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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 09-14-2000Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting September 14, 2000 Page 33 Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Wahl, Fiemann, Singer, Musliner, Thompson, Meyer; Councilmember Slavik; staff Bisek, Blank, Greupner, Pederson and Peterson 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Anderson called the September meeting to order at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion was made by Commissioner Singer and seconded by Commissioner Fiemann to approve the minutes of the July meeting as presented. The motion carried with all ayes. 3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS a. Athletic Associations. None were present. b. Staff Mary explained the packet of information that was distributed on the Chocolate Sampler. She said help is needed from the commissioners to promote the event by selling tickets. Each commissioner was given five tickets to sell. Several staff have been working on securing silent auction items. A list of people already contacted is available. Mary asked if commissioners had ideas on others to contact. Mary updated PRAC on the E— Connect project, the process of putting our brochure on the Internet. We hope to have it live on the Internet by October 6 for certain individuals to test the system. Mary asked commissioners if they would be willing to be some of the testers. Karol Greupner spoke on some special events coming up. The 8th annual Autumn Arts Festival on Saturday, September 16, will be at Parkers Lake Park. The senior clubs will be there, also, selling their crafts in the lower level of the Pavilion. There's ongoing musical entertainment on the stage and a children's art area in the picnic shelter. The Fine Arts Committee chooses a theme each year and judges the entrants. Concessions will be available. Good weather is anticipated. The Chocolate Sampler is Thursday, October 5. This is a first year event. If all goes well, it will become an annual event. The event has several components — a silent auction, which Ellie Singer has been heavily involved in; chocolate tasting — local restaurants will be serving their specialty desserts; celebrity judges will be there judging the entries — Jim Wuollet from Wuollet's Bakery, Amy Klobuchar, Hennepin County Attorney; and Rusty Gatenby, a local media celebrity from Channel 5. Candis Fancher, contributing author of the book Chocolate for a Woman's Heart, will be the featured speaker. There will also be a chocolate boutique with items for sale. The third annual Plymouth on Parade is Saturday, October 7. Seniors will be having a pancake breakfast at the Ice Center Community Room that morning prior to the parade. Proceeds will go to senior programs. There are more units in this year's parade than in the previous two. Some activities will go on at LifeTime Fitness following the parade PRAC Minutes/September 2000 Page 34 until 5:30. Participants may swim, dance in the gym, etc. There will be a hayride and pony rides. The community band will perform, the Plymouth Rockers will sing, etc. People can also skate for free at the Ice Center. There will be a musical presentation on Sunday — a tribute to Patsy Cline — at the Plymouth Creek Center. We'll be having a grand Marshall at the parade this year, Harvey Schiebe and his wife, who are long time residents of Plymouth. They will lead the parade in their antique car. c. Others. See item 6-b. 4. PAST COUNCIL ACTION The City Council approved the comprehensive plan, the grant application for Greenwood School youth sports facilities, and a grant application for fiinding a skate park. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Plymouth Creek Center update. The Center has been very busy, with several weddings, luncheons, and business meetings. The dome will go up on October 21. We will be buying a golf net for the dome. This will allow us to offer golf lessons over the winter months. b. Millennium Garden project. Director Blank and the Mayor will be soliciting contributions from Plymouth businesses to help fiind the Millennium Garden. c. Comprehensive Plan update. See item 4 d. Hilde Performance Center. We now have a more formal agreement which will go before the Council soon. Sound consultants were here all day long from Chicago doing a sound study. We're on a timeline to break ground around July 10, 2001, and will have the performance center completed by June of 2002. 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Ferndale North open space — review proposed management plan. Director Blank explained that a list of the recommendations as proposed by the open space management committee was sent to all residents in the Ferndale North area. He stated that he did not receive any verbal feedback, but he did receive one letter, which was included in the PRAC packet. Commissioner Singer thinks the proposed management plan is very good. Director Blank explained that the City ordinance does state that both dogs and cats must be on leashes, but he just overlooked including cats when the recommendations were typed up. We will remind people that they cannot spray herbicides on public property. Extensive vandalism was done to the open space when a very potent weed killer was applied by a resident earlier this summer. It not only killed all the weeds and grass, but also destroyed some of the shrubbery, as well. This notice will go in the Ferndale Homeowner Association's next newsletter. The estimate for 200 feet of