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02/06/2006 - 00028821CITY OF FRIDLEY PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING — FEBRUARY 6, 2006 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Kondrick called the February 6, 2006 Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Dave Kondrick Mike Heintz Marcy Sibell Dolores Varichak Others Present: 7ack Kirk, Director of Parks and Recreation Dave Lindquist, Parks Supervisor Siah St. Clair, Director of Springbrook Nature Center Pete Borman, President of Fridley 49er Days Malcolm Mitchell, Springbrook Nature Center Foundation 7eremy Powers, Springbrook Nature Center Foundation Donna Bahls, Springbrook Nature Center Foundation APPROVAL OF JANUARY 9, 2006 PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES MOTION by Ms. Sibell, seconded by Ms. Varichak to approve the minutes of the January 9, 2006 meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. APPROVAL OF PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION AGENDA FOR FEBRUARY 6, 2006 MOTION by Ms. Sibell, seconded by Mr. Heintz to approve the agenda for the February 6, 2006 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 a Program Update report has been included in the meeting agenda packet. These are just some of the activities and programs that have taken place since the last Parks and Recreation Commission meeting. Mr. Kirk stated that in addition to the many programs over the past month, Springbrook Nature Center was host to the Minnesota Senate Capital Funding Committee for a visit to the center on January lOt'`. There were eight senators in attendance and the general response to the site visit was very favorable. Mr. Kirk also stated that the Chores and More Program (formerly the Handyworks Program) has submitted its year-end report to the federal government. Our service to the community more than met the established goals and this program was a big help to many seniors trying to stay living in their own homes. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetin� - Februarv 6, 2006 Pa�e 2 b. Park Maintenance Report Mr. Lindquist stated that the Park Maintenance Division has attempted to keep all the skating rinks in good condition over the past month, but the warm and wet weather has created some unusual situations. While there was skateable ice during most of the time, there were some bad days where broomball or hockey games or practices had to be cancelled. Mr. Lindquist further stated that when weather conditions wouldn't allow for rink maintenance, the workers did tree trimming, garbage pickup, cleaning of equipment, and preparation for the Winterfest. c. Winterfest Mr. Kirk stated that he was providing a memo on the recent Winter Festival that was held at Commons Park and the Fridley Community Center. There were an estimated 450 people that participated in this special event. A real highlight of this year's event was the dog sled rides for the children. While most of the snow cover had melted, there was enough snow and ice on the ground to allow for the sled rides. Other activities included horse drawn hayrides, ice games, kids dance, medallion hunt, crafts, face painting, BINGO, and refreshments. Mr. Kirk further stated that in addition to staff members helping run the Winterfest, we had over 60 volunteers help us with the many activities. Volunteers were from the Fridley High School Key Club, the Fridley Lions Club, the Fridley Boy Scouts, the Single Volunteers Group of the Twin Cities, the National Honor Society of area high schools, the OEC program from Spring Lake Park and the Fridley Senior Program. Donations from the Lions Club, Rotary Club, American Legion, and VFW helped to sponsor many of the new activities. d. Donations Mr. Kirk stated that the Parks and Recreation Department had received some very nice donations in the past month. For the Winterfest, they received $750 from the Fridley Lions, $250 from the Fridley- Columbia Heights Rotary, $300 from Fridley American Legion Post 303, and $500 from Fridley VFW Post 363. They also received two $1000 donations from the Fridley Wal-Mart. One was for the community gardens project and the second to support Springbrook Nature Center. e. New Commission Member — Mike Heintz Mr. Kirk stated that Fridley City Council had appointed Mike Heintz to the Parks and Recreation Commission. His term begins with this meeting and runs through April 1 of 2007. Mr. Kondrick stated that he was pleased to have Mr. Heintz as a member of the Commission and looked forward to his participation in the discussions and work of the Commission. f. Tree Donations to the Parks —`Branching out for Fridley" Mr. Kirk stated the City was looking for help to replant trees in the City parks following the loss of so many trees in the September 21gt storm. We lost some very large and beautiful trees throughout the park system. Residents, businesses, and organizations can all help with the replanting by either providing a financial donation or helping to actually plant some trees, or both. The target date for the tree planting in the parks is Arbor Day, Friday Apri128th Mr. Kirk provided the Commission members with a one-page announcement of the park tree planting program that will appear in the upcoming Parks and Recreation Department Spring brochure. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetin� — Februarv 6, 2006 Pa�e 3 2. NEW BUSINESS a. Fridley `49er Days Request to use Commons Park Mr. Kondrick welcomed Pete Borman, President of the Fridley 49er Days Planning Committee. Mr. Borman stated that Fridley 49er Days is looking for a new location for the carnival and street dance activities, since the Columbia Arena property is not going to be available in the future. Since the events need to relocate, the Committee would just as soon make the move before this year's event. After looking at available sites throughout the community, the Committee has narrowed it down to Commons Park and would like the City's approval to move the event to that location. Mr. Borman further stated that the idea would be to use the entire south parking lot at Commons Park for the carnival rides and the adjacent grassy area could have some of the carnival games. The showmobile could be placed inside the infield area of ballfield #2 for the street dances, with the music being played out toward the northeast, or in the direction of the sliding hill. The fenced in ballfield area would serve as the area where beer would be allowed and the food vendors would set up adjacent to the ballfield. Mr. Borman stated that they had been looking at the possibility of having the carnival set up in the Fridley High School parking lot, but a dance group has rented the high school auditorium during that time and needs the lot for expected parking needs. Mr. Heintz stated that the carnival using that area of Commons Park would really affect the baseball and softball teams that use fields #1 and #2. That is the parking lot that people use for the ballfields. Mr. Borman stated that the 49er Days Committee does have a"Plan B", which would be going back to Columbia Arena again this year. They would then be facing the same situation ne�t year and looking for a place to move. Ms. Sibell stated that she recalled the carnival and street dances being held in the parking lots adjacent to the City Hall and the Fridley Plaza Clinic. Is it possible to look at the site again? Mr. Borman stated that the clinic use has grown so much that they could not afford to give up the parking lot space that would be required to stage the carnival and events, Mr. Kirk stated that the 49er Days Committee has worked with City staff to look at available sites to move the 49er Days events. There are not many open tracts of land that could accommodate the carnival and related activities. The reason that we keep coming back to the Commons Park area is because it is so centrally located in the city and has the most available parking lots and on-street parking for the participants. Mr. Kondrick asked if the parking lot on the south end of Commons Park could accommodate the carnival and all of the rides. The lot is long and narrow. Mr. Borman stated that the carnival owner has looked at the parking lot and said he could get the rides in there, but would need the entire lot. Mr. Kondrick stated that he thinks this area of Commons Park and the parking lot show some promise. He thinks it is a reasonable alternative for a week long celebration in our community. Ms. Sibell asked if Moore Lake was looked at as an alternative for the 49er Days. Mr. Kirk stated that they did look at Moore Lake, but the carnival would need to set up in a parking lot and if the used the one by the beach, there would be virtually no parking available for people using the park and beach. That is a time of year when Moore Lake Park and beach is very heavily used. Also, Parks and Recreation Commission Meetin� — Februarv 6, 2006 Pa�e 4 there would not be adequate parking for people attending the 49er Days activities. They would likely park in the neighborhoods to the east and would be crossing heavily traveled Old Central to get to the activities. Mr. Lindquist stated that the power supply needs would be an issue if the events were moved to Commons Park The arena area has the power station that was installed to accommodate the bands, food vendors and other activities. Commons would have to have more power added. Mr. Heintz stated that many of the City's SOt'` anniversary events took place right outside the Fridley Community Center and there seemed to be a lot of room. There is a big open field just to the south of the Community Center, between the building and the high school baseball field. The Community Center site might be a better location. Mr. Kirk stated that it may work well for the carnival, but the street dance and beer garden could not go there. It is school property and the drinking of beer could not be allowed there. Mr. Borman asked if there were any other concerns about using Commons Park and the south parking lot for the carnival and other 49er Days activities this year. Mr.Lindquist stated that the parking lot is scheduled for replacement this summer. If that were to be done before 49er Days, there will be new sod in the area and that could be a problem with a crowd of people attending. There would also be a concern with any damage the carnival units might cause to the new parking lot surface. Mr. Kondrick asked if we thought that all the details are far enough along that we could make it happen at Commons Park. Mr. Borman stated that with several of the items brought up tonight, it may be best to go back to Columbia Arena for 2006 and look at the new location for 2007. Mr. Kondrick stated that there are a number of areas around Commons and the Community Center that should be explored before a decision on location for the activities is made. It is going to take some time; however, we should get started now for ne�t year's (2007) celebration. The Commission members agreed and expressed a willingness to work with 49er Days on a plan for next year. b. Recognition Guidelines for ponations to the Springbrook Nature Center SPRING Project Mr. Kirk stated that there are two things that will be covered with this item on the agenda. First of all, we are going to get an update on the SPRING project from Malcolm Mitchell, Chairman of the Springbrook Nature Center Foundation. After the update, we will hear from 7eremy Powers, a member of the Springbrook Fundraising Committee. Mr. Powers would like to present some ideas for discussion on how to best recognize the major donors to a capital funding campaign for the SPRING project. When the City was looking for community contributions to the Fridley Community Center project, we came up with some guidelines and amounts for certain levels of recognition, including naming rooms at the Community Center in honor of major contributors. As the Springbrook Nature Center Foundation prepares to start a major fundraising campaign, they have come up with some proposed guidelines for recognition. They would really like to get some input and reaction from the Commission. Mr. Mitchell stated that he would like to take a few minutes to brief the Commission on the status of the Springbrook Nature Center SPRING project. There is a state bonding proposal that has requested $2.5 million of matching funds from the State of Minnesota, to be used with $2.5 million of locally raised Parks and Recreation Commission Meetin� - Februarv 6, 2006 Pa�e 5 funds to expand and improve the nature center and interpretive building. The Senate Capital Investment Committee made a site visit to Springbrook on January lOt'` to see the nature center and get a better idea of the scope of the project. Representative Connie Bernardy, Representative Kathy Tinglestad, Representative Char Samuelson, and Senator Chaudary all spoke in support of the project at the site visit. In addition, Mayor Scott Lund gave a very nice talk in support of the project and he was followed by some words of support from the Mayor of New Brighton. We think the overall presentation went very well. The SPRING project was not successful in becoming part of the Governor's Bonding proposal, however, there was a hearing last Friday at the State Capitol in front of joint Senate and House Committees to review other possible projects for the State Bonding Bill. That presentation also went very well. Mr. Mitchell further stated that if the project were successful at the State level and was awarded the $2.5 million grant, then the ne�t part would be our own effort from the Springbrook Nature Center Foundation to raise the needed matching funds of $2.5 million with private money. To look closely at that effort, the SNC Foundation hired Kevin Fox and associates to do three things. First, to do a Capital project feasibility study, including doing many interviews of local people. He will help us determine if we can raise those kinds of matching funds on a local level. The second thing Kevin's group is helping us do is giving us an insider's case of support for this SPRING project. The third thing he is providing is some information to be used in an annual fundraising campaign activity. All of this work by Kevin Fox's group is being paid for by the SNC Foundation at an appro�mate cost of $22,000. Mr. Mitchell stated that the Foundation has also established an Exhibits Committee to promote environmental education and to look at what type of new exhibits could be used at an expanded Interpretive Building. Siah is leading the effort with the Exhibits Committee and we have talked with some individuals who may be able to give us some new and creative ideas. Mr. Kondrick thanked Mr. Mitchell for the update on the Springbrook Nature Center Foundation and the SPRING project. Mr. Powers stated that he had forwarded a draft of the proposed recognition guidelines to Mr. Kirk prior to the Commission meeting. Mr. Kirk stated that a copy of this draft was included in the agenda packet for Commission members to review. Mr. Powers stated that the State Bonding bill grant application to the State of Minnesota would require $2.5 million in matching funds if approved. The plan is to raise this money outside of any additional funding from the Fridley City government. It is the feeling of the Springbrook Foundation, that with the levy approved for Springbrook by the voters in November of 2004, the City of Fridley is doing its share with those dollars. All of the business plans for the SPRING project are designed so that no additional City dollars are required for the budget. Mr. Powers stated that the Foundation is committed to raising the matching $2.5 million dollars for the project. In this day and age, naming of facilities after major donors becomes a huge issue. The Foundation fundraising committee has put together some proposed guidelines so that naming of facilities and possibly even the interpretive building could be used to help bring in donations. They have tried to address some of the pitfalls and problems that could potentially arise from that whole process. Mr. Powers stated that they have not finalized a recommendation on dollar levels for specific recognition levels. They are waiting for the final report to come in from Kevin Fox's group to try and identify the Parks and Recreation Commission Meetin� - Februarv 6, 2006 Pa�e 6 amounts that people might be willing to donate. When a recommendation