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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008 01-28 PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION Regular Meeting Minutes January 28, 2008 Approved Members Present: Jason Eisold,Mike Eliason,Sandy Knight,Kevin Strapton Members Absent: Maureen Bartz Staff Present: Dan Schultz,Director of Parks and Recreation and Sonja Honl,Recording Secretaxy Student Volunteer: jonathan Nutzmann Others Present: None 1. CALL TO ORDER: Eliason called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. 2. ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA: None. 3. APPROVAL OF THE NOVEMBER 26, 2007 MEETING MINUTES: MOTION by Knight to approve the minutes of the November 26,2007 meeting. SECOND by Strayton. Ayes:4 Nays:0 Motion passed. APPROVAL OF THE DECEMBER 10, 2007 SPECIAL JOINT WORK SESSION MINUTES: MOTION by Eisold to approve the minutes of the December 10,2007 special joint work session. SECOND by Knight. Ayes:4 Nays:0 Motion passed. APPROVAL OF THE DECEMBER 10, 2007 SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES: MOTION by I�night to approve the minutes of the December 10,2007 special meeting. SECOND by Strayton. Ayes:4 Nays:0 Motion passed. 4. AUDIENCE INPUT: None. 5. DISCUSSION (Response to Audience Input): None. 6. OLD BUSINESS: a. Parks and Recreation Improvements—Schultz provided rhe Commission with an update on what had been discussed at the City Council's special work session on January 2. The City Council favored a spring referendum asking for between$8.25 million and$8.5 million,that would include the outdoor recreation compleg,improvements to the historic St.Joseph's Church,and the addition of tennis courts with lights to Erickson Park. He egplained that it is required that the City Council pass a resolution at least 53 days prior to holding a referendum,and informed the Commission that the City Council is egpected to decide in February whether to move forward with this referendum. The City Council also discussed approving spending$523,000 from parks dedication funds for plans and specs for the outdoor recreation complex. The parks dedication funds would be reimbursed after the referendum passes. The City Council indicated they would like to see the Ciry move forwaxd with the development of the specs and plans as this would allow construction to begin earlier in the summer. Schultz handed out an updated site plan for the recreation complex. Based on discussions with Dakota County,access from Bonaire Path has been included in the plan,one soccer field has been removed to allow for ponding,and a small parking area has been added. The Commission expressed concern with the long driveway that continues through the newly added parking lot from the access point on Bonaire Path,and with the elimination of a soccer field. Schultz egplained the City gone through several channels before getting the plan to the right people to have it reviewed.The new plan is the result of the county telling us that they would prefer that the city provide access from a city street (Bonaire Path)instead of a counry road(Akron Ave.). I{night pointed out that the traffic will be going to Akron Ave. even if the access is from Bonaire Path. T'here was further discussion on various options for the new plan. The Commission was very disappointed about the loss of the green space in this plan. Schultz - 1 - PARKS 8� RECREATION COMMISSION Regular Meeting Minutes January 28, 2008 stated that the plan does not have to be voted on at tonight's meeting and the details can be worked out in the future;tonight he was only asking for a recommendation on the amount of the referendum. There was discussion regarding converting the green space at Erickson Park that currently is used for soccer into eight tennis courts. Schultz explained that most of the City Council members were agreeable to not including this item in the referendum,due to the cost,timing issues,and the loss of the soccer fields that would result from placing tennis courts in this location. Schultz reviewed exterior and interior drawings of proposed improvements to the historic St.Joseph's Church. The improvements to the egterior include the expansion of the front steps and the addition of an entrance ramp,rebuilding the steps at the back of the building,and the addition of restrooms and a mechanical area to the rear of the building. The restrooms and mechanical area will be the major changes to the exterior. As far as the interior,the improvements include increasing the stage area (former alter) and adding stairs with hand rails for access to the stage. Per Schultz,the school portion of the site will be evaluated at some time in the future. The focus now is to make the necessary improvements to the church so that it is useable space that meets current codes. Discussion turned back to the issue of tennis courts. Schultz informed the Commission that he has contacted the school district by letter regarding the opportunity to partner on projects and improvements such as the addition of tennis courts. Discussion continued regarding the changes to the outdoor recreation compleg site plan due to the addition of the new access point on Bonaire Path. The Commission again stated how unhappy they were with the loss of the field in the new plan. They also egpressed concern about the safety of the new entrance driveway. They felt that people would be speeding along the driveway and through the parking area,as well as parking along the driveway so they would have easy access to nearby fields. It was suggested that the driveway through the complex and parking areas could be made a one-way,with the entrance access from Akron Ave. and the egit access onto Bonaire Path. There was discussion regarding lighting at the compleg. Eisold thought that if lights were not included initially,they would never be added. The Commission agreed that it was very important to light both