HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008 10-27 PARKS � RECREATION COMMISSION
Regular Meeting Minutes
October 27, 2008
APPROVED
Members Present: Maureen Bartz,Jason Eisold,Mike Eliason,Sandy I{night,Kevin Strayton
Members Absent: None
Staff Present: Dan Schultz,Director of Parks and Recreation and Sonja Honl,Recording Secretary
Student Volunteer: None
Others Present: None
1. CALL TO ORDER: Eliason called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m.
2. ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA: None. Schultz did have an additional esecutive summary from the
Dakota County Aging Initiative relating to agenda item 7.a.Senior Adult Services.
3. APPROVAL OF THE SEPTEMBER 22, 2008 MEETING MINUTES: MOTION by Bartz to
approve the minutes of the September 22,2008 meeting. SECOND by Strayton. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0
Motion passed. ,
4. AUDIENCE INPUT: None.
5. DISCUSSION (Response to Audience Input): None.
6. OLD BUSINESS:
a. Family Resource Center— Lease Agreement—Currendy,the Community Action
Council (CAC) leases the Family Resource Center from the City. The original lease was for 10
yeaxs,and is coming due in November. The CAC has requested some changes to the lease
regarding outside maintenance,and sta,ff recendy met with them to discuss the changes. In the
originallease,CAC was responsible for most of the outside maintenance and City staff was
responsible for mowing and other park maintenance. The CAC is asking that the new lease be
changed so that City staff is responsible for all of the outside maintenance. Schultz is
recommending that the City take on some of the outside maintenance responsibilities,including
window/glass replacement, trash collection, and painting/stauung the exterior of the building,
but he did not xecommend City staff taking over the snow Yemoval. Schultz was in favor of
recommending the new lease with the following change: that the section regarding snow
removal be moved fxom item 2. b. to item 2.a. Schultz will meet with CAC sta,ff later this week
regarding this change. MOTION by Eisold to recommend that the City Council approve a
lease with the community Action Council to use the Fanvly Resource Center. SECOND by
Knight. FRIENDLY AMENDMENT by Bartz to note that snow removal at the Family
Resource Center will be the responsibility of the CAC. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 Motion passed.
b. Rosemount Veterans' Me1170�111 Walk—Schultz gave a brief overview of past discussions
on this item. He provided an aerial photo of the site near the current veterans'memorial
monument at Central Paxk that had been one of the original locations suggested for locating the
memorial pavexs. Schultz also pxovided aerial photos of the site along the Koch Trail that the
veterans group has now indicated they prefer. Recendy,the Rosemount Veterans'Memorial
Walk group provided staff with a final la,ndscape architect's plan that included the placement of
pavexs along both sides of a section of the Koch Trail in Central Park,beginning just north of
the hockey rink. The plan included an entrance sign on the west side of the beguuzing of the
tra,il. It was sta,ffls understanding,based on e-mailed correspondence from Jeff Nivala,RVMW
member, that this plan,with no fla.gs or monuments,represented the final plan that the RVMW
group had agreed upon. Gerald Gerrits,RVMW member,was in attendance and addressed the
Commission. He sta.ted that the plan the Commission was looking at was only phase one of the
project. Per Gerrits, the pla.n being discussed at tonight's meeting was one of two pla,ns the
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PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION
Regular Meeting Minutes
October 27, 2008
RVNIW gtoup had requested fxom Ken Gxieshaber,la.ndscape architect fYom SRF Consultants.
Gerrits expressed his frustration with the architect and with the fact that the RVMW group has
not received the second pla,n,which would include pavers,a sign, fla,gs,and seating areas with
benches and monuments spaced along the trail. Gerrits stated that he had also previously
provided staff with a drawing he had done representing this plan. Schultz had a copy of the plan
Gerrits had drawn,as well as a landscape architect's pla.n similar to Gerrits' drawing,and he
showed both of these plans to the Commission. The Commission asked that the RVMW
members all get together and meet with a landscape axchitect, (if not GrieshabeY,then another
landscape architect) and that they provide the City with a final plan for the memorial wa1k,
including all pavers,signs, flags, seating areas,monuments, etc. Schultz also e�cpla�ned that this
axea is the beginning of an interpretive trail, and an informational sign Yegarding this will be
pla,ced on the west side of the trail entrance in the future. Because of this,the memorial sign
and any proposed fla,gs and monuments at the beginning of the memoria,l walk should be located
on the east side of the trail. The final plan should also include the be�inning and ending
locations foY pavers. It should include wha.t they want now, as well as their ultimate vision for
the futute,with everything they would possibly want. Gerrits e�cplained that the group did not
want to submit a plan that they could not pay for. Pex Schultz,the pla,n they submit can always
be scaled back,but the City needs to know their ultimate vision in order to plan for future City
maintenance and improvements at this site. Sta,ff and the Com�nission e�cpressed frustration that
the RVMW group does not seem to be able to come to a consensus on a pla,n. City sta,ff and the
Commission are in favor of the project,but have been unable to get a final plan that all members
of the RVMW gxoup agree on,despite repeated requests over the past two yeaxs. The item was
tabled until November.
