HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Packet 04-08-1999Regular Meeting of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission
April 8, 1999, 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. Approved bids on new playground wood, fiber systems and concrete
b. Approved 1999 rental rates
c. Approved ordinance amending beach closing
S. Unfinished Business
a. Comprehensive plan/update
b. Activity center/fieldhouse (name for site)
C.
6. New Business
a. Disc golf course proposal for Plymouth Creek Park
b.
C.
7. Commission Presentation
S. Staff Communication
9. Adjourn
Next regular meeting — May 13
n\parks\staff\eric\prac\agendas\apr99.doc
Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting
March 15, 1999
Page 12
Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Wahl, Willegalle, Fiemann, Musliner, Thompson,
staff Blank, Hurlburt, and Pederson; SRF consultant Barry Warner
Absent: Commissioner Priebe
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chair Anderson called the March meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. in the Mooney Lake
Room.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A motion was made by Commissioner Wahl and seconded by Commissioner Fiemann to
approve the minutes of the February meeting as presented. The motion carried with all
ayes.
3. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS
a. Athletic Associations. None were present.
b. Staff. There were no staff presentations.
4. PAST COUNCIL ACTION
Council approved soliciting names from the community for the new activity center. The
deadline for submittals is the end of this month. Any suggestions received will be
presented at the April meeting. Council awarded contracts for new playgrounds at
Lacompte, Green Oaks, and Turtle Lake parks. The Council accepted the PRAC 1998
annual report and the 1999 work plan.
5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. Barry Warner, consultant from SRF. Eric introduced Barry Warner and mentioned
some of the other consulting projects he's done for the city. Director Hurlburt was
also in attendance and once again explained the area that the partial urban expansion
covers. It is basically the area east of Vicksburg all the way over to I-494 and north to
the Maple Grove border. She explained that no new development will be allowed in
this area until the comprehensive plan is approved sometime in early 2000. She stated
that the joint meeting on March 31st will be the first time for all groups involved in
updating the comprehensive plan to get together and discuss it. The public is invited to
attend this meeting. Commissioner Thompson asked how we make sure we get input
from the 80% of the population that doesn't show up at public meetings. Hurlburt said
we'll be using newsletters, cable tv, the newspaper and committees like the park board
to get the word out. Mr. Warner said it is very difficult to get meaningful participation
from the community. Commissioner Willegalle asked if random calling is a way to
reach people. Hurlburt said this is a possibility.
PRAC Minutes/March 1999
Page 13
Mr. Warner was in attendance to begin guiding PRAC through the process of updating
the park and trail portions of the comprehensive plan. He talked about parks being
comprised of many different elements. Athletic complexes are the powerhouses,
community parks are the flagships, the trails are the fabric that pulls everything
together, and the neighborhood parks are the building blocks. That's because they are
evenly distributed throughout the community. The neighborhood parks in Plymouth
are passive and meant to serve a clientele within a four to six block area of the park
and focus on preschool and elementary aged children and senior citizens. Wherever
there are elementary schools located in a walking neighborhood, the school served as
the neighborhood park. They have the same components as regular neighborhood
parks. We've been building one to two neighborhood parks per year. The most recent
one was Three Ponds. Director Blank talked about how tennis courts have been
designed as a drive -to facility. Every other year we receive requests for tennis courts
in neighborhood parks. Tennis courts are expensive to build and to maintain. They
can double the cost of building a neighborhood park. The last request came from the
Shiloh neighborhood. This issue needs to be addressed when planning the parks
component of the comprehensive plan. Commissioner Wahl said he doesn't see the
tennis courts being used very often. He said that Bass Lake gets very little use.
Commissioner Willegalle said that Parkers Lake and Zachary have fairly high use.
Director Blank said the senior population is going to grow dramatically in the next 11
years and we need to plan for their needs when redoing the parks plan. Today's
seniors are active and participate in active types of programs, not just card playing,
bingo or shuffleboard. They're golfing, playing tennis, skiing, etc.
