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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity and School Facility Use Advisory Committee - 03/28/2012 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY AND SCHOOL FACILITY USE ADVISORY COMMITTEE WED., MARCH 28, 2012 7:00 PM, EDEN PRAIRIE COMMUNITY CENTER— 16700 Valley View Road COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Derek Gunderson (Chair), Suzanne Kutina (Vice Chair), John Bergstrand, Lisa Lieberman, Sherry Butcher- Wickstrom, Patrice Erickson STAFF: Terri Johnson, Director of Community Education Jay Lotthammer, Director of Parks and Recreation Laurie Obiazor, Manager of Recreation Services Valerie Verley, Recreation Supervisor - Athletics Wendy Sevenich, Community Center Manager Mike Grant, High School Activities Director Cheryl Bridge, Facilities Coordinator Ricardo Jones, High School Activities Coordinator Heidi Wojahn, Recorder I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Gunderson called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m. Sevenich and Committee Members Lieberman and Butcher-Wickstrom were absent. Bergstrand arrived at 7:25 pm. John Bergstrand will be leaving the committee due to a move to New Ulm. Patrice Erickson, representing the Community Education Advisory Council, will serve as his replacement. Obiazor requested revisions be made to the Committee contact list to reflect these changes. Verley's information needs to be added as well. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Verley's name was added to the agenda. Kutina requested to add discussion on Central Middle School (CMS) auditorium expansion and Oak Point (OP) pool under Item IV.H. Other. MOTION: Kutina moved, seconded by Erickson, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 3-0. III. MINUTES MOTION: Kutina moved, seconded by Gunderson, to approve the November 16, 2011 minutes. Motion carried 2-0-1 with Erickson abstaining. CITY AND SCHOOL FACILITY USE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES March 28, 2012 Page 2 IV. ITEMS OF BUSINESS A. ARTS AND CULTURE COMMISSION UPDATE —Obiazor There has been waning interest in the Arts and Culture Commission (ACC). There were not enough applicants to fill the open positions this spring. In addition, a lot of the duties previously covered by ACC are now being taken care of by the Art Center Recreation Supervisor. Due to these factors, staff determined there is no longer a need for ACC in addition to the Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission (PRNR). ACC has been dissolved, and the remaining commissioners and student representatives have elected to finish their terms with PRNR with the exception of one commissioner who opted out. The one new candidate who applied to be on ACC will also serve on PRNR. As a result of the downsizing, there will no longer be an ACC rep on CSFAC. These changes are not expected to hinder arts and culture in the community. B. EPCC PUBLIC ART PROJECT— Obiazor The mural on one of the walls leading into Rink 1 will be added. The recreation supervisor applied for funding through the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council. A request was posted for Minnesota artists to apply. Among the submissions were ideas from 40 Eden Prairie artists. From there it was narrowed to three. Their designs were displayed at the Community Center for ten days inviting public feedback. That was brought before the ACC and Allison Luetke was the selected artist. Slides and samples of Luetke's plan were shown to CSFAC members. Acrylic and glass will be embedded into 100 square panels tied together with steel mounts and be covered in a tempered glass coating for durability. There are plans in place to replace individual tiles if damaged. The background wall will be painted a tan color. The panel will be fabricated and installed over a period of about eight weeks and is expected to be in place by early summer. The project budget is $10,000. The tiles will be symbolic of the facility and represent the community. The artist is open to ideas, and residents can submit feedback for what they'd like to see incorporated in the artwork as part of implementing public art throughout the community. Bergstrand arrived at 7:25 pm. C. ROUND LAKE MASTER PLAN—Lotthammer The Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission is in the planning process for the parks system. The vibrant community park feeling Round Lake once had is gone and the water quality is poor. The City is in the process of finishing construction specifications for improvements with work expected to begin in August. The full master plan includes changes to the fields, hockey rinks, skate park, play areas, beach, traffic areas (paths and parking), and the picnic pavilion. There will be no changes to CITY AND SCHOOL FACILITY USE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES March 28, 2012 Page 3 the tennis courts as they were recently updated. Bids are anticipated soon for a new skate park. The old one will be torn out in early summer. Improvements will be made in two phases. The ballfield renovations will be phased in later around 2018 and consist of reducing the number of fields from four to three and making the fields larger for adult use. The hockey rinks are due to be replaced. A more durable material will be used, and one rink will be moved south so they line up. There will be two play structures, one geared for 2 to 5-year-olds and another with a Swiss Family Robinson treehouse feel to it for older kids ages 5 to 12. There will be a splash pad almost three times the size of the one at Miller Park in-between them. Soft rubberized surfaces and color-coded graphic panels will be incorporated featuring artwork with animals and a tropical/ocean theme. Another feature will be a fish bicycle rack. Weather-resistant fitness equipment will be added for adult use. There is a problem with the volume of the lake water occasionally so the beach area will be made smaller. The ACC was consulted for selection of colors and fencing styles. Decorative concrete will be implemented to attract attention for proper trail usage (walkingibiking etc.) and drainage will be corrected. Shade structures could possibly be rented out. The picnic pavilion will stay. Dormers will be added to let in more natural light, and block and fresh paint will be added to the posts. New picnic tables and garbage and recycling containers will also be added. Gunderson asked what will become of the existing playground equipment. Lotthammer said there may be an opportunity to have it sent to a third world country. D. FLYING CLOUD BALLFIELD EXPANSION—Lotthammer The two baseball fields and two turf fields across from Grace Church will be allowed to grow this year and will be playable in 2013. They are thin now but should be coming along soon. E. 2012 SPRING/SUMMER FIELD USAGE —Verley/Jones Verley reported the City is transitioning to a new software system for outdoor facility rental. This will be more efficient and streamlined in terms of tracking usage and automated billing. Improvements will be made as needed. They have been meeting separately with youth association ballfield users and turf