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2008-08-12 Parks and Rec Comm MinutesApproved CITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA PARKS AND RECREATION MEETING August I2, 2008 The August 2008 meeting of the Mendota Heights Parks and Recreation Commission was held on Tuesday August 12, 2008, in the City Council Chambers at City Hall, 1101 Victoria Curve. The meeting was called to order at 6:30 P.M. The following Commissioners were present, Chair Paul Portz, Ray Morris, Larry Craighead, Michael Toth, Maureen Brackey and Liz O'Brien. Commissioner Kraus was excused. Staff present were: Guy Kullander, Parks Operations and Project Coordinator, Jake Sedlacek, Assistant to the City Administrator, Teresa Gangelhoff, Recreation Programmer, and Nancy Bauer, Recording Secretary. MINUTES: The minutes were approved with the correction of a misspelling. Commissioner Craighead made a motion to approve the minutes, seconded by Commissioner Morris, AYES: 6 NAYES: 0 JULY/AUGUST PARK AND RECREATION REPORT Chair Portz reported that the 10t' annual Cliff Timm Memorial Fishing Derby was great and more successful this year than in the past because a record 4, 7 fish were caught by 60 kids. That's about eight fish per kid. Commissioner Craighead and Commissioner Toth were at the fishing derby. There were good sponsors that included Gander Mountain and the Cliff Timm Memorial and past Commissioner Spicer was there. Commissioner Craighead reported that Ace Hardware was there and were a big help in counting the fish and keeping tallies. Commissioner O'Brien asked if the lake was stocked. Mr. Kullander responded that the lake is stocked with game fish and not sunfish. Sunfish are the fish that were caught at the fishing derby. Chair Portz said that the event would be shown on Town Square TV, Ms. Gangelhoff said it already being shown. P-1 8/12/OS Approved Commissioner O'Brien asked if 60 kids were the maximum. Ms. Gangelhoff said yes it is because of space limitation. If a neighbor wouldn't have opened up his shore line for fishing that many kids could not attend and it always fills up. Chair Portz also reported that safety camp is going on. All golf lessons, leagues and camps were filled this year and asked if there were more programs than last year? Mr. Sedlacek responded that the par 3 numbers are up from last year. Chair Portz said there is good entertainment coming up for the summer playhouse. On Thursday, August 21" there is music at the Village. On August 27' there is a free outdoor concert at Mendakota Park with free root beer floats. Softball is done for the season and I have gone to my son's games at Mendakota Park. The fields are nice. In talking with someone they said we have great ball fields at Mendakota Park. They are well kept and well laid out. Skateboard camp had I 1 participants this year. Is that a high or low number? Ms. Gangelhoff responded that year there were 29 participants and wasn't sure if it was the week it was held or the price of the camp. Chair Portz said the fall flyer will be coming out. Ms. Gangelhoff reported that there a few fall activities such as MEA youth trips, a fall dance clinic for youth and gymnastics. SEPTEMBER AND NOVEMBER PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING Chair Portz said there is a State Primary on September 9`h and public meetings can't be held. Mr. Sedlacek reported that public meetings cannot be held before 800 P.M. and the Council Chambers are a polling place and wouldn't be ready by 8:00 P.M. A meeting could be held on September 9' in another room, but would not be televised. There are other dates available to use the Council Chambers. Chair Portz threw out the idea of a field trip to the Pilot Knob area on September 9t'. Commissioner Toth asked which dates were available. Commissioner Morris responded that August 3, 4 and 10 were available. Chair Portz asked if a field trip could be counted as a meeting. Mr. Kullander responded it could. Chair Portz said the Commission went over to the Pilot Knob site before buying it and it is a major site. If the meeting is being disrupted it may be a good time to tour the Pilot Knob site. Commissioner Morris said it could not be counted as a meeting. P-2 8/12/08 Approved Mr. Sedlacek said he and Mr. Kullander did not know of any action items for the September agenda. The Commission could gather at the Pilot Knob Site, but not as an official meeting. Commissioner Morris suggested that if there is not much of an agenda to table the meeting until October. Mr. Kullander responded that he and Ms. Bauer would be working the election and could not attend the field trip if held on September 9`h. Commissioner Morris said that the 3`d and 4`h are the National Republican Convention. Commissioner Craighead said that in past years there have been 10 meetings instead of 12 meetings a year and would recommend canceling the meeting unless