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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 12-14-2000Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting December 14, 2000 Page 44 Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Fiemann, Meyer, Musliner, Singer; Councilmember Slavik; staff Bisek, Blank and Pederson Absent: Commissioner Thompson and Wahl 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Anderson called the December 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 Meyer to approve the minutes of the October meeting as presented. The motion carried with all ayes. 3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS a. Athletic Associations. None were present. b. Staff Mary stated that Rec—Connect is up and running. Usage was 7% with Rec—Connect and 56% with Touch Tone on the first day of registration. We expect Rec—Connect to increase as people become more comfortable with it. Mary announced that Rick had back surgery and was out for five weeks recuperating. He's back at work now half time and doing well. Mary discussed a couple of special events coming up. The Plymouth Community Band is going to be in concert with the Plymouth Rockers at the Messiah United Methodist Church on Sunday. A New Year's Eve Around the World event will be held on December 31 at LifeTime Fitness and the Ice Arena. We are having some concerns about finding volunteers to work that evening. Three different New Year's Eves will be celebrated on the hour from 6:30-9:30 that evening. There will be music, crafts, games, ice skating, swimming, prizes, etc. This activity is geared for families. Mary also mentioned the Fire and Ice Festival on February 3. Mary reminded PRAC that they usually help with the bonfire. We're hoping to add a theme to this year's event. The idea of Elvis and Blue Hawaii is being considered. We may have tied down an Elvis impersonator who is also a DeeJay. Call Nancy Anderson if you can volunteer. Mary mentioned that Old Fashioned Christmas went well. She estimated that there were about 750-800 attendees. Director Blank discussed the New Year's Eve party and the long term goals for this. Maybe in future years we will be able to include some activities at the Fieldhouse and the Plymouth Creek Center. Director Blank is hoping that the Youth Council will get involved in helping plan this. Mary said we are trying to put more of a focus on the teen age group by planning more teen programs. The Plymouth Creek Center has been extremely busy. Figures in the annual report should be interesting. Seniors are especially thrilled with the facility and activities there. Councilmember Slavik mentioned the Plymouth Leisure Times and how pleased the Civic League was with this latest issue. Commissioner Musliner wanted to know if any consideration had been given to the Seniors having their own brochure separate from the Leisure Times. Mary PRAC Minutes/December 2000 Page 45 mentioned the newsletter Plymouth Grapevine, which is sent to seniors in Plymouth and surrounding communities. Mary thinks it's important to keep the Senior section in the Leisure Times as well, for anyone new to Plymouth who may not know about the Plymouth Grapevine. c. Others. There were no others present. 4. PAST COUNCIL ACTION a. Dehumidification system at the Ice Center. We're getting a rebate from Reliant Energy of about $28,000, because of switching over from electric to gas. We expect to have the system installed in January. Right now the dehumidification is turned off because it's not needed, but it will be in use starting in May. b. Millennium Garden final plans and specs. We have reached our phase 1 goal. We get about one company a week donating in-kind services. Dundee Nursery has indicated an interest in designing, planting and maintaining a rose garden on a continuous basis. We've been mining two constriction sites going on in downtown Plymouth looking for large boulders. We are picking up thousands of dollars of inkind services. We will plan groundbreaking in May. c. Trail snowplowing routes for 2000-01. This comes out of the maintenance division. It helps determine which of the 75 miles of trails will be plowed in the winter. An approved plan helps with community relations. d. Contract cleaning services at the Ice Center and Plymouth Creek Center. Mentally challenged adults do this cleaning two or three days a week. e. Ferndale North open space managementlent plan. This item went through the Council on a consent agenda. f. Free walking in the dome. Free walking is a big hit. One downside is heating the dome. This costs about $40 an hour, so we made a decision to turn the heat on at 10:30, so it's up to 55 degrees by approximately 11 a.m. It's quite comfortable earlier in the morning, but you need to keep your jacket on. It's not easy to regulate the heat in this facility. We will be fine tuning this as time goes on. Commissioner Singer asked how many people are walking. Mary said we're not keeping numbers like we did last year. Mary said it is a good number of people, and quite a few do show up at 8 a.m. There's a regular group that shows up early. Mary thinks it's hundreds of people. We allow people to walls when other activities are going on if it's deemed safe. People are really appreciative of the fact that it's there and available. Commissioner Meyer asked what the temperature is at 8 a.m. Director Blank said around 32 or 35 degrees. Staff is keeping track of when it's being used. If morning is more popular, we may turn the heat on around 7:30 a.m. and then turn if off for a few hours and turn it on again in the late afternoon, so it's warm in time for the evening's activities. PRAC Minutes/December 2000 Page 46 g. Grant application for skate park. This is due January 16, and we are applying for a grant of $20,000. It would come from the Communities in Collaboration Council of School District 284. Commissioner Fiemann asked if the odds for receiving a