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2012-03-13 Parks and Rec Comm MinutesPage - 1 CITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA PARKS AND RECREATION MEETING March 13, 2012 The March meeting of the Mendota Heights Parks and Recreation Commission was held on Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at Mendota Heights City Hall, 1101 Victoria Curve. Chair Levine called to order the parks and recreation commission meeting at 6:30 p.m. The following commissioners were present: Chair Stephanie Levine, Commissioners Mary McGrory-Ussett, Ira Kipp, Mike Toth, and Pat Hinderscheid. Staff present: Assistant to the City Administrator Jake Sedlacek and Recreation Programmer Teresa Gangelhoff. Approval of Minutes Commissioner McGrory-Ussett made a motion to approve the February minutes. AYES 5: NAYS 0 Parks and Recreation Report Ms. Gangelhoff presented the Recreation Programmer’s Report. Registration for the spring break trip to Grand Slam is available online. Ice rinks are closed for the year and registration for summer programs starts Monday, March 19, 2012. Programs are promoted through school flyers, the Heights Highlights and the city web page. This summer will mark the 25th anniversary of the Parks Celebration and will feature crowd favorites from the past and have a few more options, including a magician. There will be opportunities for volunteers to help with this event. Thompson Park Activity Center offers programming for seniors; adult softball leagues are filling up, with open opening available for a women’s team on Wednesday nights. The Eagan Puppet Wagon will be returning to Market Square Park for a second year - Commissioner Hinderscheid commented that his family has found this to be a very enjoyable program. Parks Celebration Planning Mr. Sedlacek reported that the Parks Celebration is coming up on Saturday, June 2, 2012. There are activities around the celebration itself, including live music at the village on Friday evening, the 5K run/walk on Saturday morning, and the MHAA baseball tournament hosted at Mendakota Park throughout the weekend. Page - 2 Mr. Sedlacek explained that the event is being expanded this year to include more activities for all ages. Our contracted services have been approved by city council and are within the allotted budget. Ms. Gangelhoff raised concerns from businesses that would like to have booths at the parks celebration. Mr. Sedlacek posed the question to the parks and recreation commission whether or not the event should be expanded to allow more business involvement. The current mailing list has been pared down to approximately 30 local businesses from recent years. These businesses are invited to participate in the event and/or donate a prize. The approach in the last two years was to invite businesses that previously been involved in the event. The commission asked that a letter requesting sponsorships to a broader based mailing list. Ms. Gangelhoff informed the commission that an expanded event would require additional staff; the commission asked that staff utilize the existing budget to hire a temporary seasonal staff person to provide assistance in organizing the Parks Celebration. Commissioner McGrory-Ussett made a motion to direct staff to hire seasonal staff to help with the parks celebration. Commissioner Kipp seconded the motion. AYES 5: NAYS 0 The commission sought further clarification on what the role of businesses may be at the celebration. Staff described their understanding that businesses will be allowed to host an activity for residents and may bring promotional materials, but the purpose of their booth may not be for the sole purpose of promoting their business. Promotional materials to date have included flyers in the schools and information in the Heights Highlights. The commission encouraged staff to develop a flyer for wide distributed in the community soon. Rogers Lake Play Equipment Mr. Sedlacek described materials in the agenda packet describing alternatives for replacing a play feature which was recalled at the Rogers Lake Playground. Landscape Structures Inc. has provided a number of options to replace the recalled slide at no additional cost to the city. The commission asked staff to follow up on what replacement has been the most popular. The commission is also curious as to which replacement option would be the least injury prone. Staff will ask a representative from the playground company to attend the April meeting. The commission clarified that the equipment credit could be used at other locations – Mendakota Park could benefit from updated play features/panels. The commission also asked if it would be possible to purchase an extended warranty for the play system with the credit on the replacement play feature. Page - 3 Rogers Lake Skate Park Mr. Sedlacek reported that staff just recently received materials on from our existing vendor which could be completed for the commission’s proposed budget of $25,000. There are a wide variety of features available for improving skate parks. The vendor that has installed our skate park amenities in the past has provided an elaborate option, featuring all new modular ramps with a number of skate features. At the same time, there are more simple street-skating features, available. These features include items such as reinforced benches, picnic tables and jersey barriers which may cost less and be simpler to install. The ideal skate park changes every so often – even if features are not added, re-positioning equipment can change the experience for skate park users. Staff feels that there is great potential to garner feedback from skaters in designing changes to the park. Commissioner Toth committed to visiting the park, to make sure that facility users feel welcome to provide their input. The commission hopes that skate park users will provide a wish-list of features they would like to see at the skate park. The commission asked if a representative from Plywood Benders might be available for the April meeting. Commissioner Kipp