HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes for January 14 City of Falcon Heights Parks & Recreation Commission MEETING MINUTES City Hall Monday, January 14th 6:30 p.m. X Melissa Weber -Sanders, Chair ab Serena Jones -White X Tom Keene X Christina Erickson X Gordon Strom X St aff Michelle Tesser X Staff Tim Pittman X Council Liaison Chuck Long 1. Call to order - 6:30pm 2. Approval of November 19th meeting minutes - Approved 3. Welcome to new Council Liaison Chuck Long 4. Winter Updates (Rinks, Events , Programming ) A. Rinks Rinks hav e had great attendance (January 5 th – 47 January 6 th - 30). Last weekend, the rinks were closed due to the rain and warm weather. Rinks reopened Monday January 14th. Tesser was asked by users of the rinks to reexamine rink and warming house hours to be a t 9pm. Tesser will look into adjusting hours if attendance is high at 8pm. Chair Weber -Sanders wondered why the warming house wasn’t open during New Year’s Day. Tesser explained the rinks formed quicker than expected so finding staff last minute was dif ficult but the warming house was opened at 4pm on New Year’s Day and officially opened January 2 nd . Pittman added that there is no pleasure rink at the Falcon Heights Elementary School this year because the Principal asked not to have the ice because it w as too difficult for kids to get off skates in time for classes. Grove Park does not have a pleasure rink again this year. Staff has not received complaints. Staff has flooded for ice at Community Park for the city’s Winterfest event. B. Events Skating the Park is scheduled on Monday, January 21 st (free hot cocoa) Two staff will be on during the event and are asked to skate around and be welcoming to the staff. Winterfest is scheduled on Sunday, January 27 th 1pm -4pm. Tesser confirmed the dog sledding rides but lack of snow may mean cancellation so Tesser has Roselawn
Stables as a back -up on that day with horse drawn hayrides so kids are not disappointed. Tesser asked for creative ideas for hiding the falcon since snow is minimal . Flyers went to Brimha ll and Falcon Heights Elementary to advertise the event . Press Releases were sent to newspapers. Tesser requested help from Commissions to volunteer during the event. Chuck Long agreed to volunteer to assist during the event. C. Programming Winter Break Adventure Camp (11 kids) went very well, loved snowshoeing . Profit $225.00 5. Summer Planning A. Programs (Changes or Additions) Red Cross Babysitting Training - April 27 th 9am -4pm $65.00 Summer Survival School Camp (SAPD) Flag Football Camp Revamp Adventure Camp with Climbing Wall and Geo Caching Harry Potter Camp script writing, acting on stage, quiddich Soccer Camp Do not offer Basketball or Basketball Camp but will add Basketball to Pee Wee Sports Sampler and Sports Sampler Camp Baking Class SNAG Golf Camp (cost of start -up may be too much to afford this year) B. Events (Changes or Additions) Parents Night Off Tesser discussed offering a Summer Friday night off f or parents. Parents can drop off kids at Community Park for a small nominal fee. Tesser will a dvertise to recreation participants. A movie, games and crafts are activities that were discussed. Movie in the Park and Fitness Challenge - Tesser suggested doing some type of fitness challenge before the move begins because kids seem to have a hard time waiting for the sky to get dark enough for the movie to start. Tesser suggested tug -o -war, sack races, egg races, balance beam, hula h oop contest. Commissioner Long suggested bringing the kids to the different exercise stations around the park and those that accomplish all the activities get a free bag of popcorn. Ice Cream Social Tesser discussed doing some type of Artistic Sidewalk Challenge if new sidewalk panels are put in this year at the park. Winter: Bundle Up in Coats/Movie Tesser suggested offerin g a movie at City Hall and using the movie to help collect coats before the winter. Tesser suggested October. Advertising would be something like warm hearts by helping other s in need with a winter clothing drive and special movie. Winter: Santa Letters or Santa Call Tesser suggested partaking in the holiday spirit by having kids write to santa and mail their letters to the city hall. Tesser will send back a post card from Santa. Or she
suggested set ting up w eather hotline that is not used from mid -October to end of December with Santa ’s voice message and they can leave a message. 6. Approval of Brimhall and Falcon Heights Elementary recreation donation Commission unanimously agreed to send $50.00 donations to the schools. 7. Active Recruitment to fill vacancie s on Parks Commission Tesser asked commissioners to w rite letters, ask friends/family, email personal requests to neighbors to help fill the commissions vacancies. The Commission can have up to nine on a Commission. We have a total of five since Hanson a nd Waite ended there terms . 8. U of M Good Neighbor Fund Grant Tesser talked to the commission about the U of M Grant. The p urpose of this grant must be to enhance and protect the beauty, serenity and security of the communities impacted by the operation of the Univers ity of Minnesota’s on campus football stadium. Falcon Heights is impacted by parking available at the State Fair. The amount of funds available in the grant is $47,500. The theme is “good neighbors collaborate”. Ideas discussed were: signage, landscapin g to replace Cleveland median , assistance to help beautify Curtiss Field (weed removal.), lighting at Curtiss Field. Commissioners asked if more than one proposal can be submitted. Tesser will look into this. In the meantime, Tesser asked commissioners to brainstorm and email her if they come up with any ideas. 9. Noxious Weed Plan Pittman discussed c u rrent weed treatment at Parks which is mainly pulling weeds and burning every 2 -3 years. The commission decided to seek help with drafting the plan thr ough students at the U of M. Tesser will contact Beth Mercer -Taylor for suggested on how to contact professors/departments etc. Commissioners also would like the DNR involved in the implementation of the plan. 10. Curtiss Field Park Time Closure and Sign Change • Number of police reports • Number of signage to be replaced rough cost estimates - Tim Pittman • Cities parks closure times Tesser went through the last year’s police reports for Curtiss Field. The number of reports was very minimal (3 reports from Ma y through September) and there were no suspicious activity reports late r than 7:45pm . The number of signs it would take to replace would be three and the replacement costs would be approximately $300.00.
Tesser presented on the number of city’s park clos ure times, most are between 10pm or 11pm. None were at 9pm or dusk. Andover 11pm, Eden Prairie 10pm, Three Rivers 10pm, Buffalo 10pm, St. Paul 11pm, Minneapolis 10pm (not including sports), Roseville 10pm. Based on the evidence shown, the Commission d ecided not to pursue changing the park closure time. 11. Public Works Report : Pittman discussed barricade project, plowing and other inside projects PW staff is currently completing . 12. New Business The Community Garden responsibilities were formerly the Environment Commission s . But since Justin’s departure in December, Tesser took over the managem ent of the plot assignments, revenue collection , event and room reservation . Pittman continues to manage the community garden grounds (supplies purchasing, mul ch delivery, waste pick -up ). Therefore, it makes the most sense for the Parks and Recreation Commission to take over this responsibility and keeping the duties with Pittman and Tesser. Administrator Fischer agreed to this change. Pittman discussed the n eed of a new fence around the garden. Pittman received a proposal for installation of a fence in the amount of $3,000. Tesser suggested asking the Lions to help with the cost of the fence. Tesser asked Pittman to get another fence proposal so she could ask the Lions. Next meeting dates: Monday, February 11 th Monday, March 11th