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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Packet 07-11-1996Regular Meeting of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission July 11, 1996, 7 p.m. AGENDA 1. Call to Order 2. Approval of Minutes 3. Visitor Presentations a. Athletic Associations b. Staff c. Others 4. Report on Past Council Action a. b. 5. Unfinished Business a. Review ice arena/pool complex b. West Medicine Lake Park update c. Open spaces update d. Playfield/highschool update e. Senior citizen needs analysis update f. Continue golf course discussion g. Request to place log home in Parkers Lake Park update 6. New Business a. b. C. 7. Commission Presentation 8. Staff Communication 9. Adjourn Next regular meeting - August 8 parks\s[afAenc\prac\agendas\j u ly96.doc Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting June 13, 1996 Page 25 Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Fiemann, Johnson, Priebe, Willegalle; Councilmember Wold; staff Blank, Bisek and Pederson Absent:: Commissioners Thompson and Wahl 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Anderson called the June meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. in the Council Chambers. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Fiemann made a motion, which was seconded by Commissioner Priebe, to approve the minutes of the May meeting as presented. The motion carried with all ayes. 3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS a. Athletic Association representatives. None were present at the meeting. b. Staff. Mary stated that summer staff training is mostly done. Some summer programs began the week of June 10, with the majority of programs beginning the week of June 17. She stated that there is a problem with weeds at Parkers Lake, which Park Maintenance is trying to solve. She explained that we have some challenges this summer with swimming lessons. West pool opens a week late, June 17, and East doesn't open until July 8. This is much later than normal. This year Music in Plymouth will be at the new amphitheater site, just north of the Public Safety building. As part of the booths and information, there will be staff from the Community Arts committee, a new committee trying to provide arts to the community at large. They will have hand outs on the Art Fair, History Fest, concerts, etc. Mary announced that there's a conflict with roller bladers using the tennis courts, especially at Bass Lake. They don't want to give up the courts for tennis players. Signage does not seem to work, although they are in place, according to Director Blank. The signs will give the tennis players leverage, so they can call the police if rollerbladers won't leave. The park patrol will be addressing this issue, too, but they can't be everywhere all the time. Commissioner Priebe wondered why they are using the tennis courts when they have access to lots of trails in the City. Commissioner Johnson commented that asphalt trails are too rough; there's too much granular PRAC Minutes/June 1996 Page 26 material in the asphalt. Commissioner Fiemann feels that the ultimate solution is to provide alternatives for rollerbladers, perhaps another hockey rink could be paved over in the northeast Plymouth area. Councilmember Wold asked how the paved rink at Plymouth Creek works in the winter when it has to be flooded for ice hockey. Director Blank said it works fine both as an ice hockey rink and a roller hockey rink. Flooding it in the winter is not harmful to the asphalt. Mary announced that the northeast neighborhood park was approved by the Council to go out for bid. Staff is projecting that work will begin there by August. It's time to start working on the fall brochure at end of June. Mary asked commissioners for any program suggestions they might have. 4. REPORT ON PAST COUNCIL ACTION Director Blank announced that the Council awarded three contracts --walls of the ice arena, erection of the steel structure, steel girders and beams, etc. Bids came in under estimate. Fourth bid was for concrete footings, and it came in far above the construction manager's estimate. It will be rebid and opened June 18. Director Blank indicated that a soil problem developed, requiring further tests on clay soils. In order to guarantee that building will be structurally sound, more sand will have to be brought in some areas. Had a contingency budget set aside for that item. Footings will begin about July 7. The project is about three weeks behind schedule right now. Overall, financially in good shape. Council will have a few more major contracts. Director Blank said that bids were opened on the rink system. One is direct, which uses 10,000 lbs. of freon. The other system is indirect and uses only 1,000 pounds of freon, but it's more expensive. Estimate for whole rink package, including piping, flooring, sand, Plexiglas, etc., was 840,000. Bid came in at $831,000. Have weekly construction meetings every Wednesday to discuss progress and any problems that arise. If weather holds for next six months, Director Blank estimated that sometime between December 15 and January 15, we'll have a facility to skate on. