HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 02-14-2002Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting
February 14, 2002
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Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Rezabek, Weir, Meyer, Musliner, Fiemann;
Councilmember Hewitt; staff Blank and Pederson
Absent: Singer
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chair Anderson called the February meeting to order at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A motion was made by Commissioner Weir and seconded by Commissioner Rezabelc to
approve the minutes of the January meeting as presented. The motion carried with all ayes.
3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS
a. Athletic Associations. None were present.
b. Staff Director Blank stated that Diane Evans will be starting on March 4th as the new
Superintendent of Recreation. She will be at the March meeting.
c. Others. None.
4. PAST COUNCIL ACTION
a. The Northwest Greenway was presented to the Council and it was unanimously adopted.
The Council chose paved trails over crushed limestone, which had been PRAC's
recommendation. Blank says we're five years away from owning anything or paving
anything. The issue will be reviewed again thoroughly before anything is done. No
definite decision has been made at this time. Cost will be a deciding factor. Blank said we
will print several 11 x 17 maps, for the public to have if they wish, and a number of
booklets will be printed on the greenway plan, which would also be available to the
public at a minimal cost. Fiemann asked about the land for an elementary school. Blank
said the school district has purchased land on County Road 47 and Dunkirk for this
school.
5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Constriction began on the Millennium Garden. Arbor footings and foundations are in, the
hole for the fountain has been dug. Contractors are scrambling to move heavy equipment
into place, because road restrictions will be placed in the near future. We will add a little
article in the next city newsletter advertising that people can still purchase bricks, etc., or
make donations. We've raised about $310,000 so far along with the City's $200,000.
b. Hilde Performance Center. The water line is in and sewer line constriction has begun.
That will be finished in three or four days. Structural steel will be arriving tomorrow. At
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the end of the month the long span 50 foot arched blue beams will arrive. We're on
schedule. The Civic League is planning a reception for Al and Jayne Hilde on Sunday,
June 30th. PRAC will be invited. Music in Plymouth is July 2. We're down to selecting
colors. So far, a yellow scheme and a blue scheme are being considered.
c. Greenwood Sports Complex. Baseball teams will commence playing on June 1. There
will be one uniform sign at the main entrance. We will design it, and the school district
will help fiend it. There will be a grand opening, date to be determined.
d. West Medicine This fi ture of this project is in question. The ground is very poor below
the building. We cannot find a place to support a stricture. We are going to recommend
abandoning the project and continue with using satellites. We cannot justify $270,000 for
bathrooms. If the Council wants the bathrooms, we will go ahead. Piers have to be driven
down 35 feet to support stricture. A permanent building will be there in about five years,
so until then we will continue with satellites. We may be able to rent a portable trailer
style toilet facility, which is a little higher class than satellites. Councilmember Hewitt
recommended that we get them cleaned more often. We were not happy with our satellite
service last year, but we have a new provider this year.
6. NEW BUSINESS
a. Annual Report approval. Blank stated this item needs to be approved and fowarded to
the City Council. Blank stated that it's important to celebrate grand openings. The
manufacturer has asked to participate in the grand opening of the skate park, along with
Sports Hut. The baseball association will want to do something for the first games at
Greenwood. The Mud Lake neighborhood park will be a big project in 2002. Some
special facilities to research include a bike park and dog park. Third sheet of ice at the Ice
Center has been discussed. The Northwest Greenway will move into development phase.
Seniors are excited about the Plymouth Creek Center. The youth are still looking for
options for a place to call home. We have a renter in the basement of the Plymouth Creek
Center. We don't want to move him out just yet. The 10th playfield will be a primary
acquisition for us. We have an old warming house at Ridgemount that needs to be
improved. Our maintenance crews will take a look at that and come up with some type of
plan. Youth survey came back, and Regina will come to a meeting and talk about that.
