HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 04-08-2004MINUTES OF THE PARK AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING
April 8, 2004
Page 11
PRESENT: Commissioners Aamoth, Davis, Fiemann, Meyer, Rezabek, Rodriguez,
Singer, staff Blank, Busch, and Pederson
ABSENT: Krahulec, Ritchie
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chair Fiemann called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Ali Rodriguez pointed out a spelling error on pg. 8 under Unfinished Business,
Update on Ice Center, that should have read bid package, not big package.
Rezabek moved and Meyer seconded to approve the February minutes with that
correction. Motion carried, all ayes.
3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS
a. Athletic Associations. No athletic association representatives were present at
the meeting.
b. Staff. Evans was not present, but had written a memo to PRAC updating them
on a few items, which Blank briefly discussed. PRAC names and phone
numbers have been added to the Plymouth Leisure Times brochure. We
doubled the number of vendors at Yard and Garden, but attendance by the
public was about the same as last year. Primavera is coming up next weekend.
The 2004 calendar of events was reviewed. The tobacco free policy was
mentioned in the summer issue of Plymouth Leisure Times. Staff training is
coming up on how to best inform the public about the tobacco free policy. Signs
are going up soon. The Plymouth Creek Center construction is moving forward.
Most of the furnishings have been ordered. Staff recently met with the
electrician and sign contractor to review preliminary design plans. The facility
will have two neon signs; one that identifies the Black Box Theater and one that
identifies the Mega Byte Cafe. Singer attended the Yard and Garden Expo and
said it was an excellent event. She suggested that we do more promoting of
vendors and the diversity of vendors in order to attract more attendance. Davis
asked about the Music in Plymouth date. Blank explained that it's always held
the Wednesday before July 4, so this year it will be on June 30.
c. Others. There were no other presentations.
PRAC Minutes/April 2004
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4. REPORT ON PAST COUNCIL ACTION
a. Blank explained that the Council rejected the first round of bids on the ice
center expansion.
5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Update on Ice Center. Blank said bids were opened a second time, because
the first time around, the project came in way over budget. The City looked at
601,000 in cuts to come within budget on this project and managed to cut out
571,000. All the new bids pretty much decreased in amount, except for a
couple. Blank said we have gone as low as possible now in cost and still be
able to construct a quality facility. Blank explained some of the bid results. We
have a new project budget of $5,350,000. We will get $1,250,000 from
Providence, $725,000 from Wayzata Hockey, $1.5 million loan against the rink,
and $1,875,000 in park dedication. The Council will get these bids next
Tuesday night. We plan to begin construction in May if the Council approves
the bids. This would allow us to open by Thanksgiving, as long as we don't lose
any more than 10 days to rain, which tends to be the norm. Davis asked about
the original budget, which was $4,800,000. Blank said a meeting room and
store room were taken out and one official's room. We also took out tile and
lowered the roof three feet, which resulted in lowering the wall height three feet.
The price of copper has skyrocketed, so electrical outlets were also taken out.
This is okay, because the Ice Center runs everything on batteries. We can still
add some things back in later. The expansion will look somewhat different than
the original building due to the lower roof, Blank explained. People will probably
notice it if they walk from rink to rink. We only received one bid on the walls
from Spancrete when the project was bid the first time. This time around
Fabcon had the low bid. Their product will be a little rougher looking on the
outside than the way Spancrete does their walls. The Spancrete walls done on
the first rink and the new walls that will be done by Fabcon will not meet
anywhere, so the difference in the finish shouldn't be noticeable to anyone.
b. Update on Plymouth Creek Center. Construction is moving along, but is now
about 5-10 days behind schedule. They sound proofed the ceiling underneath
the Plymouth Room, and window installation will soon follow. We don't have the
bi—fold doors yet, but they are expected to arrive soon. Furniture has been
ordered, along with two pianos, one regular, and one electronic. About a month
from now the lower level should be ready for tours. Singer asked about the
screen porch. Blank said the bid was awarded for that item, but city building
officials want data on it which was recently supplied to them. She also asked
about the need for a pool table. Blank said we already have one. Singer said
she may want to donate a second one. Mayor Johnson donated the original
pool table.
