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Parks and Recreation - 04/04/2011 APPROVED NOTES PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MONDAY,APRIL 4, 2011 7:00 P.M., CITY CENTER Council Chambers 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: Geri Napuck, Chair; Commissioners Tom Bierman and Derek Gunderson COMMISSION MEMBERS ABSENT: Hutch Coburn, Larry Link, Joan Oko and Dave Rosa COMMISSION STAFF PRESENT: Jay Lotthammer, Parks and Recreation Director Stu Fox, Parks Natural Resources Director Wendy Sevenich, Community Center Manager Bob Lanzi, Recreation Coordinator Carol Pelzel, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Due to the lack of a quorum, no official business was conducted. The meeting was started by Chair Napuck at 7:05 p.m. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA III. APPROVAL OF PRNR MINUTES IV. REPORT OF CITY COUNCIL ACTION Lotthammer reported the City Council awarded the bid for construction of the Flying Cloud Athletic Field Expansion to Chard Tiling and Excavating, Inc. in the amount of$1,200,191.77. The Council also awarded the contract for the Rice Marsh Lake Trail extension and approved a contract with the State of Minnesota for an Institution Work Crew. This group is under a work release setting and assists the City with a variety of projects. V. REPORT OF PLANNING COMMISSION Fox reported the Planning Commission will be reviewing three projects; Ridge at Riley Creek, Wedding Day Diamonds, and Red Stone American Grill. They also reviewed a lot subdivision dividing one lot into two resulting in the City receiving park dedication fees. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION NOTES April 4, 2011 Page 2 VI. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS A. Ice Rental Review Lanzi presented a review of the City's ice rental program explaining there are three rinks at the Community Center. Rinks 1 and 2 are operational 11 months of the year and Rink 3 is operational 7 months of the year. Rink 3 has a cement floor while Rinks 1 and 2 have a sand base floor. Rink 3 is dry land from mid-March to August and Lanzi reviewed the dry land activities conducted at that rink. Lanzi reviewed ice skating lessons explaining they had over 110 classes with over 1,281 participants in 2010 for total revenue of$97,160 compared to $86,740 in 2009. Revenue generated from skate rental was $10,970 for over 5,900 rentals compared to $7,665 in 2009. There were 17.5 hours of open skating offered per week. 2010 revenue for that program totaled $31,313 compared to $26,932 in 2009. Lanzi also reviewed the highlights for developmental ice including developmental figure skating and developmental hockey. 2010 revenues for this program were $22,201 compared to 2009 for$19,582. A new developmental tot hockey program was offered in 2010. Lanzi said they also have specialty programs including adult open skate, adult open hockey, tot skate, tot developmental hockey and skating birthday parties. Other events conducted are a swim and gym event and New Year's Day skate event. Lanzi presented a breakdown of the hours by user groups with the number one user group of ice being the Hockey Association. There were 2,255 hours of ice rental including nine hockey tournaments, 25 home games for Eden Prairie High School, physical education classes, cheerleader rentals, varsity hockey tournament, figure skating club, clinics and independent AAA tournaments. Napuck asked if users are able to rent ice time on-line. Lanzi responded they are currently not able to rent on-line. Ice rinks are scheduled through the rink coordinator and in the future they may be able to do something like that on-line. Napuck also asked if when they have dry land in Rink 3 could it be used for rollerblading. Lanzi said they have had rollerblade events and there will be two roller blade camps offered on Rink 3. There is no air conditioning in this facility so it does get extremely warm during the summer months and normally on nice evenings people like to be outside. Sevenich said if there is a demand for rollerblading at this facility they could certainly offer it. Bierman said he is impressed with the numbers presented this evening and it appears there has been a ten percent improvement from last year. He congratulated staff on the great job they are doing. He suggested they change the ice rink picture and the figure skating picture on the presentation. He also suggested they add a picture for girl's hockey. Bierman questioned how they are doing with repairs to equipment especially the Zambonis. Lanzi responded the City's maintenance crew does a great job of keeping the Zambonis on the floor. One machine came with the third rink when it was constructed. The oldest Zamboni might be four years old at max and they should last 15 years. To have three newer Zambonis is impressive. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION NOTES April 4, 2011 Page 3 Bierman said he noticed there is some down time for the facility and suggested the City do something in March or April similar to a triathlon including skate/swim/gym. They could do a pilot group to work with 13 to 17 year olds or even adults. If they have down time that might be the time for these individuals to prepare for this competition at the Community Center. This might also be another way to get excitement and people into the Community Center. Lanzi said that might be a possibility. They do have other triathlon activities. Lotthammer said by looking at the pie chart included in the Commission's agenda material they can see 50 percent or more of the ice time is used by the students and for programming brought forth by Lanzi. Lanzi is not only the master scheduler but also the programmer for this facility. With Lanzi's creativity and ability to analyze