there are some burning issues. Commissioner Morris said he is in agreement with that. Commissioner Morris made a motion that the September meeting be tabled until October barring any major issues come up. Commissioner Craighead seconded the motion. AYES: 6 NAYS: 0 Mr. Sedlacek said that the November Parks and Recreation Commission meeting is scheduled for Veteran's Day in November. Commissioner Morris said that is a Federal holiday. Mr. Sedlacek suggested that a date be picked for the November meeting as the December meeting is typically canceled. Commissioner Morris suggested November 13"' for the meeting date. Commissioner Morris made a motion to move the November meeting from November 11th to November 13 h. Commissioner O'Brien seconded the motion. AYES: 6 NAYS: 0 PAR 3 UPDATE Mr. Sedlacek reported that July was another successful month with only a couple of afternoons with rain. There were a total of 2,824 rounds of golf played, up from last year. The numbers look good. Greens fees were $25,486.42 for July and concessions and beer totaled about $4,400.00. Expenses for concessions and beer was about $2,600,00. The revenue from concessions and beer is up from last year. Revenues were $50,000 and expenses were $25,600.00 for a net of $24,400 for July and bring the year to date total to $67,000.00. Major expenses for July were getting caught up on the maintenance supervision contract, trimming tree branches and redoing for of the bunkers. Redoing the bunkers was a big improvement for atheistic reasons, play P-3 8/12/08 Approved ability for golfers and drainage issues. Some other costs were the well check up and fire extinguishers were checked. Some big expenses for August will be the siding replacement on the club house. Chair Portz said it was good information and it would need to be looked at in October when planning for 2009. This year there was extra bond money and grant money for the improvements. These "extra" funds won't be available next year. Commissioner Morris as how much the new addition was costing. Mr. Sedlacek reported that it is about $50,000 and being covered by a grant from Dakota County CDA except the roof and siding. The roof was about $600.00 and siding is hoping to be about $7,000.00, depending what they find when the siding comes off. The siding cost is being covered by the remaining capital fund which has a balance of about $10,000.00. The bathroom job is being covered by grant money. The club house was built in 1961 and not easily accessible. After the improvement is will be accessible. The revenues are higher this year compared to last year. Green fees last year were ahead of this years numbers but this year we made up those fees in recreation programs without changing the fees. The significant change in expenses from 2007 to 2008 is the maintenance side of things. The clubhouse improvements are nearly completed. Mr. Sedlacek said he would like to plan a customer thank you with a $3.00 green fee on a slow day for putting up with the construction at the clubhouse. Also, people who have not used the golf course can see the new clubhouse. Chair Portz said fall is a nice time to golf when the leaves are starting to turn. It should be a good event. The revenues is more than what was anticipated and August is a good month for golf, September you hope to break even, October and November you are going to lose money. Chair Portz said he has talked to the Club House Manager, Tom Perkins, and he says that he can feel the enthusiasm from the community for the golf course. Commissioner Morris says he drives by the golf course twice a day and it looks nice and is getting better. Mr. Sedlacek says a lot of credit goes to Jerry Murphy covering the turf side and Tom Perkins for the club house. We have great individuals heading up the operations. Commissioner O'Brien asked for an update on Annette Patient and flowers at the golf course. Mr. Sedlacek said he didn't remember the timeline for the master plan from the landscape architect. The landscape architect is going to meet with the greens committee and come up with ideas for a plan. The plan would be brought to the Parks Commission, then advertise the plan to give others a chance to participate. Chair Portz said this would take place in the fall when it was a slow time for the landscape architect. p_4 8/12/08 Approved Mr. Sedlacek said the costs for coming up with a plan would be for free. The University of Minnesota called and asked about doing a project with lower maintenance turf somewhere on the course. Jerry Murphy has been in contact with the University. The cost for this would be free. The Mendota Par 3 Invitational was held on Saturday, August 2"d with a little over 20 commissioners attending. There were hot dogs and side dishes. Chair Portz said he enjoyed the day. It was a good turn out. Next year he would invite more people. Another idea would be to hold a Mendota Open for 6, 8 and 10 year olds. People come from Apple Valley and Maplewood to golf the Park 3. Commissioner Morris thought that good donated gifts could be collected for a cause like this. Mr. Sedlacek said the Junior PGA has programs it could be modeled after. Commissioner Craighead asked if there was a PGA event at the Par 3. Mr. Sedlacek responded that on June 25"' the official Junior PGA was at the Par 3. 