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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 12-02-2002Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting December 12, 2002 Page 45 Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Fiemann, Krahulec, Meyer, Musliner, Rezabek, staff Blank, Busch, Evans, and Pederson, Councilmember Hewitt Absent: Commissioner Singer 1. Call to Order Chair Anderson called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers. 2. Approval of Minutes Meyer moved and Rezabek seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the November meeting. The motion carried with all ayes. 3. Visitor Presentations a. Athletic Associations. None were present. b. Staff. Evans updated the commissioners on Old Fashioned Christmas. It was held Sunday, December 2nd. She estimated that 300 people attended. Santa and Mrs. Claus were there. Hayrides were a popular part of the afternoon. Culvers from Plymouth donated cookies for the event. The final special event of 2002 is New Year's Eve Around the World at the Ice Center and LifeTime. This event is geared for families. Activities will take place in the pool, gym, and at the Ice Center. Volunteers are needed to help. The Leisure Times came out for winter/spring 2003. It has a new look. Evans complimented Pederson for her efforts on the Leisure Times. The new website has been launched. Park and Recreation has an extensive area on the website, Evans said. Several of our facilities are highlighted. There are links to our on-line registration. Other things we are working on include the annual report, rental policies and procedures for our facilities, including the Hilde Performance Center. Events coming up in 2003 include: Fire and Ice, the Yard and Garden Expo, Primavera Fine Arts Show, History Fest, etc. Evans announced that Karol Greupner received the Dorothea Nelson award from MRPA. Our department has been very busy working on the party for Mayor Tierney next Tuesday, December 17th, at the Plymouth Creek Center, beginning at 4:30 pm. We will be giving her a print signed by the artist, Nancy Patrick Carney, who is from Plymouth. The painting is a collage of Plymouth scenery. Seventeen additional copies of the print were purchased that will be made available to sell at 125 each. A total of 300 prints can be available to sell at a later date, the PRAC Minutes/November 2002 Page 46 proceeds of which will go to the Millennium Garden. Copies of the painting will be on display at the Plymouth Creek Center, City Hall, the Ice Center, and it will be featured on the City's website. c. Others. No report. 4. Report on Past Council Action There was no past Council action regarding Park and Recreation items. 5. Unfinished Business a. 2003-2007 CIP - approve plan. The CIP includes a change to the 2003 year figures, Blank explained. The cost of the maintenance garage at the Plymouth Creek Center was increased from $40,000 to $45,000. The CIP is showing a number of $5.5 million for the third sheet of ice and parking upgrades at the Ice Center. Blank said that this would take multiple partnerships to make it a reality. Those mutual partners may be the school districts, Providence Academy, and the Wayzata Hockey Association. Money from Plymouth may come from a revenue bond at $1.1 million, and then the City would contribute another $1 to $1.5 million. The playground at the amphitheater area was removed as requested by PRAC. It may be added again in a later year, after staff has had time to evaluate if it's needed or not. Zachary ball field repair will take place within five years, maybe in 2005, Blank stated. LifeTime Fitness is still working on putting in a spray pool, Blank explained to Councilmember Hewitt. There is no definite timetable for this. Musliner asked about the money earmarked for the 10th playfield. Blank said that the property owner might want the money over a five-year period. Most of the money is in the community improvement fund. We will structure whatever deal we get with them to meet their needs as well as our needs. Rezabek wanted to know what happens to the balance of the money if the hockey rink costs only $4.8 million? Blank said it would depend on how the deal is structured. Blank assured Rezabek the architect would not be off by much with his estimate. ANDERSON MOVED AND FIEMANN SECONDED A MOTION TO APPROVE THE 2003-2007 CIP. MOTION CARRED WITH ALL AYES. 6. New Business a. Millennium Garden rental policies and fees. Rick Busch, manager of the Plymouth Creek Center, gave a presentation on the proposed fees and policies for using the Millennium Garden. Rick said a number of garden facilities were surveyed, but there are not a lot of them in the metro area. Noerenberg was contacted, as well as Minneapolis and Brooklyn Park, along with several privately owned gardens. He explained that the price proposed for residents will be $250 and non-residents will be $350. If renters use the Plymouth Creek Center also, the price for the garden would be PRAC Minutes/November 2002 Page 47 reduced by $100. He explained the resident requirements, priority for renting, how long reservations will be held before payment is due, how wedding rehearsals will work, the cancellation policy, food and beverage regulations, liquor restrictions, dressing rooms/bathrooms, decorating policies, how canopies, chairs and tents should be handled and where they can be located, how photography charges will be determined, and parking plans. Rick