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Review ice arena/pool complex. See above. b. West Medicine Lake Park update. Director Blank indicated crews are excavating some of the surcharge. They are putting in pilings for new bridge. The new road should be ready for traffic by November. At a future meeting, commissioners will be looking at what items to put in the phase 2 priority list. c. Open spaces update. Director Blank indicated that there has been an interesting development regarding the middle portion of the southeasterly open space parcel. Mr. Stewart has been buying it on a contract for deed, but PRAC Minutes/June 1996 Page 27 he has failed to make several payments. The original owner may be getting it back. We had offered Mr. Stewart $250,000, but we may end up getting it for 100,000. He was originally asking 1.4 million. Unconfirmed sources tell Director Blank that Mr. Stewart has filed for bankruptcy. d. Playfield/high school update. Director Blank said that Mortenson and the School District opened bids on the high school project and playfield. They came in $1,000,000 over budget. The playfield portion was $350,000 over estimate. The School District may be able to award three of the nine bids. Six will be rejected. Director Blank stated that it's difficult to get masons. Some categories didn't even receive bids. There was no sidewalk bid at all. Director Blank explained this is probably due to a glutton of work. Mortenson will be analyzing the bids to see if anything was over designed and can possibly be removed. Will be rebidding in August or early September. e. Senior citizen needs analysis update. Director Blank indicated that the needs analysis report is done. Subcommittee on sports will reconvene when Director Blank returns from vacation. f. Golf course discussion. Hollydale golf course owners were present. Director Blank introduced the DeZiels and asked what their plans were for the future? He wanted to know statistics on the course. Bill DeZiel, owner, introduced himself and his brother, Rich. He explained that they have been in business for 30 years and also have interest in Shamrock in Corcoran. They have a 18 hole course at Hollydale, which he said is in great shape. Things run smoothly. They do have problems with drainage, however. They have been to the Council about it. Some progress is being made with a ditch removing water. They intend to stay in business as long as possible. Two sons have gone to school to study turf management, so they have a young group to take over when they retire. The sons also want it to remain golf course. The DeZiels have been approached by developers, but have told them they have no interest in selling. He also indicated that he wants to get on a list to get rid of geese. He was told that seven sites throughout Plymouth are selected for removal of geese. He wants to be on that list. He said he would even help round them up if necessary. Director Blank asked them if they know how many rounds of golf they do per year? Mr. DeZiel said he doesn't keep track of rounds, but they have leagues every night, a men's club of 230 and a women's club of 100. Chair Anderson asked if the DeZiel sons want to continue with the course, too? Bill DeZiel is confident that they do, since they went to school to study it. Councilmember Wold then explained that the Commission doesn't deal with the goose problem, but the Environmental Quality Committee does. He explained that they don't have a real coherent solution yet, but are working on it. PRAC Minutes/June 1996 Page 28 Richared DeZiel commented that the Minnesota Golf Association has gotten a lot of complaints about real estate taxes. Some courses have seen increases of 100% to 300%. He believes that golf courses will stay around if they don't get taxed out of business. He believes that golf is a community asset and that property values appreciate all around the course. He would like to see some sort of tax relief, so they can compete with municipal courses. He stated that when their taxes go up, they have to raise rates, then people can't afford to play. Director Blank explained that PRAC will prepare and make a report available to the Council at the end of the year regarding their recommendations about the future of golf in Plymouth. The report will include comments about the taxes, as well as other issues and concerns. Director Blank asked if there are any other areas besides taxes and water issues that are problems for Hollydale. Bill DeZiel responded that his biggest fear is taxes becoming too prohibitive. He also indicated he didn't know how expensive water and sewer will be for them, or the road upgrade. They don't think the upgrade is necessary, and they don't want a four lane road on Holly Lane. g. Request to place loq home in Parkers Lake Park update. Director Blank stated that Mrs. Creelman went ahead and had someone begin plans on log cabin, including ordering logs. She is willing to cover the cost to get cabin built and placed in Parkers Lake Park, in addition to another contribution of up to $10,000 for site preparation. Director Blank believes the site preparation will cost somewhere around $25,000. He feels that a City match of $10,000 is the appropriate thing to do to fund the remaining costs. The Historical Society supports project and will provide educational materials. Director Blank explained that the City has always been interested in preserving the log cabin and has wanted to move it into the park, but after having it evaluated, it was determined that it was too deteriorated to move. A MOTION WAS MADE BY CHAIR ANDERSON AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER PRIEBE RECOMMENDING