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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks and Recreation - 11/07/2011 APPROVED MINUTES PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2011 7:00 P.M., CITY CENTER Council Chambers 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: Geri Napuck, Chair; Hutch Coburn, Vice Chair; Tom Bierman, Larry Link and Derek Gunderson COMMISIION MEMBERS ABSENT: Joan Oko and Dave Rosa STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Katie Ostendorf, Liz Powell, and Joseph Schmit COMMISSION STAFF PRESENT: Jay Lotthammer, Parks and Recreation Director Laurie Obiazor, Recreation Services Manager Stu Fox, Parks Natural Resources Director Wendy Sevenich, Community Center Manager Sue Bohnsack, Senior Center Recreation Supervisor Carol Pelzel, Recording Secretary GUESTS: Jason Amberg and George Watson of Brauer & Associates I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chair Napuck called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Lotthammer explained Nicole Weedman was unable to attend this evening's meeting to present her report on the Youth Summer Day Camp, therefore, that item will be removed from the agenda and will be presented at the December meeting. Motion: Gunderson moved, seconded by Bierman, to approve the agenda as amended. The motion carried 5-0. III. APPROVAL OF PRNR MINUTES —September 12,2011 Motion: Motion was made by Link, seconded by Gunderson, to approve the September 12, 2011 meeting minutes as published. The motion carried 5-0. IV. REPORT OF CITY COUNCIL ACTION Lotthammer reported at their October 4 meeting the City Council took the following action: • Accepted a $250 grant from the USA Pickleball Association for the purchase of netting for pickleball courts. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES November 7, 2011 Page 2 • Accepted a donation in memory of Ruth Dover who was an active member at the Senior Center. Memorials totaling $2,000 will be used to purchase equipment for the Senior Center. • Authorized staff to submit two grant applications for Hennepin Youth Sports Grant Fund for Franlo Park baseball field improvements and Staring Lake —Cummins Grill baseball field improvements. V. REPORT OF PLANNING COMMISSION Fox said there was nothing new to report from the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission will be considering a single-family residential development at Pioneer Trail and Mitchell Road at their next meeting. VI. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS A. YOUTH SUMMER DAY CAMP RECAP This item was postponed to the December meeting. VII. OLD BUSINESS A. ROUND LAKE MASTER PLAN Lotthammer explained this evening representatives from Brauer and Associates will be making a presentation to the Commission on the Round Lake Master Plan. The question has been brought up as to what this Commission can do to make a lasting impact on the community and park system. Through a Commission brainstorming process for ideas, themes surrounding fitness, water quality, enhanced use of lakes and beaches and ensuring the City keeps the quality of parks they currently have developed. The Commission looked at adult fitness, discussed water quality and future predictions of where Round Lake might end up. Lotthammer said the Commission talked about Round Lake in general and how it is aging and needs some revitalization. Staff had discussions with Brauer and Associates for developing a Master Plan for Round Lake. They reviewed the current uses of Round Lake and after examining Round Lake Park felt it was underutilized at certain times and over utilized at certain times. Lotthammer explained staff has shared with Brauer all of the information that has come out of these Commission meetings and with information gathered from City staff. Lotthammer said this is a big project and they do not propose to do the project all at once. There are monies available in the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) that addresses play area improvements. They are very close to redeveloping the skate park and are planning to replace hockey boards in 2012. Lotthammer said this evening staff is looking for comments from the Commission regarding the proposed Master Plan. George Watson of Brauer and Associates reviewed the proposed Master Plan for Round Lake Park. He indicated there are some major changes implied by this plan with one of the biggest changes being the reorganization of the road and park. They propose to create some key points of visual access and also looked for additional parking. This plan adds approximately 50 parking spaces. Watson said they are attempting to create an identity for this park and this PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES November 7, 2011 Page 3 can occur at the public rights-of-way. The lake is a big part of the park and they are proposing to create some additional activities around the lake. They are suggesting adding trail nodes and there are a lot of opportunities to maximize the recreational value of the trail. Watson said the proposed upgrades to the skate park, hockey rinks and basketball court have been taken into consideration in building this Master Plan and, therefore, not compromising future use of the park. The plan includes a new dual use shelter area and primary community activity area. A community play space will be created that would include a wet play area that takes advantage of lake views. Watson explained they have incorporated a splash pad in the larger play area and fitness stations will be placed adjacent to the play area for multigenerational interaction. They are also