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PR 07/25/1977 - 31227� � � ,, � ppRKS & RECREATION CONIMISSION MEETING JULY 25, 1977 �ERS PRESENTs Bob Peterson, Robin Suhrbier, Jan Seeger, Leonard Moore, . Betty A� Mech MEM�ERS ABSENT: None OTHERS PRESENT: Charles Boudreau, Parks & Recreation Director Jack Kirk, Program Director Ray Leek, Planning Aide Tom 1�Iyhra, Community Education Director Mary Martin, Chairperson of Community Education Ri.ta Daniels, Vice Chairperson of Community Education Collean McCarty — Community Educatian Programmer � CALL TO ORDER• , Chairperson Peterson called'the meeting to order at 7:39 p.m. �, .,SPRQVAL OF JUNE 27, 1977, PARKS & RECREATION CaNII�iISSION MINUTES: Ms. Suhrbier indicated that on page 2, 3rd paragraph, 6th line from the bottom, that portion of sentence should read; "...it would cut down the erosion.and sediments deposited into Locke Lake." Ms. Mech indicated on page 10, under "Other Business","Mr. Ron Bolan" should be changed to "Mr. Ron Bowen". MOTIQN by Jan Seeger, seconded by Leonard Moore, to approve the June 27, 1977, Parks & gecreation C�issi,on meeting minutes as amended. Upon a voice vote, all voting aye, the motion carried unanimously. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: � The following items were added to the agenda; Sampling of Community regarding Tennis Court at Springbrook - Item C under "Old Business" Request fr� Redeemer Lutheran Church - Item B under "New Business" Portable Stage Area - Item C under "N�w Business" �IQN by Betty Ann Mech, seconded by Leonard Moore, to approve the agenda with the above additions. Upon a voice vote, all voting aye, the motion earried unanimously. r'1 � :.. � :;'�; � ,� . �,' PARKS � RECREATION COI�IISSION MEETING JUI,y 25 , 1977 PAGE 2 1� DIRECTOR'S REPORT • t1 A. F.Y.S.A. Meeting � • Mr. Boudreau stated that he and Mr. Rirk had attended the last F.Y.S.A. Board meeting to discuss, among other things, the new soccer program. Soccer was now a recognized part of F.Y.S.A. and they w�ere backing the program, not only in name, but financially. There were two �ournaments lined up and Juan Salas would be the • director. It seemed the F.y.S.A. had preference for the Commons footbail area for a soccer field which had been reserved for football in the past. This would put additional traffic on a field that was already overused; and Mr. Boudreau wanted the Co�nission to be aware of this as near the end of the footba�ll season, there may be c�plaints on.the condition of that field. He said he had cautioned the Association that they would be putting additional traffic on it. They preferred " that field because of the lighting, scorebaard, and parking lot. The Association had also made mention of constructing a permanent concession stand somewhere in the vicinitg of the football field in the Commons area. They had formed a ccmmittee that would be working with the City on a plan for it. �n conjuntion with this, Mr. Boudreau stated he had expressed the City's desire for permanent restroom facilities located at the north end of �au�ons Park. Mr. Boudreau stated that maybe some type of agreement could be made where.the F.Y.S.A. got their concession stand and the City got the restroom facility in a joint-type of facility thaC could be used by football, hockey, soccer, and tennis participants. After the F.y.S.A. meeting, Mr. Boudreau stated he and Mr. Rirk met with the footb�a,j`1 people. Registration would begin Wednesday, July 27, for the football season. Mr. Boudreau wanted the Commission to be aware that the Parks & Recreation Department would be assisting with the registration where people could come into the Parlcs & Recreation of€ice from 8:00-5:00 on weekdays as well as evening registration. Mr. Boudreau stated that he had suggested to the F.Y.S.A. that it would be nice�if they had one member attend the Commission's monthly meetings. He taould like to encourage this kind of participation with the groups the Commission worked with. It would help open cou�munication in both directions. Mr. Peterson stated that with all the use the football field would be getting, it would seem to him Chat the F.Y.S.A. would have to plug some money into their budget also,because the field would have to be resodded every spring or summer. Mr. Boudreau stated it was certainly a good suggestion that he could mention to the F.Y.S.A. He thought another possible answer would be to develop additional faci2ities for the football program and soccer program. He said both sides were aware of the problems and they were looking