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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks and Recreation - 09/26/2000 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE COMMUNITY PROGRAM BOARD TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2000 7:00 P.M., CITY CENTER City Council Chambers 8080 Mitchell Road BOARD MEMBERS: Chair Munna Yasiri, Harry Davis, Jr., Dick Brown, Kim Teaver, Harry Moran and Therese Benkowski BOARD STAFF: Chris Enger, City Manager; Natalie Swaggert, Management Liaison; Laurie Obiazor, Staff Liaison; and Carol Pelzel, Recording Secretary SUPPORT STAFF: Bob Lambert, Director of Parks and Recreation Services and Tria Mann, Arts and Special Events Coordinator II. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chair Yasiri called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. Board members present included Munna Yasiri, Dick Brown, Harry Davis, Jr. and Harry Moran. Board members absent were Therese Benkowski and Kim Teaver. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chair Yasiri indicated that there were three additions to the agenda. Item IV. Old Business should include Board positions. Under New Business, Board member report on the bus tour should be added and staffs report on a teen center proposal should be added under Item VI. Reports of Staff. MOTION: Brown moved, seconded by Davis, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried, 3-0. III. APPROVAL OF AUGUST 22, 2000 MINUTES MOTION: Brown moved, seconded by Davis, to approve the August 22, 2000, minutes as published. The motion carried, 3-0. IV. OLD BUSINESS A. Board Positions Chair Yasiri announced that Board member Brown has been appointed as Vice- Chair to the Community Program Board replacing Mary Cofer who stepped down from the Board. Yasiri explained that the open position on this Board has been advertised and it is anticipated that that position will be filled by November. Community Program Board September 26, 2000 Page 2 B. Review and Recommend Skateboard Park Obiazor explained that at the Board's August meeting Bob Lambert discussed a proposed skateboard park in Eden Prairie. At that meeting the Board directed staff to come back with additional information on safety issues and legal considerations and to also investigate establishing a skateboard association for Eden Prairie. Obiazor introduced Bob Lambert stating that he is present to address those issues brought up at the August meeting. Bob Lambert, Director of Parks and Recreation Services, explained that additional information regarding the skateboard park was included in the Board's agenda. This information included literature from the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust regarding legal considerations and safety with regard to the skateboard park. Lambert explained that the Board also asked staff to look into developing a skateboard association in the City. Youth athletic associations in the City today are initiated by parents and run by those parents. The City does not have anything to do with them other than to provide the facility. The City could provide lessons on skateboard safety and could give parents the opportunity to get together to discuss a skateboard association being organized by the parents and/or participants. Lambert presented a layout of the proposed skateboard park. He explained that staff is recommending that the skateboard park be developed within the park system and funded from cash park fees. The proposed configuration would be the same size as the existing park located in Chanhassen. Staff is also recommending that$35,000 be dedicated to this site with $10,000 for site preparation and $25,000 for equipment. Davis asked what height the equipment would be at. He pointed out that liability depends on the height of the equipment. Lambert responded that any equipment over 36" would require a fence, supervision and additional insurance. The proposed park would be a low-level "Tier I"park, less than 36" in height. Brown indicated that he did talk to the skate park managers in Brooklyn Park and Chanhassen. The Chanhassen site is very popular with all ages. They have experienced minimum injuries and have found that the older kids work with the younger ones. They require that helmets are worn and they encourage the young participants to wear pads. Moran said his biggest concern is the amount of activity that will take place at this park. He is concerned with the traffic flow in that area which is already congested. He was also under the impression that the site for this park had not yet been selected. Lambert responded that he agrees that Valley View Road min the vicinity of Round Lake and the Community Center is a very congested area. However,he would not go so far as to say that the area is so congested that they cannot add any additional recreational facilities. Other criteria in considering this location was that it is central to the population of the community and there is good 2 Community Program Board September 26, 2000 Page 3 access by bike trails and vehicles. This site is also very visible to the public and Police. Staff has not done any traffic studies it will b a 4 s:. to determine the impact of the skateboard park. Lambert presented pictures of the Chanhassen facility and indicated that the Eden Prairie park will be similar in size and type. MOTION: Brown moved, seconded by Davis, to recommend that the City Council consider development of a skateboard park within the park system to be funded from cash park fees within the Round Take Qeyelopf enf D ^^r^� The motion carried, 3-0. MOTION: Brown moved, seconded by Moran, to communicate to the Community Planning Board support for the staff recommendation to locate the proposed park at Round Lake Park. The motion carried, 