proposing rehabilitation of the existing shelter and building and installation of a round-about with a drop off and from that point the pedestrian can successfully reach all of the elements of the park without crossing any roadways. They will be enlarging the existing ballfields and instead of four fields there will be three. Lotthammer pointed out enlargement of the ballfields would not occur for several years. Eden Prairie does not have a full-sized adult softball field anywhere in the City. To go from four to three fields allows them to lengthen the fields and gives them the ability to add more parking. They do anticipate bringing the play area to the front and center of the park relatively soon including the addition of a splash pad. Watson indicated there would be points of identification along the right-of-way. They propose to turn the roadway away from the tennis courts so as you enter the park your focus would be on the center piece which would include plant materials, art, etc. The roadway itself becomes a division between what is community and what is athletic. Parking will be maintained in between the two hockey rinks and easy access will be provided to the trails. Watson explained the whole purpose of the Master Plan is to provide a road map so 30 years from now it will all work together. Coburn said he likes the concept and asked if they looked at the demographics to be sure what they are proposing will continue to work years from now. They are investing in softball fields and he questioned if in three or four years there will be more or less people interested in softball. Coburn also questioned the round-about and asked if the youth would walk over a bridge or cross the round-about to get to the park. His experience has shown that it is difficult to cross a round-about. Watson responded the idea is to have a dedicated drop off area and this is something they will look at further from a safety perspective. Coburn said it looks as though the roadway design along the spine maximizes the available space but appears to make it inconvenient to pull up close to the activity. He asked if it would make sense to move the parking to the outside boundaries of the park. Watson explained they tried to do that but there is a single-point access and they would be getting away from the idea that they are giving space back to the park. Coburn pointed out the Commission's main theme was Round Lake water quality and should that water quality come back he likes the way the plan leaves this area open to the beach. He said this might also be a unique opportunity to develop a pervious surface parking lot to allow run off which would tie into their long-term goal. Watson responded this is something that could happen here and they may be able to do this at the center of the turn-around. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES November 7, 2011 Page 4 Lotthammer responded to Coburn's question regarding demographics explaining vibrancy will bring this park back but they will also have to have things people will actually use. They are making a significant investment and they need to meet the needs and demands of the residents. This plan incorporates things that will encourage people to engage in fitness activities. Staff would not recommend that they build more ball fields but the fields they have are substandard. Lotthammer said staff has looked at programming and talked about what will be in demand in the future. Watson said it is important to maintain as much flexibility as they can. If they build flexibility into this plan they can change with the demographics. Gunderson said he did not see a larger play structure on the plan. Watson responded there are two play areas separated by age groups including a seating area. The two play areas combined are more than 10,000 square feet in size. Gunderson said he feels they will see more interest in the use of the ball fields once they are expanded. He questioned how this new layout will affect City celebrations such as the July 4 celebration in getting people in and out of the site. Lotthammer responded this plan sets the site up better than what they have now because is its less linear. It will be fairly easy for the vendors to be around the traffic circle and additional parking spaces will be gained which would allow for more vendors as well. Bierman asked that the Commission be provided with a copy of the slide presentation made this evening so they can better study the proposal. He also asked that they include a paragraph on each slide as to what that slide includes. In response to a question from Bierman, Watson said this plan adds 52 parking spaces to the existing 280 spaces. Bierman asked how people who are walking around the lake get around the lake at this location. Watson explained the intent was to take that trail out and bring it through the park around the tennis courts. The intent is to separate the various modes of traffic around the lake. Bierman asked if there has ever been consideration given to clearing an area of the lake for ice skating. Watson responded it is probably possible to have ice skating on the lake but the only place in the metro area that has ice skating on a lake is the City of Plymouth. Fox further explained the City has previously had skating on Round Lake;however,people prefer to skate on rinks because they are better maintained but this is certainly something staff can look into. Also, people prefer to be close to a warming facility and it would be a long walk to such a facility if they were skating on the lake. Napuck asked how much of the beach is being cut off with the proposed