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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 10.13.08Minutes ______________________________ City of Falcon Heights, Park and Recreation Commission Meeting October 13, 2008 6:30PM _____________________________ Meeting Chair: Annie Green Minutes By: Lisa Abernathy Present: Chuck Long, Paul Faust, Gary Kwong, and Tim Pittman. Absent: Michael Thomas, Melissa Weber-Sanders, Paula Mielke Meeting called to order 6:30 PM Approval of minutes July 21, 2008 Meeting. Motion made by Kwong with the correction of the spelling errors. Staff Report Recreation Update- Abernathy reported that fall programs are in full swing. Fall soccer, Tae kwon do, adult yoga and parent/child craft classes are all going well. The parent/child music classes will be canceled again due to low enrollment. Abernathy hopes to offer it again next summer or fall depending on the instructor’s availability. Abernathy also reported that the fire department open house/touch-a-truck event held on October 4th had a great turnout. It was estimated that over 100 people came out to climb on the big trucks and participate in the days activities. Abernathy recommended we make this a permanent event along side the fire departments open house. The Open gym program will be starting this November. This year the program will only be held on Saturdays due to the school’s schedule. Open gym will run from November 1st to March 28th from 10:00am-12:00pm. Abernathy has hired three attendants and will be conducting training for them in the next few weeks. Lastly, Abernathy reported that the City has applied for a Public Facility Grant through the United States Tennis Association. This grant would help with the cost of reconstructing the tennis courts at Community Park. If the grant is awarded it would help with 30% of the total project cost. The City is still waiting to hear from USTA on the status of the application. If awarded the contractor will begin work this fall and then conclude in the spring of 2009. Public Works Update- Pittman reported that the last application of fertilizer is scheduled to be put down soon. They have noticed some improvement in the grass since applying the new fertilizer. Pittman also reported that only one mini mobile has been ordered for this year’s ice rinks. Due to City budget cuts; there will be no warming house shelter at Grove Park. There will be a temporary shelter at Falcon Heights School as there has been in the past. Falcon 5K Abernathy reported that after contacting Lauderdale regarding a potential route for the spring 5K, Lauderdale has asked if Falcon Heights would be open to collaborating on such an event. The City of Lauderdale holds a family fun run during the month of August as part of their summer celebration. Kwong agreed that this might be easier than trying to start our own. Other Commissioners agreed. Abernathy will be contacting the City of Lauderdale for further information and report back to the Commission. Dogs in the Parks Abernathy reported to the Commission that their proposal for a trial run of allowing leashed dogs in the park was accepted by the Council with the changes of the time in which it would be held. The Council approved the trial run to be implemented Memorial Day through Labor Day of 2009. Notification to the public and appropriate signage will be discussed in future meetings. Abernathy also gave the Commissioners a collection of other city and county’s policies of dogs in the parks. This information may come in hand if and when the decision is made to change Falcon Heights current ordinance. 1000 Bench Program Abernathy reported that since the trail along Fairview Avenue was approved, the City of Roseville will be applying for a 1,000 bench grant as well. Deb Bloom, the City of Roseville’s engineer stated that they will be applying for benches that will be placed every ½ miles along Fairview Avenue. Therefore, Abernathy asked the Commission if we should revisit our bench locations so they can possibly connect with Roseville’s and then look at the distances between the benches that were previously selected. This is due to the grants recommendation of placing the benches 50ft to ¼ mile apart. Commissioners agreed that since trail was approved it would make sense to put benches along Fairview and Roselawn where there are currently no benches or bus stops. The Commission decided to revisit the City map and possible bench sites next month. New Business Refund Administrative Fee- Abernathy reported that currently the City does not charge a person a fee when they request a refund from a recreation program. To help with budget costs the City is considering revising its refund policy and charge a small fee for any requested refunds. Abernathy compiled a list of what other communities currently do and found that many currently charge a fee if the class registration is revoked after the registration deadline. Abernathy stated that refunds do impact the program’s status and program preparation such as staff scheduling and supplies. Charging them a fee to revoke their registration may defer them from canceling out of a program or waiting until the program has begun to do so. Kwong questioned whether it would be better to go with a basic number or if taking a percentage of the registration fee would make better sense. Abernathy reported she is currently conducting a program fee comparison on recreation programs being offered by communities. From this information the Commission may be able to see where we are at with competitors and then make the decision as to charge a refund fee of a flat dollar amount or a percentage of the fee paid for the class. Splash Pads- Abernathy reported she had spoken to a company who has done some splash pads in Minnesota and will bring their information to next months meeting as well as research other companies and the cost such a structure may cost. Many Commissioners’ were curious as to the cost of the splash pad. Green suggested that we research it as much as we can and then deicide if this is something the Commission wants to pursue further. Next Park Commission meeting will be Monday, November 10th 6:30pm at City Hall Adjournment Motion made by Faust Minutes respectfully submitted by Lisa Abernathy. If there are any corrections or additions, please contact Lisa Abernathy by phone at 651-792-7616 or by email at lisa.abernathy@falconheights.org.