Blank said the 800 feet of boardwalk is completed now at Lake Camelot. The
second picnic shelter is also in place. We plan to have a grand opening in
PRAC Minutes/April 2004
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conjunction with Arbor Day. The date will be forthcoming. The boardwalk was
built using the Tree Trust agency at a substantial savings to the city.
Fiemann asked if we had any more news on the Begin property. Blank said
Mrs. Begin hasn't returned from Phoenix yet regarding the purchase of that
farm for a 10th playfield.
6. NEW BUSINESS
a. Plymouth Creek Center proposed fees. Rick Busch introduced himself to the
commission. He was in attendance to present proposed fees for 2005-06 on
the Plymouth Creek Center and Millennium Garden. Busch explained that he
likes to review rates annually by checking similar facilities in the surrounding
suburbs. Our present rates are right in the market, so the proposed increases
are modest. Our main source of revenue comes from weddings, he stated.
Busch discussed a handout describing current rates, proposed rates, etc. It is
necessary to establish rates now, because the Plymouth Creek Center can be
rented 18 months in advance. He stated that we already have 15 events
scheduled through September 2005, with more requests coming in weekly.
Busch wants to keep the rates the same for two years, to help hold down the
cost of redoing the rental brochure. New facilities will open soon downstairs and
those fees need to be determined, too. The Black Box theater is similar in size
to half the Plymouth Room and is priced accordingly. The multipurpose room
downstairs is somewhat larger than the meeting rooms upstairs, but is priced
the same as the upstairs meeting rooms. The lower level conference room will
be kept open for City of Plymouth groups, thus allowing businesses to hold
small group meetings in the upstairs meeting rooms. There are no rentals
planned right now for the music rooms. These will be used primarily for city run
music programs and classes. The food court area will not be rented either. The
rates for the Millennium Garden are proposed to increase modestly also. All of
these fees are below market for Plymouth residents, but right in line for non—
residents. Meyer asked about the status of the half Plymouth Room on Friday
and Saturday nights. Busch explained that the half Plymouth room is not rented
on Friday and Saturday nights, thus allowing the full Plymouth Room to be
available for large events such as weddings and banquets. Rick is anticipating
a lot of use in the Black Box Theater for Park and Recreation sponsored
events. These will be primarily week nights and weekends. We'll expand teen
programming in this facility, Blank said, mostly on Friday nights. We are
tentatively holding off booking the Black Box Theater on Saturday nights,
because any event held there has the potential to conflict with a wedding up in
the ballroom on Saturday night. There was some discussion on when the right
time of year is to set fees for the Millennium Garden and the Plymouth Creek
Center. The rates set tonight should last for approx. 24 months, Busch said.
Blank reminded commissioners that all the rate increases for other facilities
were set last November, but the Plymouth Creek Center component wasn't
known at that time. Aamoth was wondering about the proposed fees for the
Millennium Garden. Since that facility has only been open for less than a year,
PRAC Minutes/April 2004
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how can a determination be made at this point to raise rates, he asked. Busch
said we're finding things are a little more expensive than we anticipated. Blank
said we probably set the rates a little too low to begin with. We need to look at
the operating costs, plus we are hiring a part time individual who will work
exclusively at the garden. We're also hearing that our garden will probably be
one of the premier gardens in the metro area. The main reason for the increase
is to keep up with the market and increased maintenance costs. Aamoth
thought maybe we should raise the rates more for non—residents. Blank said
we talked about that, but what Rick is finding out is that since residents can
book 18 months out and non—residents only 12 months out, the garden is
almost always booked by Plymouth residents. Aamoth thinks we really need to
take a hard look at this before raising the rates. Meyer said it's hard to compare
the Millennium Garden to anything, because there isn't anything out there to
compare it to except Noerenberg Gardens in Minnetonka. Busch said he's
never heard a complaint about our prices. Rezabek said he doesn't see a
problem with our fees being raised, if it's always booked 18 months out. Blank
mentioned a survey that was done of maybe three or four other gardens.
Aamoth stated he isn't real comfortable with competing in the market, because
we're a non—profit agency. We shouldn't be raising rates to keep up with the
market, since we're not trying to make money. If it's to keep up with costs,
that's a different matter. Singer thinks we also need to set ourselves up for
replacement costs. Singer agrees with establishing a two year cycle, so we're
not behind the 8—ball. Blank said Aamoth has raised a very good issue.