woodchips at the 4th Avenue entrance was just a guess, so we will limit this distance, if possible. The open space committee was unanimous in their recommendations. COMMISSIONER SINGER MOVED TO ACCEPT THE COMMITTEE'S RECOMMENDATIONS. COMMISSIONER THOMPSON SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED PRAC Minutes/September 2000 Page 35 WITH ALL AYES. Councilmember Slavik thanked all the commissioners and the open space management committee for their work on this project. She's glad that it has come to a satisfactory conclusion. b. 2001-2005 Parks CIP — begin review of requests. A long list of projects was distributed to the Park Commission in their packet. Director Blank said we keep a list of items that is requested by the citizens. By the October meeting, staff will have a cost estimate on these projects and will begin to prioritize the list with PRAC's input. At the conclusion of the November PRAC meeting, there hopefiilly will be a draft plan, which is then forwarded to the Planning Commission. Our part is combined with all other City departments' five year plans. The Planning Commission then holds a public hearing on the plan. After that, the plan goes to the City Council for adoption. Work begins then after the Council has adopted the plan. Director Blank stated that every new housing unit pays $1,750 and commercial developers pay $4,700 per acre to cover projects. These fees are for park dedication. For every dollar collected, 70% is set aside for city parks, trails, etc., and 30% goes for neighborhood parks. Another capital source is the park replacement fiind, which is for replacing worn out tennis courts, worn out parking lots, etc. About 95% of all park constriction is contingent on park dedication dollars. This fund is presently at an all time low due to a moratorium on development. We've taken in $250,000 so far this year, but in the past this fund has usually maintained a balance of anywhere between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000. The moratorium is off now, so we should be able to build up this account again. Director Blank said that staff has identified a number of trail segments that are in the comprehensive plan. One is Old Rockford Road west of Vicksburg Lane, 36th Avenue between Vicksburg and County Road 9, Revere Lane south of 10th Avenue, and Lancaster Lane from 36th Avenue to Pilgrim Lane. Ron Fiemann asked about the time frame for the upgrade of Old Rockford Road. Director Blank said there is no time frame for this. He explained that developers build only the roads within their development. Greg Anderson, 4385 Lawndale Lane, supports the installation of bike trail on Old Rockford Road west of Vicksburg Lane. He's spoken to Dan Faulkner in Engineering and was told that Old Rockford Road might not be upgraded for another 10 years. This road gets heavy use by bikers, joggers, walkers, and people pushing strollers. Greg is a bike commuter and has to ride on Rockford Road to get to work. He stated that there is a MN state law that says you must stay away from bicyclists by at least 3 feet when using the same roadway. Mr. Anderson explained that Rockford Road is a ditch style road, and he understands it will be difficult to build a trail here. He advocates building up the shoulder of the road for the bikers. He also wants the City to consider three other things: forming a Plymouth Bicycle Advisory Committee, becoming a bike friendly community by joining the League of American Bicyclists), and adding more on—road bike lanes in the City. Mr. Anderson bikes 10 miles each way to and from work. He said he would be willing to serve on the bicycle advisory committee. PRAC Minutes/September 2000 Page 36 Dana Cossette, 4340 Fountain Lane, lives in the Holly Creek Development off Old Rockford Road. She said she has spoken many times to Director Blank. Dana has been on the phone a lot talking to people about the improvement of Old Rockford Road. This is the only exit from this neighborhood. There are hundreds of walkers, bikers, etc., on this road. She stated that a resident who was walking on the road with her children was stopped by a police officer and told the road was not safe for walking along. David Klis, 16710 45th Avenue, is the president of the Golf View Homeowners Association. He said there are 52 homes in the development. He has talked to his neighbors about this trail, and they all are in favor of adding one along Rockford Road. Commissioner Fiemann asked where the biggest problem is on Rockford Road? Mr. Anderson said a couple hundred yards after Vicksburg Lane as you go west. The greatest need is all along Rockford from Vicksburg to Peony. Director Blank said the engineers have looked at the situation and after some study, and if we can acquire some easements and right of way, we can probably build an off road trail here. It may have to be broken up into segments and worked on over a couple of years. The path would probably be on the south side of the road, because both schools are on the south side. There are a lot of things that need to be worked out. Commissioner Singer asked about the speed limit on Old Rockford Road. Director Blank said it's posted at 50 mph. He then explained that speed limits are set by the state of Minnesota. The state could be asked by the Council to do a study of the speed limit, but that doesn't always work out the way residents want. Speed limits are set by 85% of the drivers using that road. What ever speed 85% of the drivers is driving determines the speed of that road, and in some cases when residents