HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 05-12-2005MINUTES OF THE PARK AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING
May 12, 2005
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PRESENT: Commissioners Aamoth, Fiemann, Davis, Krahulec, Rodriguez, Singer;
Planning Commissioner Weir; staff Blank, Evans, Greupner, and Pederson
ABSENT: Commissioners Griwac, Pederson, Rezabek
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Fiemann called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Krahulec made a motion to approve the minutes of the March meeting. Davis
seconded. Motion carried, all ayes.
3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS
a. Athletic Associations. None were present.
b. Staff. Evans gave a brief review about the Yard and Garden Expo. She said that
1,200 people attended, and 80 volunteers assisted. There were also 80 vendors
on site. By day's end the event had raised $13,000 for the garden. The
Chocolate Sampler was cancelled due to low enrollment and lack of interest by
restaurants. Staff is planning a new event as a garden fundraiser for some time
next year. The PCC celebrated their 5th
anniversary with a variety of activities
during the first week of May. Approximately 300 people attended the Golden
Strings performance, 70 took part in the wine tasting event, and 100 people
attended the High Tea. A silent auction was held, which raised $900 for senior
programs. They ran out of pork chops at the Pork Chop Dinner, which had its
largest attendance ever at 430. Teen events have been wrapped up for the year.
Every other Friday there's been some sort of teen activity, i.e., Plugged In
events, mic night, etc. We will be making some changes to that program. We are
in our busy season now. Over 900 programs were listed in our summer catalog.
On the first day of registration from 12:01 a.m. to 9 a.m. on April 7, we had 2,400
registrations. As we continue to get more technical, more residents are
registering online. Fifty-one percent of the registrations were done online, up
12% from last year. This weekend is the first weekend of weddings in the
Millennium Garden. June, July and August are pretty much booked for weekend
weddings. Music in Plymouth planning is underway. All entertainment is lined up.
The City is celebrating its 50th birthday. Plymouth on Parade and the Autumn
Arts Fair are combined this year on September 24. Evans introduced staff
member Karol Greupner. Greupner said she's been a recreation supervisor for
16 years and a Plymouth resident for 20 years. Basically her position is two fold;
she works with programs and special events. The Plymouth Fine Arts Council
PFAC) was established eight years ago. This is the funding vehicle for the city
to grant monetary support to arts organizations. The two primary recipients of the
annual grant of $10,000 are the Plymouth concert band and the Plymouth
community theater. PFAC's signature event is the Primavera spring arts show.
PRAC Minutes/May 2005
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Each year it gets better and better, with higher quality of artwork. There were
108 artists this year; 51 were from Plymouth. The art ranges from novices to
professionals. This year had 28% more artists than in the past. Over 1,000
people attended the four-day exhibit.
Greupner also works with programming arts classes throughout the year. She
stated that she recently got everything organized for the spring dance recital,
which is tomorrow night. One hundred fifty-six participants, from age 3 through
teens will be performing. Music for Everyone classes are group and private
music lessons held in the lower level of the PCC. Piano, violin, and voice lessons
are offered. The Funmobile will hit the streets this summer. Rogers Automotive
renovated a vehicle for us. Puppet shows are performed in neighborhoods
throughout the community. Entertainment in the Parks will be held at Parkers
Lake and the Hilde. Two years ago, we started Kids Koncerts at Parkers Lake,
which are very well received. Thee water ski shows throughout the summer are
also planned. The Hilde offers nine evening concerts throughout the summer on
Thursday nights. New this summer is our youth theater performance, Prairie Fire
Theater. They will be performing at the Hilde. Fiemann asked when the dance
performances will be held that are in conjunction with some of the concerts. The
Minnetonka Youth Ballet Company will be performing and the other is a Tap
Review. Greupner wasn't sure about those dates. The other part of her job is
planning special events. She mentioned how successful Fire & Ice was. We are
looking forward to the city celebration on September 24. The day's events
consist of the pancake breakfast, a new firefighters 5k run/walk. The course will
be in northeast Plymouth, beginning somewhere near Fire Station 1. The art fair
will be occurring from 10-5. This is the 16th year for the art fair. The artists will be
setting up their tents on Plymouth Boulevard across from LifeTime. Applications
are already coming in. There will be food vendors as well. We have
entertainment following the parade, including the Ducky Derby, free ice skating
at the Ice Center, and activities at LifeTime include swimming, gym games, etc.
Greupner mentioned that a public art policy needs to be developed for the city.
