Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks and Recreation - 05/07/2012 APPROVED MINUTES PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MONDAY, MAY 7, 2012 7:00 P.M., CITY CENTER Council Chambers 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: Geri Napuck, Chair; Tom Bierman, Matthew Kraft, Leonard Pesheck and Larry Link COMMISSION MEMBERS ABSENT: Hutch Coburn, Vice Chair; Derek Gunderson, Joan Oko and Dave Rosa STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Liz Powell COMMISSION STAFF PRESENT: Jay Lotthammer, Parks and Recreation Director Stu Fox, Parks Natural Resources Director Matt Bourne, Parks Maintenance Supervisor Carol Pelzel, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chair Napuck called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Napuck announced this is the last meeting for the student representatives on the Commission. She congratulated Powell on having perfect attendance and thanked her and the other students for their participation on the Commission. Napuck introduced Leonard Pesheck, the newest member to the Commission. Leonard said he recently relocated to Eden Prairie and has two sons active in sports and since they use the park system he wanted to volunteer some of his time to the Parks Commission. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA As requested by Link, an item regarding Lake Riley was added to the agenda under New Business. Bierman asked what the City's plan is for new trails. Lotthammer suggested they discuss this item at a future meeting. Staff is working on the City's Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and this document will show where the funding will come from for some of these trails. Motion: Motion was made by Bierman, seconded by Link, and all members present voting aye to approve the agenda as amended. III. APPROVAL OF PRNR MINUTES —April 9, 2012 Motion: Motion was made by Bierman, seconded by Kraft, to approve the April 9 Parks Commission minutes as published. The motion carried 4-0-1 with Pesheck abstaining because he was not in attendance at that meeting. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES May 7, 2012 Page 2 IV. REPORT OF CITY COUNCIL ACTION Lotthammer reported on April 13 the Mayor read a proclamation proclaiming May 5 as Arbor Day. The City held an Arbor Day event including a walk and discovery tour at Staring Lake. The Council also accepted a proclamation declaring May as Senior Awareness month. At that same meeting the Council accepted a donation from the Lions Club for the Outdoor Center. Stan Tekiela, Outdoor Center Supervisor, spoke at the Lions Club meeting and the Lions Club elected to donate their$247 proceeds from a meat raffle to the Outdoor Center. V. REPORT OF PLANNING COMMISSION Fox reported on April 9 the Planning Commission approved a parking addition for Edendale Senior Housing located next to the Prairie Village Mall. This item was tabled by the City Council for redesign. The Planning Commission also discussed a 12-unit single-family housing development off of Beverly Drive. The project has been placed on hold to allow the neighbors to decide which access points should be used. Fox further reported on April 23 the Planning Commission discussed the expansion of parking for a public/industrial use in the northeast quadrant of the City. VI. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS VII. OLD BUSINESS A. ROUND LAKE UPDATE Lotthammer provided the Commission with a brief update on the Round Lake project. Staff is in the process of preparing bid documents and their intent is to have the Commission review the bids received at their meeting next month and to have the Commission make a recommendation for City Council consideration at their meeting the following evening. Staff will also share with the Commission the results of the bids for the Round Lake Skate Park project. Fox pointed out bids for the Round Lake Project are due on May 29 allowing staff one week to review the bids. In response to a question from Link, Lotthammer explained this phase of the project does not include the ballfield configuration, but does include all of the play equipment, splash pad and updates to the pavilion. VIII. NEW BUSINESS A. LAKE RILEY Lotthammer explained when Pioneer Trail was widened park land was taken which resulted in the need for mitigation. As a result of this, the City was able to acquire two properties that were surrounded by parks on Lake Riley. The first house acquired was demolished and the PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES May 7, 2012 Page 3 City is in the process of requesting quotes to demolish the second house. Next month the Commission will be reviewing the 2013-2017 Capital Improvement Program and in that report they will see a project for Lake Riley which is a few years out. This allows the City to have an opportunity to reconfigure that area. Parking does not work very well and there are conflicts with boat trailers and beach parking. Fox displayed an aerial map of that site. Link said he would like to see parking for people docking non-motorized boats. With the current configuration they have to come down to the boating area to drop off their kayak or canoe and then drive to the main parking lot to park their car. He said this is very cumbersome and it would be nice to have parking for those people launching a non-motorized boat. Fox said this is something they can look