grant were good. Director Blank said he's not very optimistic, however the Mayor is a member of the Council. Mary said there are others on the Communities in Collaboration Council who are excited about a possible skate park, so this may help us. h. Grant for improvements at Greenwood. We have been notified that we are one of the recipients of a $100,000 grant from the State of Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission for improvements at Greenwood's athletic fields. i. License agreements for Oakwood, Greenwood and East Middle School playfields. These are 10 year agreements with 10 year extensions. The agreements permit the school district to use the facilities on school days for school use, and the City has exclusive use on non -school days and after school. The City is completely responsible for the maintenance, operation, and scheduling of the facilities. j. North American Properties park dedication fee. This item went back to Council after PRAC recommended that the normal fee be charged. It was not contested by North American Properties. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Plymouth Creek Center update. Next Tuesday the Council will approve final payment to Shingobee Builders. We are under budget as of now by about $7,500. There will be a copy of the draft annual report ready by the January meeting, so numbers will be available in that document. Mary ran into someone from Shingobee, and they are going to be receiving an award for their work on the Plymouth Creek Center. b. Millennium Garden update. Brauer and Associates is moving forward with a final design. Companies that are offering in-kind services need some plans and specs in order to plan their work. Director Blank discussed the Christmas Box Angel proposal. He stated that staff attended some meetings where this proposal was being discussed. Not every sentiment from those other discussions is in their attached minutes. When first discussing this at the October PRAC meeting, we did not realize that the donation was coming from a Plymouth resident. The author of the book is planning a trip to Italy next year, and the Pregnancy and Infant Loss Center would like him to attend the ceremony when the statue is installed sometime next May. The Maple Grove City Council has approved having the statue in their arboretum if Plymouth doesn't accept it. The architect has sketched a couple of possible locations for its placement in the Millennium Garden. Mary and Karol came up with a vision statement for the garden which is "creating natural connections." Mary and Karol see this happening by promoting social cohesiveness and community identity; providing an atmosphere for inspiration, self reflection and renewal; facilitating a spirit of creativity through the arts; and presenting opportunities for environmental education and stewardship. Mary posted a question on the National Recreation and Parks Association website to help staff come up with this vision statement. Mary said that this is just a draft. It's a work in progress. Two areas in the garden have been looked at for the PRAC Minutes/December 2000 Page 47 placement of the statue. It would not be in the more formal garden area. It would be off to the side of the looping trail. Another possible site is the labyrinth area, which is meant to be a meditative site. Commissioner Singer wanted to know about the December 6 celebration. Director Blank said we would have to challenge the architects to come up with a design that would accommodate 100 or more people who might attend such a ceremony. Director Blank asked if this is something we would like to have in the garden? He stated that he attended a funeral last week of a good friend of his daughter's. Afterwards, several of her friends talked about buying a brick for the Millennium Garden to honor her. He also had a conversation this past week with a woman whose grandfather was once the Mayor of Plymouth. She wants to buy a bench to honor him. Director Blank says we see a lot of this — people wanting to honor loved ones who have died. Director Blank thinks the statue could be viewed in a positive light. But when you introduce religion, it's more difficult to weigh. The Human Rights Commission seemed to have a problem with it. They had a black and white picture of the angel, and some found the idea of a white angel to be offensive. Director Blank said the statue is actually bronze. Are there religious aspects to this? Some people will be offended by the word Christmas in the title, but we cannot take that out. That's a condition of the author of the story it's based on. Commissioner Meyer thinks a better place for it is the City cemetary. She thinks people may be depressed by it being in the garden. Commissoner Fiemann is concerned also with the title Christmas Box Angel. He has mixed feelings about it, but sees it as enlightening, also. Commissioner Musliner recently met the author at the Book Case in Wayzata. She said that people who have read the book seek out the statue, and this is why it was created. She also thinks it doesn't belong in the Millennium Garden and would be better in the City cemetary. Chair Anderson is divided on this issue. Commissioner Singer is sensitive about it as well. She sees it as a Christian issue. The concept of the Millennium Garden is self renewal, reflection, hope, etc. She doesn't really want it in the garden. She doesn't have a problem with the angel itself. It's the title that's the issue. Director Blank said a group of citizens will be meeting under the supervision of Karol to come up with criteria for the art that will be included in the garden and other public spaces. Commissioner Singer understands the donation of benches and bricks with people's names on them. Commissioner Meyer said a lot of the art in the Landscape Arboretum comes through donations. She said she'll check to see if there is a policy that the arboretum follows regarding donations