asked if we could have a vendor complete a regular inspection of the equipment. Mr. Sedlacek reported that Plywood Benders has visited the skate park, but has yet to provide city staff with a detailed report. Civic Center Ball Field Mr. Sedlacek reported that the city council has requested that the parks and recreation commission consider rename the Civic Center Ball Field in honor of former mayor Charles Mertensotto. Prior to the March 2012 parks and recreation meeting, concern was raised that the field may have already been renamed in honor of Dick Spicer, long time parks and recreation commission chair. Mr. Sedlacek reported that through reviewing previous meeting minutes and conversation with retired city staff, it has been determined that the field is still officially named Civic Center Ball Field. As directed by the commission at the February meeting, staff followed up with the mayor to determine that the ball field was the most appropriate venue to honor Mr. Mertensotto. Mayor Krebsbach had made clear her intent (and that of the city council) to rename Civic Center Ball Field in honor of Mayor Mertensotto. Staff raised the question whether or not this would be a good time to consider an update of all parks signs. After some discussion, the commission expressed interest in maintaining the current park signs suggested that city council provide more clear direction on their expectations for Mertensotto Field signage. The commission agreed that the field should bear both names for the summer of 2012, to allow parks users to adapt to the change. Concerns Regarding Pet Waste Near Trails Page - 4 It has been some time since the parks and recreation commission has considered posting signs for dog owners to clean up after their pets. The commission recognized the need to strike a balance between making sure pet owners are aware of the rules and not cluttering our open spaces with signs. After much discussion, the commission directed staff to acquire smaller, temporary signs which may be moved around to address problem areas as needed. Par 3 Update Staff has spent considerable time reviewing maintenance expenses from the 2011 golf season, to determine whether or not maintenance purchases were appropriate and/or necessary. Staff found no issues of concern in this review. Staff has not been able to complete the 2012 pro-forma with estimates for expenses and revenues for the coming season, but has recently been authorized to begin the process for hiring staff. A contract for course maintenance is also in the works, with tighter controls around expenditures. Staff is anticipating that non-profit fund-raisers will be a popular offering for the 2012 season. There are dual benefits to hosting fund-raisers – bringing users to the course and having these non-profit groups marketing Par 3 events within their own organizations. Staff is hopeful that the course could be opened by the second weekend in April. The hiring process includes posting the positions, collecting applications and interviewing candidates. The start of the hiring process should be sufficient if the course opens in the second week of April. Unfortunately, the course will not be ready in the event of an early opening. The commission asked for an update on the increase to course fees which had been recommended to city council in late 2011. Mr. Sedlacek reported that this request was not heard by city council, but rather, a task force of council members. The task force chose not to bring the request to city council. The Par 3 is currently sitting at a positive cash balance, although the last two years has seen operating expenses which exceeded operating revenues. Mr. Sedlacek provided information on golf rounds played in 2011 and preceding years. The commission had brief discussion on turf conditions and course maintenance. Mr. Sedlacek replied that the maintenance contract will be before council in the next week and that public works staff could be called upon to conduct maintenance in a pinch. The commission discussed a rate increase, specifically the elasticity of demand. The commission discussed whether or not an an increase of one dollar would have a negative impact on demand. Chair Levine and Commissioner McGrory-Ussett summarized previous discussions regarding greens fees and expressed their opinions that the increase of one dollar would not impact demand. Commissioner McGrory-Ussett made a motion to recommend a one dollar increase to greens fees for the 2012 golf season. Commissioner Toth seconded the motion. Page - 5 During discussion, the commission verified that expenses are also being tightly managed as “the other half” of the equation. The commission encouraged growth of the business through additional programming, rental and concessions. AYES 5: NAYS 0 2012 Parks and Recreation Goals The commission reviewed the goals as updated with comments from the February 2012 commission meeting. Mr. Sedlacek mentioned that items three and four had been discussed for combination, staff recommends keeping them separate in order to maintain flexibility for planning purposes. The commission was pleased with the new goals document. In response to the work plan, Chair Levine encouraged commissioners to help with the golf registration event coming up Monday, March 19, 2012 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at City Hall. Commission Comments Commissioner Hinderscheid asked about rules for restraining dogs. Mr. Sedlacek replied that anytime a dog is taken off their owner’s property, city code that the dog be under restraint. The specific form of restraint is a little vague. Commissioner Hinderscheid asked that staff consider defining restraint to include an actual physical restraint. Commissioner McGrory-Ussett encouraged all skate park users to attend the April 10, 2012 meeting. Commissioner Toth asked staff to inspect the basketball court at Mendakota Park Adjourn Commissioner Hinderscheid made motion to adjourn the meeting; Commissioner Toth seconded the motion. Chair Levine adjourned the meeting at 8:34 p.m.