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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity and School Facility Use Advisory Committee - 04/20/2016 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY AND SCHOOL FACILITY USE ADVISORY COMMITTEE WEDNESDAY,APRIL 20, 2016 7:00 P.M., EDEN PRAIRIE COMMUNITY CENTER Aquatics Room 110, 16700 Valley View Road COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Larry Link, Chair- Parks and Recreation Commission Elaine Larabee, Vice Chair - School Board Sherry Butcher-Wickstrom - City Council Sharon Peterson - Community Ed Advisory Council Lisa Lieberman - EPHS Booster Club STAFF: Mike Grant, High School Activities Director Ricardo Jones, High School Activities Coordinator Shawn Hoffman-Bram, Director of Community Education Cheryl Bridge, Facilities Coordinator Jay Lotthammer, Parks and Recreation Director Lori Brink, Recreation Manager Valerie Verley, Community Center Operations Kori Shingles, Recreation Supervisor Heidi Wojahn, Recorder I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Larry Link called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. following introductions. Verley and Committee member Peterson were absent. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Larabee moved, seconded by Lieberman, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 4-0. III. MINUTES MOTION: Larabee moved, seconded by Lieberman to approve the December 9, 2015 minutes. Motion carried 4-0. IV. ITEMS OF BUSINESS A. CITY FIELD CONSTRUCTION UPDATES Round Lake is in its second phase of improvements. Four of the shorter softball fields will be reconstructed as three standard-length fields. Available parking will increase and the basketball court will be replaced with construction to begin after July 4. The fields will be seeded and planted by September, allowed to grow next year, and be open for play in 2018. Fencing and irrigation will be replaced and updated as well. CITY AND SCHOOL FACILITY USE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES April 20, 2016 Page 2 Field 8 at Miller Park will remain playable, but a large plaza behind it is cracked and the pavement and concrete is heaving. It will be removed and the adjacent parking lot redone. When finished, there will be extra green space which will be more aesthetically pleasing and prevent viewers from having to watch games from the blacktop. The City is working with the Eden Prairie Baseball Association (EPBA) on the possibility of a storage building,but lack of funding from the EPBA may prevent the project from moving forward. The plaza/parking lot proposal will go before Council on May 3. The project came in over budget a year ago. By waiting a year, the City was able to add trail connections to the package without raising costs. Budgeting is on target. Work on Miller Soccer Field 10 is scheduled to take place this year. There are drainage issues and poor soil. The field will be regraded and better drain tile will be installed. Next year it will be allowed to grow. This results in better turf which requires less fertilizer and pesticides. Then the same work will begin on Field 11 after which other soccer fields will be treated in a similar fashion on a rotating basis through 2026. Butcher-Wickstrom asked about trends for the future. Lotthammer said adult softball is declining but not as quickly as it is in surrounding towns. Getting the Round Lake fields to a modern-day length should help. The City is seeing an influx of people interested in joining Eden Prairie leagues because they no longer have leagues in their own cities. The EPBA has also seen declining numbers, but soccer and lacrosse remain strong and could grow. Link asked for an idea on the number of participants in baseball and softball. Shingles said there are 104 teams this season, ten percent of which are from surrounding communities. Despite the temporary inconvenience, they are receiving good feedback from users about the field improvements. B. 2016 SPRING/SUMMER FIELD USAGE UPDATE Shingles reported she and Jones have been communicating about field availability. Due to recent snowfall, there was a delay in the opening of the City fields. The go-ahead has been granted to open this weekend. Round Lake fields are available for use until construction begins. Registrations for youth soccer will be completed soon. High usage is expected,but there are enough fields to meet demand. Jones said the spring and summer seasons are busy for school field usage. Rugby is back and has healthy participation in terms of numbers. Turf A is lit, so a lot of reservations for Turf B, which is heavily used, will be moved to Turf A. There are a couple new soccer groups this season using a lot of space. Lacrosse and the Soccer Club are cancelling gym and activity space now that they can be outside. All camps are back this year. Despite the busy summer schedule, the district needs to find time to shut down the fields for clean-up. CITY AND SCHOOL FACILITY USE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES April 20, 2016 Page 3 C. 2015 CITY/SCHOOL FEES AND CHARGES Shingles noted the increase in charges for the Community Center pool. Updated and added facility space has resulted in more use, particularly by the school swim and dive teams. Discussion ensued on hosting swim events. Grant reported there used to be meets at Oak Point due to an issue with not being able to use the blocks at the Community Center. Larabee commented on the substantial swings in boys' hockey games. Grant said one of the reasons