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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks and Recreation - 09/24/1973 1973 SEPTEMBER 24 MINUTES CITY OF EDEN PRAIRIE MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE PARK & RECREATION COMMISSION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1973 7:30 p.m. , Village Hall C MEMBERS PRESENT: Vice Chairman Bill Garens, Frances Blacklock, Paul Enblom, Jan Berkland, Richard Anderson, Steve Eisch, Terry Fields. MEMBERS ABSENT: Roger Boerger, Dean Holasek, Rita Kooiman, and Marvin Erickson. STAFF PRESENT: Marty Jessen, Director of Parks and Recreation. The meeting was called to order at 7:40 p.m. by Vice Chairman Garens. I. MINUTES OF AUGUST 27, 1973 , MEETING. M/Blacklock, S/Eisch to approve the minutes of the August 27, 1973, meeting as presented. Motion carried unanimously. . II. PETITIONS, REOUESTS & COMMUNICATIONS. A. Letter from Bill Atkins acknowledging receipt of Eden Prairie's 1974 LAWCON application Jessen reviewed the letter, copies of which were sent to the Commissioners. He also stated that he has been working with Paul Schee from the School District in preliminary efforts to put together some type of State Natural Resource Grant Application for acquisition of the M.C.A. School/Park Site. B. Letter from Barry Lazarus attornev for William Cooper, offering land donation to the Village for park purposes. Jessen reviewed-the letter from Mr. Lazarus concerning the offer to donate land to the Village and the report he prepared on this topic, copies of which are attached. He indicated that he felt this would be a desirable addition to the Village's park system. M/Fields', S,/Berkland that the Park and Recreation Commission recommend to the Council acceptance of this land donation for park purposes and that they give public recognition to Mr. Cooper for this generous offer. Motion carried unanimously. III. RECOMMENDATIONS & REPORTS. E A. Agency Liaison Reports. Jessen reported that he would be appearing at the School Board meeting. this Thursday to discuss the Forest Hills School landscaping and lighting a plan previously brought before the Commission for discussion. It is hoped that the School Board will approve the plans and authorize the exponditure of monies to implement the landscaping and lighting components of the total plan. Jessen reported that lie has talked to Bill Geimer, president of the Eden i Prairie Athletic Association, concerning their projected needs for s Park & Recreation Commission Minutes 9/2 4/73 Page 2 facilities for the next five years to be included in the Village's Capital Improvement Program, lessen will be attending the E.P.A.A. Board Meeting Tuesday, September 25, 1973, to discuss this item further with the entire Board of Directors. Terry Fields reported that the Lions pavilion to be installed at Round Lake Park is being considered further by the Lions Club and will be meeting to discuss preliminary design concepts in the very near future. Blacklock reported that she had received a notice of a Water Research Conference to be held this Wednesday on the St. Paul Campus of the University of Minnesota. The idea of the conference is to decide areas of study for Metropolitan Area Water Research for the next few years. Garens asked if Blacklock would either attend the meeting or at least get a report on the meeting to report back to the Commission at their next meeting. Blacklock asked if anyone had any ideas as to areas in which research was needed, such as identification of aquifer recharge areas, etc. Fields asked if anyone knew of any ground water or surface water problems caused by sewer and water construction in Eden Prairie, such as dry wells or changes in runoff patterns;. etc. He mentioned the extreme problem with Shady Oak Lake in Hopkins-Minnetonka caused by the utility construction in that area and the fact that the lake has dropped drastically in elevation this year. Berkland stated that one of the wells in her neighborhood had gone dry for a period of time and they thought that this was a result of utility construction in Eden Prairie.. Blacklock reported that the 1974 Minnesota Seasons Calendar will be coming out soon. It is a calendar showing the seasons of Minnesota pictorially as viewed and photographed by Les Blacklock., lessen reported that he had attended the tour and hearing for the proposed 18-169 Toll Bridge Authority held by the State Legislature on Monday, September 17th. Most of the people who gave testimony at the hearing on the 17th were proponents of the proposed legislation. However, some very probing questions were asked by some of the legislators based on Eden Prairie's position that the construction of the bridge will encourage suburban sprawl rather than the orderly growth of the Metropolitan Area. lessen will be drawing up additional information on the Village's position for presentation at subsequent meetings of both the House and Senate Government Operations Committees. B. Report on the revised Park and Recreation Commission Ordinance. lessen reported that the Village Council decided not to change the