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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Packet 12-12-2002Regular Meeting of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission December 12, 2002, 7 p.m. AGENDA 1. Call to Order 2. Approval of Minutes 3. Visitor Presentations a. Athletic Associations b. Staff -Diane Evans c. Others 4. Report on Past Council Action a. b. 5. Unfinished Business a. 2003-2007 CIP - approve plan b. C. d. 6. New Business a. Millennium Garden rental policies and fees b. C. 7. Commission Presentation 8. Staff Communication 9. Adjourn Next regular meeting - January 9, 2003 n\p arks\staff\eric\prac\agendas\ D ec02. doc Minutes of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting November 14, 2002 Page 39 Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Fiemann, Krahulec, Meyer, Musliner, Rezabek, Singer, staff Abel, Blank, Evans, and Pederson 1. Call to Order Chair Anderson called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. at the Ice Center. 2. Approval of Minutes Singer moved and Meyer seconded a motion to approve the October minutes. The motion carried with all ayes. 3. Visitor Presentations a. Athletic Associations. None were present. b. Staff. Evans talked about the Poetry Slam held at the Plymouth Creek Center. Seven teens and three adults participated, each doing three different pieces of original poetry. Some members of the audience were judges. It was a fun, successful evening. Prizes were awarded. The audience was highly involved, getting to cheer and boo. Poets were allowed three minutes per poem. A slam master hosted the evening. She was a former national poetry slam winner. Krahulec asked how we solicited participants. Evans explained that our staff member Karol Greupner, who is a member of the Fine Arts Council, sent letters to schools, posted flyers at the library, and sent a news release to the local newspaper. Following the event, Caribou Coffee asked the kids to come and read poetry at their coffee shop. Another new program we're doing is intergenerational with seniors and teens. We've held our second Bridging the Gap session, and this one covered politics. A Wayzata teacher came in to mediate. Between 30 and 40 people were involved. The Chocolate Sampler was very successful, with 180 participants. Thirty of those were volunteers. Eight restaurants participated. We will be doing this event again in 2004, but in the spring. Old Fashioned Christmas is coming up the first Sunday in December at the Plymouth Creek Playfield, with most of the event taking place in the Historical Society Building. Also coming up is New Years Around the World on December 315', at the Ice Center and at LifeTime Fitness, from 6-9 p.m. Staff is working on other projects including: the winter/spring issue of the brochure, budgets, annual report, and other housekeeping items. Evans stated that she is working on the History Fest, and the Yard and Garden Expo, too. Abel mentioned some hockey tournaments coming up Thanksgiving weekend and the weekend after Christmas. Evans stated that she was looking at some financial information for the recreation department. For 2002 we needed to generate revenue of $668,000. We've exceeded that already, and have one quarter to go. This summer we had over 11,000 kids participate in our programs. Singer PRAC Minutes/November 2002 Page 40 asked how the Big Wu concert went. Evans said it had a decent turnout, but not as many as expected. Blank said he worked on the sound. Because it was such a windy day, sound did not travel beyond the edges of the park. Evans said she was amazed at how long it took to get things set up. There was a lot of high tech equipment. 4. Report on Past Council Action a. Accepted donation of plass trophy cases from PSA. The Plymouth Soccer Association has donated a trophy case for the lower level of the fieldhouse lobby, which they will use to display trophies and other awards received by their players, etc. 5. Unfinished Business a. Millennium Garden update. Blank stated that work on this project has pretty much wrapped up for the year. We are now focusing on June 15th, 2003, for a grand opening. Blank said that he discovered some nice bronze statues and other sculptures at the national parks conference at a very reasonable price. These may be purchased for the garden. b. 2003-2007 CIP — review possible update to plan. The City Manager has been working on a city-wide 10 year budget to figure out how to finance big items, like another water tower, another fire station, etc. Blank said we have learned that the price of raw land has been going up at 15% per year. The City Manager is urging Blank to purchase land sooner rather than later based on this finding. However, there are no landowners right now willing to sell us any property Blank stated. The City Manager has given his nod of approval to the parks CIP that staff has been working on. Blank then reviewed the projects proposed in 2003 and the various funding sources for those projects. The park replacement fund is meant to generate funds from interest. We take a certain amount of money from park dedication and put it in the park replacement fund, he explained. The 10th playfield is a large expenditure. Blank