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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.