Loading...
2006-09-14 Parks and Rec Comm MinutesApproved CITY OE MENDOTA HEIGHTS DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA PARKS AND RECREATION MEETING September 14, 2006 The September 2006 meeting of the Mendota Heights Parks and Recreation Commission was held on Thursday, September 14, 2006, 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 Richard Spicer and Commissioners Paul Portz, Dave Libra, Tom Kraus, Larry Craighead, Raymond Morris, and Missie Hickey. City Staff present were Guy Kullander, Operations Manager and Projects Coordinator and Teresa Gangelhoff, Recreation Programmer. Minutes were prepared by Nancy Bauer, Secretary, MINUTES: Commissioner Morris moved approval of the August 8, 2006, Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes. Commissioner Portz seconded the motion. AYES: 7 NAYS: 0 RECREATION PROGRAMMER'S REPORT Chair Spicer commented that Teresa prepared a very concise programmer's report. He gave a quick overview of the report (attached). He commented that NDC4 wants to congratulate all who helped make the documentary coverage of the 2005 fishing derby a success. Safety camp was a success, plans are being made for next year's tennis program, Performance in the Park was finished for this year, 238 kids were in the golf league, youth trips are planned for MEA, and cheerleading lessons and skateboard camp are new this year. Teresa passed out an informational flyer now being distributed to the schools, with information about upcoming programs (attached). Chair Spicer asked Operations and Projects Coordinator Guy Kullander how the skateboard park is. Mr. Kullander responded that it is getting used on a consistent basis —usually you see four or five kids using it and Tim Meyers, the early proponent who originally brought the skate park issue to the Planning Commission, still is overseeing it and makes the kids clean it up. Tim saw one board cracking and called me and the manufacturer. The manufacturer replaced the cracked board a couple of weeks later when they were in the neighborhood. Page - 1 September 14, 2006 Approved MENDOTA HEIGHTS CELEBRATE PARKS Chair Spicer said that Teresa asked if we were going to have an expanded celebrate Mendota Heights event in 2007 or is the City returning to the original 3 hour event which she normally plans. Chair Spicer understands the City Council does not want to be the lead organizer of an expanded event. Mr. Kullander responded the Council did not want the City to be the sponsor of an expanded event. The City Attorney reported that most festivals are run by non-profit groups that raise their own money. If an expanded event takes place, the Council has provided $8,000 in the budget to hire another person to help with planning and coordination with Teresa. The Council expects Teresa to plan her normal activities as in prior years and provided funding of $1,000 in the 2007 budget. Commissioner Morris asked if anon -profit organization could be a business association. Mr. Kullander responded it could be a business association or private individuals. Chair Spicer said that Teresa was to keep planning what she usually plans. If some other independent committee comes forward the Commission would support such an effort. 2007 BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS Chair Spicer reviewed the five recommendations made to the City Council and remarked that almost all were shot down or reduced. Creating a second permanent half-time Recreation Programmer position was not approved, but Council did provide $8,000 for an additional staff person in the event a private group were to organize a summer event such as a street dance, fireworks and 5K competitions in conjunction with our celebrate Mendota Heights Parks on the first Saturday in June. The Commission's five year tennis court maintenance plan required $18,000 in 2007, but only $10,000 was provided by Council in the 2007 City Budget. The Council budgeted $8,000 for four parks and $2,000 for the removal of fencing and asphalt at the Valley Park Courts. Mr. Kullander reported that it was suggested by Council that the courts in Valley Park could be taken out of service, removed and used for sand volleyball or horseshoes. Council consensus was there were too many older tennis courts in the City requiring high levels of maintenance. He also stated the budget is not final, it could go down, but could not go up in terms of dollar amounts. If the Parks Commission wants to keep the tennis courts in Valley Park they could, recommend to Council they move money from another part of the Parks Maintenance Budget. Commissioner Kraus asked if the Valley Park tennis courts were in the worst shape. Mr. Kullander responded that they need to be water blasted before a new topcoat playing surface is applied. The courts need to be taken down to the original surface and then patched and resurfaced. It would cost approximately $10K to $12K for this work. Page - 2 September 14, 2006 Approved Commissioner Hickey asked now much the courts get used. Mr. Kullander responded that when he has been out driving in the City every one or two days, he does see people using the courts every other time. When Lilydale Tennis Club closed down Terry Blum reported Marie and Friendly Hills Parks saw an increase