have wanted speed limits lowered, they've actually been raised. Commissioner Fiemann asked Councilmember Slavik if she was aware of any plans to improve Rockford Road sooner than in 10 years. She said she didn't think so. Director Blank said that money for roads comes from MN State Aid. County Road 101 is using up a lot of that money and the next road scheduled is Schmidt Lake Road. Improvements to Rockford Road would be addressed by the Public Works Department in their CIP. Old Rockford Road is no longer a county road, Director Blank explained to Commissioner Wahl. It is now under complete City control. Engineers think we can build an off road trail on portions of that road, but at this point they don't know the cost, or how soon it would occur. Director Blank reviewed the rest of the 2001-05 CIP list. The list contained a number of items. They included: open space, Greenwood School youth sports fields, the Millennium Garden, Art in the Park, West Medicine Lake bathrooms/pavilion, the second half of bleacher replacement, trail on Rockford Road (west of Vicksburg), trail on 36th Avenue from County Road 9 to Vicksburg, sewer and water and a building permit for the Hilde Performance Center, trail repair and overlay, the 4th of five payments on the Showmobile, playground replacement, transfer to park replacement fiind, the environmental park playground and trail, a skate park, new lights at Parkers Lake Park, PRAC Minutes/September 2000 Page 37 additional parking at the Ice Center, and playground improvements at Kimberly Lane Elementary School. Director Blank announced that we did win a grant for the upgrade of the Greenwood youth sports fields. He also said the Council held a work study session on the Millennium Garden. They moved $100,000 in interest earnings from the Plymouth Creek Center constriction fiind, plus an additional $100,000 will come from Park Deducation Funds to help fund the Millennium Garden. Art in the Park is still a high priority. The West Medicine Lake bathrooms have became an issue now, because we can't build vault toilets. The City Manager thinks we should look into constricting a shelter building in this park that includes bathrooms. Half of our bleachers were replaced when the Legislature banned all open sided bleachers. They later reconsidered that decision, and decided existing bleachers could be modified to meet the new safety guidelines. However, because all of our bleachers were destroyed, we now need to replace the rest of them. Items to consider beyond 2001 include the acquisition of land west of Vicksburg before sewer becomes available, a spray playground, replacement of lights at Zachary Playfield, tennis courts at Plymouth Creek Center, because there are no tennis courts in the central part of Plymouth, a dock at East Beach, scoreboards at Elm Creek, lighting at West Medicine Lake Park along the trail and in the parking lot, a boat dock upgrade at Parkers Lake, a third sheet of ice for the Ice Center, picnic shelters at Plymouth Creek Park, at Shenandoah Park, and at Elm Creek Playfield, and a wooden walkway at East Beach. Director Blank invited commissioners to add to the list if they think of things. Commissioner Singer said the deck at East Beach definitely needs replacing. The building could also be upgraded. Director Blank agrees and will put it on the list. The boat dock would go on the south end of the parking lot. The 10th playfield acquisition doesn't have to be done this year, but within the next two to four years. The property in the plan is owned by the Begin family and Director Blank has been talking with them. At the next meeting, we will have cost estimates prepared for these projects. Commissioner Musliner asked how the lower level of the Plymouth Creek Center will be used. Director Blank thinks the senior programs may use this space in about three years. c. Review August park tour. Commissioner Musliner asked for a brief overview of the park tour, because she was unable to attend. Director Blank said the tour went very well. The Eagan Water Park can handle 2,000 at any given time. It costs $7.50 per day per user. The St. Louis Park Water Park is much smaller. The Brooklyn Park Historical farm is an interesting operation. The Brooklyn Park Skate Park was being used by about 30 participants when PRAC was there. This facility is free of charge and does not have any supervision on site. Director Blank suggested the possiblity of visiting other such operations on fiiture park tours, and the commissioners agreed this was a good idea. PRAC Minutes/September 2000 Page 38 7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION Commissioner Thompson wants us to get in writing that we have the right of first refusal on the Hollydale golf course. Director Blank said he spoke with the owner, and he feels comfortable with the owner's claim that if his children are not interested in it, he wants the City to have it. Director Blank said he will talk to the owner about some sort of written document. It was mentioned that dogs have been seen on the Fieldhouse artificial turf and people have been seen smoking on the turf. Director Blank said he would look into putting up some kind of signage that says dogs are prohibited and discouraging people from smoking when they're on the turf. Since this is an outdoor facility, enforcing these practices may be somewhat difficult. 8. STAFF COMMUNICATION Next month's meeting needs to be changed to the 19th if possible, because of staff conflicts on the 12th. 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:55 p.m.