HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 04-12-2001Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting
April 12, 2001
Page 18
Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Fiemann; Meyer, Musliner, Singer; staff Anderson,
Bisek, Mittelstaedt, Pederson; SRF consultant Warner
Absent: Commissioner Thompson
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chair Anderson called the April 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 March meeting as presented. Commissioner Singer noted an error
on page 14, third paragraph from the bottom. The sentence should have read "She explained
that she makes her recommendations based on whether or not she would want this in her
neighborhood." Amended motion carried with all ayes.
3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS
a. Athletic Associations. None were present.
b. Staff See item 6.
c. Others. See item 5 c.
4. PAST COUNCIL ACTION
Mary had nothing to report.
5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Millennium Garden update. Mary talked to George Watson. He said that plans are about
95% finalized. We are working with contractors and have a lot of in—kind donations
committed to the garden. There is still some specialty work being done by consultants.
Some work may be done prior to the May 21 groundbreaking, dependent on the weather.
The planting probably will not take place until fall. The Franklin Bank just made a
2,500 pledge to the garden. A family donated $12,500 to sponsor the labyrinth.
Fingerhut has committed $12,500. Over 500 bricks have been sold. The deadline for
brick sales is May 21. In May we'll go over goals and objectives for the garden again.
b. Hilde Performance Center update. Mary displayed an architectural model. It will have an
unfinished basement. The architects are back at work. Al Hilde gave his approval to the
plans. They are now doing schematics. When those are finished, they will be presented to
PRAC. Groundbreaking is scheduled for the end of July. An open house will be held on
April 25, from 5-7 p.m., on the performance center. PRAC is not required to attend, but
Eric would like to have some members attend if possible. The EAW is being published
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shortly. Letters about the open house are going out to a large section of the community
adjacent to City Hall. The EAW goes to the Planning Commission on May 2. Mary
explained that EAW stands for Environmental Assessment Worksheet.
c. Comprehensive Plan presentation — Barry Warner. Barry gave a presentation on the
comprehensive plan. He stated that the Metropolitan Council mandated that all
metropolitan communities update their comprehensive plans. The City Council, staff, and
various commissions thought it was an opportune time to update the policies that guide
the community. There are many other reasons for undertaking a comprehensive plan: new
growth as well as redevelopment, it's a good time to reaffirm or develop new policies, it
provides a good opportunity for fiscal management, it is a framework for decision
making, it provides a resource for the residents, and it provides staff with supporting
materials for grant applications. Barry began his presentation with figure 8-1. We have
more than one kind of park category — city parks, neighborhood parks, trails and
sidewalks, natural areas that are both public and private, city owned open space, and a
subcategory of regional facilities. There is also a recreation chapter dealing with
programming, facilities, etc. Commissioner Fiemann asked for clarification of what
facilities are under the recreation section. Mary stated the Fieldhouse, the Plymouth Creek
Center, the Ice Center, etc. Graphic 8-1 describes the park types, which provides a much
greater definition by classification for each park category within the system. Barry said
this is important because there are often times misunderstandings on the part of the
residents regarding the differences between neighborhood and community parks and
playfields. He displayed a graphic of the park system plan, which provides vision for the
long term development of the community. An important discussion point that most
communities get into is neighborhood park service areas. Figure 8-4 defined this. He said
it is difficult to fidfill everyone's understanding of what a neighborhood park is.
Typically, neighborhood parks are within 1/2 mile walking distance of the residents
living there, are free from barriers such as major roadways whenever possible, and are
reasonably accessible by the neighborhood using non—motorized transportation. Barry
explained that early on, prior to the development of the park system plan, we had small
parcels that had come into the city's ownership by way of dedication from developers.
They were not up to par with other neighborhood parks, but the residents expected them
to have the same amenities. Commissioner Singer asked for an example of one.
Commissioner Musliner suggested neighborhood 17, Gateway Park. Mary stated that this
park was actually requested by a resident. A better example is of this is Queensland Park.
Barry then discussed Table 8-6 and said the City has enjoyed a good working
relationship with the schools. Many of our facilities are co—developed with the schools.
