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HomeMy WebLinkAboutArts Commission - 10/08/2007 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE ARTS & CULTURE COMMISSION MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2007 7:00 P.M., CITY CENTER 8080 MITCHELL ROAD PRAIRIE ROOM COMMISSION MEMBERS: Ann Rorem, Chair; Heather Olson, Vice Chair: Kelly Brandon, Karen Busack, Farida Kathawalla, Rita McCormick, Steve Mosow COMMISSION STAFF: Sandy Werts, Staff Liaison Katie Hood, Recording Secretary SUPPORT STAFF: Laurie Obiazor, Manager of Recreation Services I. ROLL CALL Rorem called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Commissioners Busack and Kathawalla were excused. Commissioner McCormick was absent. Kristi Shelach, Jessie, Anna Lanners, Todd Hayen, and Glenn Hayen were visiting for a class at school. Shannon Elsenpeter and Tina Breidenbach were in attendance to report on the Community Band. Jay Lotthammer was in attendance to receive feedback concerning the 2008-2009 proposed budget. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Introduction of Student Commission Member was removed from I. ROLL CALL. D. Spontaneous Store Fronts, E. Art Crawl, G. Art Hunt, and F. Group Tickets were added to V. OLD BUSINESS. Change of the November Meeting Date was added to VII. REPORTS OF STAFF AND COMMISSIONERS. MOTION: Olson moved, seconded by Mosow, to approve the agenda as revised. Motion carried 4-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 10, 2007 MEETING On page 3, IV. EDEN PRAIRIE PLAYERS and COMMUNITY BAND UPDATE, A. UPDATE ON CURRENT PROJECTS OF THE EDEN PRAIRIE PLAYERS, second paragraph change "lakes Women" to "Jake's Women". On page 3, V. OLD BUSINESS, A. REVISION OF ART RESOURCES DIRECTORY change "The Art Resources Directory should be out at the end of the month." to " The Eden Prairie Resident's Guide, including the Art Resources Directory, should be out at the end of the month.". On page 4, VI. NEW BUSINESS, A. 2008-2009 BUDGET PROPOSAL, first paragraph, last sentence change "preformed" to "performed". The fourth paragraph, first sentence change "or" to "of". The fifth paragraph first sentence change "sleeping" to "bedroom". ARTS & CULTURE COMMISSION MINUTES October 8, 2007 Page 2 On page 5, VI. NEW BUSINESS, B. PRESENTATION TO CITY COUNCIL — October 2, seventh sentence change "meet" to "meeting". On page 5, D. ART CRAWL REPORT, second paragraph, sixth sentence change "there 20 artists" to "there were 20 artists". On page 5, D. Art Crawl, second paragraph change "were" to "was". On page 6, E. NEW PROGRAM IDEAS, third paragraph, second sentence change "participates" to "participants". In the sixth paragraph, second sentence change "and" to "an". On page 7, VIL REPORTS OF STAFF AND COMMISSIONERS, A. INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL REPORT tenth sentence change "preferred site for the 2008 International Festival because Staring Lake will not be available due to the reconstruction of the amphitheater." To "preferred site, as opposed to Purgatory Creek, for the 2008 International Festival because Staring Lake will not be available due to the reconstruction of the amphitheater and Purgatory Creek is too windy, which makes it difficult for vendors. On page 7, VIIL PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS, A. UPCOMING EVENTS, Sunbonnet Day change "Werts stated the day was beautiful and there was great turnout." To "alerts stated the day was beautiful and there was a great turnout. The attendance was around 500 people." MOTION: Mosow moved, seconded by Olson, to approve the minutes of the Arts and Culture Commission meeting held on October 8, 2007, as published and amended. Motion carried 4-0. IV. EDEN PRAIRIE PLAYERS and COMMUNITY BAND UPDATE A. UPDATE ON CURRENT PROJECTS OF THE EDEN PRAIRIE PLAYERS Werts stated she was pleased with the turnout for A Collection of One Acts. The quality of the performances was excellent. There was a great letter to the editor in-between the performance dates. A grant application is being submitted to the Eden Prairie Foundation to secure funds for lighting and sound at the Riley-Jacques Barn. The Eden Prairie Players are getting a proposal for what they would need at the barn for lighting and sound. Werts stated the auditions for the winter play will be November 12 and 13, with callbacks on November 15. Werts stated the summer show will be sponsored by St. Andrew Lutheran Church. The show will be a Broadway review. The committee is looking for new members. ARTS & CULTURE COMMISSION MINUTES October 8, 2007 Page 3 B. UPDATE ON CURRENT PROJECTS OF COMMU2NITY BAND Elsenpeter stated this is her last meeting. Breidenbach will be representing for the band starting at the November meeting. Elsenpeter stated there are 5 new players. The band is short on Tuba players. If anyone knows someone interested in playing in the band, send them to the band. The band will be traveling to Greece next summer. The band is low in Trumpet and low brass players for the trip. Breidenbach stated the Jazz band will play on November 30. The Jazz band will be getting new uniforms. The uniform will consist of new shirts. The uniform will be formal for the