for solutions to these problems. Mr. Peterson stated another thing to suggest to the Association was that they come up with s�e kind of cooperation of the cancession/restroom facility plan like they did on the storage f acility. He said Mr: Boudreau should also make sure the Hockey < ; Association got involved with this, too. • � � ft I :# , , ,Y 25, 1977 3 � . peterson asked Mr. B�dreau if Mr. B�dreau had looked at the playing rules Mr for Che Football Association as the Commission usually met with them to make sure the rules were not changed fram the signed agreement. �. Boudreau stated he had not yet received the book of rules and reguiations. ge said he was sure representatives trom the Football Association would be present at the Cann►ission's August meeting. . ' 1�is. Suhrbier asked M�c. Boudreau if he had been workiug with the Hockey Association with xegard to hockey referees to make sure all the referees were certified. �. Baudreau stated he was working on this Wier all refereeing andtthat wayitheear they wanted the Hockey Association to take ov �.p,g, could make sure of the certification and get their own officials, ^ ^ �.: ti g. program Report Mr. ICi.rk informed the Go�mission that most of the suaener programs were ending week and the following week. He stat�d that they had decided to hold off on settiag a closing date for the Moore L�ke Beach to see how the weather went. had been running tests on the lake and it had been staying good and the Health Department had no problem with it. ' that They Mr. Kirk stated that they were into the planning of the fall program, and they should have that inf ornaation out by th� end of August or fir�t part of Septem�er. Mr, Boudreau added tl�at, as he goC around the City, he had found many people who were positive about the changes in the summer program. He stated that he and Mr. Kirk hoped to give a coanplete slide presentation to the Commission of ��eha�enr programs, a statistical report„compared to past years, and what was gaing FP with the fali program by the September or October meeting. �. Outdoor Athletic Court Grant Program Mr. Boudreau stated tL�at there was $3Q0,000 available for use in the Metropolitan area to build tennis courts, outdoor hasketball courts, and outdoor handball oourts. The State was looking at constructing yet this year. The State was looking at a point system with cooperation of local governments. Fridley was in the process of agplying for these court grants through the State. It was a 50/50 grant split. In his estimation, the State was looking at about $10,000 to any one community. Thirty grants would be going in the metropolitan area. The City was putting in a grant for a total of three court areas, working with the Spring I,ake Park School District at Woodcrest School as that was an area that lacked tennis facilities. Spring Lake park was willing to sp1iC the 5a% the municipalities would owe with Fridley to build one hard service area for a tennis court and basketball court on their property at Woodcrest School that would be open to the public. : ::�i, :i'i _� :.. _; i {i f ; � ,� � & R ECREATION CCMMISSION MEETING, JULY 25, 1977 4 � �• Boudreau stated they had also contaeted the Fridley School District and � requested the same assistance program, However, there was some feeling that they did not desire tennis courts at their elementary schools because it was not part of their educational program; but they had written the City a letter consenting to the use of Stevenson gchool for the location of two tennis courts if the Gity wished to place them on school property at the City's own expense and the City would maintain them, go, they were working with these two local units of govern- ment in trying to obtain tennis court money and hard surface area money. If the Gity did get this grant, it would not have to accept it and it did not have to make the decisions right now as to where the courts or hard surface areas would be located. D. Moore Lake Tennis Court Mr. Boudreau stated that the lights were up on the Moore Lake tennis court and the court was being played at night. ge had adjusted the lights and they seemed to be very satisfactory. He had asked several people who were using the courts about the lights, and they said the lights were super. So, that job was almost completed except for fencing in the sides of the court area which they hoped to have done next year. Mr. Moore stated that, in regard to coucession stands, the recreation and park board people did not really iike to get into the can,cession business