This table is a good indicator of the joint use of facilities for both indoor and outdoor
facilities. Table 8-9 shows possible future special facilities — indoor playground, bark
park, miniature golf, outdoor pool/waterpark, etc. Figure 8-5 indicates public and private
golf courses within Plymouth and within close proximity to Plymouth and to what extent
public and private courses are available to the residents. Map 8-6 is the City trail and
sidewalk plan. We have a very healthy trail system, plus good regional facilities. Barry
pointed out that the segment on the south side of Medicine Lake is currently under
constriction and is scheduled to open July 1. There are some small pieces that have to be
completed to connect Medicine Regional Trail to the Luce Line. Hennepin Parks is also
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completing a segment through Golden Valley. This will enable Plymouth residents to ride
all the way into Minneapolis. Figure 8-11 shows the ultimate trail and sidewalk system
plan for the city. Yellow depicts trails that may be considered on both sides of the
roadway. Circles in red designate intersections where improving the pedestrian crossings
might be considered. The Northwest Greenway is an integral element of the trail plan. It
is also a natural resource element. Discussion then turned to the roadway crossings and
intersections depicted in Table 8-14. Accomplishing these recommended improvements
will take the combined cooperation of Plymouth, Hennepin County, MNDot, and some
expenditure of money. The dividend is pedestrian safety. Figure 8-12 is the Northwest
Greenway concept. The Greenway would stretch roughly from Wayzata High School and
the Elm Creek Playfield eastward to Mud Lake Park and the future North Hennepin
Regional Trail. This project would accomplish several goals — preservation of upland
ecological resources, establishment of wildlife corridors and connections, creation of a
framework for acquisition of high quality open space, linkage among city—owned parks,
trails, and open space, and long distance recreational opportunities. Map 8-13 shows
City—owned open space, including that which was purchased with the 1995 bond
referendum. Map 8-14 gives some hierarchy to existing open spaces that are not
currently owned by the city or any other agency. Barry then discussed the implementation
chapter of the comprehensive plan. This chapter provides guidance to policy makers and
staff for the timing and priority of a wide range of strategies recommended to carry out
the plan. Some implementation strategies are on—going City activities that will be
continued and others are new initiatives. Lastly, Barry discussed the Appendix. Part A
consists of an inventory of park facilities. For each park there was an inventory sheet that
was put together. This provided an understanding of what each park is about, acreage,
adjacent land uses, existing facilities within each park, and the identification of proposed
facilities. The appendix also includes a sport by sport analysis of every organized activity
within the city, trail design standards, natural resources evaluation, park prototypes, and a
summary of all the recreation programming currently offered in the city. Chair Anderson
said the Northwest Greenway and the golf courses will be PRAC's next big challenges.
Barry said he thinks the Northwest Greenway will be a fiin project for PRAC. Mary said
we currently have a development proposal being reviewed where we are asking for our
first dedication for the Northwest Greenway. The Greenway features a looping system,
which will give residents access to many neighborhoods. Commissioner Fiemann pointed
out the flexibility of this looping system. Mary then discussed the recreation chapter of
the comprehensive plan. She explained the mission statement and distributed copies of it.
Our primary focus is on quality of life. Current trends that were noted in the recreation
chapter include: aging population, diversity, environmental emphasis, wellness,
prevention, world economy, meaningful leisure activity, flexibility, and volunteerism.
Mary stated that people have a need to feel connected. They are looking for things that
are convenient and flexible. The arts are becoming very popular. An example of this is
the growing interest in the Primavera Fine Arts Celebration. Special events are important
to the community — we now have them almost every month. Sports are the City's largest
programming area. There are a wide variety of opportunities available across all age
ranges. Teens are becoming more of a challenge for us. When we hire our new recreation
coordinator, teen programming will be one of their main focuses. Mary explained that
collaboration is a big item for us as it is for a lot of different agencies. We can't do it all,
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so we collaborate with other agencies. Visiting historic sites is becoming a rapidly
growing outdoor recreation activity. Working with the Historical Society to develop a list
of the top 10 sites in Plymouth has been discussed. Commissioner Musliner asked about
the possibility of some type of teen facility occupying the lower level of the Plymouth
Creek Center. Mary said a discussion is taking place on that. There currently is no floor
there, no lights, no heating, or cooling. Anytime you finish a public building there are a
lot of requests for use of the space. It would be very costly at this point to make this space
available for occupancy.
Chair Anderson thanked Barry for his presentation. Barry said he would be happy to
return anytime to discuss the plan further.
d. Skate park. Mary stated that Director Blank had a meeting with interested kids. Twenty
nine volunteered to be on the Advisory Board. The board will meet on April 23. Topics
for discussion will include types of equipment to install and a code of conduct.
e. Greenwood sports upgrade. Bids were opened but nothing has been decided yet.