3-0. V. NEW BUSINESS A. Board Member Report on Bus Tour Brown reported that three members of this Board spent six hours touring City facilities. He felt the tour was very informative and impressive and he would encourage the other Program Board members to participate in the next tour. Brown said he feels the tour will assist the Board in getting in step with what is going on in the City. Davis said it would be a great tour for the City's residents and he asked that City staff considers promoting this tour for the public. Yasiri said she also felt it was very informative and educational and she appreciated the opportunity to go on this tour. B. Site Selection for 2001 4t' of July Fireworks Display Obiazor reported that City staff is proposing a new site for the 41h of July celebration. The City sponsors the celebration with fireworks. Obiazor introduced Tria Mann, Arts and Special Events Speei Coordinator, to discuss with the Board the proposed new site. Mann explained that for the last four years the evening activities with a fireworks display have been held at the Eden Prairie-Center. Vof-nNext year-is2 ^e' nthe drop zone will be under construction which makes that location not feasible for the summer of 2001. City staff from Police, Fire and Parks and Recreation evaluated various sites. They found the best location based on the site for safety and traffic flow to be at Round Lake Park. Therefore, for 2001, staff is recommending they move the fireworks display to Round Lake Park. In response to a question from Davis, Mann explained that it is hard to determine the average attendance for the 4h'of July event. They have worked closely with the Police Department to establish the number of cars in the area and have estimated an evening attendance of over 20,000 people. Davis asked if Round Lake would be able to handle that number of people for one night. Mann explained that in the past this event has 3 Community Program Board September 26, 2000 Page 4 been held at the Round Lake location. For this next year, Round Lake is the best site in the City to handle this event. Enger explained that this is a regional location and eftsie T to get in and out o has easier access. Even though Round Lake is the best site to move this event to next year, it is somewhat problematic. The nature of the event will need to be changed. It will not be easy to handle the number of attendees at this location as it has been at the Eden Prairie Center. Brown said he likes the Round Lake location because families can spend some time picnicking and enjoying the park before the fireworks. This location may require people to park further away but it does offer an event that becomes more of a family day. In response to a question from Moran, Mann explained that staff's vision is that with the growth of the community, City celebrations will take place more in the center of the City. Staff does propose to review ag-airrthe location of the celebration in a downtown area in the future. Obiazor explained that it is staff's intention to scale back the promotional efforts with the focus being a hometown celebration. Staff is also working with the Police Department to determine the amount of time it will take to clear the immediate and adjacent areas and this will be communicated to the residents. MOTION: Brown moved, seconded by Davis, to recommend that the City Council consider relocation of the 4t' of July fireworks display from Eden Prairie Center to Round Lake Park for 2001. The motion carried, 3-0. VI. REPORTS OF STAFF A. Staff Report on Teen Center Proposal Lambert explained that information regarding the Satil Fife Teen Center proposal from the SoulFire group had been distributed to the Board. He explained that a group of kids have been working on trying to get a teen center in Eden Prairie. Staff has encouraged them to do more research prior to making any presentation to any group. Lambert indicated that this information is being presented to this Board as a heads up that this item may be before this Board for further consideration at a future date. B. Community Forum and Survey Swaggert explained that information on the 2000 forum and survey had been distributed to the Board. She explained to the Board the planning that has taken place at the staff level for this upcoming event. The City does a community survey about every three years. Swaggert reviewed with the Board the concept of the forum explaining that it would be an electronic brainstorming session. Swaggert also described the process for distributing the surveys and what the goals and outcome of this process are. This information will be tied together with the census data. Swaggert said they want to gain a lot of insight from the community to support future decisions by the Council and this Board. Swaggert presented a brief overview of what has been done so far. The Community Forum will be held on October 27 and 28 and she 4 Community Program Board September 26, 2000 Page 5 anticipates sharing the results of this survey with the Board at the November meeting. Yasiri asked what this Board's role would be in the forum. Swaggert suggested that the Board members sit in and watch the forum on one of the days. This will help the members to understand the discussion that took place and the ideas generated so when the results are received the Board will be familiar with how the data was generated. The Board will be invited to sit in on one of the four sessions and Swaggert said she would mail out additional information to the Board members regarding the various sessions. VII. FUTURE MEETINGS/EVENTS VIII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Brown moved, Moran seconded, to adjourn the meetinz. The motion carried, 3-0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m. 5