area, gut, they had found that their concession operation was not nearly large enough for leasing aut or attything of that nature, so they had decided to expand the operation and have � not only at �ommons Park, but at Moore Lalce and at "movies under the stars", etc., to trq to raise additional revenue to support some new programs and to improve the program.operation. They would give it a try for a year. � • O�LD BUSINESS • A. Comprehensive parks � ppen Space Plan Mr. Leek gave a slide presentation to give the Commission members examples of what they hoped to do in Fridley and things they felt could be done in Fridley through the Parks � ppen Space Plan. _ After the slide presentation, the C�ission members agreed to hold further diacussion on the parks & Open Space Plan until the next meeting. B. Approval of Capital putlay Request for 1978 Mr. Boudreau handed out copies of the Capital Outlay Request for 1978 with the iaput that the Commission had arrived at during their special meeting of July 11. Ms. Suhrbier asked Mr. goudreau if next year's Capital putlay forms could be received by the members at least one or two days before the meeting so the members woruld have time to review them. ' Mr. Boudreau stated they could be gottea to the members a week before the meeting ^ ��� ' r � C� JULY 25, 1977 � ry Mr. Boudreau stated he�wanted to point out that the $11,000 for Acct. No. 4540- Maore Lake Study had been taken out and had been put into the regular on-going budget for professional services. .Ms. Seeger felt that the $9,000 in (4540) L��►dscape should not have been eliminated. M,s. Mech stated that the Coma►ission had to set priorities. She felt the $12,600 worth of shelters (4510) was excessive compared to the $9,000 for landscaping which had been eliminated. Ms, guhrbier stated she would also like to see money put in for trees and suggested that one shelter be eliminated at Locke Park, one shelter be eliminated at Moore Lake, and the shelter at Sylvan Park be eliminated. This made a total of $5,400 to be added to (4540) I,andscape. MOTION by Robin Suhrbier, seconded by J�n Seeger, that•the Com�►ission eliminate three park shelters in Acct. No. 4510 for a total of $5,400; this amaunt to be added to Acct. No. 4540 Landscape. Upon a voice vote, all voting aye, the motion carried unanimously. - MOTIpN by Leonard Moore, seconded by Betty Ann Mech, to receive the Capital �tlay Request for 1978 as presented and amended. Upon a voice vote, all voting aye, the motion carried uuanimously. ^ C. Samplin of Communit regarding Tennis Court at Springbrook Park 1�r, peterson stated that at the special meeting on July ll, the Cou�►ission had talked about the allocation in this year's budget (and he thought there was a concensus of opinion at Glencoe and Springbrook) that the Commission felt committed to a tennis court there. Mr. Boudreau had suggested that they base the budget on the opiuion of the people in that area, and Leonard Moore had been asked to poll the neighborhood. Mr. Moore stated he had chect�ed for a sampling of opinion regarding a tennis court . and the giving up of the ice rink at Springbrook Park. He stated only one individual had not wanted to sign, but everyone else he spoke to agreed that it would be a wise thing to have a double tennis court in Springbzook and give up the ice rink. They also agreed to an expanded tot lot for Glencoe. Mr. Moore stated he thought there was enough room for a double tennis court and a handball court at Springbrook. MQTIpN by Jan.Seeger, seconded by Robin Suhrbier, to receive Mr. Moore's sampling of the community opinion regarding a tennis court at Springbrook Park. Upon a voice vote, all voting aye, the motion carried unanimously. M�r. Moore asked Mr. Boudreau if he would write a letter to Ms. Margot Eastman of the Riverview Heights Community Action group with a carbon copy to Karen Budnick, the Nefghborhood Project Cou�maittee chairperson, inf orming them of what was going ^ to be done . . Mr. Boudreau agreed to write the letter. i . ._ +_y PARKS & RECREATION COI�IISSION MEETING, JULY 25, 1977 PAGE 6 3. N8W BUSINESS• �"'� A. C�nmunity Education - Tom Myhra ' M�. l�yhra stated that he had met with Mr. Boudreau regarding the duplication in programs. The Advisory Council had decided that he should meet with the Parks ' & Recreation Com�►ission. Community Education was mostly concerned about its evening sessions, although he dfd not think that would be true in the future. ' If duplication led to waste or confusion, then it was not a good thing and they should get away