2009 PLAYGROiJND IMPROVEMENTS PLAN Mr. Kullander presented plans for the park improvements at Friendly Hills Park, Victoria Highland Park and a health fitness component at Mendakota Park. The Friendly Hills Park plan displayed showed the existing play equipment that would stay and the darker equipment would be new equipment. The swings would be reused. They would come out and be lowered about 1-1/2 to 2 feet. The border timbers would then meet the current safety guidelines for the safe fall distances of play equipment. Also, if the swings were left at 10 feet the new borders would go up to a silver maple tree and kill it. All new borders would be put in. The vendor, their installation people, and Guy visited the site and discussed ways to make it more maintenance friendly. Boarder timbers and planters would be installed between the swings and playground equipment. The project costs were less than the working budget. The price is about $579000,00, When dealing with the vendor Guy asked for something for the adults. There is a new line of exercise equipment that simulates tai chi and works shoulders and heart muscles. They are very sturdy units. It was thought to put it in Friendly Hills Park but there was no place to put it. A concept showing the equipment at Mendakota Park was developed for consideration. Commissioner Morris asked if there had been any requests for this type of equipment. Mr. Kullander responded he has had requests in the past. In the 70's there was this type of equipment at Ivy Park, they were made of wood timber. The wood deteriorated over the years and the units removed when they became a safety concern. Commissioner Morris asked if they were used much. Mr. Kullander said they had been used. r_s snzioa Approved Commissioner O'Brien asked if there has been feedback from other communities that have this type of equipment. Mr. Kullander said it is becoming more popular to get an exercise element out there. Adults can use them while the kids are playing. I get a couple of calls, we don't get many requests because people seem happy with what the City has provided unless it's broken. Commissioner Craighead as since it is designed for 13 year olds and older if it would be unsafe for younger children to use. Mr. Kullander responded it would not be unsafe for younger children. It wouldn't pinch or hurt them. It is for taller and stronger people. Commissioner Craighead asked if it was safe for adults without supervision. Mr. Kullander said it is safe, made for outdoors and designed so that supervision is not needed. Commissioner Craighead asked if it was in the five year plan. Mr. Kullander said this specific equipment was not. It was added for consideration. Commissioner Craighead said he didn't think it should be discussed since it is not in the five year plan. Mr. Kullander said it is and upgrade to the equipment at Mendakota Park playground and is in the Capital Improvement Plan, this particular type of equipment is not in the five year plan, and is being presented for the Commission's consideration. Commissioner Toth asked what other communities had this type of equipment. Mr. Kullander responded he wasn't sure - a couple to the west, but could find out exactly which ones. Commissioner Morris said he thought this type of equipment didn't get a lot of use for its intended group. Commissioner Craighead said it isn't in the five year plan. There are a lot of other priorities in the five year plan and money is tight. This needs to be tabled for a couple of years and see if there is money later on in future years. Mr. Kullander reported that the playground equipment being installed at Victoria Highlands is replacing equipment that was installed in 1990. There were several requests for some type of picnic shelter at Victoria Highlands. I asked that some shade element be included with the new playground plan. There are not many trees to the west and in the afternoon the direct sun is hot. Commissioner Morris asked if there have been requests for shade. Mr. Kullander responded that he has had some requests from people in the neighborhood. P-6 8/12/OS Approved Commissioner Craighead asked how much it save to install the playground equipment without the shelter and make the play area smaller. Mr. Kullander responded it would save about $8,000 to >10,0001 Commissioner Craighead said that he was concerned because in the past parks were one for $40,000 and now it's up to $62,000. We did a bang up job at $40,000. I don't mind putting