Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks and Recreation - 10/07/2002 APPROVED MINUTES PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2002 7:00 P.M. City Center Council Chambers COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: Dick Brown, Vice-Chair, Rob Barrett, Jeffrey Gerst, David Larson, Bruce Schaepe, Trisha Swanson, Kim Teaver and Philip Wright COMMISSION MEMBERS ABSENT: Chair Munna Yasiri COMMISSION STAFF PRESENT: Bob Lambert, Director of Parks and Recreation Services; Laurie Obiazor, Manager of Recreation Services; Lyndell Frey, Community Center Manager; Erick Edhlund, Ice Arena& Concession Coordinator; Bob Lanzi, Athletic Program Coordinator and Carol Pelzel, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order by Vice-Chair Brown at 7:00 p.m. A. Resisnation of Therese Benkowski Brown reported that Benkowski has resigned from the Commission because of moving from the City. B. Appointment of Bruce Schaepe Brown welcomed Bruce Schaepe who will be replacing Benkowski. C. Introductions An updated roster of Commission members and their addresses was included with the agenda material. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Barrett asked that adding sand at the Riley Lake volley ball court be added under New Business. Motion: Gerst moved, Larson seconded, to approve the agenda as amended. The motion carried 8-0. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION October 7, 2002 Page 2 III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion: Gerst moved, Swanson seconded, to approve the August 5, 2002, minutes as presented. The motion carried, 6-0-2 with Teaver and Schaepe abstaining because of absence from that meeting. IV. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS A. Off-Leash Doi Park Petition Lambert explained that the City has received a request that they consider having an area within the park system that would accommodate dogs running off-leash. Libby Hargrove and Cheryl Loose did request this Commission to consider evaluating City owned sites within the park system for designation as off-leash dog parks. Lambert said he talked to Hargrove and he suggested that they proceed with the process. Lambert said Staff is asking that the Commission authorize an ad hoc committee to gather information for an off-leash dog park and to approve the Charter Statement included in the agenda material. The ad hoc committee would evaluate potential sites in the City as well as the cost to accommodate a designated off-leash area and the possible impact on adjacent properties. Barrett questioned if this Commission had agreed to proceed with this park. Lambert responded that is what the Commission is being asked to do this evening. Staff is recommending that they proceed and have identified three sites that might work. The ad hoc committee will need to evaluate the pros and cons of each site. If this recommendation is approved this evening,he will contact Hargrove and ask that she provide them with 5 or 6 names of citizens to be appointed to this ad hoc committee. This Commission will make the appointments at their next meeting. Once this Commission is comfortable with the ad hoc committee's recommendation they will forward it to the City Council. City staff is recommending that the ad hoc committee membership consist of one member from this Commission and four citizens at-large. Brown asked if any member of the Commission would be willing to serve on the ad hoc committee. Staff is anticipating no more than two or three meetings. Larson said he would volunteer to serve on the committee. Lambert pointed out that this item is in the City's Park and Open Space Plan, which is being updated. There are no designated sites in that plan but it does address the need for an off-leash dog park. Motion: Brown moved, Wright seconded, to appoint an ad hoc committee to gather information for an off-leash dog park and to approve the Charter Statement which outlines their responsibilities to evaluate potential sites that would accommodate a designated off- leash area within the park system. The motion carried, 8-0. David Larson will serve on the committee as the Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission representative. B. Request to Consider an 18-Hole Disc Golf Course at Cedar Hills Neighborhood Park PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION October 7, 2002 Page 3 Lambert reported that the City was approached a number of years ago by high school students requesting an 18-hole disc golf course. This request resulted in a 9-hole course at Starring Lake Park to give the City an opportunity to see how much interest there was in disc golf. Staff has since determined that there is a lot of interest in this activity. Since that time, an 18-hole disc golf course was developed at Bryant Lake Regional Park, however, there is a fee to enter that park which discourages some users. Lambert explained the City is negotiating with the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) to use some of their property for a City park. This area is the former Cedar Hills golf course and could be considered for an 18-hole disc golf course. They are looking at acquiring 42 acres through a long-term lease through MAC. This site will also be evaluated for the off-leash dog park. Lambert introduced Lyle Jensen, former president of the Minnesota Disc Golf Association and an Eden Prairie resident. In response to a question from Barrett, Jensen explained that the course at Bryant Lake Park is 12 holes and has been redesigned twice because of issues with surrounding neighbors. The admission fee to the park is $5 a day and $25 or$28 for a seasonal pass. There currently is no disc golf course in the west or southern suburbs that is longer than 12 holes. Jensen stated that disc golf has been successful beyond anyone's imagination. The playing season runs from April to when the snow falls. Jensen introduced members of the Eden Prairie High School Development Team. They are proposing should