from it. Mr. Myhra stated he had gotten together with Mr. Boadreau, Mr. Rirl�, and Ms. McCarty to talk about how they could work out some reasenable, workable operations. They had arrived at the following solutions; W'hen it came to general kinds of classes (Conversational Norwegian, Refresher Mathematics, etc.), Cammunity Education would continue with them. That did not seem to be a problem. pne prohlem they did run into was with courses that required special roams. They had found there was a canstant problem with teachers and special rooms. Since it presented a problem in the system, Coa�unity Education would continue to offer those kinds of courses which required special rooms. The courses Community Educatian felt they should possibly get out of (with some hesitation) were the kinds of programs or courses that required.the use of a large room, gymnasium, cafeteria, such as volleyball, ballroom dancing, etc. He and Ms. McCarty had expressed some concern that those classes were the ones that helped subsidize their program. They did have expenses in publishing the newsletter. He explained that they assumed a registration of 1� for each class to pay for publication costs. The next group of courses that �ith the City or Community Education could offer were the arts, crafts, hobbies, etc. They had spent some time trying to come up with a division that would be reasonably workable and did not come up with one. They decided Comamunity Education would continue to offer the courses they had in the past but would make sure the staffs worked together;so if both City and Community.Education tiad intended to offer the same.course, the staffs could decide which one would be most logical to offer that course. ' 1�&. Myhra stated.that the City has a problem with facilities. t�'hat Mr. Myhra suggested was that this fa11 Community Education would ask for 10-15 rooms,or what- ever was needed, at the Jr. High School. They would check these rooms out but would not schedule them. (When they got into the elementary schools, they would have to come up with essential furniture.) He said that would seem to prevent a lot of problems, because Community Education had priority after regular classes and extra-curricular activities. Mr. Boudreau stated that in his one year of working with Mr. �om Myhra, the working agreemenC with the schools had been super. The swimming program was one cooperative program that had gone well. The senior citizens had use of two rooms at Parkview School during the day with some stipulations put on by the school. He felt they were on a good cooperative path and were looking for nothing but better warking agreements. • i"'� ,� ■ ` :� PARKS & RECREATION CO1rIl�IiSSION MEETING JULY 25, 1977 PAGE 7 .,., � Mr. Myhra stated that one more matter he wanted to mention was the matter of -- finances, and they would have to work with Mr. Boudreaa and Mr. Kirk in thaf area. Qne of the concerns, as he had mentioned earlier, was whether they were going to be in financial difficulty by getting out of the large groups. He stated he - would like to reserve the opportunity to get:together with M�c. Boudreau and Mr. Kirk after the fall session to see or rethink or raise fees, etc., to make the program , balance out. M,s. Seeger asked hcsw the Co�nmunity Education classes were publicized. . Mr, riyhra stated that each session, they sent a brochure to every occupant in District 14 and abaut 300 residents who had requested one. In total, they send out about 6,500 glus the 300 which are mailed out directly. In addition, they had a Cc�mmunity Fair each fall where the public could hear about the classes. 7,'he Fridley Sun had articles on the coming sessions. Mr. Myhra pointed out that the evening classes were only one part of Community Education. The Advisory Council spent a lot more time on programs other than what they had been talking about that evening. ^ /'\ �.