on dollar levels is finalized, they would expect to come back to the Parks and Recreation Commission with an additional recommendation. What they are looking for now is setting up the guidelines for the basis for the funding pyramid so they can get ready for the fundraising campaign. Mr. Powers stated that it is important to note that they recognize this is a City of Fridley park They recognize that the authority to name City park facilities lies with the City of Fridley. As they attempt to raise the $2.5 million in support of the SPRING project, they are looking to get whatever tools they can to help them with that endeavor and having guidelines for the fundraising recognition will be a big help. They have gone through the project and tried to identify facilities or areas that people/organizations may want to tie their name to and to categorize them based on cost levels. Mr. Powers stated that the Fundraising Committee is concerned that appropriate names be associated with the facilities at the nature center. They would not want to name rooms or other improvements after a product, but would recommend accepting a corporation's name on an improvement. They are expecting most of the major donations to come from foundations, corporations and possibly some wealthy individuals. They have even talked about the process of how a name on an improvement could be removed. The Committee members joked about a corporate donation from Enron, for example. Mr. Powers stated that the Committee recommendations leave open the possibility that people could donate money in the name of a local person in a sponsored fund. The name of Bill Nee comes to mind, because the Foundation already has $5,000 that has been donated in his name in a memorial fund. The idea is that they would include a sponsored fund in someone's name as an option for potential donors to consider. Someone wishing to donate to the SPRING project could do so by contributing to the Bill Nee fund and those dollars ultimately could be used to name a room or facility after the late mayor. They feel that all the naming rights need to have a price, because if you take away price, you have a situation in which everybody wants to qualify. If you decided that you were going to name the three classrooms for people who had volunteered at Springbrook, you could end up with a list of 120 names and reasons why all should be considered. Mr. Powers stated that he had a sample of what the Fundraising committee is thinking about for recognition with the SPRING project. It has been set up so that if somebody or some organization wanted to put up a lot of money for the project, there would be a certain amount of exclusivity with the sizable donation and they may have the interpretive facility named just for themselves. That would likely be it for the building, you wouldn't have any other donors named for rooms in the facility. We could also have a situation similar to the Fridley Community Center project, where we don't have someone's name on the building, but we do have several groups who have their name affiliated with the various rooms. The proposed recognition also goes down to smaller amounts that can recognize individuals who donate. Ms. Sibell stated that she thought the proposal for fundraising was very thoughtful and has a very sound, logical approach to it. There has obviously been a considerable amount of thought and effort put into the document presented tonight. It does a good job of identifying and covering areas of future concern. Mr. Mitchell stated he would like to point out that the proposed guidelines call for the top two levels of naming of improvements would require the City to take official action to approve. The top level of givers would be approved by the City Council. The proposal recommends that the ne�t two levels (three and four) could allow the Parks and Recreation Director to approve, in consultation with the City Manager, the Mayor, the City Council and the Parks and Recreation Commission. Below that, if an individual or group met the guidelines, the recognition could happen as promoted. An example of this would be an individual having their name on a paving brick The whole reason for this approach is so all of the Parks and Recreation Commission Meetin� - Februarv 6, 2006 Pa�e 7 smaller donations don't need to come back and take up the time of the City Council. Mr. Kondrick stated that he thought that was a very fair approach. Mr. Heintz stated that overall he liked what has been presented. He is one of those people who doesn't think everything is for sale and he does not like the idea of naming the overall building for anyone or any group. He doesn't think the name should be taken away from Springbrook. He has no problem with sponsorships for the classrooms or exhibit area or garden areas. He just doesn't want another name associated with the larger interpretive building. Mr. Mitchell stated that the experts in the fundraising arena are telling us that we need to have an opportunity here that is big enough to attract some big dollars. That is the challenge we have, how to raise the kind of dollars we need and provide the recognition that the major donor is looking for. Mr. Kirk stated that at this point, the Commission could put forth a recommendation on the concept of recognition for the fundraising levels, but a final plan with actual defined dollar levels for the donations would have to come at a later date. It would also be helpful to have some discussion