in use. Chair Spicer recommended that the Parks Commission get community input before closing the tennis courts. Mr. Kullander responded that six years ago signs were posted at Ivy Park when closing the tennis courts was considered. Sixty to eighty people signed a petition to keep the courts in place. The support of the neighborhood to keep the courts went to City Council and Council approved $12,000 to repair the courts. Those courts were in worse shape than the Valley Park tennis courts. Chair Spicer recommended that the neighborhood be notified before removing the courts. Commissioner Morris suggested that signs be posted by the courts. Commissioner Kraus suggested that the signs offer some suggestion as to what might be done if the courts are removed. Commissioner Morris asked how much it would cost for horse shoe pits to replace the courts. Mr. Kullander responded that it cost $1,000 per pit to put in a horse shoe pit in Roger's bake Park and a sand volleyball court costs $8,000. He also suggested that residents be invited to an open house at the November meeting to offer suggestions and comments about the closing of the courts. A notice could also be put in the Heights Highlites newsletter. Chair Spicer wanted the wording right such as "City Council considering the removal of the tennis courts and the Parks Commission is looking for alternate recreation ideas". Commissioner Morris asked if there were any sand volleyball courts in the City. Mr. Kullander responded there is one at Rogers Lake. Commissioner Portz asked how popular it was. Mr. Kullander said he would talk to Public Works to find out what use they have observed. Teresa responded that permits reserving sand volleyball courts were used only by people reserving them for a company or family picnic. Tennis permits were issued a lot this year after the closing of the Lilydale Tennis Club. Page - 3 September 14, 2006 Approved Commissioner Hickey asked what Council comments were regarding an alternate source of funding for the Special Park Fund. Mr. Kullander responded that he does not attend the City Council budget workshop. Chair Spicer said with the Opus project the Special Parks Fund should be ok for a couple of years. Commissioner Craighead asked if we give MHAA $10,000 every year. Mr. Kullander responded yes for the past several years and that MHAA must request the funds each year — it is not an automatic payment. Chair Spicer said he understood from Mr. Kullander's memo that large fees from Opus and projected projects would give the Special Park Fund some money. He then asked if there were any questions for Mr. Kullander regarding the Special Park Fund, Commissioner Libra asked if $66,000 was included for the trail from the Summit (Opus) to the Valley Park trail at Lilydale Road, Mr. Kullander responded that no it was for the trail along Wachlter and Highway 13 adjacent to Opus. City Council has directed the Engineering staff to prepare a feasibility report for the trail from the Opus property to Lilydale Road. The trail would be mostly in MnDOT right-of-way. Commissioner Craighead asked if everything in 2006 was done. Mr. Kullander responded that minor projects had been done. The park celebration took a lot of his time. Rehabilitation of two playgrounds Ivy, Valley or Valley View Heights playground could be done yet this year and that he was meeting with the playground installers on Wednesday to select two of these three parks for work this fall. Commissioner Craighead asked if a112005 projects were done. Mr. Kullander responded yes, all except for posting the park and trail signage city wide. Mr. Kullander asked the Commission, if he got a positive response from the playground people should he proceed with rehabilitating the two playgrounds this year. The Commissioners all responded in the affirmative. Page - 4 September 14, 2006 Approved Jake Sedlacek Chair Spicer said Jake Sedlacek has been hired to fill the position formerly held by Patrick Hollister and he sounds like he will be an asset to the Parks and Recreation Commission as he has experience in other cities working in this area. Par 3 Update Mr. Kullander gave a verbal update of the Park 3 golf course. City Council will send to the Planning Commission proposed language for a change to the Comprehensive Plan description for land use in the GC (Golf Course) zoning designation adding a housing option. The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing. The City is seeking an appraisal (due in October) of the site for a possible purchase. The Council will look for a citizens group to sponsor a referendum. If the referendum passes, the City will buy the land. If the referendum fails, the developers could, sell or develop the property. MHAA Chair Spicer thanked Commissioner Portz for donating his time and energy he spent meeting with MHAA. Chair Spicer thinks MHAA is a great organization and wants to see it get better. Commissioner Portz reported that the meeting was good and a lot of history was behind the requests. Some of the requests are difficult to do given the history and neighborhood of the parks and the Parks Commission should find what they can do. Chair Spicer asked if shared costs came up in any of the meetings. Commissioner Portz responded that it had and that