{ MX, Petersan thartked Mr. Myhra, Ms. McCarty, Ms. Martin, and Ms. Daniels for attending the meeting. � Mr. Baudreau staCed that Ms. McCarty had done a nice job in putting together a Cot�unity Services Booklet of every organization in the City of Fridley with names, addresses, etc. M,s. klech told Mr. Myhra that the Counnission apgreciated the nice var£ety of things Cou�uaity Education was offering. g. Request from Redeemer Lutheran Church Mr, goudresu stated he had just received a letter from Redeemer Lutheran Church which was a little different than the regular picnic reservation. The Church's youth group wished to hold an evangelistic fold rock concert featuring a Christian fo}k rock grou�. The concert would hegin at 6:00 p.m. and end at 9:00 p.m. with approximately 300 people of various ages attending, the majority from the church. This concert was free and open ta the public, would be conducted in a Christian manner, and the grounds would be left in better condition than when they came. This concert would be held on August 20 , 1977. Mr. Baudreau stated he had problems with this request for two reasons; (1) it would be using public property for a religious-type of ineeting; and (2) the current problems with the young groups of teenagers in the park which had caused a lot of vandalism had settled down a bit, and he did not know what a concert like this would draw. He stated he had no strong recommendation and that was why he had brought it before the Commission. - • -�„""' � � ` ` -� PARKS & RECREATION COrff�tISSIQN MEETII�iG� JULY 25 , 1977 ppG� g � Mr. peterson stated he felt it was something pqr. Herrick should look at from a legal standpoint. Ms. Suhrbier felt that a religious organization shouZd not use the park because it could set a precedent for other religious groups.: Ms. Seeger stated she did not have any objection to a church being allowed to use the park when political parties were allowed to use the parks. After a lengthy discussion, the Comn►ission memhers could not reach a concensus of opinion regarding this request. MOTION by Leonard Moore, seconded by Jan Seeger., that Mr. Boudreau pass the Redeemer Lutheran Church park request on to City Council without Co�issian recoumendation. Mr. Peterson asked Mr, goudreau to point oc�t to the City Council the Coamission's differences in opinion, both pros and cons. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, THE MOTIO�i CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. C. Concern for Portable Stage �rea Mr.'Boudreau stated that after a city band concert, Mayor Nee had requested information concerning the "Show �iobile" type of facility which was basically a� portable stage area for the city band. The mayor had asked for other ideas and the following were some of the ideas suggested; outdoor 49`er activities, children's the�tre, playground-in-the-streets, magic shows, movies, style and talent shows, art fairs, traveling nature mobile, could be rented to Jaycees and other organi- zations, portable classroom, tournament headquarters, bleacher section, shelter for playground, etc. � � Mr. Peterson stated that two years ago, the Commission had spent three sessions talking about first, a permanent bandshell, and then a portable "Show Mobile", They had a joint meeting with City Council to talk about it, had looked for acceptable sites to build one and store one, and had looked into how to raise the money for it. When all was said and do�e, there was no response or interest an the part of the citizenry. � Mr. Moore stated he thought a portable s�tage area would be worth the money if the Parks & Recreation Department had one. Mr. Boudreau stated he had been asked to bring this to the Conrnission for their opinion. He showed the Commission five black and white photos of portable wagons which he had helped construct in Southern Illinois. He stated he was including these photos in his letter to Mayor Nee to help demonstrate the use of these wagons. Mr. Boudreau stated that right now he was Iooking into the construction of a nature wagon and a puppet wagon._ • �_ `-..:� 1 �1 _.._a � PARKS & RECREATION COI�IlNISSION 1�ETING JULY 25 , 1977 PAGE 9 ; � MOTION by Leonard Moore, seconded by Betty Ann Mech, that the Parks & Recreation Commission go on record in support of Mayor Nee's thoughts regarding,a portable stage area. � Ms. Seeger stated she liked Mr. Boudreau's idea of making the portable wagons. better than the c a�ercial wagon. There was more creativity. 'Nir. Peterson stated that unless the community had changed drastically and had a . different viewpoint regarding the portable wagon, he could see a lot of problems. fle would rather see the money that would go for a portable wagon go into the Parks � Recreation pragram wherever needed. Mr. Moore stated he thought a portable wagon would give their program much more diversity. He would like to see a portable stage go through all the neighborhoods and parks. UPQN A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ADJOURNMENT• MO�PION by Robin Suhrbier, seconded by Jan Seeger, to adjourn the meeting at 10;50 p.m. Upon a voice vote, all voting aye, the motion carried unanimously. �espectfully sub 'tted, ��.- L Saba Recording Secretary � �