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PR 03/06/2000 - 00008033CITY OF FRIDLEY PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING — MARCH 6, 2000 CALL TO ORDER: Vice-Chairperson Young called the March 6, 2000 Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting to order at 7:05p. m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Marcy Sibell Tim Solberg Dick Young Others Present: Jack Kirk, Director of Recreation & Natural Resources Paul Lawrence, Public Works Superintendent Randy Luedtke, Fridley Little League Baseball APPROVAL OF FEBRUARY 7, 2000 PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES MOTION by Ms. Sibell, seconded by Mr. Solberg to approve the minutes of the February 7, 2000 meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, VICE-CHAIRPERSON YOUNG DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. APPROVAL OF PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION AGENDA FOR MARCH 6, 2000 Vice-Chairperson Young suggested moving item 3a (Little League Baseball Tournament Request) to the first item on the agenda. MOTION by Mr. Solberg, seconded by Ms. Sibell, to approve the agenda for the March 6, 2000 meeting with the Little League Baseball Tournament request being the first item of business. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, VICE-CHAIRPERSON YOUNG DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. 1. STAFF REPORT a. Program Update Mr. Kirk stated that the Program Update was a report of the activities sponsored by the Recreation and Natural Resource Department in the past month. He called attention to the Springbrook Nature Center Volunteer Recognition event and pointed out that over 9,000 total volunteer hours were recorded in 1999. Mr. Kirk also called attention to the Spring Lake Park Schools strategic planning process that he was involved with. It is a planning session to determine future direction of SLP schools and impact upon the community. Future sessions are planned to complete a vision and prioritize critical issues for the District. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq - March 6, 2000 Paqe 2 b. Park Maintenance Report Mr. Lawrence stated that park maintenance activities have centered on taking down the ice hockey facilities and cleaning the warming house buildings. He further stated that park employees have been attending required training sessions during this time of year in such areas as pesticide use, tree care, and turf maintenance. c. Commission Members - Public Disclosure Statement Mr. Kirk stated that each person who is appointed to an advisory body was required to complete and file a disclosure statement. He asked those Commission members in attendance to leave the completed forms for filing with the City Clerks office. d. Council / Commission Survey and Meeting with the City Council Mr. Kirk stated that the results of the survey on City issues were being compiled by the City Manager's office. He thanked the Commission members for taking the time to complete and send in the surveys. He stated that the survey is an important planning tool to help set direction for future projects. The City Council has expressed an interest in meeting with the Parks and Recreation Commission to discuss the part of the survey that involves the parks and recreation system. If it is okay with the Parks and Recreation Commission, a joint meeting with the City Council could be held on Monday, May 1 at 6:00 p.m. The Commission members agreed that this was a good idea and the time of the meeting was acceptable. e. Playground Equipment Replacement Projects Mr. Kirk stated that the City of Fridley has advertised for bids for new playground equipment at 5 parks for this year. The parks on the schedule for this year are: Locke, Community, Jubilee, Creekridge, and Flanery. The bids will be opened on March 22nd and the plans will be available for review by the Parks and Recreation Commission at the April meeting. f. Skating Season Report Mr. Kirk presented an attendance chart for the past skating season as recorded by the warming house attendants at the supervised skating locations. The attendance numbers were very low at Moore Lake and Stevenson Elementary School. Mr. Young stated that based on the low attendance at several of the locations, he thought the Commission should consider recommending a reduction in the number of rinks maintained by the City. Mr. Solberg stated that with limited City resources, we need to get away from the "business as usual" approach. He, too, would support looking at a reduction in the skating locations based on the limited number of people using some of the facilities. Mr. Young made a recommendation that due to a lack of skaters, the difficulty in maintaining skateable ice, and the rising costs of ice maintenance, the City consider using the hockey rink boards from Moore Lake to replace the aging boards at the Madsen Park hockey rink. The Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq - March 6, 2000 Paqe 3 Madsen Park rink is in the Parks 5-year CIP and this would save a capital expense as well as operating dollars. He would further suggest that we consider removing the hockey rink at Stevenson Elementary and provide a general skating rink only. Mr. Kirk stated that staff would be bringing a recommendation for next year's skating facilities to the Commission at the August or September meeting. 