HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 09-08-2005MINUTES OF THE PARK AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING
September 8, 2005
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PRESENT: Commissioners Fiemann, Aamoth, Davis, Griwac, Krahulec, Mohagen,
Pederson, Rezabek, Singer; staff Blank, Michaud, Pederson; Planning
Commissioner Weir
ABSENT: Commissioners
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Fiemann called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. in the Plymouth Creek
Center Conference Room.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Commissioner Rezabek made a motion to approve the minutes of the July meeting.
Commissioner Pederson seconded. Motion carried, all ayes.
3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS
a. Athletic Associations. None were present.
b. Staff. Regina Michaud, recreation supervisor, has been with Plymouth for the
last four years. She deals with preschool education, recreation, fitness, summer
playgrounds, concessions, skate park programs, all teen programs, adult health
and fitness, martial arts, self-defense, and family oriented special events. A new
program for preschoolers is Little Tigers martial arts. The summer playground
program has been using the Black Box Theater for their Friday Adventures, and
this has been well received. For teen programming, the newest most successful
program was the Battle of the Bands. Six bands performed at Parkers Lake on
Saturday, August 20. Attendance was estimated at 250. Michaud said she plans
to have this event again next summer. We have also held band nights at the
Black Box Theater with mixed success. Under adult education, a new gardening
series was introduced this year. All of these classes have seen good attendance.
We're offering belly dancing this year on Sunday afternoons. This is a new
program, with two sessions of six classes being offered, both of which filled
almost immediately. Coordinating with the police department, we offered self-
defense for women and teens. Ages attending have been anywhere from 13 up
to senior citizens. A special event taking place at the Plymouth Creek Center is
Halloween at the Creek, sponsored by area churches and parks and recreation.
This is a family oriented program geared for ages 2-12. The Plymouth on Parade
is being combined with the Autumn Art Fair this year on September 24. Past
Council members have been asked to be the grand marshals. Mascots from the
Twins, Timberwolves, and Vikings will also be in the parade. About 90-95 units
have registered so far, along with four school bands. A new program for winter -
spring will be LAN parties (gaming parties).
4. REPORT ON PAST COUNCIL ACTION
PRAC Minutes/September 2005
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a. There was no report on this item.
5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Update of comprehensive plan. Blank discussed comprehensive plan meetings
coming up on Sept 15 and 20 and the meetings in October on the 24th
and
26th
along with the overall timing schedule. The park plan was done back in 2000, so
PRAC should only have to do some fine-tuning. The one area PRAC will need to
focus on is youth athletics. We are near the peak population for youth in
Plymouth. Rezabek said he has been hearing that for years. He said he lives
near a townhome that is full of children. He's not confident that the
demographers have the most recent figures.
b. CIP update. Blank distributed an updated version of the CIP. What has changed
since the last meeting is that we now know we will have less money, Blank said.
Housing projections for the next 24 months are down. This means less money
will be available in the park dedication fund. New trail construction was scaled
back in 2006, along with other projects. Blank reviewed the CIP line by line for
each year from 2006-2010 and answered questions raised. Pederson asked
about the new walls at Zachary and the plaza. Our design consultant has been
placed on hold Blank said until after the discussion on the New Hope Little
League Baseball request. The last payment on the acquisition of the 10th
playfield would occur in 2008. We would take title to the property in October of
2008 according to our proposal. The CIP is scheduled for a public hearing in
September or October. Singer asked about the dip in the park dedication fund in
2008. Blank explained it's due to the stall in housing starts. Housing starts
should pick up again when northwest Plymouth begins developing following
installation of sewer lines after 2008. Depending on how the comprehensive plan
comes out, we may need a bond referendum in November of 2006 to help fund
the acquisition of the Northwest Greenway, the 10th playfield, trails, etc., Blank
said. The Wayzata School District is going out for a referendum this fall. If
Robbinsdale chooses to go out for one in 2006, it would not be wise for the City
to attempt one the same year. We are quite far behind in road reconstruction, so
the general fund and taxes will go to that. We used to pay for all road
reconstruction from the general fund, Blank explained.
6. NEW BUSINESS
a. Plymouth New Hope Little League Baseball Request. Brian Johnson, Tim
Tanner, and Jerry Sandler were present to discuss this issue. Blank said that
three weeks before he was hired, a referendum had just passed which funded
the building of six new playfields. These fields were constructed in 1980 and
consisted of a system of ball fields and soccer fields. The soccer fields were 120
x 75, which is the international size. We did it this way, so that we could cut them
in half to accommodate the younger age groups. We came up with a design that
was called the oversized infield. Base pegs were installed at 60', 65', and 70'
feet. We also put 300 -foot fences on these fields. Some weeks we would change
the bases every night. These fields accommodate both youth and adults. Ball
fields were numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and if there was a 90' field, it was numbered
6. Soccer fields were identified with the letters A or B. At Greenwood, we now
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have all grass infields, and all were designed for Little League baseball. This was
the first time we went age specific in the design. Blank explained that as we
started to look at Zachary Playfield changes, we asked our consultants to do a
prototype design. In considering the Little League's request, there are three
areas to review — financing, parking and the ripple effect. Blank discussed the
phases of the project and said that $172,000 is an estimate for the cost of the
project, based on Scenario A as submitted by our consultant. The irrigation
system is already budgeted. The lighting system was put in for adult softball, so
the lighting would have to be changed at some point, but not now. It would cost
roughly $200,000 to renovate the lighting. Parking is another issue. On Monday
through Thursday evenings during the months of May, June and July, anywhere
from 164-328 cars are using a lot designed for 175. When we need overflow
parking, it is diverted to the elementary school and the church. Blank discussed
the Arrowood Lane parking issue that ties into this discussion. This street has
been signed NO PARKING for a number of years due to previous problems with
overflow parking issues at Zachary Park. Some of the neighbors now want
parking to be allowed again, while other do not. The third issue is the ripple
effect of where teams go now if Zachary is reconfigured for use by the Little
League. Once these fields are changed, they will become more single -purpose,
and limited to just certain users. The groups that are using them now would have
to be shifted to other fields that are already scheduled by other teams. The
logical place for them to go is Plymouth Middle School, but that also leads to
displacement of any teams playing there. Tim Tanner said the Little League
program is only about three years old. They came from the RAYBA (Robbinsdale
Area Youth Baseball Association) program. They have seen 30% growth in the
last three years. Sixty-five percent of the youth in the program are from
Plymouth, with 31 % coming from New Hope. The remaining 4% are from other
communities. The Zachary fields they are playing on are 20 years old and are
sized for adult softball. They are proposing to shorten two of the 300 -foot fields
into three 200 -foot fields, which would allow for the addition of a concession
stand bringing in some much needed revenue for their program, plus expansion
for permanent bathroom facilities. They also use two fields in New Hope. There
are 20 other Little League programs in surrounding areas. They want to partner
with the City, and they feel they can afford to fund the improvements themselves.
