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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks and Recreation - 04/09/2012 APPROVED MINUTES PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MONDAY,APRIL 9, 2012 7:00 P.M., CITY CENTER Heritage Rooms COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: Geri Napuck, Chair; Hutch Coburn, Vice Chair; Tom Bierman, Derek Gunderson, Larry Link, Matthew Kraft, Dave Rosa COMMISSION MEMBERS ABSENT: Joan Oko and Cynthia Paulson STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES PRESENT: Jamie Bernard, Katie Ostendorf, Liz Powell and Joseph Schmit STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES ABSENT: Roseann Awad, Nafisa Mahamud COMMISSION STAFF PRESENT: Jay Lotthammer, Parks and Recreation Director Stu Fox, Parks Natural Resources Director Laurie Obiazor, Recreation Services Manager Wendy Sevenich, Community Center Manager Lindsey Danhauser, Recreation Supervisor Beth Witt, Recreation Supervisor Jan Curielli, Recording Secretary GUESTS: Mark Davis, Foxjets Marc Tullemans, Foxjets I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chair Napuck called the meeting to order at 7:02 P.M. She welcomed the new member to the Commission. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Napuck added Item VIII.B. Southwest LRT Project. Bierman added Item VII.A. Update on Round Lake. Motion: Gunderson moved, seconded by Bierman, to approve the agenda as amended. The motion carried 7-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. PRNR Minutes -- March 5, 2012 Motion: Link moved, seconded by Coburn, to approve the March 5, 2012 meeting minutes as presented. The motion carried 7-0. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES April 9, 2012 Page 2 B. Arts & Culture Minutes -- January 9, 2012; February 13, 2012; March 12, 2012 Lotthammer said the January and February minutes are included in tonight's agenda because the Arts & Culture Commission did not have a quorum at their last meetings. He checked with the City Attorney who gave the opinion the PRNR Commission could approve the minutes. Motion: Kraft moved, seconded by Gunderson, to approve the January 9, 2012, February 13, 2012 and March 12, 2012 meeting minutes as presented. The motion carried 7-0. IV. REPORT OF CITY COUNCIL ACTION Lotthammer said on March 6 the City Council passed resolutions authorizing staff to submit grant requests to the Hennepin Youth Sports Grant Program. The three grant requests are for Miller Park field lighting, Franlo Park field lighting, and improvements at the Staring Lake- Cummins Grill fields. He noted another grant for softball field equipment was requested but did not need a City Council resolution. On March 20 the City Council adopted a resolution inactivating the Arts and Culture Commission. City Code allows that to happen and also allows the Council to reactivate a commission at any time. At the same meeting the Council passed a resolution accepting a donation for equipment at the Art Center. At the March 20 meeting the Council approved a grant from the Minnesota Parks & Recreation Foundation for edible playgrounds. The edible playgrounds will be planted at Prairie View Elementary as a combined effort of the school and Park and Recreation Department. The Recreation Program participants will help care for the plantings during the summer, and the school children will help with the spring planting and harvesting in the fall. V. REPORT OF PLANNING COMMISSION Fox reported on March 12 the Planning Commission recommended approval of the proposal for 52 single family units at Hennepin Village Site B, which is located on the old Cedar Hills Golf Course property. That project was then approved by the City Council on March 20. Fox said at the March 12 meeting the Planning Commission reviewed a proposal regarding rezoning of the closed landfill property. The owner of the property wants to transfer ownership of the property to the MPCA. The MPCA currently controls the landfill and is responsible for monitoring and caring for the facility. They have found significant settling at the landfill and will be proposing actions to deal with issues at the landfill. Fox said on March 26 the Planning Commission continued a proposal for expansion of the parking lot at the Edendale Residence. The proposal would expand the parking in an area behind Erik's Bike Shop. At the March 26 meeting the commission discussed the UHG project at Shady Oak Road and County Road 62. They are clearing trees and grading the land as part of the project to construct two multi-story buildings and two parking decks. Link said he thought the project on the Cedar Hills Golf Course had been shut down because of the airport expansion. Fox said it had nothing to do with the airport expansion, rather Pemtom PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES April 9, 2012 Page 3 was the developer of that PUD and wanted to do all the infrastructure on the easterly component off Spring Road before starting on the last section off Eden Prairie Road. Fox said there have been three different projects proposed for the site. He noted the project approval included construction of Prospect Road. Link asked if the construction of Prospect Road will bring utilities over to the Cedar Hills area. Fox said sanitary sewer will go down Eden Prairie Road and the storm sewer goes along the east side of the creek. Link noted there are an amazing number of housing projects starting up. Fox thought the economy is showing signs of improving because the City has had more inquiries from developers. V. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS A. Eden Prairie Foxjets Swim Team Update Lotthammer said at the last meeting Beth Witt gave an overview of the aquatics program that focused a lot on the pool at the Community Center. We talked about what has happened as the Community Center has grown over the last five years and how that has impacted the pool. The pool dates back to the 1980's, so some of the pool infrastructure is 30 years old. Since it was built, new regulations have changed the depth requirements which caused us to go out of compliance in those areas. We started having some discussions about what it might look like in the future and how we would go about determining that. If we want to take the discussion any further, we are really looking at a master planning process or a feasibility analysis to determine the costs and what the possibilities might be. We have started talking to the pool user groups. Representatives from the Foxjets Swim Team are here tonight. They are the major user of pools in Eden Prairie and a long time organization here in town. When the referendum for the Community Center expansion occurred in 2005, the City worked with the athletic associations to get their projections to try to understand the needs. Mark Davis, President of the Foxjets Swim Team, gave a PowerPoint presentation. He noted the Foxjets have been part of the Eden Prairie community for 31 years. Their goal is to promote swimming as a healthy life long activity, therefore they place as much emphasis on new developing swimmers as they do on the elite swimmers. He said they employ two full time professional coaches and have a total annual budget of$600,000. They have seen a dramatic growth in the number of swimmers over the years. They host two or three of the largest meets in the State, including the Winter Classic at the University of Minnesota that draws 1200 swimmers from around the Midwest. They do fundraising to help offset costs and keep dues as low as possible. He noted they provide financial assistance to those who need help to participate in their program. They are very proud of their volunteers, and many of their volunteers helped to lead the effort to pass the 2005 pool referendum. They were very disappointed when the pool portion of the referendum did not pass. Davis reviewed the needs of the Foxjets such as more pool time, deeper water depth, a dry land training area, improved air quality and larger locker rooms. He said they would love to have a 50 meter indoor pool that would provide 18 lanes,but any amount of additional pool space in the community would be an improvement. He said Team Foxjets stands ready to support the endeavor to help improve the pool facilities with time and financial resources by PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES April 9, 2012 Page 4 participating in a study and underwriting a commitment of between $200,000 to $500,000 in cash contributions and pledges. Gunderson asked about the length requirements for the pool. Davis said meets have different lengths. The team trains in Richfield's outdoor pool when it is available because there is no 50 meter water in Eden Prairie. Coburn asked about the total demand and if they would maintain the same numbers or attract more members if the pool were expanded. Davis said another program started in our community and has grown to 60-70 kids. He said the western suburbs have the top seven or eight of the largest clubs in the State. One of the things that hurts the Foxjets from a competition standpoint is that both Edina and Minnetonka have new pools and have access to earlier start times. He believes they could be at 500 or 600 kids if they had a 50 meter pool with the extra lanes. Rosa said it seems like they are overwhelmed with kids using the lanes and asked if they would be able to reduce that number with expansion. Davis said they will never get down to ideal numbers,but it is more important to train the older kids. It is difficult to train six or eight kids at once and get a high level of accomplishment. He said most communities are under pooled. They would like to bring down their ratios a little and also grow their team a little,but they are here to provide the best product they can. Bierman asked if we could ask Edina and Minnetonka to provide cost information and usage figures for their new facilities. He thought that might solidify the push to expand. Davis said they would collect that information. Marc Tullemans, Vice President of the Foxjets, said some of their swimmers went to Minnetonka after their new facility was completed. Minnetonka made a conscious effort to make pool space. He said a lot of the competition has to do with who has the best facility and the best scheduling as well as the best coaching staff. Bierman said Mr. Davis mentioned a contribution of up to $500,000, and we appreciate organizations that come forward with that kind of participation. He asked if we have any idea how much the funding might be. Lotthammer said that is the question we are at tonight. If this were to go forward, the next step would be to do the analysis to determine the best answer to several questions. People want more lap time and more lanes. We know we will have to spend money on the pool, so now is the time to start the conversation. We are ready to go to the level of a feasibility or facility study to determine what is possible within the footprint we have and what that would cost. Lotthammer said his last experience with an aquatic feasibility study was in 2005. In that study they looked at three different levels of cost to build and cost to operate the facility. He said everybody has a different idea of what a community facility should be. One of the things they figured out is that it was important to show people in a general schematic what you could have with a certain amount of dollars. This type of study requires someone in the business to look at sites and project the costs. He said the pool area is the last thing to be updated at the Community Center. Everything else around it was expanded to accommodate more activities. We continue to hear from people that want more lanes and better times. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES April 9, 2012 Page 5 Bierman asked if we have an option to work with the High School to get a contribution from them. He also asked if we have naming rights options. Lotthammer said we would have naming rights and have the option of working with the High School; however, they have little or no funding to contribute. They have their own challenges with the Oak Point pool so he assumed any money they had would be spent there. He was confident the High School would continue to make use of the Community Center pool because of its location. Bierman asked about the High School swim team's fund raising capabilities. Tullemans said he received an email from the head coach at the High School, and she is in full support of our efforts. Oak Point is not a great facility for the High School swim team. He thought we would be welcome to get the school's Booster Club engaged. Gunderson said he understood at the last meeting the pool can't be used for competitions because of the depth. He asked if the High School would pay to utilize the pool if we made it deeper. Lotthammer said they probably would if we would have it deep enough so that we could do training starting blocks,but to build a competitive pool we would have to have a decent seating capacity and a much larger parking lot. Sevenich said everyone would benefit from deeper water. Davis said based on the new requirements we can't even practice starts because of the safety issues. All pools in the country have had to deal with the issue of increasing the depth of pools in order to have competitive swimming. Coburn asked if we would make the swimming area large enough to accommodate training but not to have competitive meets. Davis said they draw 1,000 kids and 2,000 spectators for some meets,but they could do smaller meets. Tullemans said they do some High School meets at Oak Point where the capacity is about 150. Rosa said Mr. Lotthammer mentioned that in 2005 there were three proposals made and asked if anything was moved forward on that. Lotthammer said that was in another community. The proposals were to do an outdoor aquatic water park and have some of it covered for use in the winter. That study was done at the cusp of budget cuts, and the council wasn't ready to go forward with it. Davis said last time in Eden Prairie the referendum was for an outdoor water park and a 50 meter training facility. He recalled it was only a few hundred votes short of passing. They were very effective at getting the Community Center expansion passed, but fell short on the water park and training facility. Lotthammer said he didn't think many of us here who went through the last referendum would say it would be cost effective to do a large outdoor water park. Much of what has changed with the water needs of the community since 2006 indicates there would be a benefit to have more year-round water at the Community Center. We could get better cost estimates if we go forward with a feasibility study. Gunderson asked what a study would cost and how long it would take. Davis said it would probably be $15-20,000 to do it right. Lotthammer thought it would be about a four-five month process. Kraft asked if the Community Center would benefit from extending the length of the lanes or expanding the number of them. Witt said they would plan it so there was a divider that could be put in place. Davis said it could be divided in half, like the University of Minnesota pool, so that you could have two 25 yard events at once. Kraft noted there is already a large PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES April 9, 2012 Page 6 amount of water in Eden Prairie, including our lakes, several apartment buildings and two private fitness clubs with swimming pools. He was curious if the community would benefit from an expansion. Lotthammer replied it would give the added fitness piece and older kids could use the deeper water for lessons. Sevenich said the temperature component needs to be addressed because we need different temperatures in the pool for different activities. Link said he believes the temperature is a big issue. The lap swimmers and the water aquatics users complain about it being too cold. There are a lot of people that come for water aerobics as part of a therapy program, and we need more of that type of activity. He would like to see a bare bones 50 meter pool and would skip the wet locker rooms for now. We could get the water and then add other things in at a later date. Davis said it is possible to do things with partitions to separate pool users. Link said he would like to be able to have early evening lap swimming lanes in addition to the other activities. Davis said they have talked about what is an efficient way cost-wise to get more water in the community. The Foxjets will do anything they can to help promote getting more facilities. Link asked how many of the High School Boys Swim Team swim on the Foxjets this year. Tullemans said they have 14 from the High School. Davis noted good High School programs are only because of great U.S.S. programs. They are the training facility for the High School programs. They prepare the swimmers for the three months the High School has them. Lotthammer said this kind of discussion is valuable but going forward with a master plan or feasibility analysis to study the options is very important. The study would review the tradeoffs and costs for the various options. He recommended we go forward with a feasibility study and see how we could fund the study. We would do the usual City purchasing methods for an RFP and would look at several reputable companies with relevant experience. He thought some of the improvements might be done in phases. Rosa commented we will have to do something with the pool in terms of repairs and changes whether we go forward with this or not. He thought it is the right time to get a proposal and see what