HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 01-10-2002Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting
January 10, 2002
Page 1
Present: Chair Anderson; Commissioners Fiemann, Meyer, Musliner; Rezabek, Weir,
Singer (arrived at 7:30); staff Blank and Pederson
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chair Anderson called the January meeting to order at 7 p.m. in the Council
Chambers. Chair Anderson and the rest of the Commission welcomed new
members Rezabek and Weir. Rezabek stated he lives in Connor Meadows next to
the high school and has two children. He is in sales. Weir lives in Bass Lake Hills
and is retired from U.S. Bank. He is the current president of Peace Lutheran Church
and has two daughters. Meyer is a professor at the University of Minnesota and has
two daughters. Anderson has been a park commissioner for 16 years, is a retired
school teacher; and his brother was the Mayor of Plymouth in 1958. Fiemann lives
on the west side of Plymouth and has two children enrolled at Greenwood
Elementary. He is a soccer and hockey coach and has been a PRAC member since
1994. Musliner has two elementary age children, and is active in the Wayzata
School District. This is her fourth year on PRAC. Singer has lived on the east side of
Medicine Lake for 20 years and has two college age sons. Her husband owns a
wholesale plumbing supply in Hopkins. She is the President of the MN Youth Soccer
Association.
Blank explained the procedure for electing a chair and vice chair. He stated that the
appointments are then forwarded to the Mayor, and she either concurs or doesn't
with the appointment. MEYER MOVED AND WEIR SECONDED A MOTION TO
APPOINT ANDERSON AS THE CHAIR AND FIEMANN AS THE VICE CHAIR FOR
ANOTHER YEAR. MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A motion was made by Commissioner Meyer and seconded by Commissioner
Musliner to approve the minutes of the December meeting as presented. The motion
carried with all ayes.
3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS
a. Athletic Associations. There were no representatives present at the meeting.
b. Staff. Blank said we have narrowed the selection down to seven candidates for
Superintendent of Recreation. Four were interviewed Wednesday, and the other
three will be interviewed Friday. We will narrow it down to two or three. An
outside consultant will do an evaluation after the final candidates are chosen. We
may have someone on board in time for the February PRAC meeting. Blank
talked about the Olympic theme/patriotic theme for the Fire & Ice Festival. He
asked for bonfire volunteers from PRAC. At this point, it appears that Fire & Ice
PRAC Minutes/January 2002
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may have to be moved to the playfields on the north side of County Road 6, due
to the uncertainty over the thickness of the ice, because of the mild winter we've
been experiencing. The Yard & Garden Expo will be in the dome in March.
Musliner asked about the New Years Eve event. Blank said 120 attended the
family event, but the teen event got cancelled. Blank said we will reevaluate the
program and concentrate more on the family night. This may start later, around
6:15 p.m., and run for three hours. We have not seen great success with teen
events so far. Some of the programs do okay, but the special events are not
doing so well. We have been following a Burnsville teen center called The
Garage. Our teen council has been monitoring their progress.
c. Others.
There were no other presentations.
4. PAST COUNCIL ACTION
a. The Council adopted the 2001-06 CIP. They removed the funding for the Arts in
the Park program, but they are open to ideas on a case by case basis for art
programs. Blank said we will go back to the Council in two weeks for 2002
project approval. The big item will be the Mud Lake Neighborhood Park. The
tentative schedule is to have neighborhood meetings in February, refine plans in
March, bid the project in April, award contracts in May, and begin construction in
late May/early June. PRAC's role will be to listen to citizens at the neighborhood
meetings to determine what they would like in a neighborhood park. Weir asked
what the neighborhood meetings consist of. Blank explained the process. He
said it usually takes two informal meetings with residents, then residents attend a
PRAC meeting and give their feedback on the proposed master plan. Following
that PRAC approves plan and forwards it to the City Council.
b. Park dedication ordinance fees for 2002 were set at $2,300 per unit and $6,400
per acre. Our fees will be the same as Eden Prairie. These are reviewed
annually, Blank explained.
