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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 06-05-06 Special MeetingApproved Members Present: Jason Eisold, Mike Eliason, Mark Jacobs, Eric Johnson, Kelly Sampo Members Absent: None Staff Present: Dan Schultz, Director of Parks and Recreation and Sonja Honl, Recording Secretary Student Volunteer: Jonathan Nutzmann Others Present: Alan Cox, City Communications Coordinator; Mike Baxter, City Council Member; Sandra Knight, President Dakota Rev Soccer Club and RAAA Board Member; Bill Droste, Mayor; Larry Novacek, resident; Matt Kearney, resident; Tom Luing, RAAA Board of Directors; Jeff Erdmann, RHS Football Coach; Mike Kearn, RAAA Board Member; Ken Snare, President RAAA; Betsy McMenomy, business owner; Terry McMenomy; Jack Anderson, JAE Architects; Dorene Perkins, Leprechaun Days Committee President and Mike Bouchard, Halloween Committee President. 1. CALL TO ORDER: Johnson called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. ADDITIONS OR CORRECTIONS TO THE AGENDA: None. Schultz will hand out additional items. 3. DISCUSSION ITEMS: a. Outdoor Recreation Complex – At the work session in May, a variety of items relating to the need for additional outdoor recreation facilities were discussed. Johnson prepared a chart listing the stakeholders, a to do list, and the items discussed at last month’s meeting including the challenges we are currently experiencing and the possible outcomes of action vs. inaction. He briefly reviewed the Case for Action items and the Impacts of Inaction. In-house seasons have already been shortened and eventually there will be a loss of neighborhood parks for unorganized use by residents. If neighborhood parks are to be used for sports, we will need to look at redesigning them to meet this need, adding lights, etc. This year for the first time, in-house baseball and softball registrations were cut off due to the lack of field space. All in-house seasons have been shortened and they had to limit the number of participants. This problem will continue to grow next year. It was noted that parents are not aware of the lack of fields and the need for facilities. Betsy McMenomy stated that she is a Rosemount business owner and sees an increase in business when there are tournaments in the city. She thought it was a good idea to provide information to business owners so they are aware of the need. Eliason mentioned that he had been to a soccer tournament in Coon Rapids and that the nearby Subway restaurant was packed with participants, with a line out the door. The restaurant hires extra staff to handle the crowds from tournaments, increasing employment opportunities in the city. Knight noted that we should keep in mind opportunities for adult sports, too. Adult soccer at Erickson Park has been taken away this year to provide for youth sports. Snare gave an update on the efforts of RAAA to get the word out to participants. They had large informational posters at their registration and included the same information on their website. They had handouts and form letters available, and a number of people filled out the form letters. Many people weren’t aware of the challenges for field use that RAAA has been facing. Per Mayor Droste, the City Council received over twenty of these letters. Snare had 91 additional letters for the City Council. Schultz stated that RAAA and Dakota Rev need to continue to educate the public on the need for an athletic facility and gain support. He will be getting statistics on field use. Schultz asked RAAA to provide information on resident vs. non resident participants, and also asked them to look into use of facilities in other cities whose residents participate in RAAA, i.e. Eagan (Red Pine) and Inver Grove Heights. Jacobs asked for any items the City Council would like brought forward. Baxter thought the facility was a good thing for the City, but the City Council had reviewed a survey from a couple of years ago that showed soft support (60%) for an athletic complex and even less support (40%) when residents were asked if they would support an increase in taxes to fund it. Per Baxter, the City Council needs to hear from residents that they support and are willing to pay for an athletic complex. The Commission and stakeholders were concerned about the ever increasing cost of land and that no land has yet been secured. Per Schultz, we have talked to over a dozen land owners and haven’t been successful in acquiring any land. We are currently negotiating to purchase 50 acres of land at over $100,000/acre. We need to find out how much the City Council is comfortable spending for land. Another option would be to investigate land further east that may be less expensive. Jacobs asked Schultz for cost estimates and how much this will add to taxes, for the June 26, 2006 meeting. Schultz stated that we’ve been trying to partner with someone like Flint Hills Resources to keep taxes down, but have been unable to secure any property. The 21 acre triangle of land we have discussed is currently designated as ag preserve until 2010, but we are trying to get this status changed through the legislature. Our main issue right now is acquiring the property for the athletic complex. Schultz felt we needed to focus on non-partnership properties that can be purchased, as we have been unsuccessful in coming to an agreement with any of the large land owners in Rosemount (Dakota County Technical College, UMORE and Flint Hills Resources). We should explore land on the east side of Rosemount further. Schultz was