compo- sition of the Park and Recreation Commission but chose rather to leave the student members as full participating members on this Commission. However, youth members were dropped from the Planning Commission because of their difficulty in meeting a quorum as a result of the two extra members. e Park & Recreation Commission Minutes 9/Z4/73 Page 3 C r C. Report on "Park Dedication ordinance". lessen reviewed copies of the new Village ordinance with the Commission. The new ordinance is consistent with revisions in State Law passed by the Legislature last spring. This revised ordinance has been adopted by the Council, thus no action was required. D. Final 1973 Beach Report. lessen reviewed both the Round Lake and Bryant Lake daily reports with the Commission and stated that the staff was still analyzing these figures as well as the survey conducted at Bryant Lake to determine use patterns, etc. for the two facilities. Some broad statements that can be made from analyzing these reports are: 1. DMnthly attendance at both beaches is fairly stable throughout the summer. 2. Revenue declines later in the summer. This is attributed primarily to the tapering off of season ticket sales after the early season and the fact that a greater proportion of admissions are season ticket holders later in the season. - 3. Cloudy or cold weather decreases attendance significantly at Round Lake but -not so significantly at Bryant Lake Park. C 4. Bryant Lake Park is a far more efficient'operation in respect to expenditures vs. revenue than is Round Lake. This is because Round Lake is a "supervised" swimming area whereas Bryant Lake is "unsupervised" No action required. E. Final 1973 Summer Recreation Program Report. Jessen reviewed a copy of the report which was mailed to the Commission and stated that there were only a couple very minor changes as the final bookkeeping was completed for the Summer Recreation Program. Garens asked about the $500 deficit in Tiny Tots and Summer Fun. Jessen stated that this was the amount of money budgeted from general tax funds for this program and that.it was hoped that the greater per— centage of the cost could be covered by user fees. However, the number of registrants dropped slightly this year from last year and thus the deficit was unavoidable. Jessen stated that he felt this was a service to the community and a program that was open to many people and as a result, was a legitimate .general tax expenditure. Anderson asked if Jessen was satisfied with the 1973 Summer Recreation Program. Jessen stated that he was quite pleased with those programs shown on this sheet, and particularly pleased with the quality of instruction in swimming and tennis and also the leadership in the Summer Fun Program. He stated he was somewhat disappointed in registrations for some of the new programs such as backpacking. Park & Recreation Commission Minutes 9/24/73 Page 4 Failure to put on a complete promotional program about the Summer Recreation activities is partially to blame for the poor registration, in lessen's opinion. During registration for the 1972 Summer Recreation Program, Reed Olson conducted a promotional program at the various schools explaining what the activities were about . This was not done in 1973 because of time constraints and the fact that Bill Salinger was hired too late to put together a program of this type. lessen stated that he felt this would have helped greatly in regis- trations for 1973 and indicated he felt this was a high priority for the future, but that it could only be done through additional staff for recreation program development and supervision. F. Preliminary 1973 Fall-Winter Recreation Program import. lessen stated that the registration period has be extended through this week and that registrations in several of the programs are going rather slow; however, Firearm Safety registrations have been very high so far. G. Report on Toint Meeting with Bloomington Natural Resources Commission, tentatively set for October 16, 1973 at 8 P.m. at Bloomington City Hall. lessen reported that he had talked to Elaine Mellott, chairman for the Bloomington Natural Resources Commission, and Bill Warren, staff assigned to the commission, about a joint meeting on that date and both have agreed that it would be a worthwhile venture. Garens asked if this was proposed as a substitute for one of the regular October meetings or in addition to them. lessen stated that he would be out of town until October 6th and thus he would not be able to prepare infor- mation for a meeting scheduled for October 8th, and suggested that this • be held instead of the October 8th meeting. M/Anderson,S/Blacklock that the Park and Recreation Commission not hold their regular meeting on October 8th but meet instead in a joint meeting with the Bloomington Natural Resources Commission on October 16th. Motion carried unanimously. H. Recommendation to Apply for "Beautification Funds"from the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District for Grading and PlantiMs at Bryant Lake Park and for Plantings along Nine Mile Creek in the area of new Hwy. 212 