5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Northwest Greenway master plan. Singer e-mailed some questions and
comments to Blank who forwarded them to the consultant. She found the census
data information somewhat confusing and wanted clarification on the number of
households being estimated for that area. Her other comments dealt mostly with
rephrasing some sentences to make their meaning more clear, and correcting
typos, etc. In regard to Singer's comments about the census information, the
consultant, in a written memo, stated that sentences have been simplified to only
show forecasted population growth in the City The consultant will be making
changes to the plan based on PRAC's comments and will then make a
presentation to the Planning Commission next Wednesday. Blank wants to know
how PRAC feels about the bigger concepts of the plan. He said that staff is
comfortable with the plan and is recommending approval. We need adoption of
the plan by the Council no later than February. Meyer is opposed to paved trails.
PRAC Minutes/January 2002
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She stated they will create a lot of run off. Limestone does not require a lot of
maintenance. The lower portion of the west end looping trail will be mowed
grass, while the upper is crushed limestone around the Elm Creek Basin. The
east/west corridor is proposed for paving and would tie into the City's local trail
system. Fiemann is an inline skater and looks forward to having paved trails.
Meyer suggested that maybe it could be paved later, but not in this first phase.
The beauty of having two trails is that you can run on the grassy surface or the
limestone surface. Equestrian use is also planned for the grassy surface.
Fiemann would like to see pavement at some point, so that we accommodate all
potential users. Blank hasn't looked into the cost differences, but he said $10 a
running foot is the approximate cost to pave. Rezabek stated that he has used
the Paul Bunyan trail. They have a paved portion and a limestone portion. He
suggested paving the trails later, and using the savings to help purchase land.
Baker Park has a fully paved trail. Asphalt will eventually crack, and there are
maintenance issues with paving. Blank said our maintenance crews prefer
pavement to limestone. It's easier to keep clean in the winter. Singer doesn't
want a yellow line down the middle of any paved path. She feels that once you
do that, people think they can drive a motorized vehicle on it. Rezabek thinks
trees should be further away from trails' edge than four feet, which is how it
appears in the proposed master plan. Blank stated that when we purchase the
200 foot—wide corridor, we will stake the trail in a way that does the least amount
of damage to the trees, as well as locate the trail as far from the trees as
possible. Rezabek asked if we are able to require that developers place trails in
specific locations. Blank said once the Greenway is adopted in the official City
comprehensive plan, developers will have to conform to our master plan.
FIEMANN MOVED & REZABEK SECONDED A MOTION TO APPROVE
NORTHWEST GREENWAY MASTER PLAN AS DOCUMENTED BY SRF, WITH
CHANGES RECOMMENDED BY SINGER, AND FURTHER, THAT TRAILS
INITIALLY IDENTIFIED AS ASPHALT BE CRUSHED LIMESTONE WITH THE
OPTION TO CHANGE THEM LATER TO ASPHALT. Motion carried with all
ayes.
Fiemann asked about negotiations for Begin property. Blank stated that we sent
them a letter outlining four different scenarios for acquiring their land, but Mr.
Begin has gone south for the winter. No headway on this is expected now until
May or June. This is a sensitive issue for the family. Regarding the future of
Hampton Hills golf course, the land has not been reguided, Blank said.
Comprehensive plan was just adopted 18 months ago, and this is labeled
public/semi—public in the comp plan. Reguiding this would be a mammoth
undertaking. A developer has made offers to buy many pieces of property. It
would effect transportation plans, sewer and water plans, etc. We are monitoring
all three golf courses closely at this time. Fiemann asked if the City could be
sued over denying development. It could eventually end up in court, Blank said. If
both Elm Creek and Hampton Hills end up being sold, we'd have only one golf
course left — Hollydale. Rezabek said he was on a committee that helped change
PRAC Minutes/January 2002
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a comprehensive plan six months after it was approved. It was very difficult to do,
but they succeeded in doing it. He said he's on a committee now pushing hard to
keep Hollydale as a golf course.
b. Millennium Garden update. Blank said we're not doing anything now but working
on planning and finalizing details, so we can hit the ground running in the spring.
The Carlson Foundation delivered a check for the Millennium Garden on
December 31 for $12,500. This is part of their total contribution of $75,000.
c. Hilde Performance Center. As of this time we are ahead of schedule. All
underground work has been completed. The long lead—time items, such as steel
beams, wood beams, etc., should all start arriving on site in the next 10-15 days.