hopeful that we would have a property agreement in place by fall. The possibility of improvements to Erickson Park was discussed. The road and parking lot are not paved and the restroom facilities are old. Per Schultz, there has been discussion on updating the building at Erickson Park as well as renovating fields for fast pitch or youth baseball, relocating a soccer field and adding one or two ball fields, and adding lights to fields four and five. Knight asked what could be done between now and June 26. She also asked for a date for the referendum. Per Schultz, the referendum would probably go up for vote next spring but we have no date set at this time. Snare stated that part of the frustration of those attending the meeting is that this facility had been part of the parks master plan for 20 years. Johnson asked what the approach for the work session was going to be and what the City Council wants to accomplish. The City Council supports the athletic complex, but wants to make sure the research and marketing have been done so that there is enough public support to pass a referendum on the first try. They suggested including other items such as a senior/teen center, library, etc. in the referendum to increase support. The Stakeholders agreed that we needed to carefully prepare and market for a referendum, but they also wanted to get the referendum to the public as soon as possible, as we have been talking about this for some time, and land prices are continually increasing. They would rather try and fail than not try at all. If the referendum did not pass, the stakeholders would regroup, repackage it, involve more people and try again. It was decided that another work session should be held before the regular Commission meeting on June 26. b. Bloomfield Park Shelter – The Commission was provided with copies of the exterior elevations with and without the canopy, interior floor plan drawings, the Preliminary Programming Summary Notes, and Cost Summaries for the shelter with and without the canopy. Schultz reviewed the 13 General Notes items on the Preliminary Programming Summary Notes. We had originally estimated the shelter cost at $250,000. The preliminary estimates for the building came in quite a bit higher than this amount - $511,128.21 with the canopy and $408,474.87 without the canopy. The Commission expressed concern at the large difference between these estimates and the amount we had estimated. Schultz explained that $250,000 was only a place marker for a shelter design similar to the one at Central Park. There was also an additional cost for soil correction of $55,000. In the future, we will do the programming first, to get a better cost estimate up front. The soil testing to see whether corrections are necessary should also be done up front, with this being the responsibility of the developer. Jack Anderson of JAE architects had designed the program based on suggestions from the Commission at the initial planning meeting. He reviewed the two shelter designs (with and without the canopy) and the cost summary for both. After further discussion, the Commission agreed to go ahead with the design as presented in Plan B without the canopy. MOTION by Eliason to go forward with Cost Summary B. Sampo asked about the costs for the bathrooms, finishing materials, etc. Anderson will look at these to keep costs in line. SECOND by Sampo. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 Motion passed. c. Electrical Improvements at Central Park – Schultz received a faxed quote from Helm Electric for the improvements requested by the Halloween and Leprechaun Days Committees. Schultz reviewed the estimates and asked Dorene Perkins, Leprechaun Days Committee President and Mike Bouchard, Halloween Committee President which of the improvements were the highest priority. Per Perkins and Bouchard, the first four items were their top priority. These improvements totaled $8,110. Schultz asked for a recommendation from the Commission regarding the electrical improvements. Eliason asked if the green treated posts listed in item #3 of the bid could be replaced with something more aesthetically pleasing. Per Schultz, we could choose materials that look good and are more secure. The Commission agreed that the improvements made sense. MOTION by Jacobs to recommend spending up to $8,500 for electrical improvements at Central Park using the lowest bid received. SECOND by Eliason. Per Schultz, these improvements should be completed before Leprechaun Days. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 Motion passed. Schultz will let the Leprechaun Days Committee know when the improvements will be done. Recreation Complex – There was further discussion regarding the athletic complex. The most important issue at this time is the land purchase. We need to look at land to the east. Schultz has a list of landowners who have their property for sale and will contact them. The Commission thought that the Hwy. 52/Co. Rd. 42 area would be an excellent location for an athletic complex. The Commission agreed to meet before the June 26 regular meeting to further discuss land and funding options, a marketing campaign for the referendum and whether other items should be included on the referendum. Schultz will e-mail possible meeting dates to the Commission. 4. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Johnson to adjourn the meeting. SECOND by Eliason. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 Motion passed. The meeting was adjourned at 10:25 p.m. Respectfully submitted by Sonja Honl, Recording Secretary