Staff previously worked on neighborhoods that have deficiences and portrayed them on
a map for discussion at the meeting. The area around West Medicine Lake Park has
some deficiencies. This is a difficult area and may not be able to be changed. Since
West Medicine is quickly becoming the focal point in this part of town, we may have
to come up with more trails leading to this park so people can get there, Director Blank
said. Service area 46 is a built out neighborhood, but has some deficiencies. Two
schools provide the recreation opportunities here, even though there is no actual
neighborhood park. The Luce Line trailhead is located here, also. There is a parcel in
the southwest corner of Plymouth on Hadley Lake. It's a beautiful piece of property,
very manicured, high up, overlooking the lake. It offers 300 to 400 feet of shoreline.
This could be a perfect picnic area. Going north from there, is service area 32, served
by Greenwood Elementary. South and southwest areas of Plymouth may not be
adequately served. Several other neighborhoods were also discussed, with no
immediate plans for how to improve the areas that show deficiencies in terms of parks
and trails.
Director Blank said the 10th playfreld will probably end up being west of Vicksburg.
For most of the next 10 years, Director Blank said it will be difficult to say if there's
going to be a need for a 10th playfield. This is the most expensive thing left to build
and is also the most iffy. There may be some opportunity to work with the school
district on this issue, too.
PRAC Minutes/March 1999
Page 14
Commissioner Fiemann asked about the area west of Fernbrook and north of Schmidt
Lake Road. Director Blank said it's a development called Silverthorne, and it will
have a small park. West of Vicksburg is basically rural residential. We own land west
of Mud Lake, which came out of the Lake Camelot development. Some parks could be
developed here. Fiemann asked about the high density area. Director Hurlburt said
there is 100 acres there but it will have fewer children. There is a gap here in the
regional trail that needs to be sorted out and worked out with Hennepin Parks. Within
another year or two the regional trail could come down from Maple Grove as far as the
northern border of Plymouth.
Commissioner Willegalle asked if Fernbrook would go south across the Luce Line. It
is not an active issue at this point Director Hurlburt said.
Mr. Warner then asked PRAC to look at areas west of Vicksburg. He stated that there
are pockets of demand here. Commissioner Thompson asked about the disk golf
people. Director Blank said they aren't sure what they want to do. It's been a popular
attraction, so he thinks their group will be back in the future. Right now there is a plan
to put a playground at Elm Creek Playfreld.
Director Blank stated that we are hearing more often that people do not like private
parks. They don't meet their needs. HOA's don't want to pay for the maintenance and
upkeep. Staff is currently looking at a piece of woods across from Hollydale golf
course that could be the neighborhood park for Plumtree East and West. One of the
Plumtree developments has a private pool for its residents.
Mr. Warner said there are several issues that need to be considered when working on
the parks comprehensive plan: 1) private parks, 2) mini parks, 3) trail connections, 4)
new parks and their timing, 5) park renovation, 6) joint park with Maple Grove, and
7)xxxxxxxxxxxxx. A playground replacement policy would be an appropriate thing to
have in the comp plan, as well as a policy on private parks. Chair Anderson asked
about the usefulness of mini parks. Director Blank said many communities have them.
He said mini parks usually are less than two acres in size. The maintenance gets
costly. Just as much time is spent on these parks as on those that are 10 acres in size.
Commissioner Thompson asked if we get random counts of park users. Director Blank
said we have done counts in the past of hockey rink use. The cost to maintain a
playfield like Elm Creek is $110,000 annually. Chair Anderson asked about private
parks. Hurlburt said they aren't exclusive to Plymouth. The same developers that
build here, build in other cities. These private parks yield mixed results. There is no
policy right now for how to deal with private parks. This would be the appropriate
place to begin discussing this.
b. Activity center update. Approval of the preliminary budget is on the Council agenda
for March 16. Bids will be due on April 20 and will hopefully be awarded by April
27. No major changes have been made to the actual design, although some trimming
has been done to the plans. Bidding both products that were looked at for turf,
PRAC Minutes/March 1999
Page 15
Astroplay and Astrograss. Director Blank said he would be happy to bid this project
and have a 5% contingency. All the consultants are coming in on Wednesday for a day
long meeting to go over everything with a fine tooth comb. Bubble may be up by
November 15, 1999, if all goes according to plan.
6. NEW BUSINESS
There was no new business.
7. COMMISSION PRESENTATION
None.
8. STAFF COMMUNICATION
The next regular meeting will be April 8, but commissioners were reminded about the
meeting on March 31st, to which they are invited.
9. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 9:40 p.m.