in new equipment. I don't think we need picnic tables in the playground areas. If the shelter is eliminated it would keep the cost more reasonable. Commissioner Morris said the design of the playground is very nice and the Friendly Hills is nice additions. If we have local residents that want shade that's an expensive piece. I would rather have $8,000 more of playground equipment. Mr. Kullander responded that the picnic table was included because benches have been mounted inside other playgrounds. Commissioner Morris said the playgrounds look nice. Commissioner Craighead said that this type of money hasn't been spent on other playgrounds. Commissioner Morris asked if costs have been going up. Mr. Kullander responded they have. Commissioner Craighead asked if they have gone up 50%. We are adding more equipment to parks and an issue is how much money we have available. We have been putting in so many parks in and they are 15 year life expectancy. What is the life expectancy of the canopy? Mr. Kullander responded that the life expectancy is 8-12 years. Commissioner Morris asked if these were the last two parks that needed to be done. Mr. Kullander responded they are. Commissioner Morris asked if there were any other bids. Mr. Kullander responded he did not. The company we are using use national pricing and the equipment is durable. They are always competitive. Commissioner Craighead said part of the equipment could be left out from the climbing equipment and save $20,000. Commissioner Morris said he would agree on the shade shelter. Chairs are needed. That is not an excessive amount of features. Commissioner Craighead said that is was about $140,000 for the three pieces of equipment. Commissioner O'Brien said as a recent park goer with younger kids I think to look at cutting costs maybe equipment should be taken out. Because if you want moms or groups of people to go to the p-7 8/12/08 Approved parks there is a need for something for everybody. You do need places for people to sit and shade, especially if there are ball games going on at the park. Shade is important at 5:00 or 6:00. Chair Portz said this playground needs to be updated and has been in the five year plan. I like the idea of doing something original or different to make it better. If we are going to spend extra money, there is a valid need for shade. They present a nice plan and layout. Commissioner Craighead said if you look at the footprint it is much larger than in the past. If you cut it down you could save some money. Mr. Kullander responded that some of the size increases is due to new safe fall distance safety standards. Commissioner Morris said that standards change for playgrounds. He would like more information on the Mendakota Park equipment. Commissioner Toth said the shelter finishes out the playground. If we could get costs for the last 3 years it would give a better idea of how much the equipment has gone up. Mr. Kullander responded that the equipment has gone up 3-5 % in the last few years for the fixtures of themselves. The timber and labor costs has gone up also. The equipment for Victoria Highlands is $40,000 and the other $20,000 is for installation, timbers, new surface, and removal of the old equipment. Costs go up because of the rising cost of oil. Commissioner Toth asked what is the life expectancy of the playground equipment was. Mr. Kullander responded that the equipment being replaced was installed in 1990. It's not a safety hazard, but does not meet the current safety guidelines for fall protection and for the distance from the timbers to the equipment. Once you alter an existing playground it has to be brought up to current guidelines and fully accessible. At least '/2 of the play elements have to be handicapped accessible. Commissioner Toth asked if the shade shelter is permanent. Mr. Kullander responded that it was it is made of steel posts with a fabric canopy. Commissioner Toth asked what kind of guarantee it came with. Mr. Kullander responded that the material would last 8-10 years. Earl Anderson has a 10 year warranty on their equipment and liability insurance on their equipment. Chair Portz asked if a decision needed to be made tonight since there is not meeting next month and the city is in a budget cycle right now. Mr. Kullander responded that the Commission made a recommendation to City Council last month to approve the two park rehabilitations in the 2009 Budget. That amount requested was $115,000 for the two parks. The City Council will meet on the August 181h at a budget workshop. Commissioner Morris made a motion to accept the Friendly Hills Park as presented. p_g 8/12/08 Approved Commissioner Brackey asked if Friendly Hills Park was the only issue being discussed. Commissioner Morris said yes. Mr. Kullander asked if Friendly Hills Park was the highest priority park for 2009. Commissioner Morris said yes, I will amend the motion to say