the girls' hockey is high is because they host a tournament which is reflected in lots of hours and ice time, while the boys' tournaments are away. Larabee pointed out the difference in home games projected this year and compared it to the number of games the last two years. Grant said much of it depends on scheduling. Bridge noted the change in fiscal years as one reason. Grant said the girls' season starts earlier, so there are more games in December than there are for boys. Their tournament is in December, too. Larabee said she had heard feedback from the community about parking being difficult at the Community Center,but the positive side is there are a lot of offerings and the facility is being used. D. 2016 SCHOONER DAYS PLANNING Shingles stated Schooner Days planning is underway. The event is set to begin June 2. In the past, fitness classes have been moved or cancelled to help alleviate parking congestion. Parking shouldn't be as big of a concern this year since there is no construction,but logistics are still being worked out. Section baseball is a possibility that day. Lieberman asked if the added parking at Round Lake would help. Lotthammer said it would not be ready in time for this year's event, but it will be next year. Grant said it has worked fine in the past for those attending Schooner Days to park at the high school. Lotthammer said long-range planning meetings have been held with the Lions. Carnival and overall attendance has decreased some, but bingo is growing. They are looking for ways to enhance and diversify as well as use other groups and organizations to supplement with events such as a car show or 5K run, for instance. Link suggested pickleball. Lotthammer said that idea is already under consideration. E. AQUATIC EXPANSION UPDATE Lotthammer reported Phase One has been open for awhile. The sixteen-lane pool is used by both the boys' and girls' swim teams and Team Foxjet for a lot of practice hours. It is one of the fastest pools in the area. The adjacent dryland training area is well-used by the high school and clubs. It is also used for personal training sessions and classes. The cold pool is kept at 80 degrees, the diving area at 84-85 degrees, the zero-depth at 88 degrees which is nice for parents and small children, and the hot tub spa at 102 degrees. It is difficult to please all,but there CITY AND SCHOOL FACILITY USE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES April 20, 2016 Page 4 will be some education taking place around temperatures. People react differently to pool temperatures depending on the outside temperature. Butcher-Wickstrom asked what makes the pool fast. Lotthammer explained the pool is deep enough for starting blocks but not as deep as a diving area. There is a two-foot shoulder between the edge of the pool and the first lane which minimizes the back and forth motion of the waves, and the lane lines are extra big. Lieberman stated it wasn't possible to get low enough in the old pool beneath the waves. Lotthammer said they have received good feedback from users, especially in terms of the separate, tiled, wet-locker rooms. There have been several events since the opening including log rolling, Swimjitsu, and triathlons. Five hundred people participated via USA Swimming in Swimjitsu, an American Ninja Warrior-type obstacle course in the water. One triathlon was put on by the state association. Another,hosted by the City, was an indoor on-site winter triathlon consisting of biking on a stationary bike, running on a treadmill, and swimming in the pool. The zero-depth pool opened in time for spring break and saw a big influx of young kids. There were also many 12-14 year olds in the afternoons and evenings during open swim times. The area has play features such as a basketball hoop, volleyball net, climbing wall, and fun waterslide. The hot tub is getting a lot of use and is used throughout the day. They are still in the learning phase yet and will start to observe use patterns. All construction will be finalized in the next couple of weeks including trail paving behind the building. Sod and native grasses will be planted between the sidewalk and the building. They don't require as much water and will help prevent erosion. Link asked if the high school has any other programming at the Community Center besides swimming. Lotthammer said phy-ed classes sometimes come over for ice time. Lieberman said there is also water safety instruction/lifesaving. Lotthammer said between boys' and girls' swimming and ice time for boys' and girls' hockey, there is quite a bit of use immediately after school. High school kids often play basketball during open gym hours, as well. Link asked about the possibility of incorporating ice baths for inflammation. Grant said the trainer they contract with doesn't do that. The logistics simply are not there to accommodate the number of people, and it is typically done at the coach's discretion. In addition, it is not a priority for the kids, and it would involve expanding the training room significantly. Link suggested thinking about a cold water therapy pool for the long-term. F. OTHER V. NEXT MEETING CITY AND SCHOOL FACILITY USE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES April 20, 2016 Page 5 A. MEETING DATE The next CSFAC meeting will be Wednesday, December 7, 2016 at 7 p.m. B. DISCUSSION ITEMS VI. OTHER VII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Larabee moved, seconded by Butcher-Wickstrom, to adjourn. Motion carried 4-0. Chair Link adjourned the meeting at 7:51 p.m.