stated that Mr. Begin recently passed away and that Mrs. Begin is interested in their property becoming a park, but no further discussions with the Begin family have taken place at this point. Blank explained that the individual who wants the Bass Lake hockey rink paved has been out soliciting donations and signatures on a petition. Blank said he is budgeting the entire cost for paving the rink. Pat Heising and Bob Kohns were present to discuss their interest in the Bass Lake hockey rink paving. Kohns said he walked around his neighborhood and discovered that many of his neighbors were very excited about this. He stated that paving this rink would help expand the hockey program, especially for Mites. In the summer the rink sits empty, but if it was paved, inline skaters could use it during that time to develop their skills. There are many children who will be able to make use of this facility. Blank said we have one other paved hockey rink located at Plymouth Creek Playfield. We'll be able to flood an asphalt rink sooner than one built from the ground up. The amount of labor to maintain it will be reduced as well. Abel said a concrete surface would make the rink last longer in the winter season. Heising said many of PRAC Minutes/November 2002 Page 41 the people he spoke to were not real anxious to contribute money, because of the taxes they pay, and they feel the City should fund it. Blank said there are 11 hockey rinks in Plymouth and no one else has requested a paved one at this time. Rezabek asked about advertisers helping out by advertising on the boards around the rink. Blank explained that there's a city ordinance prohibiting this type of advertising in the parks. Blank explained that this is a draft document. If all goes well, PRAC should adopt this at their December meeting. Blank said his feeling is that this rink will likely go through. Blank said a letter would be mailed to the residents surrounding this park to give them an opportunity to speak to the Commission prior to the formal approval. Mark Peterson and Blank have been doing research on the dog park issue. Blank said people are very interested in dog parks. At a recent parks conference, Blank learned from Ramsey County that there's no need for a fence at the dog park. In our situation, we will have very tall grass to act as a barrier. We are going to recommend trying it without a fence. Blank also learned that the people who take their dogs to dog parks are very responsible pet owners. It is recommended that we not put in benches, thus encouraging dog owners to remain standing and actively playing with their dogs. Blank then talked about the Plymouth Creek maintenance building and how it is necessary for storing maintenance equipment for taking care of the Millennium Garden. Blank discussed the repair of four ball fields. He's been in touch with the Pilgrim United Methodist Church, and they are excited about the BMX course/skate park being on their property. Fiemann said the new skateboard park in the industrial park is very large. He thinks it's going to be a premium facility. Admission is going to be between $6 and $7. It will include a climbing wall, meeting rooms, etc. The skate park under the bridge in Hopkins may be in trouble due to their admission fee. They are the largest facility in the Twin Cities. Blank said that $115,000 would fund the BMX/skate park course. The Imperial Hills lighting project will cost 15,000. To finish the Plymouth Creek Center basement will cost $960,000. Blank said the money is there now, however, if the legislature takes money away from us, as they are implying, it could come out of this item, leaving us with $600,000. Blank said we have all the money in the bank right now to do all the 2003 projects. In 2004, we are proposing trails, land acquisition, park replacement, parking lot/trail repair, playground replacement, replacing the Ridgemount warming house, a small playground for the amphitheater, parking expansion at Greenwood, and development of a new neighborhood park. Blank said that by the December meeting, costs would be identified for a third sheet of ice. Singer asked how we rank what year we do things. She thinks the Ridgemount warming house is more important than the Bass Lake hockey rink paving. Blank said he put the hockey rink in 2003, because the residents came to him asking for it. Anderson feels that the Ridgemount building will last another year without a problem. It has only an eight- week skating season for which it is used. This is the first time it's been included in a CIP with money assigned to it. Musliner mentioned attending Shakespeare in the Park and how a playground in the amphitheater may interfere with the sound. Blank PRAC Minutes/November 2002 Page 42 said he's thinking more in terms of a small pre-school playground and locating it 300-400 feet away from the Hilde Performance Center stage. The amphitheater playground was an internal request by our staff, he stated. Discussion continued on whether or not there's a need for a playground in the amphitheater. REZABEK MOVED TO WITHDRAW THE $25,000 FOR THE PLAYGROUND. FIEMANN SECONDED. Blank suggested taking a year to run the performance center and evaluating the crowds to see if a playground is