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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes 01-12-20171 Approved Minutes January 12, 2017 Approved Minutes Park & Recreation Advisory Commission Thursday, January 12, 2017 MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Merrilee Riley, Vice Chair Aaron Vanderwall, Commissioners: Greg Anderson, Tricia DeBleeckere, Michael Swanson, Kipp Wyse MEMBERS ABSENT: Commissioner Dick Burkhardt STAFF PRESENT: Parks & Recreation Director Diane Evans, Deputy Director Barb Northway, Recreation Manager Kari Hemp, Office Support Specialist Sarah Josephs COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES: Councilmember Ned Carroll, Councilmember Jim Davis, Planning Commissioner Jim Kovach GUESTS: Marilyn Sunseri, Calvin Wyse, Glen Waguespack 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Riley called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Commissioner Swanson, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, recommending approval of the December 8, 2016 Park and Recreation Advisory Commission meeting minutes as written. With all members voting in favor, the motion carried. 3. OPEN FORUM: 4. PRESENTATIONS (NON-ACTION ITEMS): 5. NEW BUSINESS (ACTION ITEMS): 5a. 2017 PRAC Work Plan (Action) The PRAC Work Plan is completed on an annual basis as part of the City Code. This year the department will work on accomplishing set goals and completing the strategic plan. Several park plans are scheduled for 2017; Northwest Greenway phase III, installing Crooked Creek Park, renovating East Medicine Lake Park, as well as adding in Northwest Greenway trail heads. Other projects include; PIC ice system replacement, PCC feasibility report, and completing trail gaps. Motion by Commissioner Wyse, seconded by Commissioner DeBleeckere, recommending the approval of the 2017 PRAC Work Plan. With no objection, the motion passed. 5b. 2017 Department Strategic Plan (Action) As part of the CAPRA accreditation process, our department annually completes a Strategic Plan. New projects have been added to this year’s plan such as adding another software component to our new registration software, RecTrac. The plan is very project-based. 2 Approved Minutes January 12, 2017 Chair Riley inquired as to how large of a project the 2030 Comp Plan is to prepare. Director Evans shared that staff have been preparing for the Plan for a year now. A lot of work goes into planning for the next 20 years. Their goal is to be complete by the end of 2017. Motion by Commissioner Anderson, seconded by Vice Chair Vanderwall, recommending the approval of the 2017 Department Strategic Plan. With no objection, the motion passed. 5c. Park Fees (Action) Recreation Manager Kari Hemp was present to share proposed changes to park fees, facility hours and policies. Overall most park fees are proposed to have a 3% increase. Some of the fees have not been increased since 2015. Annually staff compare our park fees with those of similar communities to ensure that we are staying competitive in our fees. Rentals at Bass Lake Playfield Park Building and Parkers Lake Park Building have been restructured from an hourly rental to a half-day and full- day rental. Due to an increase in non-profit rental requests, a resident non-profit rate has been added. Staff are proposing to no longer reserve the Parkers Lake Stage. The stage is hard to rent for events as there is not a rentable shelter available nearby. Vice Chair Wyse inquired as to how long the 3% increase would likely last and if fees would be increased again in 2018. Manager Hemp responded that while fees are reviewed each year to ensure they are comparable to other communities, there is no requirement to increase fees yearly. Commissioner Anderson inquired as to why the baseball/softball/hockey rental rate went from $99 a day to $127 a day. Manager Hemp explained that the increase was made to make those fees consistent with the daily fee for rentals of the soccer/football fields. An increase was also made in the light fees so that they are the same rate regardless of what field it is on. Commissioner DeBleeckere shared that she is supportive of the addition of the non -profit rate. She also asked for clarification regarding why the Parkers Lake Stage would no longer be rented. Manager Hemp answered that currently there is a covered picnic shelter next to the stage, but the shelter is available on a first-come, first-served basis. If a renter was interested in reserving the stage and using the shelter they would have to arrive at the site as early as 5:00 a.m. to secure the site. Chair Riley asked how much revenue would be lost if the stage was not open for reservations. Manager Hemp shared that there were not any rentals at the stage in 2016. The last rental was in 2015. Motion by Vice Chair Wyse, seconded by Commissioner DeBleeckere, recommending the approval of the Park Fees. With no objection, the motion passed. 5d. Northwest Greenway Phase 3 (Action) Stuart Crosby of SRF Consulting presented details on Phase 3 of the Northwest Greenway plan. The original concept of the Northwest Greenway was approved in 2000 as a part of a community comprehensive plan. In 2002 a master plan of the Northwest Greenway was completed. Once complete, the Northwest Greenway will create a linear, multi-purpose, open space. Construction on Phase 1 of the Northwest Greenway began in 2015. Currently railings are being added to the pedestrian bridge that was put in over Vicksburg Lane last year. This bridge will serve as a key link in the trail systems of Phases 2 and 3. 