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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 10-11-2012MINUTES OF THE PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING October 11, 2012 PRESENT: Commissioners: G. Anderson, N. Carroll, M. Riley, A. Vanderwall, J. Vecere, K. Wyse Staff: D. Evans, B. Northway, B. Abel, D. Lauer, D. Sankey Planning Commission Liaison: D. Kobusson City Council Liaison: G. Black ABSENT: J. Zwack 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Carroll called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION was made by Commissioner Vanderwall and seconded by Commissioner Wyse to approve the September minutes. Vote: 6 Ayes. Motion approved. 3. OPEN FORUM Chair Carroll mentioned that it is the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouting. The Girl Scouts are having clean-up event at the Hilde Center and Parkers Lake Cemetery this weekend. 4. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS (NON -ACTION ITEMS): a. Staff Presentation — Bill Abel, Plymouth Ice Center Manager Bill Abel welcomed the commissioners to the Ice Center. We are the home of Wayzata High School and Providence Academy hockey teams. In the past, Wayzata girls did not practice here, but they have picked up a lot of the open time since Armstrong left. We did lose some revenue for games and concessions, about $5,000 per year. We have had calls from Armstrong Youth Hockey looking for some hours. Rinks A and B are now 15 years old, and they are starting to age. We will have some capital expenditures coming up. Rink C is eight years old. We are looking at changing Rink A from Olympic to professional size. The youth programs just do not want to use the Olympic size rink anymore. Some groups would rather go with later times on the other sheets than use the Olympic size rink. We would bring in the far side of the rink, which would create a 20% savings on energy. Chair Carroll asked if temporary bumpers could be put up. Abel said that Wayzata Youth Hockey has these bumpers, but they do not like to use them because it is not very stable. We have talked about drop-down netting, a $9000 project. We decided against it because the checking PRAC Minutes/October 11, 2012 Page 2 function does not work well with the less than stable boards. Another issue is that Rink A has a sand floor and needs 3" of ice. The other floors, which are concrete, need just 1 " of ice. The dirt expands and contracts more and pushes through the paint. It is also quicker to make ice on the concrete floors. We saved $50,000 by going with the sand floor at the time of building the facility. It would cost $500,000 to change it now. The freon refrigerant is another issue. It would cost $20,000-$30,000 to replace it if the freon is lost. It is scheduled to be taken off the market. We are looking at going with ammonia. We use this with Rink C, and it works very well. Our revenue still exceeds expenses. We have had $1.2 million in revenue so far this year with expenses of $800,000. We have put away $1 million so far for capital improvements. Once Rink C is paid off, $154,000 per year will be added to our profit. We installed a new cooling tower, which was purchased two years ago at a good price and then stored. When it was needed, we were able to install it without losing any ice time. We will replace the speakers in front of the bleachers. We just installed the brand new scoreboard last week. It will be running by next week. The old one operated on a DOS system and was very out of date. Director Evans asked about the air quality issue. Abel said everything is run on electricity, so we have not needed to do air testing. The Health Department will now start to require air testing. They will mandate that we purchase a license from the Health Department and be certified. Staff must have training "just in case." Chair Carroll asked about cost. It is $300 per rink. The League of Minnesota Cities is trying to combat this. If we run a lift or something gas powered we will have to take the air test, and we will need to buy the equipment to do it. Councilmember Black asked whose rules these are. Abel said the rules are from the State Health Department, but the county will run it. Abel explained that for over 15 years, we have had Lifetime Fitness members coming in and skating free during open skate times. If the people have a card, we cannot tell if it is current or how many of the kids they bring along are actually theirs. We probably lose about $5,000 with the free skating program. We are now requiring the members to go to Lifetime first to get a pass before they can skate free. We are still working out a few kinks in the system, but it should work well. Abel thinks we are the second busiest rink in the state, with Blaine being the busiest with eight ice sheets. Commissioner Wyse asked if it is beneficial to have Lifetime here. Abel thinks it is beneficial for the city, but not necessarily for the Ice Center. Parking is a big problem at times. The Ice Center contributes a lot to the community economy because of the approximately 500,000 visitors we have each year. 5. COMMISSION / STAFF UPDATE (NON -ACTION ITEMS): PRAC Minutes/October 11, 2012 Page 3 a. 2012 Work Plan Progress Director Evans spoke on the work plan and the progress we have made. Commissioner Anderson asked about trail usage and tracking of numbers. Evans said we just got new equipment to track usage of the trails, and it will be reported in the annual report. b. County Road 73 / Zachary Lane Open Space Director Evans reported on the acquisition of 5.12 acres, which connected to previously acquired land. In the future, we hope to acquire land to connect this piece to LaCompte Playfield. This area will not be developed