needed. Rezabek suggested soliciting comments from the public. Krahulec said his preference is to leave the money in the CIP for now. Blank said he is very comfortable taking the money out for 2003 and adding it back in later. Krahulec asked for clarification of the motion. Fiemann said the funding would come out now but may go back in next year when reviewing the CIP in 2003 for the 2004- 2008 CIP. MOTION CARRIED WITH ALL AYES. When asked if paving the Bass Lake rink would bring in more requests for similar rinks, Blank said he doesn't think we will open a Pandora's Box by paving the Bass Lake hockey rink. Krahulec asked how the Lake Camelot park is coming along. Blank said it's going well. It's 50 to 60 percent drained. Blank then continued the capital improvements budget discussion. In 2005, we propose trails, a spray playground, park replacement, new tennis courts, and parking lot and trail repair. Rezabek thinks we should build an indoor playground, like the one in Maple Grove. Blank said it's much less expensive to let Plymouth residents travel to Maple Grove to use theirs then it would be for us to build one. Singer asked if we are going to add additional parking when planning the 3`d sheet of ice. Blank said he could make a case either way for adding parking. Blank said people walk farther to attend the high school football games than they do to attend hockey events at the Ice Center. Rezabek asked if there are a certain number of parking spaces required when you add another hockey rink. Blank said it's based on the number of spectator seats that are added. There's a code you have to follow. The final two years of the 2003-2007 CIP are very generic, Blank stated, showing trails, park replacement, trail and parking lot repair. Staff will be ready for a motion to approve the parks CIP at the December meeting. Some of the projects that will need approval early next year include the BMX skate park, the storage shed at the Plymouth Creek Center, and the dog park. This is so construction can get underway in the spring of 2003. b. Update on tobacco policies. Blank said this item was discussed with the City Council and received mixed reaction. It's on a pending study list for after the first of the year. The presenter who attended the PRAC meeting may be asked to come and speak to the Council about it. Study sessions are always posted on the City's web site. Meyer feels strongly that we should adopt such a policy. Evans talked with Wayzata schools and their policy is tobacco free on their property. We should be following that policy when we schedule things at Elm Creek, because that's located on school property, Evans said. PRAC Minutes/November 2002 Page 43 6. New Business a. Ice Center Operations — Bill Abel. Blank introduced Bill and said that he started working for us about 10 months prior to the Ice Center opening. Abel stated that we are in our sixth year of operation. He said the Ice Center is home for the Wayzata and Armstrong high school hockey programs, the Wayzata and Armstrong youth hockey associations, the Plymouth Pandas Figure Skating Club, our own learn -to - skate program, and many adult and private ice rental groups that use the facility during late night hours. Abel stated that there are an average 18.5 hours of ice usage daily on rinks A & B, and 26+ hours on the two rinks on an average weekend day. Most of this is paid events. We book over 6,682 hours a year. We rank about number two in the state. Braemar is only slightly better than us, but they have three sheets of ice. We've rented over 3,500 pair of skates and have done over $61,000 in concession sales through the month of October. We've taken in $22,000 in vending revenue. The learn -to -skate program has 680 kids in it and brought in $90,000 in revenue. $520 per day is spent on gas and electricity, etc. Abel stated that the Ice Center uses an indirect refrigeration system with a propane back-up system. As of the end of October, the Ice Center was operating in the black. There are funds in reserve for repairs, purchases, etc. About $85,000 a year is set aside to fund these things. Zamboni s cost about $75,000. Abel stated that we are seeing some decrease in board revenues due to less advertising. Ice time costs $140 per hour. We have ice year round. The Ice Center budget is roughly $874,000 per year. Blank said the parking lot plowing is paid for out of the general fund, but then is reimbursed by the Ice Center. Blank said if we build the third sheet of ice we hope to get money from three different sources, one of which would be donated funds. The Ice Center is open most nights until 10:30 or 11, weekends until midnight. The Zamboni advertising banners bring in $2,000 per side per year. The Domino's Pizza Zamboni revenue may be ending, because new owners have taken over Domino's and they are reluctant to continue advertising. It's getting difficult to secure advertisers. Many advertisers would rather sponsor teams than pay for ads on the boards. Rezabek stated that he sells advertising, so Blank suggested that he meet with him and Abel to discuss strategy. Our capacity is 1,000 on Rink A and 200 on Rink B. This is very adequate, Abel said. The meeting rooms are given out free to the community. People