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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-06-2003 Park Board MinutesPark Board Meeting – October 6, 2003 Minutes 1 The October 6, 2003 City of Lino Lakes Park Board m eeting was called to order at 6:34pm, by Chair Lindy. Roll call was taken, members present were Pam Tasch uk, Michael O’Connor, Bill Kusterman, Katie Boyle, Paul Montain and George Lindy. Members absent were Pat Huelman. Also present was Rick DeGardner, Public Services Di rector. APPROVAL OF AUGUST 4, 2003 MINUTES: Pam Taschuk made a motion, seconded by Bill Kusterm an to approve the August 4, 2003 minutes. The minutes were approved. SETTING THE AGENDA: Paul added New Business, Park Signs and Names. The agenda was passed as amended. OPEN MIKE: No one was present for open mike. DETERMINE SKATING RINK LOCATIONS AND HOURS: Rick advised staff is recommending the following wa rming house shelters and hours of operation: PARK LOCATION WEEKDAY HOURS WEEKEND HOURS Sunrise 6918 Sunrise Drive 4-9pm Saturday 12-9pm 2 Hockey rinks and general skating Sunday 12-6pm Birch 6520 Pheasant Run S 4-9pm Saturday 12-9pm 1 Hockey rink and general skating Sunday 12-6pm Staff is also recommending the following ice rink l ocations that will not have supervised warming houses: City Hall Park 1189 Main Street Hockey rink and general skating Lino Park 7850 Lake Drive General Skating Staff is looking at the feasibility of putting a ti mer at City Hall Park. City staff is working with the youth hockey associations to make arrangements to provide access to the warming house during scheduled hockey practices. Chair Lindy stated the Lexington ice rink works wit h a key system with the coaches of various organizations and it works v ery well. He stated the City also needs to look at the cost of m aintaining rinks when the weather is not conducive to ice rinks. Park Board Meeting – October 6, 2003 Minutes 2 Rick stated that based on the city’s current budget situation and the low level of attendance at the rinks the past sever al years, the amount of rinks could be reduced this year. The Ci ty is also getting more requests to maintain the trails during the win ter. Also, ongoing maintenance issues such as boulevard tree trimming needs attention. Bill suggested the City enter into an agreement wit h the various youth groups to help maintain the rinks. He stated that he believes the rinks will have more use if they are better maintai ned. He suggested Rick contact the youth groups and inquire about the possibility. Rick advised the City does do flooding on the rinks during the workday to avoid overtime pay. The main priority during th e winter is the streets. If the City determines there is enough de mand on the weekends for flooding the budget would have to be r evised to include the overtime pay. He stated he would talk to youth groups about the possibility of helping maintain the rinks. He indi cated an update would be given at the next Park Board meeting. REVIEW PROPOSED OBJECTIVES WHEN ALLOCATING FIELDS T O YOUTH SPORTS ASSOCIATIONS: Rick advised one of the responsibilities instilled upon the Parks and Recreation Department is to ensured that the pa rk facilities are utilized and maintained in an appropriate manner. The current budget crisis has made the proper allocation of ath letic fields even more critical. Currently, the City provides and maintains athletic fields for several youth sports associations including Centenn ial Soccer Club, Centennial Lakes Little League, Forest Lake Area At hletic Association, and Centennial/AAU Babe Ruth Baseball. Staff is proposing that the City provide youth spor ts associations game and practice fields in proportion to the numbe r of Lino Lakes residents participating in their program. For exam ple, if 75 percent of youth sports association’s participants reside in Lino Lakes, then the City of Lino Lakes will provide fie lds for 75 percent of the games and practices. When allocating fields, the City also needs to cons ider the long-term condition and quality of the fields. There ar e several fields within the park system that have been over-used and are at the point of creating potential safety issues. This new poli cy may allow the City to take a field out of commission periodically for renovation. Rick referred to a draft letter to the Centennial S occer Club. If the Park Board is comfortable with staff’s approach , the letter will be sent out to allow for adequate time to analyze t he soccer field allocation for spring 2004. It is staff’s intent t o address the Park Board Meeting – October 6, 2003 Minutes 3 allocation of athletic fields with each youth sport s association the City currently serves. Paul asked if the City has a field suitable for the Centennial Baseball League noting that league requires seventy -five foot bases and a mounded field. Rick stated that league has u sed Lino Park and Rice Lake Elementary. He indicated the AAU League does not use a raised mound. Paul stated allocating fields is a good idea if the City had a high school. He asked if staff feels the proposal is a workable formula. Rick stated allocation of the fields has to be work ed out. It appears that the City provides an excess of fields for various organizations. Due to budget constraints the City cannot justify this when the users are not Lino Lakes residents. The proposal may be difficult to work out but it is possible. Pam stated that in her experience, Little League te ams practice on any field they can find. Rick stated after further investigation is done, the City may be willing to commit fields for practice nights with the various user groups. Pam inquired about the possibility of field allocat ion becoming political in terms of the drafting of team members. Rick stated he is looking at the whole picture in terms of what pa rticipation numbers are for the entire youth sports association , not team by team. The City needs to make sure it is providing the appropriate level of fields for Lino Lakes residents. Paul stated the City also needs to consider its rel ationship with surrounding communities and the use of their fields . Rick explained the current process used for the all ocation of fields noting the City