3 Approved Minutes January 12, 2017 Phase 3 will involve creating a boardwalk to connect the recently completed trail with an existing trail on Peony Lane. A second boardwalk will be created on the south side of the wetlands with the intent to circle the Elm Creek Wetlands. A current boardwalk near Cheshire Parkway will be updated from a floating 8’ boardwalk to a solid 12’ vehicle-safe boardwalk. Trail heads will also be installed this year. The project will go before the City Council on February 14th to approve plans to advertise and receive bids. If approved, construction on the project would begin in April. Director Evans shared that the City is still working on securing one more piece of land to ensure a complete trail is made. There is a section of land near the Plymouth Gun Club and a private residence that the City would like to purchase so that there is not a disruption in the trail. Vice Chair Wyse asked how large the piece of land the property still needed is. Director Evans shared that the trail in question would be a 600 yard segment. Approximately 20 to 30 feet of that would overlap private land. Guest Calvin Wyse asked Mr. Crosby how many people will likely use the trail. Mr. Crosby answered that there will be heavy use of the trail once it is fully developed. He expects to see several hundred people using the trail system every day. The trails were purposefully created to connect with several different neighborhoods, as well as, Wayzata High School, Meadow Lake Elementary School, parks and the Plymouth Dog Park. Director Evans added that there will be at least 4 locations along the trail with imbedded trail counters. As people walk across the trail counters we will be able to track not only how many people are walking, but also what direction they are walking. 5e. Plymouth Creek Center Feasibility Plan (Non-Action) Glen Waguespack of HGA was present at the meeting to share highlights of the recent Plymouth Creek Center Feasibility Plan. Several meetings have been held with representatives from those who reserve the Plymouth Creek Center. Members represent City departments: Public Safety, Parks Recreation; Senior Council; City Manager; and Economic Development Manager. During the meetings, representatives discussed general trends in community centers, as well as trends in Plymouth. The Plymouth Creek Center is a 29,000 square foot facility serving a population of 73, 987 people. Compared to other cities this size, our facility is significantly smaller. The group also discussed issues with the current facility, including competing for space between private rentals and recreation programming. Currently there is not a designated fitness classroom or art classroom. Those programs have been held in such rooms as the Plymouth Room (ballroom) or Meeting Rooms. Any changes made to the facility should meet not only current needs, but future needs as well. The overall concept for the Plymouth Creek Center would be to continue serving as a site for bringing the community together, providing a dedicated space for senior clubs, creating a “messy” art room, increasing the size of multi-use spaces, creating a room designated for fitness classes, and connecting the building to the beautiful outdoors. When staff met with the senior clubs, they were very excited for a more comfortable, “home-like” feeling. They were excited about having a place to sit and socialize before/after classes or trips. The first design is budgeted at $23.8 million and would bring the total square feet to 72,828. Project option 1 showed a new path wrapping around the building with designated areas along the path for connection to nature opportunities. The plan also includes relocating the service entry to the west side of the building. A new wrap around lobby adding a center courtyard with a lobby 4 Approved Minutes January 12, 2017 would connect the front entrance area with the fieldhouse in a way that doesn’t crowd around the stairwell. Option 1 would also create new program spaces that would optimize programming needs for current and future growth. The additions would include fitness program rooms on the south side of the facility, a large gym, a multi-purpose gym, and indoor kids play area/structure. The challenges with this option would be with how tight the parking is to the building. The necessary parking lot expansion would also take up all future planned space to account for storm water management. Phasing of the construction would also need to be carefully coordinated. The porch around the ballroom would be expanded for more rentable opportunities. The current front desk would be redirected to face the entrance from the parking lot. Option 2 is a scaled-back version of updates. This option is budgeted at $18.2 million and would bring the facility’s square footage to 55,275. This option would not include the dedicated senior space, kids play gym, and kids gymnasium. There would be more green space to set up a storm water management area or garden feature. The lower level leading to the Millennium Garden would have an expanded screened in porch. This option would meet current needs, but not necessarily future needs. Chair Riley asked if the Black Box Theater and Meeting Room 3 were combined, how many people would that room hold. Would the room be sufficient size to host large conferences or corporate meetings? Director Evans shared that the room would be substantial in size and reservable for large meetings should the Ballroom not be available. Ideally, if there were additional rooms for programs to be run, they would not need to be held in the Ballroom, thus allowing the Ballroom to be open for rentals. Chair Riley next asked if input would be solicited from those who currently don’t use the facility in an effort to find what would draw them into the building. This might provide some outside-of-the- box ideas on what could be created in the Plymouth Creek Center to welcome new users. Glen Waguespack shared that typically in a process like this they will offer an open house