the City proceed with leasing of the Cedar Hills site they consider using it for an 18-hole disc golf course. Ashland Cameron, a senior at Eden Prairie High School, explained that he is representing the student body and why another disc golf course is needed in the City. He explained that the Starring Lake course is relatively short and only 9 holes. Starring Lake is landlocked which does not allow for expansion of the existing course. They need a longer and more challenging course. The Bryant Lake Park is a type of pay for play course and this does discourage people from using the course. Cameron said that disc sports are being introduced in Eden Prairie physical education classes and is becoming very popular. He further explained that they are asking the City to consider using Cedar Hills as the site for an 18-hole course because of the size of the development. The natural terrain of Cedar Hills would be excellent for a disc course and would not require many changes to the environment. The course could be designed in concert with other proposed recreational activities in this area. Wright questioned how many people use the existing course and if there is a problem with vandalism. Jensen responded that it takes about an hour and fifteen minutes to go through the 9-hole course and an hour and a half if it is backed up. They could have 45 to 50 people in an hour. Lambert said that the only vandalism they have had is with directional signs. They have also had some issues with trash but this may be because of the location of the course. There are no trash containers on the lower holes because there is no way to get trucks in to pick up the trash. Swanson asked if this is a competitive sport. Cameron responded that it could be both competitive or recreational. Swanson asked if Eden Prairie residents are competing at a high level. Jensen answered yes. This proposal would be good for that PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION October 7, 2002 Page 4 because of the open architecture. It would be designed as a recreational facility that could fulfill aspirations of those residents who want to be better. Swanson questioned if this is a low maintenance facility. Jensen explained that once the course is in it is low maintenance. The natural terrain of the Cedar Hills site would make it a beautiful facility. No brush removal would be required. Brown asked if both young people and old people can play at the same time. Cameron answered that they definitely could. Wright asked if they were to move forward with the 18-hole course, would the 9-hole course be eliminated. Lambert said there would be no reason to eliminate the 9-hole. Wright suggested that the dog park be located where the 9-hole course now exists. Lambert indicated that this would not be possible because of cross-country ski trails that exist there. The dog park would have to be fenced and this would be a problem with the trails. In response to a question from Swanson, Lambert explained that Hennepin Parks paid for the Bryant Lake course. Barrett said it is his understanding that 7,200 linear feet would be needed for the course. He asked how much of the park would be taken up by this facility. Lambert responded that the design would allow the City to develop neighborhood park facilities. There could be a trail for the general public to walk through the course. The course would be designed around the trail. Barrett asked if they know how many of the course users are Eden Prairie residents and how many are visitors. Jensen said he was not sure but thought Eden Prairie and Chaska residents use the facility. There are so many bigger and better courses east of the City. Teaver asked how the Starring Lake course compares to other courses. Cameron said that users have said that Starring Lake is one of the top listed courses in the State. Teaver said that since the High School cross-country team uses the current park, would it be possible to use the new park for cross-country training in the winter. Lambert said that is a possibility,however,he is not sure there is enough room to develop a course that would interest them. Gerst asked if erosion would be a problem with the proposed course. Jensen said there are ways to design around that. Motion: Barrett moved, Gerst seconded, to consider the request to develop an 18-hole disc golf course at the proposed Cedar Hills Neighborhood Park after the City has completed negotiations with the Metropolitan Airports Commission and confirmed a long-term lease of this property. The motion carried, 8-0. V. OLD BUSINESS VI. NEW BUSINESS A. Community Center Improvement Study Lambert reported that when the City did the Community Forum and Survey one of the items that received strong consideration was the need for improvements to the Community Center. Staff went through the review process with the City Council and the Council directed staff to evaluate all of the community needs prior to requesting the Council to support any particular need. They need to give the citizens the opportunity to provide input and then decide the PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION October 7, 2002 Page 5 priorities. If there is going to be a referendum, they need to consider which items are to be included in that referendum. Staff is recommending that the Commission appoint an ad hoc committee to work with City staff and a consultant to evaluate what improvements would be supported by residents and the cost for those improvements. Within the last year a Third Rink Task Force has reported to the City Council, an Athletic Programs Task Force has reviewed needs and reported to the Council and an Outdoor Pool Committee is currently evaluating sites and will be making a recommendation to the Council by the end of the year. A recommendation for improvements to the Community Center was the remaining issue that had general strong support for consideration. Lambert explained that the City has received a number of recommendations from users over the