has not yet had to tell any organiz ation “no” to field use. The new system would be based on past y ear’s enrollment numbers. It will take quite a bit of work with the various organizations to analyze the data. Chair Lindy asked what would be done with the field s that are no longer used. Rick stated neighborhood parks would have less activity if any changes are made. Some fields may be taken out of the rotations for maintenance and upgrading. The f ields that are being used would not be scheduled as heavily. It was the consensus of the Park Board to direct Ri ck to move forward with the letter to the Centennial Soccer Cl ub regarding field allocation. Park Board Meeting – October 6, 2003 Minutes 4 RECREATION DEPARTMENT UPDATE: Rick referred to the Program Highlights Flyer from September 2003. He noted registration has now concluded for fall so ccer. There are approximately 600 participants registered. The Cit y is now in its third year of overseeing the youth tackle football program. This year over 320 youth are participating in the six di fferent leagues. The Options program concluded on August 22. The pr ogram went very well this year. Over 280 participants were involve d in 13 different sessions of T-Ball this summer. The City has a rec ord number of 125 participants this year at Safety Camp (held August 14). The fall season of softball just finished. Twenty-seven teams participated this year. That number is up five tea ms from last season. Staff is currently working on the winter 2003/2004 edition of the Recreation Review. The in-house production is goin g well. Pam inquired about the status of the YMCA. Rick ad vised the YMCA is still 1 ½ to 2 million dollars short of the funding necessary to start construction. The YMCA is looking at the pos sibility of scaling back on some of the proposed amenities to m ake up for the lack of funding. PARKS DEPARTMENT UPDATE: Rick reviewed a memo from Mike Hoffman, Parks Super visor, which summarized the maintenance highlights for August an d September 2003. Rick noted maintenance activities have included tra il inspection and trail tree trimming along with irrigation system ma intenance. Staff also installed two park benches with concrete pads on Timberwolf Trail. Eight new picnic tables were assembled and placed in the parks. Other maintenance activities have included playgrou nd inspections and repairs, and extensive work at Highland Meadows Park and Clearwater Creek Park. The area at Highland Meadow s Park is expected to be cut during the week of September 29. If the weather cooperates it is expected there will be a good stan d of turf before the snow comes. Clearwater Creek Park will be fert ilized one more time in October and should have a good stand of tur f heading in to the winter. Paul asked how many native grass areas within the p ark system the City is maintaining. Rick advised there are approx imately 3-5 acres of prairie grass area the City is maintaining in Be hm’s Park and Highland Meadows Park. Park Board Meeting – October 6, 2003 Minutes 5 OLD BUSINESS: 2003 Goals Update – Rick updated the Park Board on the following 2003 Goals: Clearwater Creek Park Development Roundup was applied to the entire site in early Aug ust followed by tilling, seeding and fertilizing on August 25. The landscape block planting bed was installed as well as a swale in th e southeast corner of the park to provide adequate drainage. A second fertilizer application was applied on September 23. Landscape edging should be completed within the next few week s. Staff is planning to fertilize the turf again later this mon th. Highland Meadows Park Development Roundup was applied on all seeded areas in early Au gust followed by harley raking, regrading and seeding during the wee k of August 18. Fertilizer was applied on August 27 and again on Se ptember 18. Birch Park Open Air Shelter The gazebo has been ordered. This will be done in the spring. Behm’s Park ½ Court Basketball Maintenance staff has flail mowed and staked out th e area. The contractor should begin earthwork within the next f ew weeks. Sunrise Park – Pave Parking Lots Construction plans are being prepared. It is antic ipated that this will be completed yet this fall. Pursue Full Court Basketball at Rice Lake Elementar y School The contract was awarded to T.A. Schifskys and Sons . Earthwork should be commencing very soon. Pheasant Hills Northeast Trail It is anticipated to complete this project in conju nction with trail work construction in Centerville scheduled for June 2004. Bruggeman Properties (Miller Crossroads)Update – Rick advised the City Council approved the Bruggeman Properties Deve lopment at the September 22, 2003 City Council meeting. After con siderable discussion at City Council Work Sessions and Counci l Meeting, the proposed park area will remain private. The City w ill be receiving Park Dedications as follows: 152 units X $1,665 = $253,080 Commercial is 1.7 acres X $2,175 = $ 3,698 Total Park Dedication $256,778 Park Board Meeting – October 6, 2003 Minutes 6 Credit will be given for all sidewalks/trails locat ed adjacent to roadways (approximately $60,000). Chair Lindy noted he thinks it is appropriate that the Park Board make a recommendation to the City Council for park dedication but the City Council should determine the appropriate n umbers. NEW BUSINESS: Parks Signs and Names – Paul stated he has noticed in other communities, such as Lakeville, that they are allow ing businesses to name the parks. He suggested this may be a way for the City to raise dollars for the parks within the City. The C ity could charge businesses to advertise their names at the parks. Rick stated dollars for naming rights typically go to larger parks or athletic complexes. He stated he is not familia r with that concept for neighborhood parks. He stated he will look into that possibility. NEXT PARK BOARD MEETING: Rick advised the next Park Board meeting would be h eld Monday November 3, 2003, 6:30pm. ADJOURN: Paul Montain made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Pam Taschuk. The meeting was adjourned at 7:19pm. Respectfully Submitted, Kim Points Recording Secretary These minutes were approved at the January 5, 2004 Park Board Meeting.