HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 09-09-2004MINUTES OF THE PARK AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING
September 9, 2004
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PRESENT: Davis, Fiemann, Krahulec, Pederson, Rezabek, Rodriguez, and Singer,
staff Blank, Anderson, and Pederson
ABSENT: Aamoth, Griwac
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Fiemann called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. in the Council Chambers.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Krahulec moved and Rodriguez seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the
August meeting as presented. Motion carried all ayes.
Blank introduced new commissioner Seth Pederson and explained that he
replaced Mary Meyers. Pederson stated that he lives in Ward 1 near Greenwood
Elementary and visits the Greenwood Sports Complex almost daily. He attended
the University of North Dakota and then started working with the Olympics, first
with the table tennis organization, second with the US Diving committee. He
attended the Sydney 2000 games. Diving won a gold medal at that time. Pederson
currently works at a public relations agency. Commissioners introduced
themselves and discussed their interests.
3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS
a. Athletic Associations. No athletic association representatives were present at
the meeting.
b. Staff. Blank introduced Nancy Anderson, our volunteer coordinator. Blank said
he is not aware of any other city that has a program as successful as ours. Our
volunteer program allows us to do things other cities can only dream about. Our
program has been in existence for 11 years. Anderson has met many people
since beginning the volunteer program and gets to work with more city staff
than most other city employees. She said that staff has been very creative in
coming up with volunteer positions. There have been maybe five or six
positions in 11 years that she hasn't been able to fill. Last year 1,042 people
volunteered. They contributed 13,741 hours and worked with 50 city staff. The
value added to the city was $227,276. This is based on the average hourly
wage earned by nonagricultural workers, plus a 12% increase for fringe
benefits.
Anderson said her job is to be a matchmaker. She matches volunteers to the
right positions and with the right staff. She is also responsible for the
recruitment, retention, recognition and record keeping of volunteers. All
departments in the city make use of volunteers. Last year Parks and Recreation
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accounted for 42% of the staff working with volunteers and 66% of the
volunteer positions. Some of the volunteer positions included front desk
greeters at the Plymouth Creek Center, clerical office aide, middle school ski
chaperones, firearm safety instructors, babysitter training instructors, flower
planting, assembling new picnic tables, mutt mitt dispenser fillers, putting up
tobacco free signs in the parks, etc., plus we have 176 volunteer soccer
coaches this year, one of which is park commissioner Tov Rezabek. Anderson
said that one man put in 100 hours inputting data on trees that needed to be
trimmed as part of a community service assignment.
Park and Recreation hosts many special events, which require volunteers in
order to be successful, Anderson said. The summer teen volunteer program
wrapped up in August for teens 14 and older. They are trained and matched up
with park and recreation programs. Twenty-eight teens volunteered this
summer, half of whom returned from last summer. They helped with 17 different
programs such as playground programs, day camps, baseball, puppet wagon
and preschool classes. One girl put in 195 hours with the puppet wagon. This
program is important for a lot of reasons — it keeps the child/staff ratio down,
provides extra assistance for kids who have special needs, and most
importantly, teens are learning leadership skills, they are starting down a path
of volunteering, and they feel more connected to the community. The volunteer
program supplements staff efforts, volunteers become familiar with city
government and then they go out and become good will ambassadors for the
city.
Anderson mentioned that park commissioner Singer is one of the most
dedicated volunteers she's worked with and is willing to do anything she is
asked. Singer said she has moved on to the senior programs now as a
volunteer. Anderson says that some of the senior volunteers do come through
her, but the senior coordinator also finds volunteers. Fiemann asked about the
age spread of volunteers. Anderson said they are 14 year olds up through 80
year olds. Pederson asked how we recognize these great volunteers. Anderson
stated that she organizes an annual fall recognition event at the Plymouth
Creek Center, which typically has about 260 to 280 people attending. Dinner,
door prizes and entertainment make up the evening. They are also recognized
on a daily basis with a thank you from their supervisor and connecting with
them on a social basis.
Blank asked Anderson to discuss how we solicit volunteers. Anderson said she
compiles a job description with the help of the staff person who needs the
volunteer. Every other month, Anderson puts a column in the city newsletter
and advertises on the city website. Once someone applies, they are notified,
screened and then interviewed if they pass the screening process. We want to
make sure the person understands the job, and they are shown around the
area where they will be working. Davis asked if we ever worry about the paid
staff feeling like the volunteers are doing their jobs and taking work away from
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them. Anderson said she hasn't run into this so far. Mostly these volunteers are
supplementing the efforts of the paid staff. Blank said the last volunteer he used
was a woman from India who did research on park ordinances. She researched
10 cities and in three months put together a great spreadsheet for Blank
regarding things like when they open and close their parks, if they have leash
laws, etc.