at. Link also suggested when staff is looking at reconfiguring this area they add a picnic drop-off location. Lotthammer explained the City will be contracting people to monitor the boats coming off of Riley Lake for zebra mussels. These people will be certified for Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) and they will also go to other lakes in the City where boats are launched to monitor the boats and to educate people on cleaning their boats. IX. REPORTS OF STAFF A. RECREATION SERVICES MANAGER FYI: Senior Center Open House—May 10 FYI: Arts in the Park—May 19 Bierman asked if the City gets a percentage of sales for the Arts in the Park program. Lotthammer said they do not but they do get a small fee for allowing them to use the park. Napuck asked if this program could expand beyond the 30 artists they now have. Lotthammer said it could grow. They had over 40 submissions. FYI: Senior Awareness Month FYI: Art Center Open House—June 3, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. B. PARKS AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGER 1. Geocaching Update Fox explained last fall the Commission discussed the status of geocaching permits and recommended staff work with Minnesota Geocaching and to provide them with a file of all of the boundaries of City property where geocaching could be located so they could do the approval process. All of this information was given to Minnesota Geocaching in February. The City's website is linked to the Minnesota Geocaching website and they look at the applications and if they meet the criteria they will be issued a permit. Fox said they have had about ten new caches approved in the last four months with five rejections because they were outside of the approved areas. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES May 7, 2012 Page 4 Lotthammer said staff is pleased with this process. They did have some concerns about the process and after six months they are comfortable with continuing to have the applicants go through Minnesota Geocaching. 2. Park Maintenance Matt Bourne, Park Maintenance Supervisor, presented an overview of the Park Maintenance Division operation including park maintenance and park construction. The division also includes forestry and the Commission received an update on this program last fall. He reported Park Maintenance is responsible for 43 parks and special use areas including Riley Lake Beach and fishing piers along with 52 baseball/softball fields and 48 soccer/lacrosse/football fields. They are also responsible for 13 sand volleyball courts, 25 basketball courts and 29 play structures. There are 130 miles of trails and formal flower gardens and two community garden plots. Park Maintenance maintains picnic areas, hauls trash and is responsible for Pleasant Hill Cemetery maintenance. During the winter they remove snow from trails, parking lots and rinks and maintain skating/hockey rinks and Staring Lake sledding hill. Park Maintenance assists Recreation staff with special events and programs as well as with summer athletic tournaments. Bourne also reviewed the 2011 summer projects completed. Fox pointed out Park Maintenance currently mows approximately 600 acres. Link said it is fascinating what they can do with 15 full-time employees and 18 to 20 seasonal employees. Napuck said she too is fascinated by the amount of work they do and believes it has to be a huge puzzle to get this together with the staff they have and with the weather. She thanked staff for making this presentation because it does show the Commission what goes on behind the scene and they do a great job. FYI: Park Clean-Up Day Summary Fox reported this event took place the third Saturday in April and they gathered 60 bags of trash and had a good turnout of service groups. C. COMMUNITY CENTER MANAGER FYI: Summer Hours D. PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR 1. 2012 PRNR Work Plan Lotthammer reported in June the Commission would be reviewing the fee resolution, receive an overview of the Capital Improvement Program, review future trails and review bids for the Round Lake and Skate Park projects. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MINUTES May 7, 2012 Page 5 Bierman asked if anything happened with the request from the Foxjets to go ahead with planning for a swimming pool at the Community Center. Lotthammer said staff sent out a Request for Proposal (RFP) to nine different companies to do a feasibility study. They have approximately one month to return their proposal to the City as to how much it would cost to provide a feasibility study and what services they would provide. The study would look at a pool/aquatics area at the Community Center and look at what is current and what it would accommodate in the future. Staff is working with the Foxjets on getting funding for the feasibility study. This information was presented to the City Council at one of their work shops and in looking at the process the Council felt it was a good thing to do. FYI: Board and Commission Banquet—May 9, 6 p.m. Garden Room X. NEXT MEETING The next regular meeting of the Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission will be Monday, June 4, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers. X. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Motion was made by Link, seconded by Bierman, to adjourn the meeting. The motion carried 5-0 and the meeting was adjourned at 8:13 p.m.