it would take. Lotthammer said at least then we would have a cost analysis and could make an informed decision before we proceed. Napuck agreed that the timing is right in order to connect with what has to be done at the pool. She noted we appreciate it when an organization comes forward and offers to make contributions to a project. She asked if the amount of contribution would be contingent on what the facility would have. Davis said all they really want to accomplish is to expand the water in the City and to get more practice time. He thought they could look at their enrollment, make some assumptions on growth, and then take those dollars and invest back into the community perhaps with something like a commitment for future rental. It would help meet the community needs and would serve the Foxjets as well. They would also be willing to help with the feasibility study. Link asked if there is some sense of urgency to close the pool facility for two weeks out of the year for maintenance while others close for just a few days. Witt said most pools don't drain their water,but we made a commitment to drain our water and redo the pool bottom in an effort to keep a clean pool. The process of refilling and heating is what takes a long time. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES April 9, 2012 Page 7 Link thought that might be something to include in the feasibility study. Witt said we just replaced the treatment systems with ultra violet treatment. Sevenich thought it would be worthwhile to evaluate that in the study. Witt thought we could also relook at the timing of that procedure;however, spring break is the slowest week for them. Motion: Bierman moved to recommend City staff conduct a feasibility study of expanding the Community Center pool to include a 50 meter indoor pool with up to 18 lanes for the benefit of community swimmers and water enthusiasts, with the study to also include discussion with the High School and other groups to provide funding support. The motion died for lack of a second. Lotthammer thought we could keep it fairly broad to just conduct a feasibility study to analyze current and future pool needs. We would start out with a feasibility study as a basis to come at the issue with a wide open question and let the analysis drive it. That way we would be open to what could potentially be built there. He thought the City Council would want to know what it would cost to keep it operating even if we didn't do anything different. He said the study would look at such things as: what are the next steps; what would be the right sequence; is the wet locker room feasible; and others. We will need to strike a balance with those who need a warm water environment and the colder water needed for training. We would need to look at the foot print to see what we could squeeze in the space available. There is a whole discovery process. We have learned a lot about the user groups and what they have on their wish list. The consultant would pull all of that together with estimated costs for multiple scenarios and then the Commission and staff can take a look at it. MOTION: Bierman moved, seconded by Rosa, to recommend to the City Council that City staff conduct a feasibility study on updating the indoor pool at the Community Center, including but not limited to expansion, and to identify funding resource alternatives. Rosa asked if we would still go back to the community to see what they might want. Lotthammer said we have some pretty good methods now with direct emails to get feedback from different users and constituents. Getting more community involvement is a good thing to do. Gunderson asked what the timeline would be for the process from taking the survey to completing the study. Lotthammer thought it would take five to six months to complete the process as it is not just a construction estimate. Bierman asked if they would come up with a ball park of costs. Lotthammer said they definitely would. Vote on the Motion: Motion carried 7-0. Bierman thanked the representatives of the Foxjets for their presentation and for their contribution to the Community Center expansion in 2005. He noted the expansion could not have occurred if it weren't for people like the 100 volunteers they provided during the referendum process. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES April 9, 2012 Page 8 VII. OLD BUSINESS A. Update on Round Lake Lotthammer said he gave a PowerPoint presentation last time that included pictures and a general overview of the splash pad and play areas proposed for Round Lake Park. Staff is now in the process of getting much more detail for the improvements and are 90% of the way to having the construction documents and drawings ready to go. Fox said staff has a meeting next week with Brauer to go over our comments, and after that they will get ready to publish. They anticipate having it out for bid in May, and it should be on the City Council's agenda in June. Lotthammer said they plan to have an August start, although there are some things they plan to do in house before that to prepare the site. Bierman asked if there will be one contractor responsible for the whole project. Fox said there will be a general contractor with subs, along with the work they plan to do in house. Fox noted staff is working with Sports Design to do the skate park. They sent three designs out to the kids. Bierman asked when the first kid would be able to skate there. Fox said it would probably be early September if all goes well. VIII. NEW BUSINESS A. Integration of Arts & Culture Commission Lotthammer said this is our first meeting as a combined group. As a result of the integration there will be a few more things relating to arts and culture that will come to the Parks Commission for discussion. Danhauser reviewed the achievements of the Arts & Culture Commission in 2011 which included a review to evaluate