4. REPORT ON PAST COUNCIL ACTION
Blank said there hadn't been any recent Council action regarding park issues.
5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Update on Ice Center. We are right on schedule to the day, Blank stated. The
contractors have hit every milestone date. The walls are closed in; they are
pouring inside concrete and working on the perimeter of the ice rink. All of the
roof will be on by Friday or Monday. The Rink Tec people will come in Friday
and will bury the underground headers coming out of the compressors. The key
date is to pour the floor by October 5, and it must cure 30 days before turning
on the refrigeration system. We are hoping to open by Thanksgiving weekend.
Blank is planning to have the November PRAC meeting at the Ice Center.
b. Approve 2005-2009 capital improvement projects. The council had a study
session on Tuesday where they went through all capital improvement budgets,
Blank said. They had a couple of minor questions on parks. This must go to a
public hearing in October held by the Planning Commission. After the public
hearing, Council has requested that the capital budget come back to them at
the same meeting as the operating budget, which is sometime in December.
The very last page is the items that did not get into the capital budget, Blank
said. We have $3.5 million budgeted for the acquisition of the 10th playfield.
Fiemann asked where the transit hub would be. Blank said near Hwy 55 &
West Medicine Lake Drive. Singer asked about the expansion of the Plymouth
Creek Center and the location for the proposed tennis court. Blank said it was
either going to be further parking or a tennis court. He said we'd monitor the
parking situation. A parking lot is about $1,000 per stall. The site has been
graded for either parking or the tennis court. We may have to discuss this in
about two years.
Fiemann asked if there had been any more discussions with the Begin family.
Blank said they had appointed a representative to secure appraisals on both
parcels they want to sell. Staff hopes to have something figured out by the end
of the year. Pederson asked if there are operational ramifications on any of the
items in the capital budget. Blank said we always try to address this. He
explained that the park system is now 24-25 years old, and things such as
tennis courts, parking lots, and irrigation systems need to be replaced. We have
a park trust fund in place to fund these projects. A replacement item lowers our
operational costs. Singer moved to approve the park capital improvement
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projects for 2005-2009 as recommended by staff. Rezabek seconded.
Motion carried, all ayes.
6. NEW BUSINESS
a. Closing of four ice rinks. Staff has recommended that four more neighborhood
ice rinks be closed. Five were closed last winter, and we did not receive any
complaints from the community. Blank said we couldn't maintain them at the
same level as in previous years. Rezabek moved to recommend closing the
four rinks recommended by staff. Singer seconded. Fiemann said the larger
playfield skating rinks are more attractive to skaters. He also supports the
closure. Fiemann wants staff to look at ways to make the larger rinks more
appealing and more useable. Rezabek agrees that we need to improve on the
larger rinks if we're going to close four more neighborhood rinks. Blank concurs
that we need to put more effort into the larger rinks. Blank said Mark Peterson
would appear at the October or December meeting to talk about rink
operations. Pederson asked if there is a hard cost associated with closing these
rinks. Blank said no. Fiemann called for the vote then. Motion carried, all
ayes.
b. Request from Council to review snowmobiling parking lot location. No action is
required on this item, Blank said, but the park commission has been charged
with finding a location where snowmobilers can drive to and park, unload their
machine and go from there. There were a number of complaints last winter
regarding snowmobiling in the city. Based on a recommendation from the
Public Safety Department, the Council amended the ordinance regarding
snowmobiling trails in the city. Snowmobiling is now permitted on public frozen
waters within city limits and on the state snowmobile trail along Highway 55
from Fernbrook Lane west to the city limits. Blank said staff will start doing
research on possible sites for this parking and will bring it back to the
commission. Singer talked about the parking lot at West Medicine Lake being
available for snowmobilers to park and ride, but it won't be lighted for a couple
of years. Is that going to be an issue, she asked? Blank didn't think so. A few
locations were suggested then by commissioners as possible sites for
snowmobile parking, including B & V Driving Range and some undeveloped
property north of Hwy 55 and south of Kimberly Lane Elementary.
7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION
Singer encouraged everyone to come to the grand opening of the lower level of the
Plymouth Creek Center, where she hopes to learn how staff came up with the
name for the Black Box Theater. She said that many seniors are asking about it.
The grand opening is Monday, the 13th, from 4-6:30 p.m., just prior to the City
Council meeting. Mayor Johnson will speak and refreshments will be served.
Fiemann mentioned some special events coming up including the Sleeping Beauty
production at the Black Box Theater, the Autumn Arts Fair, the pancake breakfast,
and the parade.
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8. STAFF COMMUNICATION
Blank said the October meeting needs to be moved to October 21, as he and
Diane will be at the National Congress, hopefully collecting the Gold Medal Award.
9. ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m.