The Council awarded a contract for sewer and water, and the contractor wants to
begin with that in two weeks.
d. Greenwood youth sports complex. Final touch ups will occur when spring arrives,
Blank stated.
e. West Medicine Lake bathrooms. Soil problems have been encountered. We are
taking additional soil tests on Monday. We still hope to be open by Memorial Day
weekend.
6. NEW BUSINESS
a. Review draft of 2001 annual report. Blank explained that the major item to
discuss is the work plan for 2002. He reminded PRAC that we need a policy for
accepting donations of art work. Weir asked what a dog park is. Blank explained
that it's a leash -less park, where dogs run free under owner supervision, but
owners must clean up after their dog. We are trying to evaluate if any of our
property would be suitable for this. Singer asked if the mission statement for the
Millennium Garden had ever been adopted. She would like to have a copy of it
e—mailed to her. Blank explained how property taxes are distributed for park and
recreation programs. He also explained Regina's role with the teen program.
Rezabek asked if we get any money from the new surcharge on water. Blank
said that the funds go to the engineering department to help clean up city lakes.
Blank then continued reviewing the draft copy of the annual report. He pointed
out the graph under recreation programs showing the number of seniors
participating in programs. He said to expect this number to continue to skyrocket.
Enrollment in adult sports is down slightly due to decreased interest in adult
softball. We have lost 65% of our participation in this sport due mostly to sports
bars creating their own softball fields. To counteract that, we started a high
school softball league with New Hope. Fiemann asked if we are tracking adult
soccer in the dome. Blank said that all the statistics for the dome should be
included in the Plymouth Creek Center portion of the annual report, which was
discussed next, followed by the volunteer program. Blank explained how the
volunteer coordinator is part of our staff, but she recruits people for all of the
departments within the City. Discussion then focused on the Ice Center section.
PRAC Minutes/January 2002
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Blank stated that our largest user is youth hockey. The final section of the annual
report consists of the Park Maintenance/Forestry department. Blank then
discussed the 2002 work plan and listed some items for consideration including
grand opening ceremonies at four locations (Greenwood athletic fields,
Millennium Garden, Hilde Performance Center; skate park); capital improvement
budget; West Medicine Lake Park building; an additional skate park; a dirt bike
course; new sports — lacrosse and rugby; a golf course; a dog park;
implementation of Northwest Greenway Plan; and Mud Lake neighborhood park.
Musliner added a teen center, a third sheet of ice; and exploring a new building
at Ridgemount. Fiemann added a new sport complex. Singer mentioned the
Governor's proposed budget cuts, and stated that if junior and senior highs drop
their soccer programs, it may impact us. Rezabek added a water park as another
item to consider. Council discussed this Tuesday night when they passed the
CIP. The water park stayed in the draft CIP plan for 2005. Rezabek said park
dedication funds will eventually end when Plymouth is at full development. Blank
said we have a park replacement fund that hopefully will sustain itself from
interest earnings. Blank stated that PRAC needs to approve the annual report at
their February meeting.
b. Review fees and policies for 2002. Blank explained that the Park Commission
annually reviews fees and policies. We have some of the higher fees around at
this time, so we haven't suggested many changes in the last few years. Canoe
racks were formerly advertised in the February issue, but now they will be
advertised in the April issue. Blank explained the reason for asking an extra $1
per hour from school districts on Pavilion rentals, as well as the reason for the
90—day limit on requests to rent that facility. He also discussed the proposed
change in time slots for picnic shelter rentals; the stage policy changes;
Showmobile rental changes; and change in fees to rent fields.
SINGER MOVED TO ACCEPT PROPOSED FEES AND POLICIES FOR 2002
AS RECOMMENDED BY STAFF. MEYER SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED
WITH ALL AYES.
Singer noticed that some of our policies say facilities are smoke free. She asked
about getting a policy adopted that would make parks tobacco free. Blank said
we would likely have to do some research on this issue. Singer is proposing that
at all of our recreation events we will be tobacco free. Blank said he has been
watching this topic at the national level. This is a very difficult issue. This will be a
topic for the new superintendent of recreation to address. If we go down that
road, we will want to include our police department, Wayzata Health
Commission, etc.
7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION
None.
8. STAFF COMMUNICATION
PRAC Minutes/January 2002
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After polling commissioners, it was decided that the next meeting will be February 14
as originally scheduled.
9. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.