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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 09-09-2004MINUTES OF THE PARK AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING September 9, 2004 Page 29 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 PRAC Minutes/September 2004 Page 30 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 PRAC Minutes/September 2004 Page 31 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 PRAC Minutes/September 2004 Page 32 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. PRAC Minutes/September 2004 Page 33 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.