said he has a long list of people interested in using the garden this summer. He is hoping for approval soon. Krahulec asked about the rental time. Busch said it's basically a day -long rental period. Meyer thinks that the number of hours the rental covers should be spelled out somewhere in the document. Staff discussed a few different options for how long the rental period would be, Busch said, but it was decided that it should cover an entire day. Busch said he would try to make that more clear in the final document. Blank said we decided to allow just one event per day, as part of the learning process. There may be occasions where more than one event could take place. Busch said that when staff met to discuss the policies, an all -liquor policy was considered, but then it was changed to allow just wine and champagne. Rezabek asked what happens if they are renting inside and have beer there. Blank said he thought in that case, it would be okay to bring the beer down to the garden area, if they are also renting that facility. Meyer suggested labeling that area of the document "alcoholic beverages," instead of liquor. A police officer is required to be present whenever any liquor is served, Busch stated. A lengthy discussion ensued over who is considered a resident when it comes to charging resident fees. Busch said anyone living in Plymouth at the time of the rental is considered a resident, along with businesses and churches physically located in Plymouth. Busch also said that residents of Plymouth could reserve the garden at resident rates if they are hosting events for their children, grandchildren, parents, or grandparents. Events for extended family members, such as cousins, aunts, or uncles, etc., would incur non-resident fees if they live outside Plymouth, even if the host is a resident. This was a concern for Councilmember Hewitt and some commissioners, because it sounded like a Plymouth resident hosting a family reunion could be charged non- resident fees. It was decided that the resident requirements portion of the document needed more consideration before finalizing. Krahulec thinks the fee for a Plymouth business is not really addressed in the policy. Busch said he would explain that more clearly in the final document. Fiemann asked about a wedding being held inside that wants to take pictures outside. Busch said they could use the garden for free in that case. Musliner asked if people are charged to take pictures at Noerenberg or Parkers Lake. Busch said Noerenberg charges, but there is no charge at Parkers Lake. For the Millennium Garden, photo shoots would be charged by the hour. Krahulec asked if the residency policy is hard to enforce. PRAC Minutes/November 2002 Page 48 Busch said it can be difficult at times. Krahulec said the document looks very nice, but there is a typo in the photography paragraph. The word my should be may. Blank asked if PRAC is comfortable with wine and champagne being served in the garden. They indicated they were fine with it, but Musliner thinks beer should be included, especially for corporate groups that want to hold an event, because they may want to serve beer. Blank stated that a trail runs alongside the garden, so it would be impossible to keep the public from passing by the garden. There will be signs alerting people as they approach the garden that a private party is in session and asking people to respect that. The renting party would be told that the serving of the champagne and wine must be confined to a certain area. Meyer thinks the charges are reasonable and fair. Musliner was surprised that Suzanne's Cuisine is not required to be the caterer for outside events. If they had to move inside due to weather, how would Suzanne's feel about that? Busch said he did not discuss this with Suzanne's. Blank said any outside caterer would be providing all utensils, dishes, etc., so if they moved inside, they would bring all that with them. Fiemann asked about tents that don't require stakes. Blank said they are weighted. When asked if we would give out names of equipment rental companies, Busch said that we don't want to get into the business of endorsements. A question was raised about the criteria that would be used to approve caterers. We just need to verify that they are licensed, Blank explained. Rezabek asked if we would be sending this flyer to groups planning to have weddings inside the Plymouth Creek Center. Busch said that we haven't needed a lot of advertising for this area, but we would make it available at wedding fairs, etc. 7. Commission Presentation There was no Commission presentation. 8. Staff Communication Blank explained that Don Anderson received the MRPA Parks and Recreation Board and Commission Award. There will be a luncheon on January 16th to honor him, as well as Karol and other individuals that received awards at the MRPA Conference in November. Blank has been planning to nominate Don for this award for the past year. Blank thinks he has a wonderful rapport with the audience and a great relationship with the City Council. He invited the Commission to attend the luncheon. Both Karol and Don will be invited to attend a future Council meeting where they each will be presented with a plaque. The next meeting will be on January 9th. PRAC Minutes/November 2002 Page 49 Councilmember Hewitt said that she would not be our liaison next year, but that Kelly Slavik would be. 9. Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m.