Friendly Hills Park improvements would enhance the structure there right now with new elements and make improvements to the site to bring it up to ADA standards. Chair Portz asked if there was a second on the motion. Commissioner O'Brien seconded the motion. Commissioner Craighead said that Friendly Hills should be cut down a little bit to save some money. Commissioner O'Brien asked if the Commission could see what the park would like in a $4Q000 budget. Mr. Kullander said he could ask the consultant to come up with a new plan. Commissioner Morris said that then the Commission would miss the budget cycle. Mr. Kullander said the Commission was already in the budget cycle with a dollar number. These are the working budgets in the five year plan. Commissioner O'Brien asked if the two plans fit in with the budget numbers. Mr. Kullander responded that the numbers in the five year plan were developed two to three years ago, they are from what we have been paying for other parks. Commissioner Morris said they are not excessively large structures. Mr. Kullander said Friendly Hills overall footprint does not change. Chair Portz said we are discussing something that will be with us for 15 years. We need to do it right. Making is smaller doesn't fit well with me. Commissioner Bracket' agreed. To make it smaller isn't right. I understand there are budget issues. Commissioner Morris commented that the amount of equipment added to Friendly Hills isn't excessive and want to keep my original motion. I appreciate the fiscal restraints we have, but we should have some funds coming in from the new development. Commissioner Craighead commented that if the funds don't come in the fund is going to be drained. p_9 8/12/08 Approved Commissioner Morris said the citizens may have to address the needs for the future. We do owe it to the citizens to finish off these last two parks. Chair Portz said there was good discussion and asked if the Commission was ready to take a vote. There is a motion on the table which has been seconded regarding Friendly Hills Park. All those in favor say aye. AYES 5 NAYS 1 (Commissioner Craighead) Chair Portz continued that the Commission should move on to the Victoria Highlands Park which has a shade area. Commissioner Toth said that Commissioner O'Brien made a good point without the shelter a mother with younger children may not go over to park. With the shelter they may have a picnic under the shelter. I understand there are costs. It is a nice structure that will be utilized in our community. The fabric may have an 8-10 year life expectancy. The shelter will not last as long as the play equipment. Mr. Kullander responded that to replace the sail fabric would fall under maintenance costs. Commissioner Morris said the most expensive part of the structure is not the fabric. Commissioner Craighead commented that the footprint does not need to be so large and spend $63,000, it could be done for a lot less. Mr. Sedlacek asked if the Commission would like to see other alternatives. The budget number has been given to Council and you can direct staff to get alternate plans. Chair Portz asked if the numbers given to Council would cover the two projects. Mr. Kullander said one project is lower and the other is higher than expected. It is $4,000 higher than what was asked for the 2009 budget. Commissioner Craighead made a motion to see other estimates for Victoria Highlands Park. There was no second. Chair Portz said the idea is to give Council some direction. Commissioner Morris said he didn't think the plan was inappropriate. Commissioner Toth asked if another option was looked at for Victoria Highlands how soon could the Commission get prices and plans. Mr. Kullander replied he could get them for the October meeting. Commission Morris made a motion to state to City Council to stay in the guidelines of the finances that went to City Council for Victoria Highlands and improvements to Mendaktota Park and look at some alternatives up to the price ceiling that was originally approved to send to Council for budget P-10 8/12/08 Approved process and direct staff to in addition to Earl Anderson get one or two other competing bids for improvements to both parks and have them ready for the next meeting. Commissioner Craighead asked which two parks were in the motion. Commissioner Morris said Victoria Highlands and Mendakota Park. This gives staff some guidelines, the Commission will get some options and Council knows we have the intention to go forward. Commissioner Toth said the equipment at Mendakota Park was not a discussion item in the five year plan. Commissioner Morris amended his motion to only include Victoria Highlands Park only. Chair Portz restated the motion to be Victoria Highlands Park only and stay within the budget restraints. Commissioner Morris said he asked for three options. Commissioner Brackey seconded the motion. Commissioner