THAT THE CITY ACCEPT MRS. CREELMAN'S DONATION TO REPLICATE THE LOG CABIN AND HER ADDITIONAL DONATION OF $10,000 FOR SITE WORK, AND FURTHER RECOMMENDING THAT THE CITY CONTRIBUTE UP TO 10,000 FOR THE REMAINING SITE WORK. THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. Director Blank will come back with a site plan at the next PRAC meeting. Commissioner Willegalle wants to review possible sites with Director Blank and Park Superintendent Peterson. Director Blank will also come up with the source of funding for the City's matching contribution of $10,000. PRAC Minutes/June 1996 Page 29 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Sunset Hill Elementary School request for playground funding. LuAnn Culhane, chair person of Sunset PTA Playground Committee, was present at the meeting along with Karla Thompson, Principal; Rodger Schaefbauer, Health and Safety Specialist for District 284; and Laurie Epstein, PTA Playground Committee member. Ms. Culhane explained that they are very excited about plan, and that enthusiasm is shared by the kids, teachers, staff, and parents. She feels that playground project warrants serious consideration. She explained that the area around Sunset is multi-purpose. The baseball fields are utilized by Plymouth -Wayzata Baseball and the City. Behind school is nature center. Many families use this facility. In the winter, the City floods an ice rink there. She then explained the history of the playground project, the proposed plan, phases of construction, and funding proposal. Last summer she said the School District corrected a drainage problem, replaced black top surfacing, and installed ADA equipment. In the process of installing the accessible equipment, they had to pull out the wooden tire swing. It was supposed to be replaced, but was deemed unsafe. The PTA had some surplus funds to add two belt swings and tire swing. They also put in tether ball and drop shot for a total of $5,000. Their current challenge is to replace the wooden structure. They've been working together for a year, including sending a survey to the children to get ideas for what they wanted. Tried to incorporate most of what the kids wanted in their plan. The playground has a castle motif theme, which was requested by the kids. The committee wanted the playground to be something kids could get on and stay on with loops linking everything. Children really like the tire swings, so they added enough to get a tripod of swings. She explained that the plan is divided into three phases. First phase is the main structure, estimated to cost $33,000 with volunteer labor. Phase two will be periphery equipment, which will cost $12,000 plus volunteer labor. Phase three would be to replace wooden benches, for a cost of $2,600. Grand total of project comes to $48,365. She stated that it costs $500 per day for a supervisor to supervise volunteer labor. She stated that the committee divided the project into three phases, but really prefer to do it in one. Building it in three phases jeopardizes the integrity and safety of the surface. She then reviewed their funding. They currently have $15,000 from PTA. They are canvassing the local business community and asking for cash donations. They will maybe get $5,000 from that. They will also have poinsettia sale, with all funds raised from that earmarked for the playground. With those additional fund-raisers, they should raise $10,000. Their minimum goal is to raise $33,000 by 1997. She stated that this playground would benefit the Plymouth community and is used by the neighborhood surrounding the school, and because of that warrants serious consideration by the Park Commission. Director Blank asked if they could add some pre- school pieces to the project. Ms. Culhane explained that it is already PRAC Minutes/June 1996 Page 30 incorporated in the plan. Chair Anderson wanted to know if there was a specific dollar amount in their request. Ms. Culhane responded that they understood there was a limit of $10,000, but they will accept whatever they can get. Their total cost will be approximately $50,000. She indicated they have the means to raise $25,000 total. If the City would contribute another 25,000, then the playground could go in in one phase. This is a highly utilized area. The girl scouts and boy scouts use it a lot and have projects involving the nature center. Director Blank explained that the Commission will start looking at their parks CIP in July or August. He indicated that it's a long and lengthy process and explained the many channels it has to go through. He explained that the current playground funding policy is from 1985, and it needs to be updated. A new policy will be brought forward to the Commission for their approval. Director Blank thanked the playground committee for getting their request in early and stated that he would keep them informed of the status of their request. b. Review list of names for ice arena. Director Blank commented that the City has a $6.5 million facility under construction, but it doesn't have a name yet. He explained that our contract with Life Time says City can name the recreation facility. He indicated that staff brainstormed and came up with a list of names for the ice rink portion. It's not necessary to name it right now, but the Commission should be thinking about it. Commissioner Priebe stated he doesn't like anything but "Center" or "Arena." Director Blank suggested