HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 01-09-2003Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting
January 9, 2003
Page 1
Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Krahulec, Meyer, Rezabek, staff
Blank, Evans, and Pederson, Planning Commissioner Neset
Absent: Commissioner Fiemann, Musliner
1. Call to Order
Chair Anderson called the January meeting to order at 7 p.m.
2. Approval of Minutes
Rezabek moved and Krahulec seconded a motion to approve the minutes
of the December meeting.
3. Visitor Presentations
a. Athletic Associations. None were present.
b. Staff. Evans handed out flyers advertising the Fire & Ice Festival. She then
gave a recap on the New Year's Eve event. It was held at LifeTime and at
the Ice Center. 192 people attended. Some activities included swimming,
skating, children's crafts, and games. Hotdogs were served to everyone.
Evans said she thinks the ice will be okay to go ahead and have Fire and
Ice this year. Activities planned include ice fishing contest, medallion hunt,
skating races, Northern Lights DJ show, juggling, and fireworks. Evans
reminded PRAC members to sign up for supervising the bonfire and selling
s' mores. We continue to work on the website and make improvements.
We will be putting our brochure on the web site in the near future. It will
have to be broken down into sections, because it contains so many
pages. We are also working on the Yard and Garden Expo, the History
Fest, and the department's hosting of a skate park workshop for MRPA in
April. We recently held a Park & Recreation forum with park maintenance
lead staff and park & recreation programming staff to help improve
communication. We also met with the police department to learn who is
in charge of certain areas. Singer asked about the Youth Advisory Board
and who interacts with them. Evans said Regina Michaud meets with
them. They recently set a date for another Youth Town Forum on March
3rd, and they are still doing intergenerational meetings. Anderson asked
about the latest news on a teen center. Blank said the basement at the
Plymouth Creek Center is still being considered as a possible location for
the teens to meet. The childcare center on Niagara Lane and County
Road 6 was sold to another childcare company, so that's not going to be
PRAC Minutes/January 2003
Page 2
available. It is possible that a building on the workhouse property may also
be available for use by the teens.
c. Others. No report.
4. Report on Past Council Action
There was no report.
5. Unfinished Business
There was no unfinished business.
6. New Business
a. Review 2002 annual report draft & 2003 work plan. Blank discussed the
draft report of the annual report. He thanked Pederson and Sankey for
getting it all put together. Blank reviewed some ideas for the 2003 work
plan including grand openings, the CIP, the Plymouth Creek Center
basement, a third sheet of ice, the Northwest Greenway, a 10th playfield,
youth sports needs, the Hilde Performance Center, the teen program, and
indoor tennis. Meyer suggested adding the dog park and Singer
suggested adding the skate park/BMX track. Meyer questioned if the
garden is 95% complete. Blank said that a lot has been done since
August. Blank pointed out the chart in the annual report showing an
increase in expenses for 2002. It was not due to park and recreation
spending but rather because of the tax reform. We had about 90,000 total
participants in 2002. This does not include all the community-based
programs that use our facilities. Adult sports enrollment is going down. Part
of the reason is because softball isn't as big as it used to be. Also, many
sports bars have their own fields and sponsor teams that play there. We
had almost 2,400 events at the Plymouth Creek Center. It is our plan to
have park and recreation programs increase at this facility. Blank said we
have the best volunteer program in the state of Minnesota. The volunteer
section will be finalized in the February final version of the annual report.
