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12/02/2002 - 00024865CITY OF FRIDLEY PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING — DECEMBER 2, 2002 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Kondrick called the December 2, 2002 Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting to order at 7:05 p. m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Dave Kondrick, Tim Solberg, Dick Young Others Present: Jack Kirk, Director of Recreation & Natural Resources Paul Lawrence, Superintendent of Public Works Jamie Ramacher, Program Supervisor APPROVAL OF NOVEMBER 4, 2002 PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES MOTION by Mr. Young, seconded by Mr. Solberg, to approve the minutes of the November 4, 2002 meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. APPROVAL OF PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION AGENDA FOR DECEMBER 2, 2002 MOTION by Mr. Solberg, seconded by Mr. Young, to approve the agenda for the December 2, 2002 meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. 1. STAFF REPORT a. Program Update Mr. Kirk stated that an update of the programs was included with the agenda packet for the meeting. He wanted to call attention to a couple of senior program activities. On Monday, November 11t", the Senior Program sponsored the fifth annual Veteran's Day Celebration and it was another big success. Guest speakers included State Representative Connie Bernardy and American Legion Vice Commander Randy Tesdahl. There were over 200 seniors that participated in this year's event. The Senior Program hosted a Diabetes Health Fair on Tuesday, October 29t". There were vendors and displays about cholesterol testing and blood sugar testing. Physicians from Columbia Park clinic presented educational sessions to the 75 participants. Mr. Kirk further stated that the Fridley Senior Program is selling holiday wreaths again this year as a fundraiser to support senior activities. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — December 2, 2002 Paqe 2 Mr. Kirk stated that Thursday, November 21 St goes down as the largest participation day ever at the Fridley Senior Program. There were over 800 participants in the various programs and activities that day. With a craft sale, the Congregate Dining Thanksgiving Special, a dance, the dinner theater program at the High School, and the cell phones for seniors giveaway, the Senior Center was an extremely busy place. Mr. Kirk pointed out that during the past month the Nature Center had hosted some area schools for various interpretive studies. North Side Christian School, The Home School Connection and Woodcrest Baptist School all visited Springbrook. Mr. Kirk stated that the after-school teen program at the ZONE had a special event for middle school girls called the Everything Spalon. The girls learned about use of make-up, nail care, and hairstyles, along with all the girls having their nails painted. There were 23 participants and we received very positive feedback on the new program. b. Park Maintenance Report Mr. Lawrence stated that the Park Maintenance personnel have been busy cleaning leaves from City parks and readying ice skating sites. Rental/portable warming houses have been set up at the Madsen Park and Stevenson Elementary school ice rink locations. The last week in November park crews began flooding the ice rinks, but general skating rinks aren't usually ready with good ice until at least mid-December. The Park personnel have also constructed some new thin ice signs for Moore Lake to be used around the aerator. c. Program Supervisor — Jamie Ramacher Mr. Kirk stated that Jamie Ramacher was hired as the new Program Supervisor. She comes to us from the City of Shoreview where she was a Program Coordinator for the past 2 and one half years. She also has previous recreation program experience with the Cities of New Brighton, Mounds View and Eden Prairie. Mr. Kirk introduced Ms. Ramacher to the Parks and Recreation Commission. Ms. Ramacher stated that she was happy to be part of the Fridley Recreation and Natural Resource Department and was looking forward to working in this community. She stated that her responsibilities as Program Supervisor will include the elementary age after-school program, school out day trips, adult and youth instructional activities, special events, the summer playground program, puppet program and the ROCKS program. She is currently working on plans for spring and summer, as well as finalizing plans for the upcoming Winter fest. Mr. Kondrick stated that the Parks and Recreation Commission would like to welcome Jamie to the Department staff. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — December 2, 2002 Paqe 3 d. Geocaching in Fridley Parks Mr. Kirk informed the Commission about a relatively new activity that is having some impact on the parks in the City of Fridley. The activity is called geocaching (pronounced Geo- cashing — like cashing a check). Geocaching is a game that is really a high-tech hide-n-seek. Participants hide an item (a cache) in a park or open space area, share information regarding the location of the hidden item on the Internet and then others use a handheld global positioning system (GPS) device to try to find the cache. A GPS unit is an electronic device that can determine your approximate location (within 6-30 feet) on the planet. The cache is usually some type of container like a tin box or Rubbermaid container. Inside would be a collection of trinkets like a yo-yo, baseball card, toy car, small doll, paperweight, or any other small item or toy. When an individual finds the cache, they can take one of the items, replace it with a different trinket and put the cache back for others to find. The cache is then ready for others to search out. Mr. Kirk showed the Commission members the website