winter, but will transition for year round wear. Hopefully, the uniform style will be finalized by the end of the week. The band is looking for locations, for both the band and jazz band, to play during 2008. There are around 50 people in the band and around 20 in the Jazz band. The winter concert is December 9, at the Eden Prairie High School. V. OLD BUSINESS A. OCTOBER 2 CITY COUNCIL PRESENTATION Werts distributed a copy of the October 2 City Council PowerPoint Presentation. Werts stated Rorem presented the PowerPoint Presentation. Olson stated the presentation was very strong in numbers of citizens who are using the services. The presentation included a statement on community impact of the arts. The slide stated 15,000 people participated in the Arts in Eden Prairie during 2006, representing 25 percent of the community. B. 2008 - 2009 BUDGET PROPOSAL Werts distributed a memo about the 2008/2009 Proposed Budget Reduction which included the Budget Repositioning Chart. The memo defines Budget Version 1 and 2. Budget Version 1 includes a 3.5 percent increase for 2008 and a 3.0 percent increase for 2009. Budget Version 2 begins the same as Budget Version 1, but includes a $70,000 decrease in the Recreation section of the Parks and Recreation budget. The Budget Repositioning Chart was compiled to list where potential cuts could be made to the budget resulting in a $70,000 decrease in the budget. Lotthammer stated 2007 was the first year the city had a Budget Advisory Committee. The Budget Advisory Committee had to work very fast to achieve their goals. In hindsight, the speed the Budget Advisory Committee had to work under may not have been the best for evaluating the budget. In September, there was a levy, approved by City Council based on the Version 1 budget. The budget was then in the hands of the City Council. The increases in the 2008 and 2009 budget, according to Version 1, are driven by people cost, including the cost of living. With the increases in the 2008 and 2009 budget, ARTS & CULTURE COMMISSION MINUTES October 8, 2007 Page 4 similar programs can be supported. Budget Version 1 is a budget where we keep doing what we're doing, but with tweaks. The City Manager received feedback from the City Council and the Budget Advisory Commission, and then asked the groups to go back and evaluate their budgets. This resulted in the Parks and Recreation talking about reducing the equivalent of 1 Full Time Equivalent(FTE) or $70,000. The cuts are not meant to eliminate programs, but reduce the time of the experience. The participants will still be able have the same experience, only with less time for the experience. Lotthammer stated the Arts & Culture Commission can give feedback to the City Council on the proposed budget, including the Budget Repositioning Chart. City Staff helped to identify how the cuts could be made to the budget. The Parks commission was offended by the Budget Advisory Commission, due to the short timeline. The City Council will meet on October 16 at 4 pm with the intent to focus on the budget. The City Council will have a special meeting on October 30 to focus on budget discussions. Version 3, an additional budget version since Version 1 and Version 2 were established, consists of$22,000 of additional reductions. Version 3 applies to all of the departments. The additional cuts could be made by reducing the activities at the July 4 event, by Parks Maintenance closing several parks buildings, and not having rink attendants. The Arts & Culture Commission has the opportunity to give comments to the City Council by having the comments listed in the minutes. The City Council receives the minutes. The Commission members could also contact the City Council or attend a City Council meeting. The City Council will not vote at their November meeting. The hope is to not need much discussion on the budget and to have come to a prior agreement. Olson asked about the fourth item in the Budget Repositioning 2008-2009 chart of adding an intern. Werts stated the additional hours were to increase a part time staff member's hours by 2 hours/week. The additional hours were not for an intern. Olson asked about the Cemetery and Mystery Tour. Werts stated the Cemetery and Mystery Tour only cost staff time. They are mainly self supporting activities. Rorem asked if the budget would be reviewed next year considering the closure of the Staring Lake Amphitheatre during 2008. The closure could impact attendance. Lotthammer stated the Staring Lake Amphitheatre closure should be taken into account. It was also noted, the Budget Advisory did not go into this amount of detail. The Budget Advisory reviewed items at a higher level. ARTS & CULTURE COMMISSION MINUTES October 8, 2007 Page 5 Rorem asked about the open swimming hours and why the hours changed to 1-3 pm. It was also noted school children are not home by this time. Lotthammer stated the opening of the new Community Center was taken into account. The change in hours may result in more swimmers at the Community Center. Rorem asked about the proposed change in the reduction of hours for the Outdoor Skating Rinks and Warming Houses. Lotthammer stated the amount of time for the experience will be