The only thing that's holding them back is a plan. They are not asking for
financial support. They just want an agreement to restructure these fields. Singer
asked about their projected growth. They don't see it expanding much more. The
gender breakdown is mostly boys. They have a few girls playing baseball, but
most of them play softball. Singer asked about the cost of the lights and how that
would be funded. They think they will be fine with the lights as they are now.
Fiemann asked how many teams they have. They said 26 with 18 playing at
Zachary. Singer asked if a concession stand were built, who would use it? Just
the Little League, Blank said. Blank went on to say that if we redo the plaza, we
will have to put the sewer pipe in now, so that if we construct a building there in
the future, the sewer line will already be in. To alleviate the parking problem, the
Little League proposes running shorter games and starting a little earlier. Most of
their games end at or before 90 minutes. A team plays two or three games a
week, typically. Occasionally they would play on Saturdays. They practice at a
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lot of fields in New Hope, Golden Valley, etc. Their season begins in early April
with practices; games begin in early May and run through mid to late July. They
propose to start games at 5:30. Our city park curfew states that no new innings
may begin after 10 pm. Rezabek asked about the adult softball program and
where they now play. Blank said all adult softball has moved to Elm Creek,
except for co-rec, which plays at Plymouth Middle School. A question was raised
about the maintenance of these fields, if they were changed to accommodate the
Little League. Blank said Plymouth would continue to maintain it, out of the
general fund. If these fields are redesigned, district tournaments could be held
here, Sandler said. Rezabek feels this would be a win/win situation for everyone.
Boundaries for participation in the Plymouth/New Hope Little League are the
entire city of New Hope and the portion of Plymouth located in Dist. 281. They
are not asking for exclusive use of Zachary, just the hours they specified on
Monday through Thursday. There is $130,000 in the CIP for irrigation Blank said.
No money has been proposed in the CIP for lighting changes. When the CIP
was done, we didn't know about the Little League request. Our budget is based
on Concept A, Blank said. It's $40,000 more to do Concept B. The Little League
representatives liked Concept B better than A, but they would be happy with
either one. Blank prefers Concept B as well. Pederson is concerned about the
teams we would be displacing. He wanted to know if there are other options or
other playfields with more wiggle room for them to transfer to. Blank said no.
Every field we have is full. Little League representatives said Field 1 would
remain as is for girls' softball, and field 4 would continue to be used by RAYBA.
Fiemann said Zachary is busy every night of the week. Parking can be difficult at
this complex. Rezabek asked if more parking could go in where the BMX course
was proposed. Blank said this might involve cutting trees down, which the church
is against. We may be able to pick up some parking at the water tower site;
however, parking is also expensive to install. Davis asked about the new walls
and plaza. Blank was hoping we would be in the design phase for that right now.
This could be accomplished in a mild winter. Otherwise it's better to do it after
the baseball season is over. It would make the most sense to design and bid the
project as one, combining the walls, plaza and the Little League's request.
Discussion then turned to other locations in Plymouth that might be suitable for
the Little League to play their games. Pederson asked about the Schmidt Lake
ball field's timetable. Blank said in the short term it could be ready in five years,
long term 10 years. The cost to reconfigure the Zachary fields the way that the
Little League would prefer is approximately $210,000. This is most like Concept
B from our design consultant, and was the preferred choice of staff and PRAC.
The Little League said they would do their best to come up with that amount.
Blank said that if the Council thinks this is a good idea, and if the Little League
can come up with 90-95% of the cost, the City may be able to come up with the
remainder. Blank also commented that if the Little League can fit an hour in
between their games, helping to clear out the cars, it would go a long way in
helping their cause. We still have to deal with the issue of other teams that will
be displaced because of this. Blank said we can put the plaza and walls project
on hold for a few months, which would also give the Little League six months of
fund-raising time. Fiemann is very concerned about the ripple effects. By next
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month we will have more facts and figures from the athletic directors of
Armstrong, etc., and Dan Lauer will also be invited to attend the meeting.
7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION
Singer commented about the retaining ponds at Medicine Lake and how beneficial
they are. She also has observed that police are patrolling on bicycles around
Medicine Lake. Rezabek was very impressed with the water ski show that he
attended in August.
8. STAFF COMMUNICATION
Next month's meeting will be on the 13th
9. ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at 9 p.m