years. The depth of water for the use of starting blocks in competitive pools has been an issue with the pool at the Community Center. The committee should evaluate the feasibility and cost to make the necessary revisions to the pool to allow the School District to host competitive swim meets at this facility in the future. The committee would make recommendations to this Commission who would in turn forward their recommendation to the City Council. Lambert said that Staff is asking this Commission to approve the Charter Statement of an ad hoc committee and to authorize advertising for citizens to serve on this committee. Membership of the ad hoc committee would consist of two members of the Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission; three citizens at-large; one representative of School District 272; one representative of the Foxjet Swim Club; one representative of the Hockey Association and one representative of the Figure Skating Club. Lambert said it is their intent to have a consultant on board and ready to start the process in November. Work of the committee may take three to four months. Brown asked how the depth of the present pool could be increased. Lambert responded that it is quite a project and would require jack hammering the existing bottom of the pool. A pool consultant thought this could be accomplished in three months. Motion: Larson moved, Wright seconded, to approve the Charter Statement which outlines the responsibilities of an ad hoc committee that will evaluate the improvements necessary at the Community Center. The motion carried, 8-0. Larson pointed out that the Charter Statement recommends that two members from this Commission serve on the committee and he suggested that members of this Commission think about serving on the committee. Brown said he would like to see three members of this Commission serve on the committee. Swanson said she would be interested in serving on the Committee and Barrett said he would like to think about serving on the committee. The Commission agreed that appointments to the committee would be made at the next meeting. B. 2002-2005 Pepsi Contract Frey reported that the Eden Prairie Community Center staff recently completed the bid process for the exclusive beverage contract at the Community Center. Three vendors PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION October 7, 2002 Page 6 submitted proposals for this three-year contract. Staff is recommending that Pepsi-Cola be awarded the bid. Pepsi is the current provider and is willing to make a yearly cash payment of$7,250 for a total of$21,750. Frey said they have had a good working relationship with Pepsi and staff is recommending that they go with Pepsi for the beverage contract at the Community Center. Frey indicated that a summary of the bids received was included in the agenda material. Teaver said with regard to advertising, it was her understanding that the City shied away from placing names on scoreboards for advertising purposes. Frey explained that five years ago Pepsi won the contract and donated $25,000 over a five-year period and part of that funding was advertising that went into the Community Center. Lambert pointed out that they have consistently talked about not supporting requests for putting advertising on outfield fences or buildings in the park system. There is a different standard for inside the Community Center. The Community Center is one facility where the City charges to use it and their goal is to try and meet their operating costs. Motion: Gerst moved, Teaver seconded, to approve the contract with Pepsi-Cola for the Eden Prairie Community Center as recommended by Staff and based on their memo included in the October 7 agenda material. The motion carried, 8-0. C. Increases Proposed to the Community Center Daily Use Fee and Annual Membership Fee for 2003 Frey explained that the last time the membership fees and the daily use fees for the Community Center were increased was in 1999. Staff did compare proposed rates to those of 12 other city-based community centers and believes the proposed rates to be within fair market value for other "like facilities". He explained that their goal is to try to meet operating costs,however, they do want to provide services to residents at an affordable price. Frey pointed out that the new rate for non-resident Adults (19-61) should be $220 for 2003, not $210 as shown on the information included in the agenda material. Frey explained that the two major increases they are looking at is an increase in the senior citizen rate from$80 to $100. Also, the senior daily use rate is being increased from$2 to $3. The $3 rate would be the same as the youth rate while the adult rate is $3.50. Frey said Staff is recommending that the Family skate rate be eliminated for 2003. Of the 12 facilities surveyed, only one facility has a family skate rate. It is $10 and is only available for up to four people. Those facilities have realized it difficult to administer a"fair" family rate. Swanson asked how many adult members the Community Center has. Frey responded that there are 450 members or approximately 1,300 people. The largest number are households for a rate of$230. Wright said he feels these rates are relatively low. He asked if insurance rates or other operating costs have increased. Frey explained that the insurance is included in the City's policy. Operating costs have increased, however, it is their intention to provide services to residents at an affordable price PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION October 7, 2002 Page 7 Barrett said he was opposed to eliminating the family swimming and skating rate. He said there must be a better way to address the problems associated with this fee. Barrett said he feels this is used by a lot of the residents and the proposed change would double the cost for a family. Frey said it has been difficult to determine if a participant is a family member or not. Lambert suggested that they change the fee to $10 