Craighead asked that the motion be clearly stated. Commissioner Morris said that he recommends to the City Council that the Parks and Recreation Commission wants to go ahead with the Victoria Highlands playground equipment replacement up to the requested amount that has already gone to Council and direct staff to come up with three alternatives one being Earl Anderson for the October meeting. Commissioner Craighead asked Earl Anderson would be doing three different proposals or if three different companies would be doing proposals. Mr. Kullander responded he could get three different companies to submit proposals. Other factors that would need to be looked at would be durability, products and warranty. Commissioner Craighead asked that the amount for Victoria Highlands Park would be the maximum of $57,000. Mr. Kullander responded that would be the maximum amount. Chair Portz said there has been some good discussion and would like to know if the Commission was ready to vote. AYES: 6 NAYS 0 Mr. Sedlacek reported that the Commission asked for a more detailed report for a dog park in Mendota Heights. Staff realized the City Council was not on board with the concept and the Commission needs to discuss a perceived need for a dog park and make a recommendation to the P-11 8/12/08 Approved City Council. The City of New Hope is discussing the same issue with their ice rinks. Their minutes are available. It comes down to the City Council giving the Parks and Recreation Commission permission to do further study on a dog park. Chair Portz reported that people were using Marie hockey rink as a dog park and the Parks and Recreation Commission approved it, but City Council did not. The City Council recommended looking at other sites. There is a need and there is resistance. Commissioner Brackey asked if other citizens requested a dog park besides the Marie hockey rink users. Chair Portz did not know of any other requests. Commissioner O'Brien wondered if the Marie hockey rink users would take their dogs to another park in the City. Chair Portz asked if information could be gathered such as what New Hope will be doing and see if there is a need for such a park before anything gets formal. Commissioner Morris said the AKC recommends at least a one acre site and the only park is the Friendly Hills Marsh Park. There will be a need for fences. Commissioner Craighead said the only other site would be school property. Commissioner Morris responded there would be health and safety issues. Commissioner Craighead said those issued would apply to hockey rinks and city parks and my recommendation would be to permanently table the idea. It's up to the City Council to give us direction which way to go with this issue they should tell us if they want us to continue to look at this matter. Commissioner Morris and Commissioner Toth agreed with Commissioner Craighead. Chair Portz recapped that there is resistance to the idea, thereneed but the Commission is not aware of how big the need is. Commissioner Craighead made a motion for City Council to give the Parks and Recreation Commission direction on how to proceed with the idea of a dog park. Commissioner Morris seconded the motion. AYES 6 NAYS 0 COMMISSION COMMENTS Commissioner Toth asked Mr. Kullander about the fences at Hagstrom-King Park. Are they going to be done by fall? Mr. Kullander responded yes, they would be done by fall. P-12 8/12/08 Approved Commissioner Toth asked about the signs at the walking trails when the maps would be posted. Mr. Kullander responded that Sam Kachinka, in Engineering, was working on updating the maps, but is busy with engineering projects right now. Commissioner Toth said he golfed the Par 3 a couple of weeks ago for the first time and really enjoyed it. Chair Portz reminded the Commission that we would like a field trip to the Pilot Knob site and see what is going on. Commissioner Craighead asked Mr. Kullander about the fences at Valley park tennis court. He was there on Sunday night and was asked to throw balls over the fence that had gone under the fence. It is still a concern. Mr. Sedlacek updated the Parks and Recreation Commission about Mendota Plaza. There was a lengthy discussion at the last City Council meeting and were given direction to save some of the natural area. They extended their review period for the application to 180 days to the second meeting in October. Another question was park dedication and with this added push to save some greenway there might be some comprise instead of a cash dedication. Commissioner Craighead asked if the Planning Commission would have to look at the application again. Mr. Sedlacek said it was tabled back to the City Council. The Planning Commission is done with the matter. Commissioner Morris made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Brackey seconded the motion. AYES 6 NAYS 0 The meeting adjourned at 8:16 P.M. P-13 8/t2/08