HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRCMin_96Oct14Minutes
City of Falcon Heights
Parks and Recreation Commission
October 14, 1996, 7:00 p.m.
Present: Greg Schaefer, Carol Weisberg, Carol Kriegler (Parks Director), Laura
Kuettel (Council Liaison).
Absent: Lois Millett, Nancy Wickhem.
1 . Minutes of the August 12, 1996 meeting were not available.
2. Parks and Recreation Update.
• Pete Klingenberg {parks/public works) has resigned. His position has been
vacant since September 18, and a search for his replacement is underway.
• Improvements to the Curtiss Field ponding area are being explored by
Michael Schroeder from the landscape architect firm hired for the streetscape for
Larpenteur Avenue. Over the years, there has been much concern about the safety of
this ponding area. In addition to improving the quality of the water, Mr. Schroeder is
looking at the possibility of adding decking and plantings to the area. $14,000 has
been budgeted for improving the pond this year, and additional funding may be
available from other sources.
• The Playroom, opening for the season on November 4, will be open on Mondays
and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. -12:00 p.m. Past attendance does not warrant evening
sessions. Cosmetic changes to the room and new play equipment will give the room a
refreshing new look.
• Landscaping and improvements to the City Hall grounds have been
proposed as part of the Larpenteur Avenue improvements. Building a gazebo is being
discussed, and the Lion's Club will help with the expense.
• Basketball is being offered at Falcon Heights School as an after school activity.
• Wildflower planting at Community Park around the Roselawn boulevard park
identification sign is being designed by Landscape Alternatives. Local Boy Scout
troops will plant about 200 wildflower seedlings this fall.
3. Neighborhood Park Event Series for Summer of 1997. Our annual ice-
cream social is well attended but primarily attracts families with young children. In an
effort to reach all segments of our diverse population, we discussed holding special
• neighborhood events in each of the parks. $1,000 has been budgeted for this
purpose. Decision: Rotate a social event in each of our parks in 1997, to be held on
• the last Thursday evening of May, June, July, and August. Carol Kriegler will
investigate the cost and availability of local musicians, including school groups. We
also would like to hire a magician to perform at the winter event.
4. Request from the U of M Recreational Sports to base their summer
youth programs at Community Park. This program involves the daily
participation of 100 youth from early June until Labor Day. As many as 100 youth can
be present at the base during drop-off and pick-up time, and about 50 would be at the
base for lunch. The rest of the time, most of the children would be off-site participating
in recreational and academic programs at various University campus locations. The
commission is open to exploring this request as long as we can take steps to continue
meeting the needs of the neighborhood users of the park. We want to be a good
neighbor to the University. We see benefits to having the park building open all day
long and to having more people present in the park all day.
Areas of concern:
• Do not want older kids on playground, and want to regulate the number of young
children on playground at any given time.
• How many parking spaces will be needed for staff cars and vans?
• Increased traffic at drop-off and pick-up times raises safety concerns for children
playing in park.
• Suggest having clear limits for tennis courts, basketball courts, picnic table, and trail
use.
• Is our park suitable far archery?
• Can the University's recreational fields continue to be used for archery and soccer?
• Set behavioral expectations for park use.
• We would like their flag/banner/signage to be subdued.
• Don't make commitment for more than one year.
• With such heavy daytime use, when can the park be mowed?
Next step: We would like Rec Sports to provide us with a plan that designates the
anticipated level of use of individual areas of the park at all hours of the day, and what
ages of children would be using the specific areas at each of these times.
Submitted by Carol Weisberg