of art. Director Blank will call the Pregnancy and Infant Loss Center and tell them that both the Human Rights Commission and the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission feel that this is not an appropriate item for the garden. Commissioner Fiemann asked if there is a place in the City cemetary that would be appropriate. Director Blank said the Pregnancy and Infant Loss Center wasn't interested in that location. Councilmember Slavik suggested that the staff report PRAC received should also be sent to the Council. Chair Anderson said if we do allow this, we open the door for any group that wants to place something in the garden. COMMISSIONER SINGER MOVED THAT WE THANK THE DONOR FOR THE DONATION OF THE CHRISTMAS BOX ANGEL BUT THAT WE BELIEVE IT DOES NOT FIT INTO THE OVERALL VISION STATEMENT AND PERCEIVED GOALS OF THE MILLENNIUM GARDEN IN THE CITY OF PLYMOUTH. COMMISSIONER FIEMANN SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED. There was discussion then on the need for coming up with some sort of policy for accepting PRAC Minutes/December 2000 Page 48 donations of art for the garden. COMMISSIONER FIEMANN MOVED THAT STAFF PURSUE CREATING A POLICY ON WHAT WOULD BE CONSIDERED ACCEPTABLE ART FOR THE MILLENNIUM GARDEN AND OTHER PUBLIC SPACES THROUGHOUT THE CITY AND COME BACK TO PRAC WITH THEIR FINDINGS AND RECOMENDATIONS. CHAIR ANDERSON SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. Director Blank asked if PRAC had any fine tunings for the mission statement. It was suggested that they look it over and come back to the January meeting with any suggestions, and maybe it could be adopted at that time. Commissioner Singer said she spoke with someone from Eden Prairie whose two children play soccer in our Fieldhouse. This individual told Commissioner Singer that our non—resident fee is less than the resident fee in Eden Prairie. She had high praise for the Fieldhouse. c. Comprehensive Plan Director Blank said that $750,000 has been carried forward for open space. This will be for the Northwest Greenway. He will be asking the City Council to give us permission to apply for some grants from the DNR on this project. d. Hilde Performance Center update. We are doing a phase one study right now with the architects to meet the requirements of the EAW. Contracts have been signed by the Hilde's and the Civic League. By the next PRAC meeting we may have a draft concept plan for the building. The name of the facility is part of the contract, because of the Hilde offer of the million dollars. Commissioner Singer asked about the document included in their PRAC packet regarding naming public parks. That's why she questioned the name Hilde Performance Center. Director Blank said if someone wanted to donate a million dollars toward the purchase of a park, we probably would have no problem naming it after them. e. 2001-2005 CIP. Playground replacements — Director Blank found some additional funding for Swan Lake park. If long term projections of revenue hold true we may be able to add more playground replacements. For the youth sports improvements at Greenwood, we received a cost estimate this morning and it looks like we're getting close. Another $10,000 will make a big difference, so the budget has been increased to 460,000. This will get us three baseball fields and four soccer fields. The large picnic shelter at Zachary has been moved up to 2001. All other items stayed the same as in the October draft. We now have a number of $200,000 for the West Medicine Lake bathroom facility that matches the stone face and rough sawn lumber look of the picnic shelters. We're looking at riles and regulations on wetland setbacks, etc. This will be a bare bones facility, including bathrooms only. We will be hooked up to the City sewer system. Commissioner Meyer asked if these are new fields at Greenwood. Director Blank said the baseball fields are new. The school district bought the farmhouse along Medina Road, and this is where the baseball fields will be. All facilities are behind the building on the west side. Commissioner Singer talked to the MASC, and they are lobbying for additional monies statewide for more soccer fields. She said they are looking for $6-8 million during the next session. According to state statute this has to be for new fields only. Director Blank said some of the projects in the 2001 CIP are very time sensitive, so PRAC Minutes/December 2000 Page 49 action by PRAC is needed tonight. Commissioner Singer asked about the skate park. If the grant is not awarded would we still go forward with it? Director Blank said yes, if the City Council approves it. She then asked about East Medicine Lake Park and the deteriorating condition of the building and boardwalk. Director Blank said we know we have a problem there, but we don't know what we want to do at this time. We are looking at removing the wooden boardwalk and replacing with an asphalt trail and we may replace that building with two bathrooms. COMMISSIONER SINGER MOVED to ACCEPT THE 2001-2005 CIP. COMMISSIONER FIEMANN SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED. 6. NEW BUSINESS There was no new business. 7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION There was no Commission presentation. 8. STAFF COMMUNICATION Staff thanked the Commission for their hard work and wished them Happy Holidays. Chair Anderson has completed 15 years on the Commission. He's the number two man behind the chairman of the Planning Commission. Barb Edwards served 22 years on PRAC. Commissioner Singer thanked the City staff for their dedication to their work and for the card sent to her husband. He had a triple bypass last week. Councilmember Slavik said the Council had many positive comments about PRAC when they discussed reappointments to Commissions last week. Director Blank stated that Mark Wahl has resigned but will attend the January meeting. 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.