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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRCMin_87Nov9Y • Park and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes, Meeting of November 9, 1987 Members Present: Linda McLoon, Pat Bush, Connie Lasser, Bob Gehrz, Kirsten Eckberg Members Absent: Tom Mountain, Ardis Hutchins, Paul Nelson, Jean Ohman, Paul Ciernia- Council Liason PAT BUSH We began the meeting with hearty congratulations to Pat on her winning a seat on the City Council. Pat indicated that she had talked to Jan Weissner and would continue in her position as Park Director until the end of December. This would include putting together the Winter Program, and hiring and training rink attendants, and her involvement with the bike path committee. All present heaved a sigh of relief. A chocolate cake was then immediately consumed by all present to celebrate Pat's election to the City Council. We all agreed that Pat had done an excellent job as Park Director and would be hard to replace. • FALL PROGRAMS Pat Bush indicated that all programs were running smoothly, although a number of classes were canceled due to low enrollment, including Be Fit By Five. We discussed how this problem could be eliminated in the future. A suggestion was made to send the program activities to local daycare providers. GROVE PARK Bob Gehrz noted that at a recent meeting of the Grove Association, the general consensus was that a gazebo would be a great addition to the Grove park. Both a hockey rink and recreational skating area will be flooded there this winter. Bob also noted to need to have proper light standards erected at the park. Those present felt a letter to the City Council of our recommendation to buy a gazebo should be sent, which Linda McLoon volunteered to write. MAINTENANCE AT THE PARKS A system for notification of the maintenance staff for problems at our parks was discussed. Pat indicated that follow-through on the part of the maintenance staff has not always been as quick as desired. Pat said she would look into the possibility of having Maintenance memos for us to fill in when we see some problem at the parks that require attention, e.g. no garbage cans at the Community Park. NEW PARK DIRECTOR • Most of the meeting was spent discussing hiring of anew Park Director. Four alternatives were presented by Pat, after discussion of the issue with Jan Weissner. The first would be to replace Pat with someone with the same duties. The second alternative would be to combine our Park Director position with the Community Coordinator at Falcon Heights Elementary School. The third alternative would be to go back to the situation } before Pat was hired and have only a summer activity coordinator and leave the school year up to the community ed. people. The Commission would then hire rink attendants and • run -2- PARK DIRECTOR, CONTINUED the bike rodeo. The fourth alternative would be to enlarge the position of Park director to also include the following community service and/or public relations activities: Promoting and coordinating recycling, coordinating cable TV for the city, public relations, crime prevention and neighborhood watch program coordination. The alternatives were then discussed. We quickly eliminated the third alternative from consideration. It was felt that it would be a step backward and not in the city's best interest. The second alternative was then discussed. The positive aspects was that by paying quarter time, the city would have a full time person (since the school district paid the other 3/4 time of the community coordinator). Thus the person would be available all the time, would have experience and lots of community contacts for classes. The negative aspects included possible loss of control by the city. The person, if was felt, would have more allegiance to the major employer, the school district, and not for the city. There would still be the problem of park maintenance and improvement that need to be dealt with all year. Would this person take care of this. The increased cost to the city was also considered, since the salary would have to meet what their current salary level was. The issues of accountability and increased cost were considered to outweigh any benefits otherwise derived, and this alternative was dismissed. The fourth alternative was discussed. Jan had indicated to Pat that by increasing the duties of the Park Director to include Public Relations a number of jobs that the city needed doing would be taken care of. It was also mentioned that by increasing the job to 1/2 time it would be more attractive for someone. The negative side was that there would be increased cost to the city, which is an issue to the City Council. The other concern was again the issue of accountability. We all agreed that the person would primarily have to have experience with Parks and Recreation, rather than hiring someone with only Public Relations experience. Pat also indicated that especially during the summer months it would be wise to hire apart-time person who would be responsible for maintenance in our parks and directly accountable to the Park Director. We all felt this would be an asset in helping to maintain our parks in a better condition. It was the general consensus of the Commission that we should either replace Pat with a person holding the same duties or move to the combined Park Director/Public Relations position with the proviso that the person hired would be experienced in Parks and Rec. Linda indicated that she would write a letter of our recommendation to the City Council, Jan and the mayor. GUIDELINES AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION. The general consensus of those present was that the description of the Commission was good and that no changes needed to be made in the guidelines. Since no further business was raised the meeting was adjourned. •