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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 05-09-2002Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting May 9, 2002 Page 18 Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Fiemann, Krahulec, Meyer, Musliner, Rezabek, Singer, staff Blank, Evans, and Pederson, Councilmember Hewitt 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Anderson called the May 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 Rezabek to approve the minutes of the April meeting as presented. The motion carried with all ayes. 3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS a. Athletic Associations. None were present. b. Staff. Evans explained to the Commission that her monthly presentations to them would include highlights of what staff is working on, programs and upcoming special events. She mentioned the History Fest and how the Education Days were going. There were 500 children there on Wednesday, 800 on Thursday, and about that many expected on Friday. The main event for the general public is Saturday. Next she mentioned the Spring Ice Skating Show at the Ice Center, which is scheduled for Friday evening, Saturday afternoon and evening, and Sunday afternoon. She stated that staff is busy gearing up for summer. Registration has been steady and busy. The fieldhouse dome was taken down on April 25. Evans discussed the sailing classes on Medicine Lake that we do with Blue Waters. She mentioned that Regina Michaud has been working on the teen survey. We've collected around 500 now. We may have results at the next meeting. Karol Greupner just completed the sixth annual Primavera event. There were 72 adult artists and 132 pieces of art. Four area high schools participated, also. Dates are set already for next year, April 10-15. Singer stated that she missed the event and when she attempted to view it on the last day, the art work was already down. She had been under the impression that the art would continue to be displayed at the Plymouth Creek Center for another month. Blank explained that the winning artists' art work will continue to be displayed at the Plymouth Creek Center through the month of May. PRAC Minutes/May 2002 Page 19 c. Others. None were present. 4. PAST COUNCIL ACTION a. Council authorized architect Del Erickson to begin designing the basement improvements at the Plymouth Creek Center. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Millennium Garden update. Blank stated that all of the contractors have been on site working. Weather has caused some delays over the last two weeks. We are still planning for an August grand opening. We are continuing to sell bricks. The new deadline for purchasing bricks is May 20th. Singer wanted to know if weather delays could cause an overrun on the budget. Blank said this is not a concern. Blank said we are still seeking large donors. Fiemann asked for an explanation of a "large" donor. Blank said someone who would consider donating $5,000 a year for three years. Rezabek was concerned about lack of donations perhaps causing project delays. Blank said this would not be a problem. b. Hilde Performance Center update. We're on schedule Blank stated, however, roofers went on strike this week. Blank said we can use the building without the roof. Roofers don't have a history of being out too long. Mr. Hilde purchased a plaque explaining why he donated the funds for the performance center. Blank said the rain needs to stop, so we can landscape and put sod back down, plant flowers, etc. c. Greenwood youth sports update. Contractor is continuing to work on this project. The next thing we're planning is a ribbon cutting ceremony between the 1St and 5th of June. This will be a joint project between the school district and the city. Fiemann said it's an awesome looking facility. d. Skate park update. Blank stated that we're on the Council agenda next week to buy a couple of pieces of new equipment for the Skate Park. Staff met with the skaters and asked them what they wanted. The cost of the new equipment will be about $15,000. Kids were complaining that pieces are too far apart now. There will be a grand opening of the Skate Park on June 12 at 4 p.m. Sports Hut and the equipment manufacturer each have a few elite skaters who will perform. Sports Hut will provide some prizes for the event. e. Mud Lake park update. The name of the lake has been officially changed to Lake Camelot. Now it has to go to the National Park Board for approval. Blank stated that at the next meeting, or the meeting after that, PRAC can discuss naming the park. Four playground designs have been submitted by manufacturers. Plans and specs are being put together on PRAC Minutes/May 2002 Page 20 the rest of the park. Shane Missaghi, Water Resources Engineer, is working with the DNR on the process of draining the lake. The project may begin in early July. f. Plymouth Creek