HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 09-12-2002Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting
September 12, 2002
Page 30
Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Fiemann, Krahulec, Meyer, Musliner,
Rezabek, and Singer, staff Blank, Evans and Pederson
1. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7 p.m. by Chair Anderson.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A motion was made by Commissioner Meyer and seconded by
Commissioner Rezabek to approve the July minutes. Motion carried with all
ayes.
3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS
a. Athletic Associations. None were present at the meeting.
b. Staff - Diane Evans. Evans discussed the success of the summer recreation
programs. At a future meeting she will have statistics on how many
participants we had, a revenue report, etc. Evans said we are working on
fall programs. She talked about the Autumn Art Fair. We have about 40
artists registered. On October 5 is the Plymouth on Parade event. We have
87 parade units registered, and we expect that number to increase by
parade day. There are other activities prior to the parade and following
the parade. LifeTime fitness will be open for swimming, and the Ice Center
will be open for free skating. There will be another Ducky Derby in the
pond at the Amphitheater. The Teens Driving Safe and Sober Concert is
October 12. The Big Wu will be performing. They are a nationwide, well
known teen group. We are expecting up to 6,000 people to attend. The
event runs from 3-9 p.m. Big Wu performs beginning at 7. It will be
interesting to see how the space handles the crowd. Singer said they
don't perform hard rock, but it's not gospel either. There will be a heavy
police presence there. The target age group is late junior high through
high school. Evans stated that staff is working diligently to update the
City's website. Evans has been working with IT on this process. We expect
to launch the new website in November.
c. Others. There were no others present.
4. REPORT ON PAST COUNCIL ACTION
The bid was awarded on the Ice Center parking lot. They are scheduled to
begin work on Monday, September 16. A 60 car parking lot will be added,
with 40 spaces behind the Ice Center and 20 in front.
PRAC Minutes/July 2002
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5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Millennium Garden update. Blank discussed the progress being made on
the garden and showed some slides of it. We will wait until June, 2003, to
have the dedication. The bricks are installed. Anderson asked who was
the brainchild behind the garden. Blank said many different folks were
involved.
b. Greenwood youth sports update. We've started playing soccer on this
new complex. Fiemann said the sign at the entryway is great. The
baseball fields are all set for play next spring.
c. Mud Lake new name update. Blank stated that the name of the lake has
been officially changed to Lake Camelot. All of the residents want the
name of the park to be Lake Camelot Park. Staff is also recommending
this name. A question was raised about the word "neighborhood" being
in the name of the park. Blank said it doesn't have to be included in the
name. That just identifies it as a neighborhood park in the park system
plan. SINGER MOVED TO RECOMMEND THE NAME LAKE CAMELOT PARK.
KRAHULEC SECONDED. ALL AYES.
6. NEW BUSINESS
a. Name for Environmental Park. The playground is in and being used. Blank
said he thinks this park will primarily be an outdoor education center.
Singer asked about the reasoning for using "special use" in the name.
Blank said it's because we don't want to label it with a name that would
imply a specific use, because this park has the potential to serve more
than one purpose, i.e., nature area and youth sports. The words special
use would not be in the name, but this puts it in that category in the park
system plan. Park maintenance staff have been referring to it as Nature
Canyon Park. A couple of the commissioners liked the name Tamarack
Park, after Blank explained that several years ago, tamarack trees grew in
the low swamp land area. Our forester is checking to see if tamarack can
be planted again in this location. It would not be a good idea to name it
Tamarack if the site will not support this type of tree, Krahulec said. Blank
will do more research on whether or not tamarack could survive here and
will bring his findings back to the next meeting.
c. 2003-2007 CIP - review possible update to plan. Blank had a power point
presentation on some of the wish list items in the CIP. Because of Singer's
suggestion last year, the East Beach building was updated, Blank said.
Imperial Hills park was discussed first. There has been a request for some
lighting in this park to curb vandalism. This park is totally enclosed by trees.
Blank described the layout of the park and its amenities. Blank questioned
PRAC Minutes/July 2002
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the value of adding lights, because there's no one that can see into the
park even if lights are installed. The next photo was of a baseball field.
Infield areas need to be renovated. Park maintenance thinks it would cost
about $5,000 per field to do this. Blank said we could schedule four infields
per year. The third photo was of Egan Park, which Blank is recommending
for a dog park. Many years ago, we had community gardens at this
location. Watering was a problem here, however, so gardens were
moved to the workhouse property on Shenandoah Lane. A small gravel
parking lot could be added here. There is some wetland in this park, so
boardwalks might need to be added. The area is 3-4 acres in size.
