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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-29-1975 Park Board Minutes SPECIAL PARK BOARD September 1975 Minutes but no agenda or packet SEPTEMBER 29, 1975 A Special Park, Recreation and Enviornmental Commission Meeting was called to order at 8:05 P.M. by Acting Chairman Resch. Members present: Mrs. LeTourneau, Mr. Hanson, Mr. Karth, Councilman McLean and Public Works Director Volk. Members absent: Mrs. Brisson, Mr. Clausen and Mr. McGeary. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss and formulate a budget proposal to submit to the City Council for 1976. Mrs. LeTourneau asked about the monies that were "given" to the Road Department from the Park Department; do we get them back or are they gone forever? Mr. McLean said that the monies were an:A nter-fund transfer or loan and that the Park Fund would be re-imbursed when the funds become available. The money has been budgeted but the funds don't occur until the fund. (money) is available. The money will be available at the next tax draw which is the first of December. The Park Commission has deceided that the following shall be priority items for the remainder of 1975 with a possible carry-over into 1976 for payment: 1 . Well at Sunrise Park 2. Well at Hall Park 3. Warming house at Hall Park (Mr. McGeary arrived. ) Mr. Volk was questioned on the depth capacity, original design and flow rate of the well at Sunrise Park and asked to get an opinion from at least one well digger before the next Council meeting. Mr. Randy Ringamen, a resident of Lino Lakes, asked if the well depth was 'not - more important rather than the volume to support the pumping rate? Mrs. LeTourneau wanted to know why the Council spent so much time discussing the proposals for the wells and the warming houses and ended up doing nothing about them? Why do we sit here and make recommendations, if they are not going to accept our recommendations? Mr. McLean said that the Council has the responsibility to explore all aspects of each problem and how it relates to the City as a whole not just the Park Board. Returning to the subject of the Parks, Mr. Ringamen asked if it would be feasible to flood from a water truck rather than using the wells. Mr. Resch said that in laying the initial mat a water truck would be a good idea however to keep the ice up throughout the winter flooding with hoses would suffice. Mr. McLean reminded the members of the problem with snow and snow removal that was experienced last winter and that at one time a Bobcat had to be rented to break the crust in order to flood. -2- SEPTEMBER 29, 1975 SALARIES. On the matter of salaries for the remainder of 1975 and for all of 1976, the Clerk has projected an additional $1,595.99 as being needed for 1975 which, if used, will put the Park Fund $1 ,200.00 over budget for salaries for this year. Mr. McLean wanted to know if the salaries consumed thus far included the workers made available to the City under the CETA Funds for 1975? (Upon checking with the Clerk on 9/30/75, she informed me that we have not received a bill for their time and further stated that all but one of the workers was completely funded by the Federal Government. The City's portion of that worker is approximately $.50 per hour. ) Based on that Mr. Resch recommends $7,000.00 to be budgeted for 1976 with a 20% increase built in for a total of $7,500.00 for salaries. Mr. McGeary agreed with this figure, noting that if LaMotte Park is developed it will take more time just in transportation to and from that park because it is remote from the rest of the Parks within the City. Mr. Volk said that if that park is added it will require more than 40 hours per week to keep the mowing up in the parks. CONTRACTED SERVICES. So far we are under the budgeted amount for this year. Mrs. LeTourneau wanted to know what this category included. Mr. Volk said it would probably include rental of various items, i .e. lawn mowers, chain saws, the Bobcat and other machinery that has been required throughout the City during the year that the City does not have. It was deceided to keep the figure at $1 ,000.00 for the coming year. UTILITIES AND SUPPLIES. $800.00 has been budgeted for this year and to date $926.94 has been spent; an over budget of $126.94 for the year. The Park Board projects an additional $300.00 being needed in this category for the remainder of the year, based on the useage figure of $100.00 per month. This is for electrical services for the most part and the supplies that are covered under this are mostly miscellaneaous items such as paint, bathroom supplies, etc. It also included the phone at Sunrise Park (average bill per month is $11 .90 with a high bill of $23.80 for this year) -/' -UJ Natural Gas is used at the warming house and the bill for service, so far th i s yea r, i s $91 .33 - 9 J. Electric service is provided by NSP at Sunrise Park and the bill for this year, so far, is $288.76. 3 FV s6 On questioning the Clerk about this category she confirmed the consensus of the Park Board that supplies would be minor miscellaneaous items -3- SEPTEMBER 29, 1975 Utilities include gas, electricity and phone services at the Park. CAPITAL OUTLAY Questions regarding this category: does this include the fencing and backstops that were put up this year? Should the categories of capital outlay and building maintenance be combined?- Upon checking with the Clerk today (9/30/75) she advised me that these categories could indeed be combined and she would do so. Upon combining these funds there is a total of $16,750.00 for 1975 - 631 .66 - fences & goals for hockey - 2, 123.57 - fencing ball diamonds $14,594.77 remains in combined funds. Mrs. LeTourneau questioned the budgeting of $14,000.00 when only $2,000.00 has been spent so far this year. Mr. McLean reminded the Park Board that because of the cash flow within the City this year several items had to be post-poned indefinitely. Council agreed to hold back funds until later in the year. Mr. McLean said that it would be advisable to get as much done during n the remainder of this year as possible and make provisions to carry-over the remaining funds for use next year; possibly to complete payment of the projects started this year. Mr. Resch questioned the possibility of hooking the septic system that is presently is use at the City Hall to the proposed system for the warming