on the Internet for this activity. The site is at www.qeocachinq.com. Mr. Kirk pointed out that there are a number of caches hidden in the City of Fridley at various park locations. There are caches at West Moore Lake Sand Dunes, Moore Lake beach, Springbrook Nature Center, Locke Park, Islands of Peace and other parks in the City and County system. While this activity may be a new way for people to enjoy the park system, there have been some problems with the activity in some communities. People have used shovels to dig up park land when they think the cache has been buried somewhere, others have wandered off designated trails and trampled environmentally sensitive areas in search of caches and some of the caches have left offensive or questionable items for others to find. Mr. Kirk stated that although there are quite a few caches that have been hidden in the Fridley park system, no one has approached City staff to discuss any concerns for the environmental or park areas before leaving the caches. Mr. Kirk further stated that he is not asking the Commission to take any action or have any further discussion at this point regarding geocaching. At some point in the future, if we experience problems in our parks because of this activity, we may want to consider some rules or guidelines to be established. Ramsey County, for example, will allow geocaching in its parks with the following restrictions: 1. Caches are not to be placed in environmentally natural areas. 2. Caches are not to be buried 3. Caches are not to contain items that are offensive, dangerous or illegal. 4. Ramsey County reserves the right to remove, or have removed, a cache it feels is in an inappropriate location or is causing undo impact on the habitat. Mr. Kondrick suggested that staff get information from other park and recreation departments on geocaching guidelines and bring them to a future meeting for discussion. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — December 2, 2002 Paqe 4 e. Minnesota Recreation and Park Association Website Mr. Kirk showed the Commission the Minnesota Recreation and Park Association website located at www.mnrpa.orq. He stated that the Commission members might find the site of interest and a good source of information on parks and recreation issues. Mr. Kirk further stated that the National Recreation and Park Association may also be of interest and the website is located at www.activeparks.orq. 2. NEW BUSINESS a. 2003 Adult Softball Fees Mr. Kirk stated that the adult softball program staff recommended fee schedule has been included in the Commission packet for consideration. The document shows where the fees have been over the past several years and the slight increase recommended for this season. In addition to the fees listed, there would continue to be a$50 fee for outside teams. Mr. Kondrick asked why there was a larger increase for the Friday night Co-Rec softball league. Mr. Kirk responded that several communities jointly sponsor this Co-Rec softball league and we work together on the fee structure for the league. All of the participating communities have the same fee structure for that league and based on all costs, that new figure was agreed upon for this year. The recommended fees for 2003 are as follows: $580 ....for Sunday Men's D& E/ Corporate C& D $640 ....for Monday through Thursday Men's Leagues $395 ... .for Thursday Women's D League $400 ....for Friday Co- Rec League MOTION by Mr. Solberg, seconded by Mr. Young, to approve the staff recommended fees for the 2003 Adult Softball season. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED 3. DISCUSSION ITEMS a. West Moore Lake Park — future use Mr. Kirk stated that this item was put on the agenda due to some renewed interest by a resident of the area to see an asphalt path installed through this natural area. He would like to attempt to raise enough funds to get the path installed with donated money. He asked the City Council for approval to go out and solicit donations and the Council was not in total agreement that a path should be reinstalled in this area. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — December 2, 2002 Paqe 5 Mr. Kirk further stated that the City Council asked that the Parks and Recreation Commission have some discussion as to a preferred use of this park area. That discussion could consider any future use of the land from leaving it as open space, to installing a trail and other structures, to developing the area as a groomed park, or even selling some land to fund other park and recreation projects. Mr. Kirk stated that it was suggested by the City Manager to include a question on the next survey of Fridley residents as to what should be done with the Sand Dunes area. The survey is scheduled for next September. Mr. Kondrick stated it would be helpful if the City knew how many people actually visited or used the Sand Dunes park when a trail was available. He further stated that without a trail system in place, it is very difficult to get a handle on how much the park would be utilized. Mr. Kondrick stated that he was satisfied with the Park and Recreation Commission's recommendation a couple of years ago to have an asphalt path installed at the park. When he saw this agenda item, his first reaction was to tell this resident to go ahead and raise funds for the project. Maybe the City could even assist with funding to get the path installed. Mr. Young stated that he is opposed to start selling off of parkland. The people in this community take pride in the park system and even though some of the parks are very small, they are important to the neighborhoods they serve. He doesn't believe that residents will like the idea of selling park land for other purposes. Mr. Young stated that he would like to see a trail in the Dunes area, but would not want to see