of the concession stands and as many fields as possible. The Commission felt strongly that lights should be included from the start of the project and that there would not be funds to add them later. T'he Commission talked about the possibility of including tennis courts at other parks instead of at Erickson Park. Eisold suggested adding two courts with lights to a neighborhood park instead of eight courts at Erickson Park. He didn't think that Erickson Park was the best location for courts and was concerned about the loss of green space and lack of supervision there. Knight agreed with Eisold that Erickson Park was not the best location for tennis courts. She was not in favor of putting them on green space and also had concerns about them being unsupervised. The Commission thought that having eight tennis courts in this location would not be the best use of the space. It was suggested that the addition of tennis courts be addressed when the parks master plan is updated. Possibly adding two lighted courts at Charlie's Park or two at Bloomfield Park was suggested. There was also discussion regarding the use identi&ed for the green space fields at the outdoor recreation complex. They are identified as multi-purpose,which could mean soccer,lacrosse,or football. Eliason stressed that soccer is already short fields and they have more participants than other sports. He was concerned that other sports would be scheduled to use the fields instead, even though they do not have nearly the number of participants and field needs. Per Schultz the city could work with RAAA and set up guidelines for scheduling of the fields that would address this. It was also mentioned that unless fencing was added,there could be issues with lacrosse balls being hit out of the fields and possibly into the parking area and across the road. -2 - PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION Regular Meeting Minutes January 28, 2008 Strayton thought that the cost estimates were high for the complex considering the current building market. Schultz egplained that the project will be put out for bid and he hoped to see bids that reflected the current market. Strayton also questioned whether the Commission should approve spending$523,000 for plans and specs before the referendum passes. After further discussion,it was the consensus of the Commission that spending$523,000 for plans and specs without knowing for sure that the referendum would pass was not fiscallp responsible. They were not comfortable making a recommendation in favor of this. Knight egpressed frustration with the county for making a decision about access two months after seeing plan,she didn't like losing the field or lights at the compleg. She also thought that two concession buildings with bathrooms were necessary. MOTION by Strayton to recommend that the City Council approve a resolution calling for a special referendum to be held on Tuesday,Apri122,2008 to ask voters to approve spending$8.5 million on parks and recreation improvements that would include the outdoor recreation compleg and improvements to the historic St.Joseph's Church. SECOND by Knight. FRIENDLY AMENDMENT by Eisold to add"but not be limited to"after"include"in the original motion. Strayton accepted the amendment. 'The amended motion should read as follows: Motion to recommend that the City Council approve a resolution calling for a special referendum to be held on Tuesday,Apri122,2008 to ask voters to approve spending$8.5 million on parks and recreation improvements that would include but not be limited to the outdoor recreation complex and improvements to the historic St.Joseph's Church. Ayes: 4 Nays: 0 Motion passed. b. DCTC FaClllty P81'ttle�Shlp UpdBte—The City Council recendy approved a letter of understanding between the City and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities for funding of the design and construction of three soccer fields at Dakota County Technical College. The letter includes the City's intent to contribute $450,000 for construction of the project. The letter also identifies that there are other agreements that have to be worked out before the City releases the funds. A copy of the letter was included in the Commission packets. 7. NEW BUSINESS: a. D'IPeCtO�'S RepOt't-The park ixnprovement fund balance as of December 31,2007 was $2,116,427.55. No parks dedication fees,grants or donations were received this month. Interest for December was $11,539.14. T'here were expenditures of$22,500.75 outdoor recreation complex planning and Brazil Avenue trail planning. Update on 2008 City Council Goal Setting—Schultz attended the goal setting workshop last weekend. He provided the City Council with an update on the Outdoor Recreation Complex and additional information about the project. Outdoor Ice Season—The outdoor ice season has been a good one so far this winter. The weather has cooperated and we have had a number of skaters at the rinks. Generally the outdoor ice season ends near the end of February,but we will try to keep the rinks open longer if the weather permits. MRI'A Award—Tom Schuster,Parks Supervisor,was recognized by the Minnesota Recreation and Parks Association. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Award for coordinating the 2007 Parks and Natural Resources Workshop that was held at the Rosemount Community Center last October. - 3 - PARKS � RECREATION COMMISSION Regular Meeting Minutes January 28, 2008 Teen Night—The Parks and Recreation Teen Night program is having another successful year. Approgimately 275 middle school students attended the January 11 Teen Night. A middle school band, `Big Bang Theory"performed for their first crowd this month at Teen Night. 8. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Eisold to adjourn the meeting. SECOND by Strayton. Ayes:4 Nays: 0 Motion passed. The meeting was adjourned at 8:49 p.m. Respectfully submitted by Sonja Honl, Recording Secretary -4 -