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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 11-13-2003MINUTES OF THE PARK AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING November 13, 2003 Page 45 PRESENT: Anderson, Aamoth, Fiemann, Krahulec, Meyer, Rezabek, Ritchie, Rodriguez, Singer, Councilmember Slavik; Planning Commissioner Weir; staff Blank, Evans, and Pederson CALL TO ORDER Chair Anderson called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Singer moved and Krahulec seconded a motion to approve the October minutes. Motion carried with all ayes. 3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS a. Athletic Associations. No athletic association representatives were present at the meeting. b. Staff. Evans talked about the Little Costume Ball on October 17, which had 170 participants. This is a fun family event, which is growing in popularity. Another poetry slam was held at the end of October. This event is open to members of the community. Participants read original poetry that they write. There were 15 teens participating and four adults. There were 100 people in the audience. The audience interacts with the performers. One of the oldest participants is 74. The volunteer recognition dinner was held Thursday, November 6. There were over 300 volunteers attending, and 76 prizes were given out. The most expensive prize was a $300 grill donated by Home Depot. The tobacco free policy was passed by the City Council, with some amendments. Rentals at the Plymouth Creek Center that were made prior to the policy being passed won't be affected, but any new rentals will have to adhere to the new tobacco regulations. The other amendment states that people will be permitted to smoke in their cars while on park property. Although the policy was approved by the City Council, it was decided that it would be voluntary compliance. The next step is how to implement, promote and get the word out to the community. Meyer said it was the front- page story in both local newspapers. Staff has heard lots of positive comments from many people, including a resident of North Dakota. Evans announced that we did not win the National Gold Medal award. Denton, TX, was the winner this year in our population category. Evans feels we will have to submit a couple of additional times before we win. PRAC Minutes/November 2003 Page 46 Blank said we would put the award on a future Council agenda and show them the video, which they still have not seen. Singer thanked everyone who worked so hard on the tobacco policy. Singer suggested getting the ideas of the medical profession on how best to educate the community. Evans mentioned the upcoming events, including the Old Fashioned Christmas on December 7, New Year's Around the World on December 31St, and Fire and Ice on February 7. Rezabek asked about concessions this year at Fire and Ice and what might be done to make it better. It's difficult, Evans said, because so many vendors don't do business in the winter. The next brochure will be out soon. It will look entirely different this time, because it's going to have a 4 -color cover. Rezabek said that a resident asked him why the soccer kids don't get trophies, and the baseball kids do. Staff explained that the baseball trophies are being given out by Wayzata Youth Baseball, not Plymouth Parks and Recreation. Evans said we have 21,000 people participating in our programs, including attendance at our summer concert series. c. Others. There were no others. 4. REPORT ON PAST COUNCIL ACTION a. Council passed the tobacco free policy at their last meeting. We will be installing the signs whenever it's feasible. Singer asked if anything is being done now to prevent it at the outside entrance to the Ice Center. Blank said we are announcing it now at the games. Meyer asked about the policy at the Plymouth Creek Center. Blank said that groups renting that facility will still be allowed to smoke on the balcony, if the reservation was made prior to the policy being passed. Any new reservations will be informed of the new policy. Meyer thinks there will be some resistance to this from people who rent the Plymouth Creek Center, because many of those rentals involve food and alcohol. The Council also passed the recommendation to close some of the pleasure skating rinks. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Update on Ice Center. Blank said that the Council approved the schematic drawings, a $4.6 million dollar budget, and contracts with Providence and Wayzata hockey. Blank shared the drawings with PRAC, which showed the upper and lower level expansion, elevations, and the changes to the parking lot. Soil tests have been done, and they showed good soil exists in the area proposed for the expansion. Council asked that the lobby be enlarged, so the architect is now redoing the plans to allow for that change. Blank pointed out where the balcony is. He explained the facilities that will be on both the upper and lower levels. A nice feature will be windows on the north -facing wall located in various places, which will give the building a more residential feel. No large PRAC Minutes/November 2003 Page 47 graphics will be poured into the concrete. Blank is very pleased with the architect's renderings. There will be a public hearing on the site plan prior to going before the Planning Commission. A bid package will go out in January or February. The plan is to break ground in April and have the expansion finished by next November. Fiemann asked about the size of the vestibule. He asked if it would be big enough. Blank said he'd take a look at it. b. Update on Plymouth Creek Center. The architects are working on this project. Staff has met with interior designers looking at walls, floors, ceiling, lights, sound people, etc., to talk about wiring, cable, computers, and a surround sound system. c. Update on Reserve neighborhood park. Bids have been awarded for grading and the playground. Work is also being done on a landscaping package. We hope to get a fair amount of grading done yet this fall. d. Update on Vietnam scout dog handler request. Evans and her staff inquired of other communities, and we posted a question on the NRPA website regarding war memorials in parks. The answers varied from community to community. Blank has not come to any conclusion one way or another. He would be comfortable holding it over for another month or two. Anderson agreed. Meyer said she did not look closely at Heritage Park in Wayzata, but she is certain it contains war memorials. It's a very nice park, she said. Fiemann likes the idea that if we do elect to go down that road that we not spread them throughout the city, but keep them in one location. Other commissioners agreed. Singer wondered if a certain park should be designated for