Rezabek asked about the horse patrol. Blank said the police use horses to
patrol certain events. They came to us and asked if they could volunteer
to help with special events like the parade. Blank said that the Ice Center
Manager feels we are one of the top three ice renters in the state. Blank
explained how the boys and girls teams from Armstrong Hockey switch
back and forth from year to year using the Ice Center. Rezabek asked
about the revenue for the Ice Center. Blank clarified that the amount is
the total for both rinks and concessions. While reviewing the park
maintenance section of the annual report. Blank stated that over half of
the park system is left natural - no mowing or fertilizing takes place. Blank
explained the ICWC and the kinds of work they do for us. They are
individuals living in transition housing who have been released from prison,
PRAC Minutes/January 2003
Page 3
and this is an opportunity for them to get back into the workforce, get
experience and learn skills. We are grateful for the work they perform for
us. Blank said this document is a great way to record history.
b. Proposed facility rental fees and policies for 2003. Blank reviewed the
proposed rental rates for the picnic shelter and noted they haven't
increased since 1996. There are no increases proposed for the canoe
racks or for baseball/softball fields, etc. We now have to charge sales tax
on most things. Increases of $3 are proposed at the Pavilion and the Bass
Lake shelter. We did not increase the Parkers Lake stage rental. We are
proposing a $2.50 increase in the hourly wage for maintenance workers
who accompany the Showmobile. The Hilde Performance Center policy is
all new. Evans reviewed the policy and explained the priority usage, the
types of events/activities that will be permitted, the rental hours, what the
rental will include, reservation policy, insurance requirements, what our
cancellation policy will be, the damage/cleaning deposit, event set-up
responsibilities, tent requirements, alcoholic beverage policy, decorating
policy, the types of music and dancing that will be permitted, and sound
equipment. The miscellaneous category covers a wide range of items.
Evans then reviewed the different fee categories. Singer asked about
priority scheduling for Plymouth groups. Evans said we want to keep it
simple to start out and encourage maximum usage. Singer also asked
about smoking at this facility. If smoking will be allowed, will we provide
receptacles for the cigarette butts? All City buildings are smoke free, so
we will have signs inside the Hilde Performance Center. Blank said we may
want to make the garden a non-smoking facility. Trails are not designated
as non-smoking areas. Blank said we will do further research on smoking
policies within other community gardens. Blank pointed out types of
events where we mention no lewd or obscene behavior. This is difficult to
enforce because of the freedom of speech in parks, but we are going to
keep it in the policy. The Millennium Garden policy has been corrected to
show the changes suggested by PRAC. Singer said for consistency, we
should say alcoholic beverages or intoxicating beverages. Rezabek had a
question about the renter providing proof of insurance. Blank explained
that the caterer has to be insured, not the renter, but it is the renter's
responsibility to make sure those documents are forwarded to the City.
The Plymouth Creek Center rate changes include increasing the building
supervisor's hourly rate, increasing the cost to rent a wireless mic, and
increasing the per day rent for the LCD projector. Meyer asked if we get
many complaints about rental rates. The answer was no. Singer feels all
the increases are reasonable. Singer moved and Rezabek seconded a
motion to approve facility rental rates and policies as proposed. The
motion carried with all ayes.
PRAC Minutes/January 2003
Page 4
7. Commission Presentation
There was no Commission presentation.
8. Staff Communication
Blank discussed the Oakwood tennis bubble and explained how the school
district is okay with the bubble, but they cannot help with any of the
expenses at this time. After Blank reviewed the financial picture, it became
clear that we couldn't afford to do it on our own at this time. We will go
forward to replace the courts only. He explained that Providence Academy
met with staff regarding a third sheet of ice. They plan to field both a boys
and girls hockey team in 2004. They want to form a partnership with the City.
Blank asked the Wayzata Hockey Association to meet with Providence
Academy to discuss their mutual needs. The Council will be holding a study
session in February or March to map out their goals and objectives, at which
time the third sheet of ice may be discussed. We would have to break
ground in December 2003 to get a third sheet of ice operational by hockey
season 2004. Outside groups such as Providence and Wayzata Hockey would
need to contribute about $2.5 million in order to go ahead with the third
sheet of ice. We could probably do a revenue bond of $1.2 million. We don't
have a concrete plan yet. It would be a standard sheet rather than an
Olympic sheet.
Blank reminded commissioners of the luncheon honoring Chair Anderson that
will be in Hutchinson.
March 6th was the preferred date for the March meeting. Blank will be out of
town on the 13th.
9. Adjourn
The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.