benches, tables or picnic shelters. Many people walk in this area and would like the opportunity to walk in a nature setting. Mr. Solberg suggested that the Medtronic Foundation be approached for funding some of the trail system at the park. Many employees of Medtronic go for walks in the area and this park would offer a natural environment to walk through. Mr. Kondrick stated that the path installation could possibly be a cooperative venture by several interested parties, including the City. He asked what the price would be for an asphalt path through the Sand Dunes area. Mr. Lawrence stated that a linear path through the park would cost $20,000 or more and a circular path could run up to around $40,000. Mr. Kondrick stated that it appears the Commission in attendance this evening would like to see this park remain a natural area, but become more accessible for the public with the installation of an asphalt trail. Some Commission members would also like to see other amenities added such as benches and possibly picnic tables. Mr. Kondrick further stated that he believes we should give the individual a chance to raise the money and get the path installed at the park. Mr. Young stated that if a path were re-installed, he would like to see a meandering path throughout the park rather than having just a linear path along the lakefront. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq - December 2,2002 Paqe 6 The Commission members agreed that the park should remain a passive, natural area for people to enjoy walking through. b. Moore Lake Beach and Park Expansion Mr. Kirk stated that the City has been contacted by a realtor representing a homeowner with a property that will be going on the market just north of Moore Lake Park. He wanted to know if the City was going to exercise a right of first refusal and buy the property to expand the park. This property is immediately north of the Rush property that the City bought in 1998. There were originally seven properties between the park and the Racquet Club / Shopping Center to the north. The City had set a long-range plan of expanding Moore Lake Park and buying the properties when they became available on the market. The City currently owns four of the properties, one right next to the park, two on the far north end, and one in the middle. The City Council discussed this possible purchase at the conference meeting last week and decided that the City is not in a position to spend money on this property purchase at this time. The City Council suggested that the Parks and Recreation Commission discuss this item and look at whether expanding the park should still be a long-range goal. Mr. Kondrick stated that with the City finances a concern it is understandable that the City Council would not want to purchase the property at this time. He stated that it may be important to review what properties we currently have, what remains to be purchased, and what passing on this property means for a possible park expansion. Mr. Kondrick stated that the price the City paid for some of the properties in the past was not nearly as high as what we are looking at for the remaining properties. This property may go for a quarter of a million dollars or more. It makes you wonder if we can afford this expansion of the park any more. Mr. Young stated that you not only have the purchase price, but the demolition cost for getting rid of the house and the additional costs to develop the park area. Mr. Kirk showed the Commission members a map of the properties adjacent to Moore Lake Park and pointed out the properties the City currently owns. Mr. Young stated that the concern he has is that if the City doesn't buy this property, we will have separated parcels of land that will not allow us to do anything with. They will be worthless to us, as far as any park improvements. He stated that we might want to consider selling off the other properties and using the proceeds to buy this one that is currently for sale. That way we will have at least two adjacent properties to add on to the park. Mr. Kondrick stated that he agreed that this approach would make the most sense. Mr. Young stated that another option with this approach is to buy this house and rent it until such time that we decide to make improvements to expand the park. Mr. Kondrick stated that when you look at a map of the area and realize where we have parkland and what is needed to expand the park, this approach of swapping some properties for this current property really jumps out at you. It would allow us to make some expansion and positive improvements to the park. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — December 2, 2002 Paqe 7 Mr. Solberg stated that he agreed this idea made perfect sense and was a better approach than having several properties that we will not be able to do anything with. The Commission agreed that it would be best to lock in the first two properties north of the existing park (the Rush property which we currently own and this new property on the market) and be able to make some definite plans to improve the park. The Commission members suggested that this idea be forwarded to the City Council for consideration. The idea of selling off the existing properties to purchase the one that is currently available. Mr. Kondrick stated that with this approach we could still keep our options open for a future purchase of the very next property. This approach would allow us to make a positive impact at the Moore Lake Park. Even with the two properties in hand, we could start making some adjustments and improvements at the park. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Mr. Solberg, seconded by Mr. Young, to adjourn the December 2, 2002 meeting at 8:45 p.m. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE DECEMBER 2, 2002 MEETING ADJOURNED.