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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity and School Facility Use Advisory Committee - 03/26/2014 UNAPPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY AND SCHOOL FACILITY USE ADVISORY COMMITTEE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2014 7:00 PM, EDEN PRAIRIE COMMUNITY CENTER, CAMBRIA ROOM, 16700 Valley View Road, Eden Prairie COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Suzanne Kutina (Vice Chair), School Board Ranee Jacobus; School Board Sherry Butcher Wickstrom, City Council Patrice Erickson, Community Ed Advisory Council Lisa Lieberman, HS Booster Club STAFF: Mike Grant, High School Activities Director Ricardo Jones, High School Activities Coordinator Terri Johnson, Director of Community Education Cheryl Bridge, Facilities Coordinator Jay Lotthammer, Director of Parks and Recreation Wendy Sevenich, Community Center Manager Valerie Verley, Recreation Supervisor RECORDING SECRETARY Jan Curielli I. ROLL CALL & INTRODUCTIONS Vice Chair Kutina called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Committee Members Butcher Wickstrom and Lieberman were absent. Grant and Johnson were absent. A. INTRODUCTIONS & UPDATED CONTACT LIST Kutina said she was attending tonight's meeting to help Ms Jacobus who is the new School Board representative. She asked everyone to introduce themselves. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Jacobus moved, seconded by Erickson, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 3-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Erickson moved, seconded by Jacobus, to approve the November 13, 2013 minutes as published. Motion carried 3-0. IV. ITEMS OF BUSINESS CITY AND SCHOOL FACILITY USE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES March 26, 2014 Page 2 A. Future Committee Appointments --All Kutina asked who the new Chair of the Committee will be. Lotthammer said in the past the Committee has switched between the School Board and the City for Chair and Vice Chair. He asked that the Committee wait another month to name the Chair and Vice Chair because the Parks Commission meets in April and will select a representative to the Committee at that time. B. 2014 Spring/Summer Field Usage Update -- Verley & Jones Verley said they held a preplanning meeting with six of the outdoor user groups. Games are scheduled to start April 28, weather permitting. She noted Miller No. 9 field is out for the season for repairs and refurbishment, which will affect the Soccer Association, the Football Association and adult football leagues. Lotthammer said the field needs a full year to grow back. He said there will always be one field down at Miller Park for the next four years. They plan to add better drainage and irrigation systems to the fields. Lotthammer said they removed the baseball field at Flying Cloud and will make that into turf for soccer use. Two new baseball fields were added there which allows another field to be taken down. Erickson asked if those will be available this summer. Lotthammer replied the fields need to grow for a year. Verley said they have been implementing a new application process for tournaments in order to streamline the approach and get all the information in one spot. The new process will help to keep the communications flowing and will be a good resource for the users. Jones said the grass fields will be open the second week in April, depending on the weather. The bubble dome will come down the last week of April. The tennis court at CMS will be offline this summer for reconstruction. The soccer State Cup will be held at the High School fields for the next two years. Lotthammer noted they are willing to reschedule their games if there is bad weather. Jacobus commented it will be interesting to see what the grass fields at the elementary schools look like in July now that rental groups have started to use them. C. Miller Park/Flying Cloud Soccer Field Use -- Grant & Jones Jones said this an item in regard to the joint powers shared facilities agreement. Lotthammer said he understood the issue to be at Miller Park soccer fields No. 12 and 13 which the City has designated for game use only. He thought Mr. Grant does not agree that should be the case and believes the fields should be made available to the schools for both practice and games. He said they have offered some other fields for practices that are closer to the High School. Miller Park fields 12 and 13 are sand- CITY AND SCHOOL FACILITY USE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES March 26, 2014 Page 3 based fields which makes them more susceptible to wear and tear. We don't think that will change over time. Kutina asked how that situation gets resolved. Lotthammer said we worked with other people in the district to help find other space. Jones said the High School fields are available so those would be used first and then they would move to Miller Park after that. Lotthammer said they will continue to discuss this with Mr. Grant. Jacobus asked if Mr. Grant wants to update the agreement. Lotthammer said we have had feedback that fields they were able to use have been satisfactory. Bridges noted the agreement was written many years ago and perhaps should be updated. D. Eden Prairie Community Center Aquatic Upgrade Update -- Lotthammer Sevenich said they are working on the detailed design for the Aquatics Center. They recently gave a presentation to the City Council and received their approval for the site plan. Staff will advertise for bids and will open those on April 22. After that, there are meetings with the Parks Commission on May 5 and the City Council on May 6. She said they have worked closely with the Foxjets and the High School, especially in reference to the diving area. They are looking at how to fund high grade equipment. Lotthammer noted the High School coaches have been very helpful with the specifications. The facility will be able to hold up to 300 spectators in the bleachers that overlook the two competitive pools. He noted the next time the Committee meets the construction should be underway. Jacobus asked if they toured other facilities. Lotthammer said they toured the St. Thomas facility and took a lot of design concepts from them. Erickson asked about the plans for parking. Sevenich said there are several parking areas available. They are working with the High School about parking in the back area. There is also parking available at Round Lake. They intend to coordinate major events and will work closely with the High School if they have large activities planned. She said it is important to let people know it is about programming the space. For