for a maximum of four people. He also suggested they try this for a year to see if it works. The Commission agreed that the Family Daily Use Fee for Swimming and Skating for 2003 should not be eliminated but should be $10 for a maximum of four people. Motion: Barrett moved, Teaver seconded, to increase the Annual Membership Fees and Daily Use Fees as listed and amended effective January 1, 2003. The motion carried, 8-0. D. Swimming Lesson Program Provider Obiazor explained that since the agenda information was prepared, Staff has a different position on the swimming lesson program provider and asked that the Commission table this item. Motion: Gerst moved, Barrett seconded, to table consideration of the Swimming Lesson Program Provider. The motion carried, 8-0. E. Request to Cancel Open Skate Times Edlund explained that in August the Hockey Association asked to add another hockey tournament at the Community Center. They currently hold three tournaments and the additional tournament would be added in December before the Christmas holiday. In order to accommodate this request it would be necessary to cancel open skate sessions. The additional tournament would increase ice revenue and concessions revenue as well as convenience tournament officials, tournament staff,parents and players. Staff is requesting that open skating sessions be canceled on December 20 at 7:30 p.m. and December 21 at 6:30 p.m. to accommodate the tournament. Barrett asked how many people would be affected by the canceled skating sessions. Edlund responded that approximately 40 to 50 people would be affected. Staff feels by canceling the evening sessions less people would be affected. Swanson asked if this is a one-time cancellation and why it was necessary to have this Commission's approval to cancel open skating. Lambert explained that when the City Council approved the referendum for the Community Center the Council committed that this is a facility to provide an opportunity for all residents to skate and swim and not just for certain organizations. They committed to more open swimming and skating than any other Community Center. Staff does not have the authority to cancel open skating for tournaments. This Commission must approve the cancellation of the skate sessions. Lambert said they must also send a message to the Hockey Association that there are plenty of other times to run tournaments and they don't need to take open skating times. He said he feels they should support Staff's recommendation but PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION October 7, 2002 Page 8 they need to make sure the Hockey Association understands that they will not always make arrangements for them to hold additional tournaments. Should they continue to do that, they will lose community support. Lambert said this is a one-time event. Motion: Larson moved, Gerst seconded, to cancel the public open skating sessions on the dates and times of December 20, 2002, at 7:30 p.m. and December 21, 2002, at 6:30 p.m. to accommodate the request by the Eden Prairie Hockey Association to add a hockey tournament this December. The motion carried, 6-2 with Wright and Barrett voting nay. F. Proposed Chance to the Recosnition Program for Eden Prairie Youth Athletic Associations Lanzi explained that staff is requesting to discontinue the current format for the appreciation dinner for the Athletic Association. For the first few years this was a very successful event. Throughout the years they have noticed a significant decrease in attendance. Over the past years attendance has been down to approximately 45 people. A survey was sent out to 13 associations looking for alternative recognition programs and only 4 of the 13 responded. Lanzi said staff feels it is important to honor these athletic associations and they want to acknowledge them. Staff is recommending that they try a different format of showing appreciation to the athletic associations by having a City staff liaison attend a board meeting and present the board with a verbal appreciation and a party sub sandwich or pizza. Motion: Gerst moved, Wright seconded, to discontinue the appreciation dinner for the Eden Prairie Youth Athletic Associations and replace the dinner with an alternative recognition program effective November 1, 2002. The motion carried, 8-0. G. Additional Sand for Riley Lake Volleyball Court Barrett said there are four volleyball courts at Riley Lake that are very short on sand. He asked how they can get additional sand added to these courts. Lanzi said he will refer this request to the City's maintenance staff. With all of the heavy rain they have lost a lot of sand at all of the courts. The courts will also need to be regroomed. Schaepe said he is also on a volleyball league and games had to be cancelled because the courts were too wet. He asked if there is anyway to improve the drainage on these courts. Lanzi responded that they have had heavy rains this past year and it takes a day or so for the courts to dry out. There are tiles in the courts at Riley Lake. These tiles may be clogged and he will have maintenance staff look at that. VII. REPORTS OF STAFF A. Director of Parks and Recreation 1. Status of the Purgatory Creek Recreation Area Phase One Improvements PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION October 7, 2002 Page 9 Lambert reported that information regarding the Purgatory Creek Recreation improvements was included with the agenda material. This report provides the Commission with an update of the development process and the funding and cost for this project. Schaepe asked if a report could be provided to the Commission at the next meeting regarding the status of Round Lake treatments. Lambert stated that generally it is November before they get a report from Barr Engineering. As soon as that report is available he will provide it to this Commission. V. ADJOURNMENT Motion: Swanson moved, Schaepe seconded, to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m. The motion carried 8-0.