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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks and Recreation - 03/05/2012 APPROVED MINUTES PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MONDAY, MARCH 5, 2012 7:00 P.M., CITY CENTER Council Chambers 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: Geri Napuck, Chair; Hutch Coburn, Vice Chair; Tom Bierman, Derek Gunderson, Larry Link and Joan Oko COMMISSION MEMBERS ABSENT: Dave Rosa STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES PRESENT: Liz Powell and Katie Ostendorf STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES ABSENT: Joseph Schmit COMMISSION STAFF PRESENT: Jay Lotthammer, Parks and Recreation Director Stu Fox, Parks Natural Resources Manager Laurie Obiazor, Recreation Services Manager Wendy Sevenich, Community Center Manager Beth Witt, Recreation Supervisor Jan Curielli, Recording Secretary GUESTS: Jason Amberg, Brauer& Associates Amanda Prosser, Brauer & Associates I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chair Napuck called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion: Gunderson moved, seconded by Bierman, to approve the agenda as presented. The motion carried 6-0. III. APPROVAL OF PRNR MINUTES —February 6, 2012 Motion: Bierman moved, seconded by Gunderson, to approve the February 6, 2012 meeting minutes as presented. The motion carried 6-0. IV. REPORT OF CITY COUNCIL ACTION Lotthammer said he had nothing to report from past City Council meetings; however, tomorrow night the Council will be asked to adopt three resolutions authorizing staff to submit grant requests to the Hennepin Youth Sports Grant Program. The three grant requests are for Miller Park soccer/football field improvements, Franlo Park, and the Staring Lake-Cummins Grill PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES March 5, 2012 Page 2 fields. Staff has been working with the Athletic Associations to make grant applications for this program. The Baseball Association has already received some money from these grants, so it may be that the projects for Franlo Park and Staring Lake will have to wait a while. The Miller Park request is for lights and is already included in the CIP plan. We will wait until this fall to put the lights in because we might get half of the cost funded by the grant money. He noted there are about 17 years left for this program with Hennepin County, and we will keep our name in there until it is our turn again. V. REPORT OF PLANNING COMMISSION Fox reported on February 27 the Planning Commission reviewed a proposal for 52 single family units at Hennepin Village Site B which is located on the old Cedar Hills Golf Course. The Planning Commission continued the item because there were a couple of questions regarding some language about usage of a pool and about Prospect Road. On February 27 the Planning Commission also reviewed a day care facility to be built on City- owned property adjacent to Fire Station No. 4. The project was approved on a unanimous vote, subject to approval of the plan by the buyer of the site. Fox said United Health Group (UHG) is looking at doing some subdivision of their property on the corner of Shady Oak and the Crosstown. With their original plan we would not have received park dedication fees,but with the subdivision of the property we could now get the fees. Their development agreement for the project will now go to the City Council tomorrow night. VI. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS VII. OLD BUSINESS A. Round Lake Update Lotthammer said it was not many months ago that we were talking about concepts and what would be good to include in the park system in general. Representatives of Brauer& Associates are here tonight to give an update with some graphics, photos and detailed plans for improvements at Round Lake. After the construction plans are completed, we will be able to go out for bids and may begin construction the end of July or early August. Jason Amberg, Brauer & Associates, presented an overview with a plan layout for construction of the project. He said the plan is quite similar to the master plan. They centrally located the splash pad between two play areas. The beach is in its current location, although somewhat reduced in size. There are new trails and walkways in the areas. The grading plan works well, everything has been done in an accessibility-compliant manner, and it works with future roadway and parking lot improvements. Amberg said they designed the play areas and splash pad with a Caribbean feel. There are palm trees that spray in the splash pad area, and the play area for toddlers and younger children has an ocean theme. The play area for elementary age children has tree houses. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES March 5, 2012 Page 3 There will be signage that directs users to the appropriate play areas and displays the rules for use of the areas. There are a number of seating areas around the play areas along with a couple of fitness stations. He reviewed the improvements to the pavilion that will include such items as new pavement and grills and dormers to provide additional light. Lotthammer said two weeks ago Mr. Amberg and Ms. Prosser gave a similar presentation to the Arts & Culture commission to get some feedback on the proposed design. The Arts Commission did not have a lot of additional suggestions. He noted we have not run into any deal breakers in terms of cost or design and are tracking well on budget. Coburn asked about the ingress and egress for higher-speed users such as bikers or runners. Amberg replied the main trail comes in from the south and works its way around the play space which was widened out to make it apparent that high speed users were not to use the play area. Coburn asked if there will be a fence or barrier around the play area. Amberg said there is a fence that goes around the play area. Coburn asked if there was something cut out in the southeast area. Amberg said the seating area there is at a higher elevation and overlooks the