users and have become aware there are significant disparities on how fields are allocated. They want to serve Eden Prairie youth as a whole, not certain user groups. After holding follow-up meetings with the Soccer Club and the Soccer Association, they were able to reallocate Homeward Hills Park for boys lacrosse which will give them much more space and functionality for their program and are working on another field possibility for them. The Soccer Association is doing more sharing of fields at Flying Cloud. This will help all the growing programs. Johnson asked Verley which software she uses. Verley stated Class software is used for registration and scheduling of recreational programs including adult athletics as well as park building and park rentals with the goal of incorporating fields. CITY AND SCHOOL FACILITY USE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES March 28, 2012 Page 4 Jones said the turf fields will see heavy use this spring and summer. One field will be shut down the second week of June just for the weekend for surface repair. Flag football will be returning to CMS on Saturdays for a handful of weekends over the summer. Verley added they have been in contact with the field schedulers for all their associations to let them know they can practice on City fields beginning April 9 and start holding games and tournaments beginning April 28. They are able to have access three weeks early this year due to the unseasonably warm weather. She will let them know to coordinate with Jones as well. Bridge commented there have been many cancellations this month for indoor soccer. F. 2012 HENNEPIN YOUTH SPORTS GRANT —Lotthammer The Miller Park project has been finished. Scoreboards and covered player benches with fencing were added. It was a $240,000 project with the grant covering approximately half of the cost. They were not awarded grants for improvements at Franlo Park and Staring Lake, but it shouldn't be too long before they can reapply. They are looking to add a couple more player benches at both parks. They are also seeking funding for girls softball equipment for a Gator with a drag on the back to do some field maintenance and for some internal projects such as converting a couple baseball fields to soccer fields. Obiazor helped Forest Hills submit a grant for a climbing wall. They are continuing to help associations apply but have discovered even if proposals are worthy, they have to wait their turn as the grants are fairly geographically disbursed. Kutina asked if matching funds are necessary for these grants. Lotthammer said points are awarded for matches,but they are not required. G. 2011 CITY/SCHOOL FEES & CHARGES Verley reported she has been in contact with Johnson, Bridge, Jones, staff, and recreation programs that utilize school facilities to ensure charges are current. The numbers are up-to-date and many are fairly consistent with 2010 with not much in the way of changes or discrepancies. For School facilities used by City, there was an increase from 2010 of about $3500. There was an increase of approximately $12,000 for City facilities used by the District. Jones said one of the reasons for the increase in School facilities used by the City is the use of the dome for fly fishing. The jazz band also used a classroom at the high school more this year. He has slightly different figures for those two programs. Kutina asked about the reason for the $12,000 increase. Grant said ice time changes from year to year depending on how far the team goes into sectionals. This past year there was an increase in ice time. Bridge noted the increase in swimming/diving as well. Grant requested specifics be sent to him on boys swimming. If the swim team is bigger, they may want to practice more at the Community Center. There is also a new CITY AND SCHOOL FACILITY USE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES March 28, 2012 Page 5 coach. With the District and City fiscal years being different, the charges reflect parts of two swim seasons rather than one full season. He can't explain the jump in costs right now. There could be lots of variables. Perhaps more morning swims were added. H. OTHER 1. Oak Point Pool— Kutina Due to the recent boundary restructuring, OP pool will not be used for 6th graders any more as it is cost prohibitive to bus students in for a 21-day rotation of swimming. The recommendation is to remove swimming from the 6th-grade curriculum which opens the pool up for availability. Grant added the only reason OP pool is used is because the Community Center pool is not deep enough for starting blocks. Obiazor inquired if there might be a referendum item relating to the pool. Kutina said there has not been any discussion about the pool in regards to a referendum, but ideas are welcome. Bridge said parking is tight and there are bus lane issues. Grant said the diving board at the Community Center is grandfathered in for dive teams. When it breaks, it cannot be replaced because standards won't allow for it to be certified. When that happens, they would have to rent space elsewhere. Although an inefficient use of money, it is cheaper than building a new pool. There has been discussion about the possibility of diving at the deep end at OP, and the City is understandably not interested in deepening the Community Center diving well for a few weeks of use by the diving team. Gunderson asked if seniors were looking for more room or time for cardio classes. Shuttling seniors from the Community Center to OP eliminates the need for parking and would get the pool used. The elevator and locker rooms are handy. Lotthammer said there is plenty of room at the Community Center during the school day. From a City perspective, they would rather use that facility because staffing and utilities are already in place. 2. CMS Auditorium Expansion— Kutina There is interest in expanding the CMS performing arts center, and architects have presented some possible options to the school board. Funding is tight, but the two mid-range options seem the most viable. If pursued, a line item would be added on a future referendum to see if there is community support. From a school budget standpoint, they'd be considering it a year out in 2013 and would want to know if the City sees any benefit to the project. Obiazor asked about the seating range. Kutina wasn't sure of the exact number but can get that information. The seating is comparable to other middle schools,but there are other space concerns. Grant said the seating capacity at HS PAC is about 780 while the high school auditorium seats around 350. CITY AND SCHOOL FACILITY USE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES March 28, 2012 Page 6 V. NEXT MEETING A. MEETING DATE The next CSFAC meeting will be Wednesday, November 14, 7 p.m. in the foyer of the Performing Arts Center at the high school. B. DISCUSSION ITEMS Tour EPHS Performing Arts Center Facility Construction Update Summer Field Usage VI. OTHER Bergstrand was thanked for his service to the Committee. VII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Kutina moved, seconded by Erickson, to adjourn. Motion carried 3-0. Chair Gunderson adjourned the meeting at 8:19 pm.