Property taxes pay salaries, replacement costs, utilities, etc. The garden is
going to be open 7 days a week, except when it's rented out. The base cost of
running the garden is paid for by the taxpayer. Blank said we are not paying for
the operation of the garden in rental fees. There are about five gardens around
that are unique that we researched. Aamoth agrees that with increased use,
there will be increased maintenance needed. We have committed to having
staff on hand on Saturday mornings to get the garden ready for any Saturday
events, Blank said. Davis asked about the catering rebate and if every caterer
has to do that. Busch explained that we have an exclusive contract with just
one caterer, Suzanne's Catering. We only have to deal with one group using
our kitchen with this type of arrangement. We've heard horror stories from
communities that hire several caterers. We wanted to avoid those types of
problems. Blank said they have become an extension of marketing for us. This
has been very good economically for the City. Busch meets monthly with
community center managers. Most of those other managers would like to
establish the same kind of arrangement we have. SINGER MOVED TO ADOPT
RECOMMENDATIONS BY BUSCH FOR INCREASES IN FEES FOR BOTH
THE PLYMOUTH CREEK CENTER AND MILLENNIUM GARDEN. REZABEK
SECONDED. Aamoth said he was pleased with discussion and is happy to
have the Council make the final decision. MOTION CARRIED, ALL AYES.
Blank said we will continue to have our July meeting at the Plymouth Creek
Center where we will focus on that operation. More detailed reports on rentals,
etc., will be available at that meeting. Davis asked when these rates would take
PRAC Minutes/April 2004
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effect. Blank said in 2005. It's too late to write the report for the Council to
review this at their next meeting. Busch said the fieldhouse dome will come
down the last Wednesday in April, and that it will be necessary to look at those
rates soon, too. Our rates for the fieldhouse are lower than most other
communities. We start renting a year out toward the end of July. The fieldhouse
is a true enterprise fund. When we crunch the numbers on that, it's 10-15 years
out. We are also going to have to increase the rates at the Ice Center, Blank
said. Rezabek asked if staff would provide information on the Central Middle
School bubble. Blank said he would get some pictures of that facility for the
next meeting.
b. Select 2004 trail improvement projects. Blank walked the Commission through
the possible trail improvement projects by showing slides of those trails. The
Nathan Lane trail has been requested by several residents. This area has high
traffic volume, with high density apartments on both sides of the road, plus
retail shopping and a movie theater at the south end. County Road 24 is
another location with high traffic volume, but in this case, there is an on—road
bike lane that is available for residents to use. The Carlson Parkway trail is not
in demand. Fiemann asked if there was enough money available to do all five
segments discussed. Blank said $80,000 is all we have, and this would build %
to 1 mile of trail. Staff is recommending the Nathan Lane trail because that's the
one that has garnered the most interest. The request for a trail on Old Rockford
started with someone asking us to look into it, but when other neighbors heard
about that, they were not in favor of it. Singer supports the Nathan Lane trail.
Meyer thinks County Road 24 has a lot of potential, but she supports Nathan
Lane first. REZABEK MOVED TO IMPROVE THE TRAIL ON NATHAN LANE
BASED ON STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS. SINGER SECONDED MOTION.
MOTION CARRIED, ALL AYES.
7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION
Rezabek has been hearing really good comments about the dog park and the
expansion of the parking lot. He mentioned that we're losing half of our East
Medicine Lake Park to a NURP (natural urban runoff) pond. It keeps the silt from
filling in our lakes. Singer asked if it's two ponds or one pond. Singer said its
definitely needed. The beach is getting larger due to the silt. We will lose much of
the parking lot and the sand volleyball court. A task force that Rezabek is on is
looking at other ponds, where they're needed, and how to pay for them. Rezabek
asked if the City collects dock permit fees. Fiemann said he's never heard of dock
permit fees. Blank said we have no dock fees. They've never been proposed.
Blank is currently looking into a couple of illegal docks that have been installed on
the west side of Medicine Lake. He explained that a certain number of residents
are allowed to have docks on Medicine Lake, but that every year, one or two
residents try to sneak a dock in.
8. STAFF COMMUNICATION
None.
PRAC Minutes/April 2004
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ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.