having birthday parties can use the meeting rooms for free, but if they wish to skate, they must then pay for that. LifeTime Fitness members get to skate for free during open skating time. Blank is negotiating with LifeTime to get some financial assistance for grounds keeping, etc. Blank said that he thinks we will have to add a third sheet of ice in the future. We have to be economically viable for 20 years. Wayzata hockey is going to rent 1,600 hours this year, and they buy additional time elsewhere. We'd like to have a few more hours of open skating each week, and the figure skaters are also asking for more time. PRAC Minutes/November 2002 Page 44 7. Commission Presentation Fiemann said that he and Rezabek are both coaches in the Wayzata hockey association. He distributed a facts sheet on the association. It is one of the largest youth associations in the state. There are over 880 boys and girls in the youth program at all levels (K -12th grade). The girls' program is up 17% from last year. They have 200 volunteer coaches registered with USA hockey and Minnesota hockey. They host nine weekend tournaments during the winter, with many of the teams coming from outside the Plymouth area, bringing business to many of the local restaurants, hotels, etc. They purchase 2,900 hours of ice at the Plymouth Ice Center and Wayzata Central Middle School, plus an additional 800 hours elsewhere. Blank thanked Fiemann for his presentation and said that it was good information to have. 8. Staff Communication The next meeting will be on December 12. 9. Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m., at which time several commissioners went on a tour of the Ice Center. City of Plymouth 2003 - 2007 Capital Improvements Program - Year 2003 Park Projects Park Park Park Project Park CIP Planning Park Dedication Dedication Re lacement Community Other Number Project Year and coastrudim Playfields Neighborhood MSA Improvement Funding Total Other Funding Sources Notes Design Trails Parks Funding Find C * Sources Develop new neighborhood park 325,000 325,000 New trails 85,000 85,000 Transfer to park replacement 50,000 22,000 72,000 0 Playground replacement 100,000 100,000 Trail and parking lot repair 75,000 75,000 Land acquisition 10th playfield 1,050,000 450,000 1,500,000 Pave hockey rink -Bass Lake 25,000 25,000 Dog Park 7,500 7,500 Plymouth Creek Park-maint. storage garage 40,000 40,000 Repair old ball fields 20,000 20,000 Skate park/BMX 115,000 115,000 Imperial Hills safety lighting 15,000 15,000 PCC -finish basement 960,000 960,000 Capital Improvement Fund Open space- land acquisition 544,000 544,000 Capital Improvement Fund TOTAL 1,372,500 362,000 195,000 450,000 1,504,000 3,883,500 City of Plymouth Page 1 12/9/2002 City of Plymouth 2003 - 2007 Capital Improvements Program — Year 2004 Park Projects Park Park Park Project Park CIT Planning Park Dedication Dedication Replacement Community Other Number Project Year and comtMetton Playfields Neighborhood MSA Improvemen Funding Total Other Funding Sources Notes Design Trails Parks Funding and (CIF) Sources New trails 85,000 85,000 Park replacement 57,000 24,000 81,000 Land acquisition 10th playfield 500,000 1,500,000 2,000,000 Trail/parking lot repair 75,000 75,000 Playground replacement 100,000 100,000 Warming house replacement — Ridgemount 50,000 50,000 3rd sheet of ice 5,500,000 Includes parking— cost to be split between the City and mutual partners Parking expansion— Greenwood 75,000 75,000 Develop new neighborhood park 3251000 325,000 TOTAL 717,000 349,000 225,000 0 1,500,000 0 8,291,000 City of Plymouth Page 1 12/5/2002 City of Plymouth 2003 - 2007 Capital Improvements Program — Year 2005 Park Projects Park Park Park Project Park CLP Planning Park Dedication Dedication Replacement Community Other Number Project Year and Construction Playfields Neighborhood MSA Improvement Funding Total Other Funding Sources Notes Design Trails Parks Funding Fund (CIF) Sources Trails 85,000 85,000 Park replacement fund 64,000 27,000 91,000 New tennis courts 150,000 150,000 Spray playground 100,000 100,000 Trail & parking lot repair 90,000 90,000 TOTAL 399,000 27,000 90,000 516,000 City of Plymouth Page 1 12/5/2002 City of Plymouth 2003 - 2007 Capital Improvements Program — Year 2006 Park Projects Park Park Park Project Park CIP Planning Park Dedication Dedication Replacement Community Other Number Project Year and Comtmcfion Playfields Neighborhood MSA Improvement Funding Total Other Funding Sources Notes Design Trails Parks Funding Fund (CIF) * Sources Trails 85,000 85,000 Park replacement fund 68,000 27,000 95,000 Trail & parking lot repair 90,000 90,000 TOTAL 153,000 27,000 90,000 270,000 City of Plymouth Page 1 12/5/2002 City of Plymouth 2003 - 2007 Capital Improvements Program — Year 2007 Park Projects Park Park Park Project Park CIP Planning Park Dedication Dedication Replacement Community Other Number Project Year and Construction Playfields Neighborhood MSA Improvement Funding Total Other Funding Sources Notes Design Trails Parks Funding Fund (CIF) * Sources Trails 100,000 100,000 Trails & parking lot repair 90,000 90,000 Transfer to park replacement 75,000 34,000 109,000 TOTAL 175,000 34,000 90,000 299,000 City of Plymouth Page 1 12/5/2002