during the pre- design period of the renovations. Should the project move forward into a development stage, marketing would be done to solicit feedback and thoughts from users and non-users. Right now the project is still in the “what could be” stage. Commissioner Swanson shared that some may see the focus of the facility to be on rentals and banquets. Since LifeTime Fitness is nearby, the need for more gym space may not seem needed. Commissioner DeBleeckere shared that facilities such as the Maple Maze in Maple Grove have gyms, community rooms, and a play zone. The facility is extremely popular for day usage. Director Evans shared that the availability to offer programming in schools gyms is very limited. Most days we are unable to access the gym until 7:30pm. That eliminates the ability to offer youth programs due to curfew guidelines. The Plymouth Creek Center could become a facility where all of our programs could be housed. Some of the rooms work great for rentals, but not well for programs. We could have the capability to offer youth arts, adult pickleball and senior sports all in one place. Director Evans explained that the facility was not built to be primarily a private rental site. It was built with the purpose of hosting recreational activities and being an area for the community to gather. As a secondary use, and primarily on weekends, the site can be reserved for weddings, parties, and meetings. A gymnasium will allow us to program more sport classes as well as have the flexibility to offer programs at times other than late evening. Commissioner Anderson shared that 5 Approved Minutes January 12, 2017 he appreciated the clarification of the facility’s purpose. The designs shown would meet the needs of programs. Chair Riley expressed that based on the information in the presentation it is clear that we need to increase the size of our facility in order to accommodate programs, as well as stay competitive with nearby communities. Vice Chair Kipp agreed and feels that we need to create a site that will not only meet our needs now, but our needs years down the road. Commissioner DeBleekere shared that she strongly supports a kids gym/play area and feels it would make the facility more family friendly. There would be the additional possibility of offering birthday parties in the kid’s gym area. Commissioner Vanderwall shared that he follows the trends in sports pretty closely as part of his profession. The interactive youth play areas are increasingly popular. He also sees the need for creating more educational spaces and meeting rooms. Many teams have a difficult time finding a meeting place for team meetings and this would provide more options. Commissioner Swanson asked why a second dome was not considered as an option during renovation. Director Evans shared that considerations have been made about putting a dome over one of the tennis courts so that it can be used in winter months. The challenge with adding an additional fieldhouse would be the large cost. By adding more gym space, those classes and rentals can still take place and it would cost less to build those options. We currently reserve some gym space at the local schools, but we have very limited access due to later school hours. Council Member Carroll pointed out that the current design of the building has lots of congestion around the stairwell. Would there be an option to move the stairwell along the outside wall to open up the lobby space in the middle? Mr. Waguespack said that it would be feasible to move the stairwell to a different part of the building. The consultants will review plans and develop an option with the stairs in a new location. Vice Chair Wyse asked if any of the plans would involve a change in the lower level access between the PCC and the Fieldhouse. Director Evans answered that that part of the facility would remain intact. The area around the entrance would be updated, but the revolving door would remain. Director Evans explained that the Feasibility Plan was created to meet current and future community needs. Several options were created based on meeting those needs. City Council has not yet approved the upgrade of the building, just directed staff to discover the options available and what the costs would be. 6. COMMISSIONER/STAFF UPDATE Staff are working hard to prepare for the upcoming Fire & Ice event on Saturday, February 4 at Parkers Lake Park. Registration is now open for the Plymouth Home Expo and Primavera Art Fair. Registration for the New Year’s Eve event was very low this year. There were less than 40 individuals/7 families registered to attend. Due to low pre-sale numbers the event was cancelled. The new registration software, RecTrac, was launched on December 7 with the opening of Winter/Spring registration. Over $100,000 was processed on the first day. Due to high demand and web traffic, the website was down for portions of the morning. Fire & Ice in 2018 will need to move to a different weekend due to the Super Bowl being hosted in Minneapolis the same weekend. Plymouth Parks & Recreation relies on assistance from Plymouth Police during the event. Officers will be instead assigned downtown to help with events that Saturday. Commissioner Swanson expressed that it would be nice to have 6 Approved Minutes January 12, 2017 national publicity of the event if it were kept on the same weekend. National networks typically cover local events taking place in the host-city the weekend of the Super Bowl. Commissioners will be selecting the 2017 Chair and Vice Chair at the February PRAC meeting. 7. ADJOURNMENT Motion by DeBleeckere, seconded by Commissioner Vanderwall, recommending adjournment of the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission meeting. With no objection, Chair Riley adjourned the meeting at 9:18 p.m.