with asphalt trails, but will perhaps have mowed trails in the future. Councilmember Black asked about the parcels. Evans said there are two or three parcels, which could be picked up when future development is started. c. Hampton Hills Neighborhood Park Director Evans said SRF has been brought in to develop a design for this park. We are sponsoring an open house at Taylor Creek Club for the neighborhood on October 25 for people to drop in, ask questions and give their input. We have had many calls from residents requesting the park to be done. Space at the Taylor Creek Club is fairly small, but we wanted to have the meeting on site. If a couple of the commissioners could attend, that would work well. We will let you all know what information is gathered. Typically, a neighborhood park does not have as many amenities as a city park. Examples would be a playground, some open space for pick- up games, a basketball court, perhaps a picnic shelter, and some trails. We want to be inclusive in letting the neighborhood have some input. d. Training Facility at the Plymouth Ice Center Director Evans reported that on Sept 18, we went to Council for authorization to apply for a grant to build the training facility. The purpose of the grant is to encourage expanding or construction of youth sport facilities. The facility would not just be for hockey — it is for all sports. Since it would be at the Ice Center, the hockey associations would be prime users. Wayzata Hockey has pledged $100,000 for the project, Providence $10,000, and Wayzata High School Boosters $1,000. This could change if we get the grant. Acceleration Minnesota would be the partner. They are now located in another part of town. Their lease of the space would provide valuable revenue for the Ice Center. The cost for the project would be about $960,000. Many ice facilities already have this type of training facility in place. Chair Carroll asked if Evans had a sense of what the grant would be if we receive it. She thinks we have enough support and need, and knowing the total cost of the project, we could qualify for a higher amount. Commissioner Anderson asked about the space. Bill Abel said it would be a block wall space, and Acceleration Minnesota would bring in the equipment. Carroll asked whether anyone from the public could use the facility. Abel said yes, anyone. It is a great source of non -ice revenue. We need to keep the money coming in for years to come. Carroll asked if Evans had a sense of how we will score. She said our application last year for the turf was scored well as a good viable project, PRAC Minutes/October 11, 2012 Page 4 but we did not get it. They did say the training facility grant application was well written. They will start to go over the applications next week. Anderson asked if it is built, could it ever be expanded. Abel said there is probably not enough room. We would not be taking away any parking or green space with this project. He mentioned that there are other back-up possibilities if Acceleration Minnesota were to leave. Other groups are interested in leasing the space. It would be a good facility for many years to come. e. Upcoming Community / Special Events Director Evans gave an update on trails. The sidewalk on County Road 9 and Vicksburg is under construction. The Northwest Boulevard project is encountering easement issues. Business owners along the route do not want to give easement unless they receive compensation. The City has never done that. The project probably will not go in this year. She suspects that many trail gaps we have in the city could have similar problems in the future. We have started working on a Hennepin County Gap Grant to fill gaps identified by the county. The 2014 project is a gap on County Road 6, and it is one of the ones identified by Hennepin County. We have a short time to pull together the grant application, as the deadline is November 1. Plymouth on Parade was a great day — beautiful weather. We estimated about 4,100 participants. We did get some complaints from residents about too many politicians in the parade. It would be hard to say no to their applications. Halloween at the Creek is on October 31, the Bridal Expo is November 3, and the Pet Expo is November 3 & 4. Dan Lauer explained that this is our first — hopefully annual — Pet Expo event. We have 25 vendors now. We also have competitions — a sanctioned Flyball tournament and a Disc Dog tournament. Some teams are coming from as far away as Canada and Nebraska. Commissioner Anderson asked if it will be publicized on the electronic signs. Lauer said it already is. He will be doing something with Dave Kaiser from Channel 12. 6. NEW BUSINESS (ACTION ITEMS): a. Neiqhborhood Park Name Director Evans asked if the commissioners had any ideas or comments on the naming of the new Hampton Hills Park. Commissioner Riley asked about Taylor Hills because it does use parts of the names of both developments surrounding the park. She also said Fairway Greens respects the fact that it was once a golf course. Deputy Director Northway described the park site as being in a bit of a valley and lined by maple, oak and tamarack. Evans mentioned that it does connect to the Northwest Greenway. MOTION: Commissioner Riley moved to name the new neighborhood park Fairway Greens Park. Chair Carroll seconded the motion. VOTE: 6 Ayes. Motion approved. PRAC Minutes/October 11, 2012 Page 5 7. ADJOURNMENT Chair Carroll entertained the motion to adjourn. MOTION was made by Commissioner Vanderwall and seconded by Commissioner Vecere. Vote: 6 Ayes. Motion approved. The meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m. The next meeting will be held on December 13 in the Council Chambers Donna Sankey - PRAC recorder