the ice schedule he does a fantastic job and takes the City to the next level. Napuck said the Community Center has exceeded everyone's expectations and that is mostly due to City staff like Lanzi and Sevenich. She expressed the Commission's appreciation for staff's continued work to develop programs for the purpose of raising more revenue which is especially difficult in these economic times. VII. OLD BUSINESS A. ROUND LAKE PARK OVERVIEW Lotthammer explained at their last brainstorming session the Commission discussed Round Lake. Staff met with a representative from the Watershed District that serves Round Lake. A report was developed and staff has asked a representative from the Watershed District to come to the Commission's next meeting to talk about Round Lake. The next step is to prepare an aerial map of Round Lake and to develop an inventory of the area and features of the park and the user groups and types of activities happening there. All of this will be presented to the Commission at their next meeting. Bierman said in thinking about what is going on at Flying Cloud fields and the moving of dirt, he suggested if there is a dirt surplus they consider compartmentalizing Round Lake. If Round Lake were to be cut in thirds or even in half they could put dirt around one part so they have a more manageable area and they could take one-third of that and make it into a sand swimming beach and the rest for a walking path. They could focus on a smaller area. Lotthammer said staff anticipates the Flying Cloud site to be perfectly balanced and they won't need to bring in soil or take out soil. If anything, trucks may be bringing in a better quality of dirt. However, they can ask the consultants to comment on Bierman's suggestion. Fox pointed out Round Lake is a natural body of water regulated by the DNR. The Watershed District has a good handle on the water quality and they continue to monitor it. Fox said he feels they will see a change in the water quality problem but there will be a problem with water quantity. Less water is getting into the area because of the lack of rainfall. PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION NOTES April 4, 2011 Page 4 Napuck said at a future meeting she would like an update on what is going on with Birch Island Lake. Fox explained the City has partnered with the Watershed District and he will provide the Commission with an update on what is happening there and how things are progressing. VIII. NEW BUSINESS A. ANNUAL REPORT Lotthammer distributed the Parks and Recreation Annual Report and explained it is also located on the City's website. IX. REPORTS OF STAFF A. PARKS AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGER 1. Flying Cloud Athletic Field Bids Lotthammer explained because of the timing, bids for the Flying Cloud project was awarded by the City Council prior to this Commission's review. He further explained that by the end of this year there will be a zero balance of park referendum funds. The City will receive some reimbursement from MAC for a small portion of site grading. Because of the favorable bids, the contractor was awarded the entire project including Alternates 1, 2 and 3. The contractor has started to clear trees from the site. Bierman asked if the City has had much experience with the contractor awarded the bid. Fox responded Chard Tiling and Excavating has only done one project for the City which was a new boat ramp at Round Lake Park. The City did receive a list of projects they have done including athletic fields, storm water ponds and utility projects. They are located in Belle Plaine and staff feels they are qualified for this project. Bierman suggested a sign be placed on the site stating what is happening to this site. Fox explained typically a construction sign is placed at the site explaining who the contractor is and what the project is. Bierman said perhaps the Commission could develop some type of signage. B. COMMUNITY CENTER MANAGER 1. First Day of Registration Sevenich reported on the first day of registration they had 596 eConnect registrations from midnight to 6 a.m. By the time the doors were opened they had approximately 800 registrations. She explained because of today's technology they are able to do more registrations with less help and are no longer using the calling in system. They did see a PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION NOTES April 4, 2011 Page 5 decline in first day registrations and believe that may be because people are a little less aggressive in making a big payment up front. C. RECREATION SERVICES MANAGER 1. Outdoor Skatinz Rinks Update Lotthammer said a memo included with the Commission's agenda material explains outdoor ice rink usage. The total usage for the 2010-11 season was 16,237 visitors. Lotthammer explained they also changed the hours around a little giving users more of an opportunity to skate. FYI: Poetry Night FYI: Animal Open House FYI: Mother/Son All Star Evening FYI: Children's Theatre Workshop Auditions D. PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR 1. 2011 PRNR Work Plan Lotthammer said he did add the Board and Commission Banquet to the work plan on May 11 at 6 p.m. in the Garden Room. The Commission being highlighted at this banquet is the Flying Cloud Airport Advisory Commission. The new City Manager will be the featured guest speaker. Lotthammer presented an overview of his Twitter page and showed how Twitter works and how he uses it to communicate to the community. FYI: Twitter Site FYI: Board Commission Banquet—May 11 —6 p.m., Garden Room X. NEXT MEETING The next regular meeting of the Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission is Monday, May 2, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers. X. ADJOURNMENT The meeting ended at 8:10 p.m.