plan. Watson answered the actual beach frontage does not change,however, the depth changes to half. Napuck said she has some concern that people jogging around the lake will be drawn into the central area. She also asked if there will be additional parking added in the up-swing part of the plan. Watson explained they are taking some parking and adding some parking. They are attempting to get traffic away from the central corridor. Napuck asked if this would be part of Phase L Lotthammer responded it would not be included in Phase L They need to do something with the play structure. The round-about and the ball fields would be done at a later time. The skate park will be redone this spring and the hockey boards are programmed to be replaced by in-house staff. Lotthammer further explained that a contractor would do the central area and would replace the existing play structure. Staff will be working on cost estimates based on the Master Plan. The CIP includes $750,000 for the play structure. There PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES November 7, 2011 Page 5 is additional money available for this project from bond referendum projects that came in under budget and from cash park fees. Lotthammer explained the next step of this process would be to make changes to the Master Plan as discussed this evening and then to present the plan to the City Council at their December workshop. Once that has been done, staff will ask Brauer and Associates to do more detail work and develop detail designs. This information would then be brought back to this Commission for more detail review. Staff would then take the project out to bid in April with construction starting in August and completion should occur sometime in June, 2013. Link said previously they had talked about having some form of water sports such as canoes, paddleboats, etc. He asked if this is something they are considering. Lotthammer responded this did come up during discussion on the fitness side of things and they discussed outdoor fitness pieces. There is an existing storage building and canoe racks at this site. Link mentioned the high school cross country team has held meets at this location and he questioned if they will still have room for them to be able to do that. Fox said he did not believe they would be able to so when they reconfigure the ball fields. Lotthammer said this is something they will not rule out. There is a lot of green space adjacent to the lake. Powell said locating fitness equipment around the lake would attract her to this location. Schmit said he would prefer to keep ice skating off the lake since he ice fishes there and Ostendorf said she runs around the lake. Napuck asked if there is an advantage to moving the skate park so that it is not on the roadway since it is somewhat of an eyesore. Watson explained users of the skate park like to be seen and they believe the proposed location is an ideal location. Gunderson said he has learned over time if they are going to do something they need to do it right. He asked what it would take from the community so they don't have to do this project in phases. They could tell the community this is the plan and it can be done in stages but ultimately they want to see it done right and they cannot do it right without community support. Gunderson said he believes if they do it in stages they will receive a lot more argument from people and he would like to see it done at one time. Lotthammer explained they do have a lot of community support and staff continues to hear from City Council members that nostalgically Round Lake was a gathering place and they would like to get it back to what it was 10 to 15 years ago. Round Lake is adjacent to the Community Center and they would like to see them work together side-by-side. Lotthammer said staff was not aware of any controversy with this proposal. To do it right is to stagger the project. They also need to do the project in sequence so they don't disturb other users. Doing this project in a phase and cash-flow approach is the right thing to do. Gunderson said he does not want to see this park under construction for two or three years. Lotthammer explained the next step for this proposal is to present it to City Council for approval to move forward with additional design work. Staff will keep the Commission apprised as to what is happening and once bids are out and they know the cost of the proposal they will bring it back to the Commission for review to determine how it fits with the budget. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES November 7, 2011 Page 6 Link asked if at a future meeting the Commission could get an update on Riley Lake now that the house by the boat ramp is being removed. He questioned if there is going to be some reconfiguration of that area. Fox responded staff has done some site planning. They did look at acquiring two parcels about ten years ago and they do have a rough sketch for reconfiguration. Lotthammer said there is a better way to do the site reconfiguration for parking and support of the beach and over time staff believes they can accomplish that. Once they acquire the property they will have more flexibility. Lotthammer said staff will e-mail to the Commission the Round Lake proposal presented this evening along with comments and feedback received and will keep this item on the agenda to give the Commission updates as they become available. Bierman said he would like the opportunity to go to the site and review what the consultant has laid out to make sure it makes sense. VIII. NEW BUSINESS IX. REPORTS OF STAFF A. RECREATION SERVICES MANAGER 