Center basement finishing update. Council authorized architect Del Erickson to begin designing the basement improvements at the Plymouth Creek Center. There may be a concept plan ready by the June meeting. We have five weeks to come up with a concept plan, then it goes out for bid for 21 days, then back to the Council for approval and award of bid. It looks like the project could be under construction around October 1. One big improvement needed is a meeting room larger than the Fireside Room. The Fireside room and meeting rooms are scheduled on a continuous basis, so these rooms are scheduled pretty much year round. That leaves only the large Plymouth Room for special events, etc. We need another large room for the clubs to meet in. They also want some rooms that will be soundproof for music lessons. The teens want to have a fun place where they can listen to music. We are looking into having some rooms with movable walls. Singer asked if this will effect Acceleration MN. Blank said yes. This project could take about 90 days to complete once it gets started. December 15 is the target completion date. We only budgeted to finish 2,000 square feet. The Council said we should look at finishing the whole thing. We're going to design the whole basement and do a cost estimate for doing 2,000 square feet and another estimate to do 4,500 square feet. Singer wanted to know if there would be an impact on the parking. Blank said he didn't think so. 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Summer park tour. Blank said PRAC has usually gone on a park tour in the summer. The July meeting will be at the Plymouth Creek Center presided over by Evans, as Blank will be on vacation. Sara Mittelstaedt will do an update on the senior programs, and Rick Busch will talk about the programs at the Center. PRAC could do a June tour or an August tour. The majority of the commissioners voted for an August tour date instead of a regular meeting. Wednesday, August 7, was chosen as the date, beginning at 4 p.m. The September meeting may be held at the Ice Center. 7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION None. 8. STAFF COMMUNICATION Fiemann asked about the Sailing Club proposal. Blank said they are meeting with the Three Rivers Park District and things are looking favorable for some sort of an arrangement to dock sailboats at French Park. AMLAC was not PRAC Minutes/May 2002 Page 21 supportive of their proposal to dock boats at East Beach. Blank then discussed the staff annual calendar, which gets updated every other Monday. The Kenwood Chamber Orchestra is going to do a free concert in August at the Hilde Performance Center. The Free Church wants to do something at the Hilde Performance Center also. Blank has asked Karol to plan events there in 2003 on a regular basis, other than the concerts we do at Parkers Lake on Tuesday nights. Blank is optimistic that we will have an active program going on at the Hilde Performance Center. We are not clear on fees to charge yet, but staff is working on some fees, which PRAC may be able to discuss later. Feimann said in Fargo the school district and the park district do some type of cooperative theater program in their outdoor amphitheater. The Wayzata Elementary Band has performed in the amphitheater for the last three years putting on a concert in June. We have received a plan from the Wayzata Hockey Association for a dry land facility for shooting pucks, etc. Blank anticipates that they will be sending us a letter to review this idea. They will have to fund it 100% if they want it, but it will be a city facility, and we will own it. It would be on the east side of the Ice Center. The early estimate for this is $600,000. Rezabek has a concern about the dome and space for basketball. Blank said we gave $700,000 to the Wayzata School District to build two gyms, and $1.3 million to Armstrong to build two courts, etc. We use them in the evenings, the districts use them during the day. We have nothing in our plans at this time to build more gyms. Blank said there are 10 gyms in the community for every hockey rink. Gyms are all controlled by the school districts, so we do not get involved in that. Fiemann said there are some churches that have gymnasiums, too. There are plans for a basketball fieldhouse at the Wayzata High School. A committee is forming to start looking into this comprised of high school personnel and school district personnel. Singer said that May 31 st is World No Tobacco Day. She encouraged everyone to attend the MN Thunder Game on June 1st, which is being sponsored by several agencies who are supporting World No Tobacco Day. Hewitt said they are looking for a proclamation from the City of Plymouth on endorsing World No Tobacco Day. Blank displayed the photograph of the new playground at Parkers Lake taken by the playground manufacturer. 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m.