2. NEW BUSINESS a. Parks 5-Year Capital Improvement Program Mr. Kirk presented a copy of the existing 5-Year Parks Capital Improvement Program for Commission review. He stated that the Commission reviews the program annually and makes recommendations for changes and additions. It is important to closely look at the projects scheduled for the year 2001 and consider any modifications to the plan as we put together next year's budget numbers. Mr. Kirk asked the Commission to consider projects that should be placed in the fifth year of the new 5-year plan. Mr. Young stated he would like to see a warming house/park shelter building for Madsen Park be moved up on the priority list. He believes this park serves a large area and would benefit from such a facility. He further stated that the new signs for the park system is a priority and will be an improvement that enhances the image of Fridley. Mr. Kirk stated that staff will provide a recommended 5-year Parks CIP plan for the April Commission meeting and he would like the Commission members to come prepared to discuss projects at that meeting. The Commission would then make a recommendation on the 5-year Parks plan they would like to forward for consideration. 3. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Baseball Tournament Request - FYSA Little League Baseball Mr. Kirk stated that this item was tabled at the February Commission meeting, because the Commission members had a number of unanswered questions about how this first year event would be handled. The tournament director (and Little League Program Director), Randy Luedtke, is at tonight's meeting to provide more detailed information about this proposed tournament. Mr. Luedtke introduced himself as the New Director of the Fridley Little League program and thanked the Commission for inviting him to the meeting to discuss the proposed baseball tournament. He stated that he worked with City staff last year on some improvements at the Little League fields last year (new scoreboards on two fields) and appreciated the help he received. He acknowledged that the Little League fields complex was a unique facility situation, being in a residential area. He said the Little League organization wanted this tournament to be a successful event. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq -March 6, 2000 Paqe 4 Mr. Luedtke stated that the tournament would be a Little League "Majors" tournament for 11 and 12 year olds. It would be designed to accommodate 16 house leaques only Little League teams. Games would start on Friday night with one game on each field, run on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to approximately 6pm and again with the same hours on Sunday. He anticipated each game would run between 1'/ and 2 hours. They are planning some fun events and activities along with the baseball games, as they want to attract families to come out for the weekend. Mr. Luedtke stated that they would be using a Public Address system on Field #2 for player introductions, music between innings and for some of the fun contests. The School District (#14) has been contacted and they do not have any school or athletic events scheduled for that weekend. He would be working with the School District to accommodate parking for the tournament. Mr. Young suggested that they reserve one parking spot for each team, so the coach and/or person with the equipment could be located near the game fields. Mr. Luedtke stated that they would need to bring in extra Satellites (portable toilets) for the weekend. He also would like to work with the City to line up a park maintenance employee to be scheduled to drag and chalk fields for the games. Little League coaches and parents would work the tournament, providing help with field maintenance and selling concessions. Mr. Solberg suggested they consider setting up a second concession tent to handle the volume of people that may be on site. Mr. Kirk asked if the tournament would have an admission charge and how the gate/entrance would be controlled. Mr. Luedtke stated that they would charge admission and volunteers would be stationed at strategic points in the area to control access. He further stated that the tournament would be a fundraiser for the Little League program and all profits would go back to helping the kids. Mr. Luedtke stated that it would be their plan to notify the neighborhood of the tournament, why it was being held and how it benefits the Fridley youth. Mr. Kirk stated that staff would recommend approval of the tournament with the same basic fees associated with the use of the Commons Park area for the annual soccer tournament. The recommended fees would be $60 per field for the weekend. Additional costs for items such as portable restrooms, garbage dumpsters, and city workers for field maintenance would be billed at actual cost to the FYSA Little League association. MOTION by Mr. Solberg, seconded by Ms. Sibell, to approve the baseball tournament request for June 2-4, 2000 by the FYSA Little League with the fee structure recommended by staff. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, VICE-CHAIRPERSON YOUNG DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq - March 6, 2000 Paqe 5 ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Mr. Solberg, seconded by Ms. Sibell to adjourn the March 6, 2000 meeting at 8:47 p.m. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, VICE-CHAIRPERSON YOUNG DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE MARCH 6, 2000 MEETING ADJOURNED.