6. NEW BUSINESS
a. Senior program presentation — Sara Mittelstaedt. Sara distributed some information about
the senior program and copies of the Senior Grapevine newsletter. A volunteer does all
the typing, puts in all the graphics, etc. On page 10-11, to save space, he included the
special interest groups in a grid. Many of these kinds of groups have been added since
moving to the Plymouth Creek Center. Sara pointed out the special event in April — May
Baskets and Magic, an event for kids and their parents/grandparents. Sara stated that the
Plymouth senior program has grown in every aspect since 1999. Total clients served went
from 1,178 to 1,495. Those numbers depict unduplicated participation. The number of
meals served went from 26 to 70, individuals being served those meals went from 1,340
to 2,850. This includes Lunch Express and senior luncheons. Participants involved in
health services such as flu shots, screenings, walking, exercise, yoga, nutrition classes,
etc., increased from 4,850 to 9,315. Sara said the senior club began 30 years ago. Of the
176 members in the Plymouth Senior Club, seven are 90 or older. The youngest member
is 63. Sara also had a list of "dreams" she'd like to see for the Plymouth Seniors. Her list
included offering more services to the oldest clients, such as vision and hearing loss
support groups, home visiting volunteers who would visit home—bound seniors and bring
them candy and flowers on Valentine's Day, pies at Thanksgiving, and poinsettias at
Christmas, helping them get computers in their homes, so they could communicate with
the outside world. For the youngest seniors, she would like to have more evening
programs available. Her intergenerational goals include working toward bridging the
generation gap. Commissioner Musliner suggested contacting some of the schools to get
involved. Sara said the Youth Extending Services (YES) from Wayzata East will be
serving ice cream and cake at the volunteer recognition event. Commissioner Singer
asked how the Lunch Express was doing. Sara said it's been cancelled several times.
Tuesday is not a good day, but Thursday is doing quite well.
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b. Volunteer program presentation — Nancy Anderson. Nancy thanked PRAC for their
support of the volunteer program. She then gave an informative power point presentation.
The program consists of 835 volunteers, with a value added of $192,182. Staff who work
with volunteers — 39. The gender breakdown showed that those volunteers are 51%
women, 49% men. There's a broad age range of volunteers — youngest are 14, up to those
in their 80's. The youth account for 20% of volunteers, retirees 18%. Six volunteers are
from other countries — China, Australia, Germany, and Russia. Volunteers live in 33
different communities besides Plymouth. Nearby communities include Maple Grove,
Hamel, Medina, and Golden Valley. Some also work here but live elsewhere. They come
from Clearwater, Buffalo, and Monticello. Community participation comes from the
Rotary Club, Lions Club, Women of Today, businesses like Prudential, Target, US Bank,
Wells Fargo Bank, Franklin Bank; and school districts of Wayzata, Robbinsdale, and
Osseo. Nancy attends the Youth Involvement Fair at Robbinsdale Armstrong High
School, where she presents volunteer opportunities to juniors and seniors who need to
earn credits for their social studies. The benefits to the community include: building
connections between participants and the city, strengthening community pride, enhancing
quality of life, increasing community knowledge and support, and the volunteers become
ambassadors of good will. Benefits to staff include: productivity is enhanced, diversity,
partnerships are formed, staff have opportunity to develop supervisory skills, city
services achieve a higher level of quality, repetitious tasks can be delegated, and new
insights can occur. Benefits to volunteers include: new skills, career exploration,
socializing, feeling involved and appreciated, meeting new people, learning about the
community. Nancy stated that 93% of the volunteers are placed in the park and recreation
department. This number is so high because 78% of the positions are in park and
recreation, and everyone in the department makes use of the volunteers. Of the 24 new
positions, 66% were in park and recreation. Examples are the front desk greeters at the
Plymouth Creek Center, the fundraiser for the Millennium Garden, wedding coordinators
at the Plymouth Creek Center (however, this is being phased out), the Chocolate Sampler,
History Fest guides, Lunch Express, and the photo brigade. Other park and recreation
volunteers include: Stewards for Greening Plymouth, Plymouth Fine Arts Council, data
entry, public relations for the senior program, editor for seniors' newsletter, art displays,
coaches clinics' assistant, McGruff, preschool aides, event planners, special mailings,
Adopt—A—Park program, special plantings, ski chaperones, soccer coaches, summer teen
volunteer program, water safety aide program, Fire & Ice Festival, Primavera, Autumn
Art Fair, Plymouth on Parade, etc. Nancy then showed a graph displaying the number of
volunteers by year, which was followed by a graph showing volunteer hours by year. The
last chart showed the value added, which is $14.83 x the total volunteer hours. What sets
our program off from other communities is that every department in the city of Plymouth
uses volunteers. Nancy stated that she is amazed by the talented people that come
forward. This program works only because the City Council, staff, advisory boards and
commissions, etc., are supportive. Commissioner Musliner said that the city is fortunate
to have both Nancy and Sara on staff She thanked them for all the hard work they do.
7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION
None.
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8. STAFF COMMUNICATION
Commissioner Meyer asked if letters had been sent again to the residents surrounding the
Environmental Park. Mary said yes and that another development is being proposed just to
the north of the playground. We are hoping to get two acres of dedication from that
development, which may mean that we may be able to shift the playground a little to the
north.
9. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m.