Krahulec and Rezabek think this area would need to be fenced. Other
commissioners agreed. Our park maintenance supervisor feels that it does
not need to be fenced. Blank said even though the dogs would be off
leash, they must be under voice control, so a fence may not be
necessary. Singer asked Blank to research the cost to fence it. Blank said
the easiest fence would be the orange, plastic type you see around
construction areas, rather than chain link. Rezabek said this area may not
stay rural for too long. Blank said we may have to put in two dog parks,
one in the northwest part of Plymouth and another in the southern portion
of town. The fourth picture was of Bass Lake Playfield. A resident wants this
rink paved. Blank said he told the resident that if the neighborhood can
raise $5,000 toward the cost, that PRAC will seriously consider it. Only one
person in the neighborhood hasn't signed the petition to pave it,
according to the resident behind the drive to get it paved. The fifth
picture was of the turf removal at the fieldhouse. The new Astroplay is
being installed tomorrow. The next picture was of Plymouth Creek
Playfield, where Blank is thinking of installing the old Astroplay turf that's
being removed from the fieldhouse. West Lutheran High School practices
soccer here. We propose getting quotes to install the turf here. This would
be one site where we could get lacrosse and rugby players on the field
sooner than on a regular grass surface playfield. Another site for the old
artificial turf could be Ply Creek Elementary, but there's no parking here to
speak of. Blank explained that the old turf is being removed because it's
blemished. The next photo was of Zachary Park and the pinwheel of four
baseball fields. The wood retaining walls need to be replaced with
poured -in-place concrete. This will be costly, perhaps over $100,000. The
next photo was along Rockford Road looking west from Zachary Lane.
Neighbors have requested a trail here. Three neighbors do not want the
trail to be on their property. It would run from Larch Lane to Zachary. The
next photo was along Lancaster Lane near the Four Seasons shopping
Center. Blank said this is a dangerous street. It's lined with apartment
buildings and has many "S" curves. The next photo was near the Willow
Creek movie theaters and Nathan Lane. There are also many apartment
buildings along here, too. The extended stay hotel is in this vicinity also.
PRAC Minutes/July 2002
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The high density apartment dwellers use this route daily. Some research
needs to be done by our engineering department as to the best place to
locate a trail in this area. The next two photos were of the warming house
at Ridgemount Playfield. This is the only playfield in our system that does
not have a concrete warming house. Blank is not proposing something
that grand, but perhaps a nice vinyl sided building in the range of
40,000-$50,000.
Blank then discussed additional items that are on the wish list. Greenwood
may need some additional parking. A small playground would be nice at
the amphitheater. When we built Zachary Playfield we traded some
property with the church. We also worked a deal that they could use our
parking lot on Sunday mornings. We use their parking lot as an overflow lot
other days when necessary. Blank talked with the pastor of the church
about the BMX course and skate park being built here. Blank suggested a
five year lease with the pastor that would be renewable. It would include
an escape clause. Blank hopes to hear back from the pastor by the
November meeting regarding the opinion of the church's members on
locating the BMX course nearby. We are running out of storage at
Plymouth Creek Center. Blank said we have a spot down in the northeast
corner of the fieldhouse where a double space garage could be built to
store tools, etc., that would be used to maintain the Millennium Garden.
The indoor tennis court was discussed briefly. At the Hilde Performance
Center there's a need for additional lighting and an improved sound
system. We need to replace the Rolling Hills playground at some point. It's
the oldest one in the system. The third sheet of ice at the Ice Center is still
of interest.
The current CIP was then reviewed. Rezabek asked about the outdoor
hockey rink at the high school. Blank said it's not on the list, because of
the low density housing there. He doesn't see a need for another skating
rink at this time. Blank doesn't see a parking issue at the Ice Center if we
add a third sheet of ice there. Fiemann said Breck spent millions to put in a
rink along Hwy. 55 west of Theodore Wirth Parkway. Our estimate to add a
third sheet is $4.5 million. Blank said the operating cost of a free standing
indoor ice rink is what makes it cost prohibitive, not the capital cost.
Fiemann said we don't have enough ice time now to handle all the
requests at the Ice Center.
Blank asked for additional ideas from the Commissioners. The City
manager has had the finance department looking at big capital items
over the next 10 years including the acquisition of property for the NWG, a
third sheet of ice, police department and fire department needs, etc. All
could be financed, but the trick will be the land acquisition. Land cost
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increases at 15% per year. The finance study shows that we need to buy
land. Some current money comes out of a fund called the Capital
Improvement Fund to purchase land, Blank explained. Some money
would come from park dedication, and some would also come from the
CIF in 2003. In 2006, we would have to repay the loan to the CIF, Blank
said. We're now looking at a new scheme that says whatever money is in
park dedication, half would be committed to land acquisition and half to
projects each year. A key piece of property is the Begin land. Mr. Begin is
having serious health problems. We cannot negotiate at this time with the
Begins because of this. We're probably going to hold a lot of money aside
for land acquisition, and limit some of the building projects. The police
department wants an underground parking garage for the squad cars.
Musliner asked about the teen center. Blank said there's nothing planned
for right now. They could have some of the space in the finished lower
level of the Plymouth Creek Center. However, we have learned that we
may have to scale back on what we do with the lower level and
complete it in two phases, instead of all at once, although it would cost
80,000 less to do the entire project in one phase. Staff is leaning toward
waiting to see what the legislature does this session before making any
final decision.
7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION
Singer discussed her tobacco free crusade. Cloquet has adopted a tobacco
free policy. Evans is doing research on this topic and is trying to get
surrounding communities to buy into the idea. She stated that Roseville is
tobacco free. Singer said she could have the soccer club draft a letter
supporting such a policy. Our plan is to bring something to the Commission in
January. Singer stated she was encouraged by all the ideas for teen
programming.
8. STAFF COMMUNICATION
Blank handed out forms to sell chances on the Rotary Duck Derby race. The
race will be October 5 in the amphitheater pond after Plymouth on Parade.
9. ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m.