play area and splash pad. Coburn asked about access to the beach. Amberg said there is a walkway to the beach with no fence barricade there. Coburn asked if there is a fence around the splash pad area. Amberg said it is more like a pipe barrier to define the area. Bierman asked if we looked into building a boardwalk on the sand beach so people walking around the lake could continue along the shoreline without going through the activity area. Amberg replied that was explored with staff, but they were concerned about the amount of beach that would be left in a high water situation. Lotthammer said there are always trade- offs to be made. With this design kids could run from the beach to the splash pad or the grassy area. The cars and parking area form the outer layer, the bikers and runners are the second layer, kids in the play and splash areas are the next layer and then there is the beach. He said those who go around the lake will be near the lake except for the beach area. It would be hard to incorporate the through traffic in the middle of the play area. He noted it may not be evident from the drawings,but we ended up shifting a lot of things towards the water. The biking trail ends up going around on the inside of the tennis courts, and the trail around the back side of the play area is at the highest elevation. Coburn said there is a similar challenge at Riley Lake where the path goes between the beach and the area with tables. He thought it would be different if we knew the lake would never be usable again. Lotthammer said staff receives the most calls from people who have been nearly run over by bikers, so we try to do as much as we can with signage to slow people down. Napuck said the trail is elevated and will be distinct enough. She asked if there is a concern that people will be crossing through the areas. Amberg said the parking area closest to the trail has a curb and gutter. The walkway system in the play areas is wider and is made of concrete while the other trails are bituminous. Napuck said she loved the choice of design theme. She thought it will do amazing things for the park and will draw people back. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES March 5, 2012 Page 4 Oko asked how our Fourth of July celebration works with this. Lotthammer said they hope the grading and configuration of the area will make this a gathering and picnicking area throughout the summertime. The area in front of the building has the same area available for folding chairs. He didn't think the design will affect the number of people that can be accommodated. Oko asked about the existing play structure. Lotthammer said there is funding in the CIP to replace that play structure. There is a company that comes in,removes the structure and moves it to a third world country without cost to us. Oko said she had two suggestions. The play structure we put in behind the Senior Center is extremely popular and has seen a great increase in usage, so she recommended we put in something like that. She also recommended putting in a dog fountain as part of the water fountain. Lotthammer said the new drinking fountain will have a dog fountain. Oko noted we need to be aware of the fact that teenagers will be using the equipment because this park is in the vicinity of the High School. Coburn asked if we received feedback about the exercise equipment to make sure this is the right equipment. Oko thought we should see how the equipment behind the Senior Center came through the winter. Lotthammer said this is a trial period for us, and we have talked about giving people opportunities for fitness activity. The exercise equipment is not that expensive so we could replace it in a few years if it doesn't work out. This play area includes the exercise equipment because there will be parents watching the kids in the play and splash areas. Bierman asked if other parts of the park are included in the construction phase. Lotthammer said this season we will do this portion of Round Lake Park and the skate park renovations. One hockey rink will be moved a little to the south, and we will also replace the hockey rink boards. The areas to the east of this will be scheduled more in the 2014-2016 time frame. Some renovations are based on how we convert our other fields, for example lengthening two fields at Riley Lake for additional sports. There are a few construction seasons that have to happen before we can pull a field out of use for the season. Napuck asked about the timeline for completion of this project. Lotthammer said we are hoping most of it will be finished by mid-October so there will be very little work to be done next spring. Napuck asked if there will be anything on display at the Fourth of July celebration that would allow the community to see what the plans are for the area. Lotthammer said it would be a great place to have some plans on display because it would be seen by a lot of people attending the event. Napuck noted it would be an opportunity to get people excited about the changes. It is also important for people to know how it is being funded. Napuck thanked the representatives of Brauer& Associates for their presentation and for the great job they did on the project plans. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES March 5, 2012 Page 5 VIII. NEW BUSINESS A. Aquatics Review Lotthammer said we have seen a huge uptick in the use of the pool area since the Community Center was expanded in 2007. We made a lot of things more attractive,but we did not do anything to the 30-year old swimming pool. We have some challenges with the pool as it ages. Staff met with the Foxjet Swim Club to discuss some of the concerns they have about the pool. We know we will have to do something with the pool whether it is repair or develop a different configuration. At next month's meeting the Foxjets will come to talk about their program and their future as a club and to discuss their ideas about the pool. Beth Witt, Recreation Supervisor, gave a PowerPoint presentation on usage of the Eden Prairie aquatics facilities. There will be four main aquatic opportunities in Eden Prairie: Oak Point pool, Community Center pool, Riley Lake Beach and the Miller Park and Round Lake Park splash pads. The Oak Point pool is used for City programs during non-school hours in the week, on weekends, and in the summer months except for August when it is closed for maintenance. The City uses the Oak Point pool primarily for open swim, with some hours for the Learn to Swim program, the Foxjets and the High School swim team. She said there are a lot of lap swim hours available at the Community Center pool,but those hours are primarily from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on weekdays. Community Center members have requested more prime time availability. Witt said the lack of pool time is one of the major concerns of the competitive swim teams. Other challenges at the Community Center pool include the pool temperature, no shallow water, ease of entry, and inadequate locker room space. We also get a lot of requests for pool time from outside groups, for additional hours during weekday evenings for lap and open swim times, and for Masters swimming, Special Olympics swimming and the Aquajets Swim Team. Gunderson said a lot of parents say our pool has a much cooler temperature than Chanhassen's pool. Witt said we keep the air temperature between 84' and 86'while Chanhassen keeps theirs at 89'to 91°. She said we would like to have our own small pool with higher temperatures for younger kids,but at this point we take the happy medium. Oko asked why the facility rental revenue decreased. Witt said the High School adjusted some of their time to the Oak Point pool. Lotthammer said Ms. Witt has done a good job of moving as much activity to the Oak Point pool as possible. He noted lap swim time isn't considered in the revenue figures. Witt said staff tries to move the rental groups to Oak Point as much as possible. Napuck asked when the rental times are. Witt said there is a morning practice time before 8:00 a.m. that uses four lanes with the other four lanes open for members. The prime time from 3:00 to 8:45 p.m. is used by Foxjets and the High School except for Tuesday and Thursday evenings which are reserved for member use. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES March 5, 2012 Page 6 Link asked if the Foxjets hold meets at the Community Center. Witt said they can't have meets there anymore because we don't meet the new minimum depth requirement; however, meets are not a huge revenue producer. She thought we need to take a look at our philosophy and to explore the demands and needs to see what the impact on our facilities would be. Lotthammer said when we do hockey tournaments the main rink is set up for a large number of spectators. The Foxjets do not want to be in the business of operating a large venue. If we looked at building a pool to hold swim meets several times a year, the pool space required would not do much for the Community Center members. There would be a lot of spectator area that would be used only at the time of the swim meets. They would also need a lot of parking for meets and that would be an issue. We are finding it is hard to please everybody with issues such as the pool temperature. The competitive swimmers like it to be quite cool, but other groups prefer it to be warm. To accommodate everyone we would almost end up having different bodies of water set at different temperatures for a wide variety of ages and uses. Link said there are a lot of different areas where additional revenue could be generated. The Masters have a number of meets around the area but the depth would be the main issue for our pool. He thought it would be neat to have a winter triathlon event, and the pool would be needed for that. He asked if we would ever be at the point where we would hold a High School swim meet. Witt said we did hold the home swim meets here until the depth requirements were changed. She noted the meets were not heavy money generators when we did hold them. Lotthammer said the amount of space, the number of lanes and the viewing area required for competitive swimming would probably constrain us from doing things for other portions of the population. Link asked if the High School can hold a meet at Oak Point. Witt said they have competitive swimming at Oak Point. Link noted the lap swim time between 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. is a tough time for a lot of people to use. He suggested leaving a few lanes open during other times so that we would always have a couple of lanes open. Witt said we have discussed limiting groups to six lanes, and we might be able to implement that for the fall season. Oko asked if we have the room needed to expand. Lotthammer said if we get to the point where we say this is something we should explore more, we would probably do a feasibility study to analyze the needs and to make recommendations. He noted we do not have the ability to add more parking. We believe we could handle the traffic flow generated by groups that are there throughout the day,but there is not a lot of room to expand the parking. Link said a lot of events could be held in the evening or when parking is available at Round Lake Park. He noted we have a swimmer from Eden Prairie who is trying out for the Olympics. Lotthammer said Edina has gone through a similar scenario with pool time for the Aquajets. The Foxjets get higher priority here because they have a higher percentage of Eden Prairie residents in their group. Competitive swimmers have to swim for hours at a time and that takes up a lot of pool time. There are a number of people who would like to have their kids in certain time slots for Learn to Swim classes but we don't have enough pool space or the shallow water needed to accommodate them. The bottom line is we have a square pool that PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES March 5, 2012 Page 7 was built 30 years ago. Oko asked about the possibility of building a standing depth, warmer pool at the