that maybe there could be a contest. He asked each commissioner to come back with their two favorite names at next month's meeting for the City owned ice facility, not for the whole complex. We'll throw them together and see if there are any matches. Commissioner Priebe asked if this facility is strictly for ice skating Director Blank said the second rink is set up to be used as a multi-purpose facility. It will have a concrete floor under the ice. Can be used for swap meets, dances, art fairs, etc. Commissioner Willegalle asked if demand will grow so that eventually both rinks could be used strictly for hockey and skating? Director Blank said that is a possibility. Commissioner Priebe asked the reason for naming this separate from the total complex? Director Blank said it's because they are two different buildings, and the ice facility will be owned by the City, while Life Time is the private club. Commissioner Fiemann asked who should be suggesting name for total complex? Director Blank said the names should go together somehow. Chair Anderson asked about the problem with rollerblading and should PRAC look at it now? Director Blank said we probably need to give the kids a chance to settle down, since they're just out of school. Staff will evaluate use of Plymouth Creek to determine if we need another roller hockey rink somewhere else. PRAC Minutes/June 1996 Page 31 7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION Commissioner Priebe commented that maybe the City should do a deal with golf course owners like we're doing with Life Time. Director Blank said that he explored with Lundgren Bros. the possibility of buying Hollydale several years ago. Chair Anderson said that if the City wanted to buy a golf course they'd have to decide which golf course. Director Blank would like to hire a consultant to do appraisal of all three golf courses and tell us which one has the most to offer. Commissioner Willegalle announced to the Commission that his son has been waiting for a kidney for three years and finally got one last week. He is 29 years old and is planning to marry soon. 8. STAFF COMMUNICATION July 2 is Music in Plymouth. Up with People will be a new attraction this year. From here they're going to the Olympics in Atlanta. These 120 kids need housing for two nights, so if any Commissioner is interested in helping out in this area, they should contact Director Blank. The site is almost all sodded, and the lake is full of water. Trees have been planted and shrubbery is in. Director Blank will give PRAC a map of the sites he intended to visit on the parks tour, so members can go on your own time. 9. ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m. June 17,1996 Eric Blank, Director of Parks & Recreation City of Plymouth 3400 Plymouth Blvd, Plymouth, MN 55447 Subject:Dedicated Tennis Time Q Parkers Lake Park -Saturdays 8 to 10 a.m. Dear Eric Blank & the City of Plymouth Park Board: It has been suggested that possibly the Senior Tennis Association Club could obtain playing time at the park's tennis courts. We have been successful in most communities including nearby Wayzata and Minnetonka, The Senior Tennis Association Club has about 1500 members in the Twin Cities area with many from your community. Its goal is to provide healthful recreational social tennis for those over 50 on a volunteer basis. Also, it provides free tennis instruction for beginners and children at other tennis courts. We would like to expand our use of tennis courts in Plymouth as many of our members live nearby; and in particular, those playing at the Brookview, Golden Valley; have found that there are too many trying to play on Saturdays. We feel that for our mutual goal to be realized that we need a dedicated designated time so that senior tennis players can count on the time, and not be disappointed. As your community develops, so does the need of nearby seniors in the opportunities offered by our association. The Parkers Lake tennis courts are beautiful;have fine parking facilities;and the park has many other amenities. We congratulate you for such a fine park. It is also very convenient to use. The tennis courts seem to be under utilized, but this is only an opinion. Hoping that you will see our point of view, and that we can reach some kind of arrangement, I am, Always your friend, Al Nuhn Captain Senior Tennis Association Club 388 Margaret Circle Wayzata 55391 473-4790 SUNSET HILL SCHOOL zatayPUBL/C SCHOOLS pendent School District 284 June 20, 1996 13005 SUNSET TRAIL PLYMOUTH, MN 55441-5699 (612) 476.3080 FAX (612) 476-5035 City of Plymouth Park and Recreation Advisory Commission 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth, Mn 55447 Dear Advisory Commission Members: Thank you for considering our request for assistance with funding the playground project at Sunset Hill Elementary School/City Park. As we discussed during our presentation on June 13, 1996, the present equipment is not in very good condition. We truly appreciate your consideration of matching funds. We expect to have $25,000 for our playground by spring/summer of 1997. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us. We will be happy to discuss the playground project with you. Thank you again for your time, your interest and your consideration. Sincerely, Dr. Karla Thompson LuAnn Culhane Laurie Epstein Principal, Sunset Hill PTA Playground Chair PTA President 476-3080 544-0334 593-5329