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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda for January 9, 2017 City of Falcon Heights Parks & Recreation Commission AGENDA City Hall Monday, January 9th, 2017 6:30 p.m. ___ Gordon Strom ___ Mary Hannon Jacobson ___ Dave Thomas ___ Walt Dunlap ___ Ron Eischen ___ Shawn Hubert – Commission Chair ___ Ben Reichelt ___ Council Member Gustafson ___ Staff Tim Pittman ___ Staff Tim Sandvik 1. Call to Order 2. Approval of September 12, 2016 Minutes 3. Discussion on Parks Programming 4. Discussion on Special Events – recap of Fall Fete 5. Discussion on Parks Rentals 6. Infrastructure Updates 7. Update on Recent Grant Submission – See attached drafts 8. Additional Updates, Meeting Schedule 9. Other Business 10. Adjourn MEETING MINUTES Monday, September 12, 2016 6:30 p.m. City Hall, 2077 W. Larpenteur Ave. City of Falcon Heights Parks & Recreation Commission 1. Call to Order Meeting called to order at 6:30pm. Attendance X=present; AB=absent x Gordon Strom x Tim Sandvik Staff AB Tim Pittman Staff x Randy Gustafson Council Liaison AB Mary Hannon Jacobson Co-Secretary x Ron Eischen Co-Secretary x Shawn Hubert Chairperson AB Dave Thomas x Ben Reichelt x Walt Dunlap 2. Approval of June 6, 2016 meeting minutes The meeting minutes were reviewed and approved. 3. Updates from Summer/Fall Programming, Rentals – Tim Sandvik  180 kids registered for summer activities.  There were some issues with CTC.  No building at Curtis to use, left only one location with a building.  The numbers of people using Community Park increased from last year.  Volunteer helpers for the activities helped keep costs down as well as train potential staff members for next year.  This fall there will be a focus on how to get people into the park.  The St Paul Blackhawks Soccer Club is renting fields for soccer practice and games. The money for this rental isn’t reflected in the parks budget.  A breakdown showing what city the summer participants came from was shared by Tim.  Park rentals are up this year however this year has been the most problematic. o More damage deposits have been kept then in any previous year. o There were issues with alcohol usage and lack of post party cleanup. o There was some discussion on changing the current amount requested for a damage deposits. o No decisions or recommendations made, it will be up to city council to act. o Currently no future reservations will be accepted for the rest of this year. 4. Public Works/Parks updates – Tim Sandvik  Curtis Park  Sidewalk installed by the public works department.  Tree replacement will be forthcoming. Bike stations (3) were installed.  Environmental Commission submitted a Good Neighbor grant to fund these. Dead trees along Cleveland Ave, currently there are not funds in the budget to replace them. 5. Possible Grant Opportunity Minnesota Historical Society sponsored. If selected, the grant would be used for interpretive signage for Curtis Field. Mid-October is the deadline for submittal. A motion was made and approved to move forward with the grant submission. 6. Upcoming Events  Fall Fete, tentatively set for October 13th from 5-7pm at Community Park. o There will be a bouncy house, crafts and snacks.  Falcon Heights – Lauderdale 5k run is on 9/17 at 8am. o 60 people are registered.  Fire Department Open House is scheduled for 10/1 from 11am – 2pm. o A Chili cook-off is part of the open house. 7. Other Items Early November, they will start lining up a warming house for delivery in early December for Curtis Field. 8. Other Items Motion raised and passed to adjourn the meeting at 7:40pm. Curtiss Northwest Airport – In 1919, Snelling and Larpenteur Avenues were two-lane, unpaved roads in what was then Rose Township. The southeast corner of the intersection had most recently been a farm field. But now it became home to the first major airport in Minnesota and, for a brief time, the center of aviation in the state. You could buy a plane here, learn to fly it, and have it serviced and repaired. Hundreds and sometimes thousands of people would come here on summer Sundays to watch air shows. Glenn Curtiss – An aviation pioneer and rival of the Wright Brothers, Curtiss was the first to fly an airplane in Minnesota. On June 23, 1910, 12,000 people watched as he took off from the Minnesota State Fairgrounds and flew to Lake Johanna and back, airborne for an impressive 10 minutes. By 1916, Curtiss headed the world’s largest aviation company, establishing dealerships to sell planes across the United States, one of the first being right here. Bill Kidder –A former real estate salesman with a flair for promotion, Kidder learned to fly at a Curtiss Company flight school in Newport News, Virginia. Following World War I, he got his start in the aviation business by acquiring a trainload of second-hand Curtiss Jenny biplanes for pennies on the dollar. Kidder’s contract with Curtiss gave him exclusive rights to represent the company in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. He was a pivotal figure in the early days of transition between the barnstorming era and commercial aviation. Phoebe Fairgrave and Vernon Omlie – This duo first teamed up at Curtiss Northwest Airport in 1921 when Fairgrave set a world’s record 15,200-foot parachute jump with Omlie at the plane’s controls. Fairgrave and Omlie left St. Paul to barnstorm and eventually married. She became the first woman to achieve a Transport Pilot’s License and went on to win several national air races. Together, they established the first airport in the mid-South. Charles “Speed” Holman –The legendary barnstormer and Northwest Airway’s first pilot was an enthusiastic promoter of aviation across the region. In 1924, Curtiss Northwest mechanics helped him prepare his Thomas-Morse Scout biplane to compete in the Nation Air Races at Dayton, Ohio. Holman finished second, adding to his growing reputation. St. Paul’s downtown airport is named for him. Curtiss Northwest Airport – In 1919, Snelling and Larpenteur avenues were two-lane, unpaved roads in then – Rose Township. In to the 1920’s, enthusiasm for aviation grew at Curtiss Northwest Airport. The airfield served many purposes including full-service hangars, aviation-related sales, and many promotional endeavors. Curtiss Northwest Airport’s history includes many aviation firsts to Minnesota and the upper-Midwest. Curtiss Northwest pilots pioneered: Aerial Photography and Mapping – In the early days of commercial aviation, people were fascinated with the perspective aerial photos provided. Relying on the skill of his ace photographer, Paul Hamilton, Kidder kept Curtiss Northwest Airport in the news by supplying local papers with aerial views of the city and countryside. He also contracted with Northern States Power Company to provide aerial mapping during the utility’s rapid expansion. Crop Spraying – The state entomologist contracted with Curtiss Northwest to fight a grasshopper infestation in northern Minnesota. Kidder’s mechanics rigged two planes with hopper bottoms to drop a mixture of bran, molasses and arsenic in sloughs. The application was considered successful, whatever the environmental impact. Transporting Patients, Political Candidates – In order to transport an ailing man from an isolated Wisconsin farm to a St. Paul hospital, Kidder’s mechanics retrofitted a plane to accommodate a hospital cot. The same plane went on to ferry patients from St. Paul to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. In 1922, Curtiss Northwest Airport was associated with the first extensive use of a plane in a political campaign. In an upset, Henrik Shipstead was elected over Frank B. Kellogg to the United States Senate. Kidder claimed that Shipstead made it to all of his campaign appearances, while Kellogg’s car was “often stuck in the mud.” Freight hauling – During a railroad strike in 1920, two Curtiss Northwest pilots flew to New York on behalf of the Dayton’s Department Store in downtown Minneapolis and returned with a load of luxury goods. It was the longest cargo flight up to that time. After unloading, the planes were placed on display outside the store.