She was part of a workshop on public art sponsored by MRPA at the Black Box
Theater. There were two wonderful presentations by Mary Altman, a public arts
commissioner for the city of Minneapolis, and by Jack Baker from Forecast, an
arts business, which consults with businesses and communities on public art.
We were told by one of the judges that attended Primavera how lucky we were
to have a painting by Larry Kunz in the PCC lobby. There is a mural at the Ice
Center. This was a gift from the Radisson to the Arts Council who then gifted it to
the City. It supposedly has a value of $30,000. Greupner feels it is important to
have a policy on dealing with gifts of art as well as future acquisitions. Greupner
concluded her presentation by saying she loves her job, loves the arts, and
community events. She is very grateful for the support of the staff, city and
PRAC.
4. REPORT ON PAST COUNCIL ACTION
PRAC Minutes/May 2005
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a. Ice Center final bills. We had 21 contractors turning in final bills, etc. Council has
to authorize those payments. We've closed out 13 or 14 of those 21 contracts,
so far. Fiemann asked if anything else needs to be done at the Ice Center.
Council still wants tile in the lobby, Blank said, but he is waiting on that project
for the time being. We are getting ready now to landscape. Now that frost is out
of the ground, more paving is being done. Irrigation crew is expected to be there
next week. We've ordered more furniture for the lobby. Three benches have
been installed in the cafe. Blank said that people are taking advantage of the
wireless Internet access that's available there.
5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Blank said he is waiting for attorneys to put together a purchase option on the
10th playfield. Davis wanted to know about the Hilde entranceway. The Plymouth
Foundation withdrew their request for the city to finance the project, Blank said.
They are now trying to raise the money themselves. Staff wasn't convinced that
this gateway had to be done this year.
6. NEW BUSINESS
a. Review material from Twin Cities Curling Association. Blank talked about the
Curling Association. He stated that the president is a resident of Plymouth. They
are looking for a curling facility in the western suburbs. Blank gets many calls
from people who want to build private facilities in Plymouth. They are usually
looking for land. Blank informs them that we simply don't have any land that we
can give up.
b. Update Comprehensive Plan. The council set the goals for 2005, Blank
announced. Their number one goal is to begin the comprehensive plan update,
including northwest Plymouth. A week ago the Council did a study session on
the comp plan. The Planning Commission postponed their discussion on the
comp plan last Wednesday. Staff has started to put together a team of people —
including staff from police, park maintenance, etc. The MUSA line currently ends
at Vicksburg. First thing that has to be done is to develop a land use guide plan.
All other portions of the plan play off that. We'll get a consultant on board. The
first year will be spent on guiding that area. How large the parks get will be
determined by density. As plan unfolds, there probably won't be a lot for the park
commission to do until a year or so from now. The dog park has been a
phenomenal success, but it was supposed to be a neighborhood park. During
the park tour, commissioners will visit some of the sites that will be developed
first for the Northwest Greenway. Blank laid out where various trails and
neighborhood parks will be in the Greenway. We are going to have to build our
case for the 10th playfield. Blank believes we need it. It will probably take 24
months to go through the entire process of updating the comp plan. The mayor is
not seeking reelection but she'd like to have some consensus on what the
density is going to be by December 2006. Singer expressed concern about the
future of the Living Farm. She feels strongly about its representing Plymouth's
history. Blank said there are currently buildings on the site, including a barn and
a house and some other buildings. Davis asked about PRAC's role in this
process. We get involved later, Blank said. The comp plan will also address
PRAC Minutes/May 2005
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some redevelopment areas. Blank is pretty certain that the last of the three
Plymouth golf courses will be sold eventually and developed.
7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION
None.
8. STAFF COMMUNICATION
We were not a finalist this year for the Gold Medal award, Blank said. Foothills Park
District, Colorado, was a new entry in our population category. Wheaton Park
District, Illinois, also was named a finalist in our population category. We will retool
and try again in 2006. The NRPA staff that had been running the program for the
last 15 years retired, so they had all new staff that looked at the applications
differently than previous staff.
Blank asked if the commissioners had any particular place in mind they want to visit
on the park tour. Hearing nothing, he said commissioners should contact him in the
coming weeks if they come up with something.
Ali recently won a nice award from the Youth Services Awards program. Mary Kay
Williams who coordinates volunteers at the high school nominated Ali for the Special
Recognition Award for her volunteer activities. Ali mentioned that she would be
attending Yale in the fall.
9. ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m.