAC Minutes/October 1993
Page 44
and the purchase of the site would be a cooperative
effort. Mr. Donley suggested that the issue for the Park
Commission is to "determine if this 26 acre parcel has
some environmental significance and that the most
responsible use of the property is to preserve it for
public education and enjoyment."
George Daniels, 1865 Black Oaks Lane, questioned if the
purchase of the site would be cooperative. He reminded
the Park Commission that the Save French Woodlands group
has chosen not to reveal how much money they have raised
to help purchase this property. He again questioned why
Hennepin Parks did not make this part of their overall
park plan years ago, when they had the opportunity. He
also reminded the Park Commission that the City has an
approved park system plan in place, which does not show
this property as future park. He interpreted the survey
results to say that if 240 of the residents are willing
to pay more in taxes to have a nature preserve, then 760
are not willing to pay more.
Marlin Sjarda, 11720 38th Ave N, stated that many
residents of Plymouth have spoken in favor of not
developing this site. He also commented that just
because Hennepin Parks did not purchase this property for
park years ago, doesn't mean that it's not a good idea
now. He stated that the results of the survey show that
a nature preserve is the second most wanted park
facility, with trails being the first.
Chair Anderson thanked the residents for their comments
and closed the meeting to any further remarks from the
visitors. He then asked Director Blank for any
additional information that staff had on this proposal.
Director Blank indicated that the .Baton Corporation had
recently withdrawn its application to develop this
property, so that it can make some revisions to the plan.
They intend to resubmit it to the Planning Commission,
which will then hold another public hearing. The
proposal would then go before the Council sometime in
December.
Chair Anderson asked commissioners for their comments.
Tom Johnson stated that he had walked the site recently
and agreed that it is a beautiful piece of property, but
he cannot decide at this time if this is the best piece
of property to preserve. He prefers to reserve judgement
until after the study has been done on unique open
spaces.
Mark Wahl stated that most of the decisions PRAC has made
in the past involved active park areas and playgrounds.
He commented that the Kids for Saving Earth Park site
could be considered a nature preserve, and that it was a
PRAC Minutes/October 1993
Page 45
lot cheaper to acquire. He was supportive of setting
aside some funds in the CIP to acquire a nature preserve,
but could not commit to a particular site at this time.
Wyatt Cutzke commented that in the past, PRAC's decisions
on aquiring or developing property have always been for
playfields or neighborhood parks with active playgrounds.
He doesn't feel comfortable at this time making any
decisions on acquiring this property until after other
sites have been studied.
Director Blank explained that PRAC must act on the parks
component of the CIP at their November 4 meeting. Funds
can be identified for acquiring a nature preserve without
specifying a certain site. He also pointed out that the
information contained in the City Manager's memo implies
that there may be other funds available for acquiring
park land besides Park Dedication funds. Those funds
include the Community Improvement fund, the Project
Administration fund and the Permanent Improvement
Revolving fund. Once the Park Commission has approved
the parks CIP, it is then forwarded to the Planning
Commission who is in charge of holding a public hearing
on the entire city-wide CIP. After that, the CIP is
forwarded to the City Council for final approval.
C. West Medicine.Lake Park master plan update. The first
public meeting was held on October 6 and was well
attended with over 100 interested residents, according to
Director Blank. The overwhelming message from the
residents was no new boats are wanted on the lake. Based
on input from the residents, the consultant will now
prepare three different designs which will be presented
at the November 9 meeting. The alignment of West
Medicine Lake Drive is a major issue in the design of the
park.
6. NEW BUSINESS
a. Study of unique open spaces - update. The consultant who
did the Eden Prairie Parks and Recreation study suggested
that Plymouth conduct such a study in the spring, which
is the best time of year for this work. Director Blank
indicated that the committee will get together soon to
map out some areas to research. The preliminary work
will be completed over the winter, so that a draft can be
presented to the Council in the spring. Eden Prairie
spent $10,000 on their study. Don Anderson volunteered
to be on the open space committee along with Mark Wahl,
Mary Kay Watson, Tom Johnson, Eric Blank, Paul Buck, and
Councilman Edson. Bob Donley suggested that when the
open space committee begins to consider sites, they
should weigh the cost of the property, the availability
of it to the general public, future amenities, trails,
etc.
PRAC Minutes/October 1993
Page 46
7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION
None.
8. STAFF COMMUNICATION
Many of the trails have been completed that were designated
to be done as part of the 1993 CIP, Work is still being
done on the Vicksburg trail from Highway 55 to County Road
9. A representative from the Engineering Department is
meeting with the two property owners regarding the Turtle
Lake trail construction. Due to the delay in meeting with
these property owners, this trail will not be constructed in
1993.
Chair Anderson asked if the personal safety of residents is
a concern for the City when citizens use our trails.
Director Blank responded that he would ask the Park Patrol
to make a presentation at a future meeting regarding the
kinds of problems they encountered this past summer when
patrolling the parks and trails.
Commissioner Gutzke said that he had contacted the Plymouth
Police Department about firearm safety training classes and
was told that the park commission had decided not to offer
these classes anymore. Staff responded that it was not a
park commission decision, but rather an inability to secure
volunteer instructors. In the past, volunteers from the
Plymouth Optimists have conducted these classes for the Park
and Recreation Department, but this year, those instructors
retired. Mary Bisek attempted to find new instructors but
was unsuccessful. Staff suggested that Commissioner Gutzke
contact the DNR, which keeps a list of where classes are
being held. If the City can find a certified instructor,
firearm safety classes will be offered again.
9. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.