smaller, but there will still be the overall experience for the participants. Werts stated the budget of Arts & Culture is a part of the Parks and Recreation budget. Lotthammer stated the Arts & Culture Commission could choose to do nothing, make a motion, or recommend a member of the commission attend the City Council Meeting. Werts stated the last statement in the PowerPoint presentation could be used as part of a motion. Werts stated with the reduction of the budget, the money will never go back into the budget in a future year. Lotthammer stated with the first budget review concerning housing, many people attended the City Council meeting. Around 5-10 people spoke at the City Council meetings. Due to the community voice, some of the proposed changes may not happen. Mosow proposed a motion to the Arts & Culture Commission stating after consideration of cuts this commission stands by the budget as originally proposed and is not is support of the cuts as proposed. The motion as written was not passed by the Arts & Culture Commission. The motion was rewritten to state the following: Whereas, Art and Cultural programs are important to the future viability and health of our community. After consideration of the cuts this commission stands by the Arts & Culture budget as originally proposed and is not in support of any cuts to the Arts & Culture budget. And furthermore, the commission does not agree with the 2008-2009 citywide budget cuts in there entirety. MOTION: Mosow moved, seconded by Olson, to approve the amended motion. Motion carried 4-0 C. ART RESOURCE DIRECTORY Werts distributed the new Eden Prairie Residents Guide, which contains the Arts Resource Directory. In the Eden Prairie Residents Guide, there are a lot of great pictures of the community. Brandon stated there are old email addresses listed in the Arts Resource Directory. The email addresses are probably for people who didn't return messages. ARTS & CULTURE COMMISSION MINUTES October 8, 2007 Page 6 D. SPONTANEOUS STORE FRONT Olson stated items D. — G. were added to the agenda to keep them in discussion. Knowing the financial situation there probably isn't any action to be taken. Once the budget is decided on, then a decision could be made. Olson asked if there was one idea, other than the Group Rate Tickets, the group would like to try. Mosow stated the Art Crawl could be a good activity to try and could be combined with another activity. Werts stated it wasn't known if there was a cost to the Art Hunt held by St. Louis Park. The other question is if there were prizes other than the small piece of art the participants found. Rorem stated the Art Hunt could be combined with Schooner Days. Werts Stated the Art Hunt could be combined with Arts and Antiques. Werts stated Spontaneous Store Front, Art Crawl, Group Rate Tickets, and Art Hunt can be put on the list of items to discuss for the 2008 goals. Olson asked if the bands charge to perform at the various locations. Werts stated the bands charge at the locations they can. Werts stated Eden Prairie has to pay the conductor for their time, if the band does not get paid for their performance. E. ART CRAWL Item discussed during D. SPONTANEOUS STORE FRONT. F. GROUP RATE TICKETS Item discussed during D. SPONTANEOUS STORE FRONT. G. ART HUNT Item discussed during D. SPONTANEOUS STORE FRONT. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. CHANGE OF NOVEMBER MEETING DATE Werts stated the Eden Prairie Arts & Culture Commission needs to change the November meeting due to November 12 being a holiday. Werts suggested November 5 or 19. The Arts & Culture Commission did not have objections to changing the meeting to November 5, 2007. VII. REPORTS OF STAFF AND COMMISSIONERS A. CITY AND SCHOOL FACILITY USE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ARTS & CULTURE COMMISSION MINUTES October 8, 2007 Page 7 Mosow has been attending the City and School Facility Use Advisory Committee twice a year. Most of the conversations are on fields and artificial turf. Mosow discussed the presentation Rorem gave at the October 2 City Council meeting. VIII. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS A. UPCOMING EVENTS 1. Cemetery Walk Werts distributed a flier for the Cemetery Walk. Werts stated the Cemetery Walk was full last week, so another bus was added to the activity. Each bus will drive to a cemetery. The buses will switch locations during the event. Werts will be asking for volunteers to set out luminaries for the Cemetery Walk, in SLIC (Students Learning In Community), at the Eden Prairie High School. Olson asked why there is a rise in attendance. Werts stated the Cemetery Walk was listed in the Eden Prairie newspaper as one of the ten best things in Eden Prairie. Werts stated the Cemetery Walk isn't spooky and is respectful. Werts stated there is an age requirement because young children don't understand the people are actors. B. ART ON CITY WALLS 1. October—Margaret Chach Trodahl - Watercolor IX. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Olson moved, seconded by Mosow, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 4-0. Rorem adjourned the meeting at 8:25 p.m.. The next meeting will be on November 5, 2007.