the relevance of community events to current community needs and trends. As a result of their evaluation the Commission directed staff to incorporate cultural difference performances into the concert series. She said in 2010 the Commission identified several spaces at the Community Center for public art, and work has begun on the public art mural project there. In 2011 staff submitted a grant application to the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council(MRAC) to hire a consultant to help with the planning for public art. In addition they received a grant for a consultant to develop a three to five year strategic plan for the Eden Prairie Players. In 2012 they plan to work on incorporating public art in community green spaces, including a possible sculpture project at Purgatory Creek Park, and to research incorporating public art into the Southwest LRT stations. They plan to oversee the completion of the Eden Prairie Players' strategic plan and to advise staff on facility improvements at the Eden Prairie Art Center. Lotthammer said they talked about how the two commissions could work together and how we could incorporate the concept of arts and culture into the PRNR Commission. We might look at it as a program area and bring back feedback to the commission when it is appropriate. He said the Mayor was very supportive that this commission should have a PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES April 9, 2012 Page 9 broad scope and perspective. He noted the Rotary Club is enthusiastic about partnering for public art in the community, and the natural place for that would be in the park system. Napuck thanked Ms. Danhauser for her update. B. Southwest LRT Gunderson said the first meeting of the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) for the Southwest LRT will be held on Thursday. He noted Mr. Coburn is the alternate representative to the committee. Committee members have been asked to bring 5-10 ideas to the meeting for the design, land use and station area planning. He asked members of the Commission to forward to him any ideas they might have before the Thursday meeting. Fox noted staff has also been inputting some ideas. Lotthammer said the Commission will want to look at how the trail system will be integrated with the LRT stations and how it will impact the park system. There are other groups looking at some different perspectives. We want to get input on how to make the City a place the LRT users would want to go to as well as how we can best represent Eden Prairie at the LRT stations. Link asked if the Southwest LRT is a given. Fox said funding has been appropriated, and design work is being done. The line comes in at the Golden Triangle area, through the current Southwest Transit, and ends at Mitchell Road. Gunderson said he had thought we could do something representative of the City at each of the stations to personalize them and make them more inviting. Napuck asked if we are just to give comments about what can be done for Eden Prairie. Gunderson thought it can be for the project as a whole. Fox said they are looking for general comments to put together to see if there is a common theme. Napuck suggested we have something connected to Eden Prairie with some factual information and some art pieces that connect to where the stations are. She would like to have some consistency with the stations, like the signs we have placed in the parks,but also some uniqueness to each station that would portray the character of the area. Lotthammer said Eden Prairie has a rich history and we should make sure that gets incorporated. We have a great trail system that connects throughout the community. We could also incorporate the cultural piece and the parks and natural setting. Fox said the number of stations is flexible. They are looking at four now, and the end of the line will be at Eaton Corporation at Martin Drive. Coburn asked if the route is fixed at this point. Fox said it is fixed and they are into the technical design and engineering phase. Schmidt asked if there will be a station near a park or lake. Fox said it primarily goes through the high density areas,but it will be going over some wetland areas on the north end. We could draw attention to the preservation of the wetlands. There will be some way-finding signs like those in Three Rivers parks. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES April 9, 2012 Page 10 Link asked if there is a way to take a bike on the LRT. Sevenich said they have vertical racks inside the trains. Napuck suggested having some "You Are Here" maps showing points of interest and advertising upcoming events. Coburn suggested we list the options for the location at which you get on or off. Schmidt suggested highlighting local restaurants or businesses at the locations. IX. REPORTS OF STAFF A. Recreation Services Manager FYI: Animal Open House--April 14, 1:00 to 4:00 PM. FYI: Mother-Son All Star Event--May 5 B. Parks and Natural Resources Manager FYI: Park Clean-Up--April 21 FYI: Arbor Day Walk--May 5 Fox said the Arbor Day Walk will host a new kids activity that will take a look at trees and plants at Staring Lake. C. Community Center Manager FYI: Afternoon with the Bunny D. Parks and Recreation Director 1. Parks and Recreation Annual Report 2. 2012 PRNR Work Plan Lotthammer distributed copies of the 2011 annual report and noted it is also available online. He said it tells the story of what we have been doing and gives some idea of the trends we have been seeing. FYI: Board and Commission Banquet--May 9, 6 pm, Garden Room Lotthammer said the invitations for the banquet will be out soon. X. NEXT MEETING Next PRNR Meeting--Monday May 7, 7 pm, Council Chamber XI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Link moved, seconded by Gunderson, to adjourn the meeting. The motion carried 7- 0. Chair Napuck adjourned the meeting at 9:12 p.m.