instance, they won't offer something at Round Lake that would compete with a swim meet. She said we have learned we must balance activities planned for the facility. Jacobus asked who uses the Oak Point pool. Sevenich said the City is using that space for the lesson program and plan to continue to do so. She noted Oak Point is tightening up some of the hours. Lotthammer said the swim team and clubs can't start until later in the day. Bridges noted it is 3:30 pm. Lotthammer said the High School swim team uses that pool for practice. CITY AND SCHOOL FACILITY USE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES March 26, 2014 Page 4 Jacobus asked how long the construction will take. Sevenich said it will take one year for the first body of water which means the competitive pool will probably be ready in the fall of 2015. At that point they can raise the temperature in the other pool. Lotthammer said they expect to have a full house at the May 6 City Council meeting when staff presents the bid results. There are active groups that oppose the pool as well as groups that are very much in favor of it. E. Hennepin Youth Sports Grant Update --Verley Verley said they have had a lot of success with this grant. There is also a field improvement grant that comes up less frequently. She said four youth associations have applied for the grants this year. They also sent in requests for a fishing group and for equipment for the City archery program. Kutina asked if there is archery available anywhere other than Staring Lake. Verley replied there is not, but they have seen a surge of interest, probably because of the Hunger Games movies. F. Mayor's Health & Wellness Committee -- Lotthammer Lotthammer said both Ms Kutina and Ms Jacobus serve on the Mayor's Health& Wellness Committee. The Committee has focused more on nutrition and is looking at ways to engage local restaurants to offer more healthy options. They have also been targeting some of the health insurance companies. Blue Cross/Blue Shield representatives came in and discussed possible funding. He and City Manager Getschow will be meeting with Optum to see how they might plug in. He described the food truck initiative and noted the Community Center has the infrastructure needed to deal with food preparation. There are at least 150 events throughout the community, and this would be a way to offer higher quality concessions and to communicate the value of health and wellness. Kutina noted restaurants can't afford to cover small events so this would allow us to offer food at the smaller events. Lotthammer said we have received a number of emails stating we should not be in the food business and would be taking away from local restaurants' business. However, we see it as taking what is there now at the concession stands and making it healthier and of better quality. The committee and staff have been working on naming rights as a way to fund the truck and will continue that effort as well as working on grants. Sevenich noted the State Health Department is tightening up regulations so volunteer groups are having difficulty providing food service. Jacobus noted they stopped all the meals the PTA groups used to serve because all food served now has to be packaged. Lotthammer noted there is a lot of energy on the committee. It is a good group of volunteers. CITY AND SCHOOL FACILITY USE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES March 26, 2014 Page 5 G. 2013 City/School Fees & Charges —Verley Verley reviewed two spreadsheets showing fees and charges for School District facilities used by the City and for City facilities used by the School District. She noted there was a decrease in the fees charged last year for the High School Physical Education program at the Community Center because there was a decrease in the number of life guard classes. In addition last year the Community Center was used for School District parties for the first time. Verley said last year Cedar Ridge was added to the list for neighborhood meetings. The fees received for use of the Oak Point pool increased last year because the primetime hours changed which caused an increase in the per hour lane fee. Lotthammer suggested adding figures for the number of hours used as well as the amount of fees collected to show the true use and to give a full perspective. Bridges noted some things that are used are not charged for. Jacobus asked if there is anything about the fields we need to look at. Lotthammer said what we did with the referendum funds has really helped our situation. The Lacrosse Association is very happy with the fields they get to use. The Riley fields are now lighted, and we shifted those back to adult use. There will be a project starting in 2016 to make the fields at Round Lake more adult-friendly. We have been shifting things around in order to respond more to the demands. The City and School District will split the cost for the CMS tennis court reconstruction. Jacobus asked if the Miracle Field will open this summer. Lotthammer said he understood proponents of that project are still contacting companies trying to raise funds. He noted that a Miracle Field is one built especially for kids who have mobility issues. We are trying to work with MAC because they would have to be a partner in the project. If the fund raising goes well, we could start construction in September. Bridges asked if there will be regular scheduling on Forest Lake, Prairie View and Eden Lake fields. Verley said typically those are scheduled by the Soccer Association. Jacobus said the football association uses Prairie View fields. Lotthammer said the baseball fields at Eden Lake have quite a bit of scheduling. Verley said the Lacrosse Association uses fields at Rice Marsh and Nesbitt. H. Other VI. DISCUSSION OF ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING A. Next Meeting Date --Proposed Date: Wednesday, November 12, 2014 The Committee members discussed the proposed date. Verley will poll the Committee members and staff about scheduling for either November 5 or 12. B. Discussion Items for Next Meeting CITY AND SCHOOL FACILITY USE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES March 26, 2014 Page 6 Verley said she could report on grants received. Jacobus suggested a pool project update. Bridges suggested an edible garden update and noted there used to be an arts person on the Committee. Lotthammer said we could add one. He noted the Arts Commission was merged into the Parks Commission some time ago. VIL OTHER VIII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Erickson moved, seconded by Jacobus, to adjourn. Motion carried 3-0. Vice Chair Kutina adjourned the meeting at 8:05 pm.