We are hearing that kids are not really very interested in coming to a City facility for a
teen center. Fiemann stated that he's heard lots of complaints about outdoor ice this
winter. He wondered what it would cost to do a rink or two like the John Rose Oval. The
John Rose Oval is an artificial rink and is completely refrigerated, Blank said. MN
Amateur Sports Commission funded it. We have asphalt on one of our rinks on
Fernbrook Lane. It costs us about $20,000 to asphalt a rink. It would cost more to use
concrete. We have a budget for when skating rinks open. We try to open them on or
about December 20th. In a normal winter, rinks would be ready by then. Blank had a
meeting with the Wayzata Hockey Associations. They asked if they could put piping in
under a rink, but then they discovered it was too expensive. Blank explained that you
have to buy compressors and a building to store them. This also involves grooming the
rinks, probably every other hour. We are willing to work with them, but maybe it's better
to put money into a third indoor rink. Providence Academy may be interested in a third
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sheet of ice at the Ice Center. Fiemann asked Hewitt if she had any suggestions for 2002
work plan. She didn't have any additions. Anderson commented on how popular the
Plymouth Creek Center has been. MEYER MOVED TO APPROVE THE ANNUAL
REPORT AS PRESENTED. WEIR SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL
AYES. Blank thanked commissioners for a good year.
b. Mud lake. SRF is the consultant for this new park. They are also the consultant for four
different planning components all coming together in the vicinity of Mud Lake. Next
week, a staff meeting is being convened with the Highway Department, Three Rivers
Park District, our engineering staff, etc. Number one thing is crossing Highway 47. There
will be a quick study on the possibility of an underpass under 47. The entire
neighborhood has been invited to the first planning meeting on February 27. One
neighborhood meeting may be all that is necessary before the master plan comes to
PRAC on March 14. If a second meeting is necessary, it would be on March 6. PRAC
approval on March 14 would allow the plan to move forward to the City Council in early
April. A contract could be awarded in early June, so constriction would begin shortly
thereafter. The neighborhood is petitioning to change the name of the lake to Lake
Camelot. The park could then be called Camelot Park. Musliner asked if it was customary
to have the consultant design the playground. Blank said we do that in—house. The
consultant just suggests the best location. Consultant gets permits, which is time
consuming and technical in nature. The underpass is another area where they could get
involved. The only time County Road 47 is busy is during morning and afternoon rush
hour. We need to get across to parents that they are responsible for their children and
getting them safely to the park, if they are not old enough to cross the street alone. We
can list a number of parks with high traffic volume where we have no overpasses or
underpasses. We do want to clean up the lake. We've been working with the DNR, and
they are giving us the green light to drain lake this summer, by opening a culvert, which
will take out 90% of the water. When it's dry in the fall, we will disk the bottom, and
then in the spring, plug it back up and refill it. We will have to do a floating boardwalk,
and it will be easier to do this when the lake is empty. We expect to start that process in
the summer, if the DNR continues to support us.
c. East Beach repairs. Staff is going to the City Council at their next meeting requesting
approval to do repairs here Blank said, along with Zachary Playfield parking lot repairs.
d. Medicine Lake Sailing Club. Blank stated he was approached by the Medicine Lake
Sailing Club, which currently rents slips from Joe Harty. They want to increase size of
the Sailing Club but have no way to do that. The City owns property north and south of
Harty's site. The Sailing Club has asked if we would consider leasing property so they
could put docks out and moor some additional sailboats. The problem is parking, Blank
said. There's no place to put additional parking. The Sailing Club tried to work
something out with Joe Harty for parking, but he is not interested. The Sailing Club will
probably continue to pursue this issue. Harty's is a non—conforming use. He is not
allowed to grow. Resolutions have been passed by the Council limiting him to so many
slips for renting boats. The neighbors don't want any additional parking. He's a business
in a residential area. We have to provide ice fishing access to Medicine Lake. We have
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one access on the west side, and one on the east side located at Harty's. Blank is
anticipating that the Sailing Club is going to come back asking to rent an area on the
south end of East Beach. The lake is shallow there, Blank said. Rezabek asked if we
could do a City dock that people could rent. We have already considered this Blank said.
Neighborhood didn't want that. Harty has a waiting list of people wanting to rent slips
from him. Musliner asked about the possibility of satellite parking somewhere else and
shuttling to the site. Blank said they may go to Ryerson Steel and ask to park there. The
Sailing Club doesn't want to launch boats from French Park, because the process of
rigging each boat is very time consuming.
7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION
Musliner asked about some digging taking place on Dunkirk, along 25th. Blank said perhaps
it's ditch cleaning. This is a very overgrown site.
8. STAFF COMMUNICATION
None.
9. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m.