1. Pickleball Courts Concept Lotthammer explained pickleball is sweeping the nation and Sue Bohnsack, Senior Center Recreation Supervisor, is helping serve the Eden Prairie organizers of this activity. Pickleball is an example of something that has taken off over the last couple of years. This activity is very popular in retirement communities and has grown strong here over the past several years. This evening staff is seeking input and suggestions from the Commission on a recent request from the Pickleball user group to convert the existing courts at Pioneer Park, used currently for tennis (two courts) and pickleball (four courts) to a six court pickleball facility. Bohnsack explained what pickleball is and presented a video of pickleball filmed during a pickleball tournament. She further explained seniors brought pickleball to Eden Prairie and asked the City to establish a pickleball program. In August, 2009 two courts were made available at Pioneer Park. An indoor court was established at the Community Center in 2010. For 2010-2011the indoor season at the Community Center ended with 50 to 60 participants. In the summer of 2011 the Pioneer Park program was expanded from two to four courts and they ended up with over 150 players. Bohnsack said in order to accommodate the large gathering of individuals anticipated, their ultimate goal would be to add more time and space at the Community Center. She indicated at this time staff is proposing to turn Pioneer Park's two tennis courts into six permanent pickleball courts with permanent nets. Fox reported they did have an informational meeting when they did Pioneer Park playground and had sent out notices to the service area. Staff is now recommending they notify the same area comprised of 164 neighbors of this proposed change. Lotthammer PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES November 7, 2011 Page 7 said a final decision will not be made until December. The notice will include information as to the location of the nearby tennis courts since this proposal would remove tennis from Pioneer Park. Staff feels the pickleball court will get a lot of use from a lot of people. Also, this is a good location because of its proximity to the Senior Center. They are not talking about a large expense to convert the tennis courts to pickleball courts. Lotthammer asked if staff should move forward with sending a letter explaining the proposal to the surrounding neighbors and have the Commission make a decision in December. Link said this is a phenomenal plan and this addresses how to better use City facilities as uses change. He also agreed that six courts together are needed for the social interaction of the community and feels this is a great idea. Bierman said he also thinks this is a great idea and may need some selling. He asked if reservations are made at the Senior Center for the use of this court. Lotthammer responded there are designated times where they all know when to gather and those times will probably be expanded. This group is very social and they want to be able to play with everyone so the waiting time for a court should be limited. Gunderson said he believes the Commission is in agreement and staff should move ahead and get feedback from the neighbors. He indicated this proposal makes more sense because there are so many tennis courts in the City in addition to indoor courts. This location also makes the most sense. Lotthammer said staff will send out a letter to the surrounding neighbors and will bring this item back to the Commission in December for final approval. Napuck said this activity could expand beyond seniors and she definitely agrees they need feedback from the neighbors. She said it also makes sense to have all of the courts in one location for tournaments. FYI: Veterans Breakfast FYI: No School Activities FYI: Senior Center, Art Center and Outdoor Center closed November 24 and 25 B. PARKS AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGER FYI: Emerald Ash Borer and Japanese Beetle Update C. COMMUNITY CENTER MANAGER FYI: Community Center closed November 25 D. PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR 1. 2011 PRNR Work Plan Lotthammer said the Youth Summer Day Camp Recap and Pickleball Courts item will be discussed at the December meeting in addition to several other items. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES November 7, 2011 Page 8 Gunderson asked if Hennepin County grant money could go towards turf fields. Lotthammer said they will be meeting with field turf users in January or February to discuss how to best utilize the fields and to talk about future fields. One of the thoughts was instead of looking at additional sand base fields they look at the potential for a turf field. The cost of a turf field is approximately $1 million and if they could get$400,000 in grant money they could look at fund raising opportunities by the Associations. The turf fields are more expensive up front than the sand base fields but over an eight to ten year period the turf field gets closer in cost comparison to the sand base field. Lotthammer said staff wants to first understand the needs of the Associations now and as they go forward. FYI: City offices closed November 24 and 25 X. NEXT MEETING The next regular meeting of the Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission will be Monday, December 5, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers. XI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Motion was made by Link, seconded by Coburn, to adjourn the meeting. The motion carried 5-0 and the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.