DATE: April 5, 1999
TO: PRAC
FROM: Eric J. Blank, Director, Parks and Recreation
SUBJECT: Name of Recreational Facility
Two months ago, the Commission delayed action on naming this facility in order to allow for
public input. We sent letters to the various school districts and put announcements in the local
newspaper, on the city's web page and cable TV. The deadline for submitting names was last
week. At this time, we have not received any suggestions. This leaves us back at square one
where we were two months ago. There appear to be four choices for consideration at this
time. These are in no particular order:
1. Plymouth Community Center
2. Plymouth Activity Center
3. Plymouth Pavilions
4. Plymouth Creek Center
The name community center is typical for a facility of this type, although many community
centers have a wider range of facilities than what will be included in our facility. Activity
Center is the name that we have currently been using to describe the project. The name
Plymouth Pavilions was recommended by the Plymouth Youth Council. Staff concern with
this name is that it conflicts with Parkers Lake Pavilion and our future plans to name the new
building at West Medicine Lake Park the Medicine Lake Pavilion. The name Plymouth Creek
Center picks up on the fact that this facility is located in Plymouth Creek Park and plays off
the name Plymouth Ice Center and the downtown, which is now named City Center. The
downside of this name is that it could be confused as part of Plymouth Creek Elementary
School.
This is a classic case of whatever we do, someone will be unhappy with the name. There is no
clear, concise answer to this issue. The eight members of my staff have not come to a
conclusion on what is the best name. However, I can tell you that I personally feel most
comfortable with Plymouth Creek Center.
I would like you to make your recommendation at the April meeting, so that the City Council
can take the name up at their next meeting in April. I anticipate that we will have a
groundbreaking ceremony sometime around the 15th of May, and it would be nice to unveil
the official name at that ceremony. If any of you have come up with additional names, please
feel free to put them on the table during the discussion of this item at Thursday's meeting.
EB/np
Welcomie to
Plymouth
Activity Center
Welcome to
Plymouth Creek
Activity Center
Welcome to
Plymouth
Community Center
Welcome to
Plymouth
Pavilions
DATE: April 5, 1999
TO: PRAC
FROM: Eric J. Blank, Director, Parks and Recreation
SUBJECT: Proposed Disc Golf Course - Plymouth Creek Park
Recommendation: I would recommend the Park Commission adopt a motion recommending
the approval of the installation of a disc golf course in a location immediately east of the
Fieldhouse in Plymouth Creek Park.
Background: As you may recall, the disc golf players assembled a disc golf facility in
Plymouth Creek Park in the area that is now going to be occupied by the activity center
fieldhouse. We have been working with this group of players on the redesign of a new 12 -
hole course for Plymouth Creek Park. Rob Bork is the disc golf player who actually took the
initiative to design and build the original golf course. Rob has worked with Mark Peterson
and me on the layout of a new facility at Plymouth Creek Park.
On the attached graphics, I have shown the approximate location of the disc golf course within
the park and a blow up diagram of the 12 hole course. Rob is willing to donate the disc course
baskets, which he built himself that have a value of between $1,000 and $1,500. It is our
proposal that the City will be the owner/operator of the disc golf course in the future.
The construction of the golf course will be a combination of ICWC labor force, Rob and some
volunteers under the direction of Mark Peterson, Superintendent of Parks. We anticipate an
out of pocket expense of about $3,000 for miscellaneous materials to provide a first class
facility. We anticipate that work on the course could begin in May and would be a summer
long project with completion by August or September of this year. The new course will lay
out in the big woods area immediately east of the fieldhouse and south of the major parking lot
within the park. To construct the fairways, we will have to thin out smaller trees
approximately of the inch to inch and a half variety in some of the fairways. The removal of
these trees would be done very selectively on a tree by tree basis under the guidance of the
city forester, Paul Buck, and Rob Bjork. We would propose to remove as few trees as
possible, open the course and evaluate whether or not additional thinning would be necessary.
Rob Bjork will be available at the Commission meeting to answer any questions that you might
have.
Recommendation: Staff recommends the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission
recommend to the City Council that the master plan for Plymouth Creek Park show the
addition of a disc golf course lying immediately east of the fieldhouse and south of the
Plymouth Creek parking lot, and further, that staff be authorized to proceed with the
installation of said disc golf course during the summer of 1999.
EB/np
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