this. Blank said we have a peace plaque at Parkers that recognizes people who have sacrificed in the name of peace. The family wants it in West Medicine Lake Park, because that's where the bench is located. Rezabek asked about partnering with Wayzata and putting it there. Blank said this family would only want the memorial if it could be in West Medicine Lake Park. Blank said we will put this back on the December agenda. Meyer said she would look further into the Wayzata park and try to talk to someone who knows more about that. Blank said we would talk to Sonny, the maintenance person at Wayzata City Hall, because he likely would have first-hand knowledge about the park in Wayzata. e. 2004-2008 CIP. Blank discussed the draft of the 2004-2008 CIP. We have between $8 and $9 million in projects coming up. The Council has chosen to use park dedication for most of these projects. We don't have the luxury of adding new things because of that. We had to take a couple of items out of 2004. Blank pointed out the projects that were PRAC Minutes/November 2003 Page 48 completed in 2003. Blank said we can easily double the size of the parking lot at the dog park. It's the hottest thing going right now. The skate park is out of the plan for now, because we can't find a site for it. The new city lighting ordinance is putting a wrinkle in the Imperial Hills lighting project. In the plan for 2004 are replacing tennis courts at Ridgemount, a new irrigation system, the warming house at Ridgemount, playground replacement, new trails, land acquisition for the 10th playfield, and the third sheet of ice. Parking at Greenwood needs more evaluation. Rodriguez asked how long an irrigation system lasts. Blank said 20-25 years. The $100,000 shown in 2004 for the irrigation system is the first installment of 10. In 2005, we are showing new tennis courts, trails, park replacement, new plaza and walls at Zachary Playfield, and irrigation system. The parking expansion at Plymouth Creek Center might preclude the tennis courts in 2005. The spray playground has been removed from the 2005 plan. Trails last typically 20 years. In 2006, trails, park replacement, irrigation, parking lot repair, and the new park at Seven Greens are proposed projects. Seven Greens is at the corner of Vicksburg and Schmidt Lake Road. The 10th playfield land acquisition, Plymouth Creek Center lower level, and ice rink expansion are taking our major resources in 2004, Blank said. Singer is disappointed that we are losing the skate park. We need to keep it on the radar. She would prefer this to the spray playground. If we find a site, we might be able to put it in the 2005 budget, Blank said. The years 2007 and 2008 show new trails, parking lot and trail repair, park replacement fund transfer and the irrigation system. Fiemann asked about the land acquisition of the 10th playfield. Blank said we gave the documents to Mrs. Begin's attorney. The Ice Center plan will be on the city's website within the next couple of days. Singer said we need to put some more shade in our parks, due to the rising skin cancer rate. Blank said that with the last five or six playgrounds that we have installed, we have put a shelter right in the middle very close to the playground to provide shade for parents and tots. For our staff, we do a lot of training on skin cancer, especially our lifeguards and staff who must work outdoors. A final draft of the CIP will be on the December agenda, and it will require action at that time. 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Review 2004 rental fees and policies. Evans stated that no changes are proposed to canoe racks, the Parkers Lake Picnic Shelter, the Bass Lake Playfield or the Showmobile. We are recommending changes to the Parkers Lake Pavilion in the per hour charge for the school district. That increase basically covers the building attendants salary. We are proposing a change to the Parkers Lake stage per hour non-profit fee from $25 to $30. We are also showing a 10% increase in the fees for baseball, softball fields etc. The fees for the Hilde Performance Center PRAC Minutes/November 2003 Page 49 will remain the same. Singer asked about the no-show fee. Evans explained what it is. Fiemann asked if it's enough money. Evans thought so, because it doesn't happen that often. Blank said this money goes back in the general fund to help offset the cost of taxes. It doesn't go directly to Park and Recreation. For all the policies, we will be adding the tobacco free wording. For the Millennium Garden, we are increasing Plymouth resident and non-profit fees from $250 to $300, non-resident fees would go from $350 to $400, and we are adding a new Plymouth company fee of $350. For 2004, we already have 15 rentals of the Millennium Garden. All of the events at the garden have gone well. Singer asked when the fee increases would begin or go into effect. Evans said January 1. Evans explained that the Plymouth Creek Center could be booked out 18 months in advance, so we need to get fees for 2005 and 2006 established for the Millennium Garden and Plymouth Creek Center well in advance, because of that 18 -month booking policy. The rest of the 2004 proposed fees could be approved this evening if PRAC is comfortable with them, Evans said. There are no proposed changes for the Plymouth Creek Center fees in 2004. Meyer asked how many people really expect to get a concrete price for a rental way out in 2005 or 2006. Blank said we guarantee our prices. When we looked at about eight other communities, we have the second largest fee. ANDERSON MOVED TO APPROVE THE 2004 FEES AND POLICIES AS PRESENTED BY STAFF. The tobacco free wording will be added. Singer questioned the no-show fee and thinks it should be raised. Krahulec does not agree that someone should pay a no-show fee in addition to the rental fee. Blank explained that if someone backs out of a rental, we would refund their rental fee, but charge them a no-show fee. SINGER MOVED TO AMEND THE MOTION TO INCREASE THE NO-SHOW FEE TO $25. REZABEK SECONDED THE AMENDED MOTION. Fiemann stated that he thinks the no-show fee should be the same as the rental hourly rate. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. Blank said our biggest fee is from the Wayzata soccer tournament, but we still bring in only about 8,000-$10,000 per year in rentals. Singer asked if we have a rotation schedule for the fields. Blank said we semi rotate. We evaluate and take fields out of commission for a season. We generally have one or two fields that are being repaired every year that are taken out of the rotation. 7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION The next meeting is December 11. 8. STAFF COMMUNICATION None. PRAC Minutes/November 2003 Page 50 ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m.