MHAA's revenue is down. Their revenue from their gambling funds is way down and MHAA is considering cutting down on some of their programs and Commissioner Portz would be willing to spend the "Reserve Money" in the Special Park Fund to accommodate MHAA requests. Commissioner Craighead responded there are other needs in the parks than the MHAA requested projects. Chair Spicer said there is $270,000 in the reserve Special Parks Projects Fund and is reluctant to spend that money. Money is not coming in until 2007 for the Opus project. There is not much of a reserve and recouping that money is not expected until 2007. Commissioner Morris said MHAA is a great organization but we get requests from other groups for money such as the school district. The trails are getting old and some may have to be ripped up and redone. Money may be needed to acquire the Par 3. Maybe we could build in a capital improvement plan to help MHAA which would be a win -win situation for the parks, the users and recreational groups. I don't know what we can cut from the 5 year plan to help MHAA. A lot of their items are expensive. Page - 5 September 14, 2006 Approved Commissioner Craighead said money wasn't available to repair the Valley Park tennis courts. MHAA's cheapest item is $1,500 for a steel lockbox after that it goes up to $10,000 to $20,000. Chair Spicer said he tried to get scoreboards in the 80's and 90's but the City Council said no. We can do things with backstops, fences, lockboxes and maybe better fields. MHAA is a good group and I would like to help them. I don't think Council will give the Parks Commission more money. Commissioner Libra said he didn't think there is a good relationship with MHAA. There needs to be more work with West St. Paul to help combine programs. Maybe a task force to help suggest what should be done with various sports and age groups. He asked Commissioner Portz what we could do to narrow it down by identifying what is necessary and what can be supported. Commissioner Portz said he liked Commissioner Spicer's comments on how the money flows in this situation, and Commissioner Libra's comments on the history of these programs. People want to continue the good programs. Commissioner Portz has talked to Mr. Kullander about what could be immediately done to meet some of the MHAA requests and it was dugouts. I went to Fort Snelling and liked their dugouts, they were open and airy. Similar ones could be built to respond to the MHAA request. Mr. Kullander replied that was one of the things that could be done to support MHAA. He thinks Council would be receptive if the price was right and it would not detract from the appearance of the park. For the fields and fences, we need to hear from the other users and neighbors. If we are going to upgrade to baseball level, we need to check into parking and notify the neighbors to hear their concerns. Commissioner Morris asked what we would need to do to take this to the next step on the dugout. Mr. Kullander replied that he and Terry are going to look at the dugouts tomorrow and measure them. He's also waiting to hear from MHAA to hear what design they are going to suggest. Commissioner Craighead said MHAA didn't prioritize their list. We don't know if dugouts are their first priority. MHAA didn't know they could use ISD 4197 fields and are aware now that they can use the fields at Sibley. Commissioner Morris said Commissioner Craighead is right on his thoughts that the Commission is looking at a laundry list and the Commission knows its limits. We need to know what they want most. MHAA needs to be part of this process. Chair Spicer suggested another meeting be set up with all MHAA Commissioners, especially soccer, softball, and baseball commissioners all together to find out their usage and priorities. I think we can work with them. We can't decide anything tonight and we can't do anything until spring. Page - 6 September 14, 2006 Approved Mr. Kullander replied that he believes their highest priority is using Mendakota Park Monday through Thursday for their youth games which would push out the adult softball leagues. Such a program change must be authorized by the City Council. Commissioner Craighead says we need to look at the five year plan and see at can be taken off or other things that need to be added. Mr. Kullander said another meeting with MHAA could be set up by Commissioner Portz. If a meeting is scheduled he will inform the other Commissioners. Commissioner Libra said with coordination and cooperation there should be plenty of fields to use for the kids. Mr. Kullander responded that the City has no involvement with MHAA in scheduling use of School District fields or the programs/activities they offer. Commissioner Portz said Sibley fields are being used by MHAA and they want the varsity fields for their programs. When he was involved with MHAA sports the kids "earned the chance to use the varsity field, sort of a reward for their efforts. Chair Spicer said coordination of users is a problem. He reminded Mr. Kullander to have the five year plan on the agenda and notices at the tennis courts. Mr. Kullander responded he would place the open house on the November agenda regarding the tennis courts. The meeting adjourned at 7:50. Page - 7 September 14, 2006