house and bathroom facilities? Would this be feasible? Mr. Volk said that he would check into this and report back to the Park Board. The question of the warming house at Sunrise Park was brought up again and a discussion centered around the actual use of this building and if it really needed to be enlarged at this time. Mrs. LeTourneau recalled that earlier this year the matter had� been tabled after much discussion it was deceided that an addition would not be necessary. Mr. Clausen had asked Mr. Hanson to bring this: matter up and to have it included in the 1976 budget proposal because he feels that a larger structure is definetely needed at Sunrise Park. Mr. Ringamen said that he has been present during hockey games and the only difficulty, as far as space limitations go, is that there is no place for the players to sit and change into their skates. He felt that putting in beches would solve many of the problems. Also a staggered starting time for these games would eliminate many problems. Mr. Ringamen alto brought up the matter of inadequate toilet facilities inthat they do not flush properly. -4- SEPTEMBER 29, 1975 Mr. Volk said that there is always a problem of clogged toilets in park facilities and no matter how often the drains are cleaned out, the problem reappears in a very short time. Mr. Karth said that the venting of these facilities might also be checked. Sometimes a cap may be present on the top of the building that would hamper proper flushing. Mr. Volk will check into this and report back. The question of Mrs. Billik's home arose once again and Mr. McLean reminded the Park Board that we have an obligation as a City to provide at least a residence that conforms to the City codes for all housing within the City. The question of the need of a caretaker in that park arose. Is this actually needed anymore? With the full time police department and in view of the age of the present caretaker some thought should be given to phasing this position out in the future. The Council at the September 22, 1975 meeting agreed to put in combination storms and screens and to have the chimney repaired. Mr. Karth said that if the building is in such bad shape as he has been told it is, it would be a waste of money to put storms on. He feels a better idea would be to tear the building down and put in a small house trailer for Mrs. Billik, with the modern conveniences. Mr. McLean pointed out that at the present time the City has no legal obligation to provide Mrs. Billik with living quarters. The obligation expired with the repayment of the Contract for Deed in 1966. There has been an informal , verbal arrangement since that time. Mr. Ringamen suggested that funds be set aside to remodel the warming house, storage facilities and incorporate them into one building and include an efficiency apartment for a caretaker in that building. He pointed out that approximately $400.00 damage had been done to Schifsky's equipment that was parked at the park over the past week. 7 Mr. k it "asked if the Police couldn't crack down on the horse traffic in the parks - they are making it almost impossible to keep the parks up to the level that the residents would like. The Park Commission arrived at a $1 ,000.00 figure for maintenance for the coming year. LIONS CLUB - LINO PARK Mr. McLean pointed out that the Lions Club has completed their current obligation to Lino Park, in that the parking lot has been installed. However, the cost rose above what they had anticipated by $1 ,000.00 and they have had to take out a 90 day note to pay off this obligation. The City's commitment was to match the Lions Club donation and this should be paid as soon as possible. It was noted that the $1 ,200.00 should be included in the Capital Outlay category rather than in a category by itself. -5- SEPTEMBER 29, 1975 Mr. McGeary asked about a pleasure rink at Lino Park - there had been one there at one time. Mr. Volk was asked if the well was hooked up at Lino Park anymore - he replied, no. There is playground equipment at Lino Park - slide, merry=go-round. Mr. Ringamen pointed out that the playground equipment is in need of repair - the seat are rough, the piping is loose on the jungle gym. Mr. McLean said that the deal was 50/50 with the Lions Club to be spread over a four year period. The Youth Center is also going to be planting trees, bushes and flowers as part of a deal they have worked out with the Lions Club. The City has the ultimate responsibility for the maintenance of this park. Mr. Karth wanted to know if the poles that are lying near Luthers are Luthers or the City's? The grass has not been mowed around this area because it would be impossible to mow over the poles. Mr. McGeary said they were probably from the lights that were down there when there was a pleasure skating rink at that park. Mr. Ringamen questioned the lack of mowing at the parks during this time a year and Mr. McLean said that as the season lenghtens, use drops off and during the fall months most of the attention is centered on the Hall Park and Sunrise Park because of the use of these two parks. In reviewing what has been discussed thus far tonight, it was agreed that of the $14,594.77 that remains in the capital outlay fund, approximately $1 ,200.00 would have to be used for salaries for the remainder of 1975. Wells, at the worst, we can expect to spend $3,400.00 per well ; total $6,800.00. This would leave $6,594.77 in the capital oulay fund to be used for a warming house and and additional $5,000.00 could be budgeted for 1976 giving a total of $11 ,594.77 for the warming house. (The figures used here represent computation based on actutal amounts, rather than the estimates given last evening. ) OC A preliminary budget for 1976 follows: 61 O Q { Warming house - Hal I Park dlstti $5 000.00 � � rAL 7 Hockey R inks 3, 100.00 1" ) q ockey Lights 4,000.00 Parking Lot �Q 3,450.00 t � $ Safety Fence - 7 ball fields __ 1 ,000.00 �30.00 aLi me Rock 7 ba l l fields 800.00 ix/ 7 Power Rake ---�500.00 � .. Hand Mowe 25.00 ,y�y Rotary Mower (repair) Snow brush (repairs) L� Salaries 7,500.00 Utilities ,400.00 O� -6-- SEPTEMBER 29, 1975 Budget, continued: Supplies 600.00 J ,e/!7 V- 5,6 General Maintenance 1,000.00 Septic System/Hail Par 1 ,200.00 ' ,000.00 TOTAL PROPOSED BUDGET $46,000.00 The meeting was adjourned on a motion by Mrs. LeTourneau at 10:40 P.M. Motion seconded by Mr. McGeary. AIDE. n