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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 02-08-2001Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting February 8, 2001 Page 6 Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Fiemann, Musliner, Singer, Thompson; staff Bisek, Blank, Busch, Pederson; Councilmember Hewitt, Planning Commissioner Neset Absent: Commissioner Meyer 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Anderson called the February meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. in the Council Chambers. Election of Chair and Vice Chair. Commissioner Singer nominated Anderson for Chair and Fiemann for Vice Chair. Commissioner Musliner seconded. All ayes. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Musliner corrected the January minutes to read that she thanked Sara Mittelstaedt along with Karol Greupner and Mark Wahl for helping judge art work at the elementary schools. A motion was made by Commissioner Singer and seconded by Commissioner Fiemann to approve the minutes of the January meeting as corrected. The motion carried with all ayes. 3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS a. Athletic Associations. None. b. Staff Mary thanked those who volunteered at Fire and Ice. She thinks attendance was down slightly, maybe due to gray and damp weather. She said that she and Karol Greupner would be working on the Millennium Garden mission and goals statements for presentation next month. One new project, if the City Council approves it, is an electronic billboard on the corner to the west of the Ice Center along Plymouth Boulevard. It will be used to promote city special events, activities going on at the Ice Center, etc. Commissioner Fiemann thinks the electronic billboard is a good idea. Mary stated that we are currently working on the April issue of Plymouth Leisure Times. Commissioner Singer asked about new programs for the summer. Mary said we may offer cooking classes at the Plymouth Creek Center. We are waiting for confirmation from the caterer. There will be a Mother's Day Tea, an art series for school age kids that will feature Star Wars, Harry Potter, nature books, etc. The art instructor is also going to do some activities for adults. Regina Callies is putting together at least five teen activities. The kick—off is going to be roller-skating at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Also coming up soon is the Yard and Garden Expo, which is being done in conjunction with the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and the State Horticulture Society. There will be an exhibit hall to promote sustainable gardening. c. Others. There were no other visitors. PRAC Minutes/February 2001 Page 7 4. PAST COUNCIL ACTION The City Council approved an increase in the park dedication fees to $2,000 per unit. Commercial fees went from $6,100 to $7,000 per acre. Director Blank said the long term goal is to have the park system finished by the time the City runs out of available housing. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Review comprehensive plan — Barry Warner, SRF. This has been postponed until the April meeting. b. Millennium Garden update. Planning moves forward and we continue to fiend raise. The Wings Soccer Association is donating $500. The Plymouth Soccer Association also responded to an invitation from the Mayor to donate to the Garden. The deadline to buy bricks will likely be sometime in May. A lot of the fiundraising is in the form of in—kind services. Hedberg Aggregate is interested in the project in terms of helping constrict waterfalls. Possible groundbreaking dates are May 5 or May 21. Commissioners preferred May 21. c. Comprehensive plan update. Director Blank stated that we submitted a grant for the Northwest Greenway, and we are waiting to hear on that. A biological study of all the prairies, wetlands, trees, etc., will be done. The grant will not be final until June I st. We are hoping to get $21,000. d. Hilde Performance Center. Director Blank distributed a design drawing and said the performance center may have a semi—orchestra pit and a fill basement. He also had two pictures, one showing a soft roof and the other a hard roof. The constriction manager has done detailed budgets on the constriction. If you build an on—slab without a basement, it's $1,000,000; with basement, the cost is $1.2 million. Commissioner Singer wanted to verify that PRAC would be notified when the neighborhood meetings are scheduled for discussing this project. Director Blank said they would be open—house style. The actual building design will be reviewed and approved by PRAC. Director Blank said he told the Civic League that he would be hard pressed to go ahead on this project without building a basement. Director Blank has asked the Council for a work session on this project, which might take place before the next PRAC meeting. e. Approval 2000 annual report. Director Blank reviewed the 2001 work plan. Last Tuesday, the City Council reviewed their goals and objectives for the coming year. They want PRAC to look at adding a third sheet of ice, improving the parking at LifeTime Fitness, the acquisition of the 10th playfield, the Northwest Greenway, Hilde Performance Center, and the Millennium Garden. Karol and Mary are working on the art in public spaces policy. Director Blank stated that the Elm Creek sewer is coming down from Maple Grove and will go right through the Elm Creek golf course. There will be a feasibility study on a third sheet of ice and the parking at LifeTime. COMMISSIONER SINGER MOVED TO ACCEPT THE 2000 ANNUAL REPORT AND FORWARD IT TO THE CITY COUNCIL. COMMISSIONER THOMPSON SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. PRAC Minutes/February 2001 Page 8 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Review Plymouth Creek Center fees and policies for 2001. Rick explained that some of the figures had changed since the staff report was sent out in the PRAC