lessen reviewad copies of the report mailad to the Commission recommending application for monies for these projects. He stated that the staff would develop plans over the winter for implementation next year and that the details of the plan would be worked out prior to March, at which time the Commission would consider final plans for restoration of the hills in Bryant Lake Park and planting plans for the area. M/Blacklock, S/Garens that the Park and Recreation Commission recom- mend to the Council an application for beautification funds from Nine • Park & Recreation Commission Minutes 9/24/73 Page 5 lMile Creek Watershed District per the Park and Recreation Director's report dated September 19, 1973. Motion carried unanimously. I. Request by Eden Prairie Schools to use the Furniture from the "Teen Center" at Round Lake Park for the"Mini-School Pro ram." Jessen reviewed the report which was mailed to the Commission. M/Blacklock, S/Fields that the Park and Recreation Commission recommend to the Village Council that they give the furniture to the School District and direct the Staff to prepare a program for razing the building at Round Lake Park. Motion carried unanimously. Eisch stated that many of the student at the school had asked about Teen Activities and that there seemed to be - renewed interest for programs of that kind. Jessen said that he didn't feel that the building at Round Lake Park was an integral part of a Teen Activities Program but rather the use of the schools ought to be promoted for this type of program. Garens requested that Eisch and Rita Kooiman meet with some of the other students at the school and prepare a program for consideration by the Commission for a Teen Activities Program in the Village. IV. DISCUSSIONS. A. Smetana Lake Sector Study. Jessen asked for comments from the Commission on the proposed plan relative to the park open space and environmental concerns. Much discussion took place concerning the advisability of continued mining in the area vs. natural resource pro- tection of the steep wooded slopes adjoining Nine Mile Creek. The Commission generally agreed that mining ought to be limited to areas in which it is presently taking place and that protection of the remainder of the hills in this sector ought to be of the highest priority. It was suggested that Ray Maculans be asked to present the final report to the Commission at a meeting held just for this purpose on October 8th and that a tour of the sector be arranged prior to this meeting. Jessen is to attempt to set up such a meeting and notify the Commission by mail later this week. B. 1973/74 SiZowmobile Program Report. Jessen reported that he had met with the Snowdusters Snowmobile Club concerning the use of money given to the Village by the club for promotion of snowmobiling in Eden Prairie. He presented a map showing proposals for trails in the south part of Eden Prairie in the Staring Lake Park/Flying Cloud Airport area, and also showing a connecting link to the Minnesota River Valley. Anderson and Garens both said they were opposed to the idea of snowmobiling Cnorth of Research Road along Purgatory Creek because of the natural character of that area, the steep wooded slopes and the major flood plain just south of Prwy. 5. Jessen stated that he felt that decision Park & Recreation Commission Minutes 9/24/73 ' Pag e 6 should not be made right no i because the information needed to make a wise choice is not presently available. He asked that the Commission merely consider the concept of a snowmobile trail in this part of the community and that they then direct the staff to work on details of the plan for a report at a subsequent meeting •at which time data could be presented which would indicate whether snowmobiling north of Research Road was a good idea or not. The Commission agreed that providing snowmobile trails in the community was a good one and that this would provide on an experimental basis a method to measure the effectiveness of meeting snowmobile demands in Eden Prairie. The staff is to work on details of this plan for discussion at the next Commission meeting. C. Kingdale Kennels Site Plan along Riverview Road. Jessen reviewed a copy of the site plan from Bruce Brill for location of Kingdale Kennels along the Minnesota River Valley just north of Riverview Road. He stated that he was not sure at this point whether the site plan was appropriate, given the soil types, etc. but that Mr. Brill was working with Pat Kennedy from the Soil Conservation Service in this regard,. The location of the kennel at this point is not a particularly bad idea because the noise from an operation of this type needs to be somewhat isolated from other uses in the community. This item will be studied further and a report will be made at the next Commission meeting. D. Lake Anderson Condominiums, lessen distributed copies of the brochure for the Lake Anderson Condominiums to be developed by McAllister Properties. This item will be considered at the next Commission meeting. V. ADJOURNMENT. M/Anderson, S/Berkland that the meeting be adjourned. Motion carded unanimously.