7. NEW BUSINESS:
a. Senior Adult Services — City sta,ff recently held Senior Listening Sessions at the seniox housing
complexes in Rosemount,as well as two public Senior Listening Sessions at the Rosemount
Community Center. The purpose of the sessions was to gather information on current and future
needs of Rosemount area seniors,in order for the City to better meet those needs. A detailed
report of the findings from these sessions is included in this month's Commission packet. Some of
the findings include: money and transportation are factors seniors consider when deciding which
activities to participate in,those living in senior housing complexes are often provided with
activities on-site,and some of the seniors wexen't aware of the activities offered at the Rosemount
Community Center. It was sta,ffls recommendation that we work on further developing
relationships/opportunities with the local senior housing facilities, the Apple Valley seniors group,
Comxnunity Ed,etc., and also look into opportunities that may be provided through the new
library. Schultz asked for input from the Commission regarding the xeport. T'he Commission
asked whethex our senior activities could be included in the newsletters foY the various housing
complexes,and also suggested that Evermoor has a coordinator we could possibly utilize. Bartz
asked if there were any statistics available on what percentage of Rosemount's population is made
up of seniors,as oux community has a younger than avexage population. Schultz will check with
the City Planner regarding this. The Commission thought it was important to have a face/name as
the contact and resource for seniors in the coxnmunity,and they also steessed that the seniors need
to feel welcome. The Commission also thought we should keep in mind the evolving nature of the
_ next generation of rerirees. They will be more active and have higher incomes,and we need to
consider this in planning for activities in the future. Bartz noted that we spend approximately$30
per year,per senior in our community. She asked if we could get information on how much we
spend per youth,per yeax. Schultz will see if this information is available. Schultz will bring the
report and the Commission's comments to the November City Council work session.
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PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION
Regular Meeting Minutes
October 27, 2008
b. Review of Parks and Recreation Fees and Fee Policy—Every yea,r the Commission
reviews the Fees and Fee Policy. T'he current policy is included in this month's packet. Schultz
explained that comparisons of ice fees and paxk xental fees are conducted every year to make sute
oux fees�e line with the surrounding communities. It is harder to come up with comparisons for
our Community Center room use fees,as it is more difficult to find similar spaces. Schultz will plan
to bring back fee comparisons in November. Currently,we do not intend to increase fees unless
we see drastic diffeYences. Schultz asked the Commission for their input regarding the fee policy.
The Commission asked if we will charge the same fees for Dakota,County Technical College
(DCTC) field use as we do at our other facilities. There was also a question regaxding the definition
of Non-Prime Time Ice and Summex Ice on page 28. Schultz will revise this to clarify the
descriptions. T'he Commission also noted that the Prime Time Hours and Non-Prime Time Hours
are the same on page 28 of the policy. Per Schultz,this will be corrected. 8:32 p.m. Stxayton left
the meeting due to another commitrnent. Eisold asked about the possibility of collecting a gate fee
at arena events, either a set rate or a percentage of the gate,in order to cover additional costs the
City may incus, such extra sta,ffing and cleaning. Schultz will do a comparison on this and bring
information back to the Coxnmission.
b. DI�eCtOr'S RepOrt-The park improvement fund balance as of September 30,2008 was
$1,719,985.53. No parks dedication or grants were received in September. Interest was $29.05.
There were expenditures of$432.50 fox the electrical work at the Central Park amphitheater and
the Brazil Ave. trail extension.
In-Kind Donation from SKB Environmenta,l—An In-Kind donation from SKB Environmental for
$200,000 of grading services was received as part of the approval process for their expansion. They
own Bola,nder&Sons,who would do the earth work. Per Schultz,it would cost appro�mately
$500,000 to grade the property donated by Flint Hills Resources for the athletic complex, so we axe
looking at UMORE Park and Dakota County Technical College as possible sites for grading. Per
Schultz, there are also funds remauiing from the DCTC joint soccer complex project,and Schultz
would like to have a work session with the Commission regarding this.
Charlie's Park Tennis Courts —District 196 has indicated to City staff that they support moving
forward with deeding a portion of Charlie's Paxk to the City. The City would be deeded land at
Charlie's Park that includes the existing tennis cou.rts and land to be used for construction of new
tennis courts. The City Attorney will be putting togethex an agteement and Schultz will bring this
back to the Commission once it is completed.
UMORE Advisory Comxnission—Knight informed the Commission that the UMORE Advisory
Commission will be hosting an open house on November 6,where they will be presenting theix
findings xegarding the sand and gravel study they conducted.
8. ADJOURNMENT
MOTION by Knight to adjourn the meeting. SECOND by Bartz. Ayes: 4 Nays: 0 Motion
passed. The meeting was adjourned at 8:48 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by
Sonja Honl,
Recording Secretary
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