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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 10.09.06Minutes ______________________________ City of Falcon Heights, Park and Recreation Commission Meeting October 9, 2006 6:30PM _____________________________ Meeting Chair: Chuck Long Minutes By: Lisa Abernathy Present: Pamela Harris, Greg Hoag, Chuck Long, Lisa Abernathy, Gene Ozasky, , Jim Evans, Annie Green, Pat Dolan Absent: Paula Mielke Meeting called to order 6:30 PM Approval of agenda Motion made by Ozasky and seconded by all. Hoag reminded the Commission that due to a lack of a quorum last month the group conducted a discussion on agenda items that will be covered in this meeting. Approval of minutes June 12, 2006 Meeting Motion made by Green and seconded by all. Staff Report Recreation Update Abernathy reported that the Fall Soccer program is in full swing with three more classes left. Abernathy also reported that the Adult Yoga sessions will soon becoming to an end so dates are being set for the next session. Also in the works is developing a Mommy and Me Yoga class or Parent Child Yoga class in which parents can experience Yoga with their child and take home ideas or poses to practice. Yoga instructor Karen Rajcic Favazza has also brought forth the idea of possibly holding a Yoga workshop shop for either adults or kids just to expose more people to the programs and provide more information on Yoga. Upcoming programs or events are open gym, community playroom, Dead of Winter preparations and the hiring of rink attendants. Hoag reported to the Commission that this will be his last meeting as he will be leaving Falcon Heights for a job as the Public Works Director for the City of Arden Hills. Hoag said it was a hard decision to make but feels that this is the time to move in his career and Arden Hills is an excellent job not to pass on. Long on behalf of the Commission thanked Hoag for all is dedication and hard work the past couple years and that he will be missed. 5. Dead of Winter Event Abernathy asked the Commission on their thoughts on which date the City’s winter event should be changed to. Ozasky asked whether or not the dates of the St. Paul Winter Carnival had been found and if the two dates we had would conflict with their event. Abernathy reported that the St. Paul Carnival ends February 4th so out of the two dates only one would be at the same time. Green recommended we go with holding the event January 28th due because there would not be football and yet close to the date it has been held in the past. The Commission agreed with Green so the 2007 Dead of Winter will be held Sunday, January 28th. Abernathy also asked if anyone had any renaming ideas. Long recommended we turn to the public in the renaming of the event, conduct a contest of sort and offer a prize if their name is chosen. Abernathy thought maybe we should do a quick poll on if people even want it changed. A quick poll could be set up on our website much like the Environment Commission’s garden poll. At the next Park Commission meeting the results would give us an idea on whether or not we should rename the Dead of Winter event. Hoag recommended that we come up with a improved hunt for the falcon as he sees that as an event he sees many people getting into and enjoying. Hoag noted that he sees the Falcon Hunt something many people get excited about and recommended we look at expanding the hunt to other Falcon Heights parks. Curtiss Field Playground Hoag updated the Commission on his findings of the updating of Curtiss Field playground. He reported that to replace the two wooden components and the spring riders it would cost a total of about $5,000. And to replace the whole structure it would be about $40,000. All Commission members recommended simply replacing the wooden parts as well as replacing the spring riders. Green recommended replacing one of the riders with a digging apparatus. Hoag agreed and will be replacing one spring rider with a digger and then replacing one of the old spring riders. Hoag also reported that he has found a company who does repainting of playgrounds. It will add about $5,600 to the updating cost and Hoag has gotten good recommendations of this particular company. An example of a job they have done is the water park components at Ramsey County’s Battle Creek water park. That was repainted last year sometime and they have reported no problems with the paint. The Commission then all agreed that the playground painting and replacements should be written up and proposed to City Council. Long questioned on whether or not to propose one action at a time or do a complete proposal even if part of the project would not be done till after 2007. Harris recommended the Commission submitting a complete proposal to show the Council the two problems at large and the need to have them fixed. All Commission members agreed the proposal for both projects be submitted to the Council for action. Adopt- A- Park Program Abernathy provided the Commission with an up to date copy of the Friends of the Park Fund brochure after getting feed back at the previous meeting. Commission members agreed upon the changes made to the brochure and will take it home to edit it for final approval. Abernathy updated the Commission on the amount of response she has gotten regarding the adoption of Curtiss Field. There are 3 individuals interested in adopting the park at this time. Abernathy will be contacting them regarding forming a group so they all have the opportunity to care for Curtiss Field. We are asking for at least a year of commitment and tending to the park at least three times a year. Comprehensive Plan Survey Abernathy handed out potential questions to be used in the parks comprehensive plan along with the format it would be in if the survey was conducted through Survey Monkey – an online survey generating company recommended by Long. Harris asked what the Commission’s thoughts were on a student group from the U of MN creating and conducting the survey for us. Long stressed that based on our time line, a student group might not be able to create, conduct and get the results as quickly as we need them. City Administrator Justin Miller explained that the “meat” of the comprehensive plan should be done by fall of 2007 giving us less than a year to get the surveys done, results found and most of the plan written up. The Commission then agreed for time sake we should try and conduct the survey internally. Long then asked the Commissioners to take the questions home and select questions that they feel should be included in the survey and any other type of questions need to be asked. At the November meeting the Commission will finalize the questions to be used and move forth with the survey process. Adjournment Motion to adjourn was made by Jim Evans. 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 labernathy@ci.falcon-heights.mn.us.