packet. He said when fees initially were set, he did an extensive study of other community centers, hotels, meeting rooms, banquet hall facilities, etc., and came up with rates at that time. Over the past nine months however, he discovered that some of these rates are not working well for the Plymouth Creek Center. He explained that any new rates approved tonight would begin as soon as the Council approves them. The full Plymouth room rates for residents will not change, although Rick feels they are too low. He is proposing raising the non- resident weekend rate by $50. Non—profit Plymouth groups get one free meeting per month. The majority of the rentals have been by corporate groups. Rick said our main competitors are the Medina Ballroom, the Radisson, etc. They are charging more than we are, and Rick believes we have a much nicer facility. In the main ballroom, there is a large movie screen and a projection TV called Dreamvision, an $8,000 unit. It is state of the art equipment that is very sensitive and would cost a lot to replace. Rick is proposing that people using the full Plymouth room would get all the electronic equipment for 100/day. Rick stated that if someone is having a small meeting, they can bring in their own food, like cookies, snacks, donuts, etc., but if they are serving a full meal, they are to use our on-site caterer. Commissioner Thompson asked how people use the half ballroom, quarter ballroom, Fireside room, etc., and she asked for some clarification on the rates for rooms other than the full ballroom. Rick said the Fireside room is mainly for seniors during the day. The quarter Plymouth room is used for meetings, and the seniors use it for dances, etc. He explained that we do not rent the quarter or half Plymouth room very often. Commissioner Singer said she thinks the price on the Fireside Room is very reasonable. Staff clarified for Commissioner Thompson that seniors have free use of the Plymouth Creek Center at all times. Rick said if you exclude the full Plymouth room, at least three quarters of the other rentals are by corporations. Commissioner Singer asked about charges for the LCD projector when only half of the room is rented. Rick said it would be $100 whether you rented half or the fill ballroom. Chair Anderson asked about the capacity of the ballroom and Rick stated that it seats 350. CHAIR ANDERSON MOVED TO ACCEPT THE FEES AND POLICES AS PRESENTED BY STAFF. COMMISSIONER SINGER SECONDED. Commissioner Singer than had some suggestions for general riles. Under No. 4, she suggested adding the words "after that time" to the sentence about charges being assessed in hourly amounts, so that people know they are being charged beginning at 12:15 a.m. She also thought those words needed to be added to weeknight rentals that go past 10:15 p.m. Rick said the problem stems from the free groups staying past the closing time. Commissioners discussed sending someone around to tell them they have to leave, or to turn off the lights to get the message across. They also discussed the possibility that if you tell rental groups they are going to be charged extra if they stay past the curfew that this might encourage them to stay late, rather than get them to leave at the established closing time. Chair Anderson withdrew his motion. COMMISSIONER SINGER MOVED TO RECOMMEND THAT THE SENTENCE UNDER N[_]1VIBER 4 OF GENERAL RULES ABOUT ASSESSING AN HOURLY AMOUNT BE DROPPED ALTOGETHER. COMMISSIONER MUSLINER ADDED THAT THE WORDS "WALK THRU" UNDER THE DECORATION SECTION, PAGE 4, ITEM 4, BE CHANGED TO "WALK PRAC Minutes/February 2001 Page 9 THROUGH." FIEMANN SECONDED AMENDED MOTION. MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. Director Blank asked Rick to give an update on dome rentals. Rick said they are up 8,000 this year from last year. The dome is booked constantly. There's a North Central soccer group that was renting in Stillwater that came in a couple of months ago and took all the late night times and early morning times on Sundays. We still have a lot of use from the three main Plymouth soccer associations, plus a big club from Hopkins. Rugby is also a big user. They come right after school two or three days a week. Walking continues to be very popular. It is now free at all times. Dropping the fee has created a lot of good will. The heating bill for the Fieldhouse last month was $15,000. Last year the revenue for the six-month period that the dome is in place was $200,000. This year Rick is estimating it at between $230,000 and $240,000. The golf netting went up in November. Golf is offered on Tuesdays & Wednesdays from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Half a dozen to a dozen people are golfing during those times. The hours are limited this year. We may try to offer some evening hours next year. Rick stated that we are getting more and more requests from people who come in during the day to walls, and they want their children to be able to play in the dome at the same time. We now offer two afternoons a week from 1-2:30 of open play, where kids can throw Frisbees, kick soccer balls, etc., while the parents walls the track. Rick said prior to offering the open playtime, parents would come to walls and instead of keeping an eye on their kids, they would allow them to roam the rest of the Plymouth Creek Center without supervision. Maybe next year some hours could be set aside when half of the dome would become an indoor playground with some inflatable objects, like slides, Director Blank stated. 7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION None. 8. STAFF COMMUNICATION The Ice Center is going to host one of the women's world hockey championship games — Germany vs. China on Thursday, April 5. These teams will be in Salt Lake City next year for the Olympics. The teams will be here to practice the day before the game. This is a chance to attract young female hockey players to the arena. 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.