Senior Center. Lotthammer said those are some of the options that could be explored. Napuck noted the Foxjets are coming to our next meeting and asked if the topic is going to be explaining their desire for more pool time. Lotthammer said the guidance we gave them today will be to come to the Commission; not to lobby,but to explain what their program is; where they see things heading in the future; and their challenges and issues. Oko asked how much revenue would be lost if the Foxjets left. Witt said it is about$40,000 at the Community Center,but not a lot at Oak Point; however, we don't foresee that happening. Lotthammer said they are really like the Eden Prairie Soccer or Baseball Associations in that the City has provided them with facilities at a reasonable rental rate. This is their home, and a high percentage of the members are Eden Prairie residents. Oko asked if they would be in a position to match funds for improvements like the Hockey Association did for the additional sheet of ice. Lotthammer said the Foxjets asked about that. He said the costs for the ice sheet came from revenue bonds and City funding, and the Hockey Association pledged future rental fees, did fund raising and sold naming rights at the Community Center. Staff told the Foxjets the City has been open in the past to groups helping to pay for facilities. Oko said as a resident she would like to see competitive swimming and would like to see something fun for the rest of the people as well. It would be nice to have a water park and something for the younger kids during the winter months, but she didn't know if we have enough space. Sevenich said there is a difference between a strong training facility and a facility for swim meets, and our main priority was to have a good training facility. IX. REPORTS OF STAFF A. Recreation Services Manager FYI: St. Patrick's Day Lunch at Senior Center FYI: Family Bingo B. Parks and Natural Resources Manager C. Community Center Manager 1. Community Center Update Sevenich noted there is a detailed memo included in the Commission packet regarding the Community Center cost recovery, financial performance history and forecasts. Revenue has increased since the expansion was completed in 2008. The increase came from a slight increase in the number of memberships, a 3% increase in the membership fees and increases in revenue from ice rental after the third sheet of ice was completed. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES March 5, 2012 Page 8 She cautioned we will come to a point where the revenue will stabilize and any growth we see will be from non-prime time usage. Sevenich reviewed the expense sources, noting that electricity, gas and water make up a large portion of the expenses. Because of the high level of use, in the future we will need to consider capital improvements and equipment replacement in order not to put our revenue at risk. Oko commended Ms. Sevenich for the great job she is doing. Bierman said he appreciated her efforts and her vision for the Community Center. He believes it brings the community together in ways few people envisioned. Napuck said one has a sense of pride when going to the Community Center, and she felt we are very fortunate to have it in our community. FYI: Ice Show D. Parks and Recreation Director 1. Arts and Culture Commission Lotthammer said there have been many times when the Arts and Culture Commission has met without having a quorum. Staff went through a process of trying to recruit new commission people, and we currently have one person who is interested. With two of the commission members leaving, we are left with two people on the commission plus a new person who is interested in the Arts Commission. Staff talked with the City Council about combining the Arts and Culture Commission and the Parks Commission. The Council asked about the two remaining Arts Commission members. Staff checked with the two remaining members. One of the two was relieved not to have an on-going commitment, and the other would like to continue to serve on the combined commission. Lotthammer said the ordinance was changed a year ago so that the Parks Commission could be either a seven or nine member commission. If there were nine members on the Parks Commission, the one current Arts Commission member could join us. At their meeting tomorrow night, the Council could then appoint either the person who is interested in the Parks Commission or the one who expressed interest in the Arts Commission. Oko asked if the budgets would stay separate. Lotthammer said it is all the same budget. Bierman asked if there are other major issues. Lotthammer said the Art Center, Community Band and the Community Theatre are three of the main areas with which the Arts Commission is involved. Those tend to handle themselves and are another area under the Parks & Recreation Department. He did not think combining the two commissions would put a lot more on the plate of the Parks Commission. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES March 5, 2012 Page 9 Napuck said it makes sense to her because there is a lot of overlapping. Gunderson asked if it could be left open so that we could revert back if more people want to join the Arts & Culture Commission in the future. Lotthammer said we could use this format for a year and see if it is efficient and effective. He believes there will be a lot of staff efficiencies that would come out of the merger. 2. 2012 PRNR Work Plan Lotthammer said the updated Work Plan was included in the meeting packet. 3. Discuss April Meeting Date Lotthammer asked if April 9 would work for the next meeting because April 2 is spring break week. The consensus was to move the meeting to April 9. Fox said we will most likely meet downstairs in the Heritage Room. X. NEXT MEETING Next PRNR Meeting—Monday, April 9, 7 p.m., Heritage Room(tentative) XI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Link moved, seconded by Coburn, to adjourn the meeting. The motion carried 6-0. The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m.