with the City Council on this recognition concept. Mr. Kondrick agreed that we are not a point of recommending a final plan, rather we need to forward the basic concept of this recognition plan to the City Council to get their ideas and thoughts on this. This is a good start, a good beginning for the recognition of donors for the SPRING project. MOTION by Ms. Sibell, seconded by Ms. Varichak to approve in principle the recognition guidelines for the Springbrook Nature Center SPRING project as proposed to the Commission by the Springbrook Nature Center Foundation. This motion recognizes that the feasibility study is yet to be finalized, so the dollar amounts for different giving levels will come at a later date. It also recognizes the concerns that were raised about the top level of giving and naming of the interpretive center. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. c. Showmobile Rental Request by Mound Fire Department Mr. Kirk stated that the City has received an application for use of the Showmobile from the Mound Fire Department for a concert on June 17, 2006. Ms. Sibell pointed out that the requested date is the same weekend as 49er Days and the Showmobile will be in use. MOTION by Mr. Heintz, seconded by Ms. Sibell, to deny the request from the Mound Fire Department for use of the Showmobile due to the conflict with our own 49er Days. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. d. Park Boundary Signs Mr. Kirk stated that there are several park areas in our city where the boundary is not necessarily clear between park property and private property. There have been several incidences where a homeowner has "e�ended" a backyard beyond the private property and into park land. There have also been several cases where yard debris, branches and brush are piled up in the park land instead of on private property. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetin� - Februarv 6, 2006 Pa�e 8 It normally takes place in the more natural park areas of our city, but showing where the park boundary is might be a help. Mr. Kirk stated that he recently came across a park boundary sign used by Three Rivers Park District and he has included a picture of this sign in the agenda packet. Staff is proposing that we have some similar signs made for the Fridley parks and use them when needed to delineate the park boundary when we have some issues. Ms. Sibell stated that she has a problem with putting up these signs. She said she doesn't like excess signage in our parks and doesn't really this type of sign. MOTION by Ms. Varichak, seconded by Mr. Heintz, to approve the staff recommended park boundary signs. UPON A VOICE VOTE, MEMBERS VARICHAK, HEINTZ AND KONDRICK VOTING AYE, MEMBER SIBELL VOTING NAY, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED e. Request For Canoeing Demonstration at Moore Lake Mr. Kirk stated that they have received a request from a business to do canoeing demonstrations at Moore Lake on a regular basis throughout the summer. We do not have a canoe launch at the beach area, so there would be a concern about a safe access to the water. If the beach area were to be used for launching canoes, it would be a conflict with the swimmers. Mr. Kirk further stated that he is opposed to any selling by this business going on at the park. He is not opposed to them coming out to the lake and allowing a potential customer to try a canoe or kayak. He further stated that a better location to demo canoes at Moore Lake would be on the opposite side of the lake by Fridley High School. The high school uses a short path through the sand dunes area to get to the waterfront and launch canoes for their physical education classes. Mr. Kondrick suggested that staff get together with a representative of this business and get more detailed information on what exactly they would like to do at Moore Lake. MOTION by Mr. Heintz, seconded by Ms. Varichak, to table this agenda item until additional information can be gained from the business making the request. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE ITEM TABLED. f. Softball Tournament Application — Fridley Wrestling Boosters Mr. Kirk stated that the City of Fridley has received a softball tournament application from the Fridley Wrestling Boosters to use Community Park on June 16 — 18 of this year. This would be the 13t'` annual 7ohn Gargaro Memorial Tournament, which would run during our city celebration (Fridley 49er Days). Mr. Kirk further stated that because the back two fields (fields #5 &#6) would likely not be available due to the field restoration project at Community Park, he would recommend approval of the tournament request at 2/3 the rate for a non-profit group or $667 plus tax. He would further recommend that the organization submit a$200 clean-up deposit prior to the tournament and that the Wrestling Boosters pay for any additional equipment needed for the tournament such as additional portable toilets. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetin� - Februarv 6, 2006 Pa�e 9 MOTION by Ms. Varichak, seconded by Mr. Heintz, to approve the softball tournament request by the Fridley Wrestling Boosters for use of Community Park ballfields on June 16-18, 2006, with all of the recommendations stipulated by staff. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Ms. Varichak, seconded by Ms. Sibell to adjourn the February 6, 2006 meeting at 9:25 p.m. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE FEBRUARY 6, 2006 MEETING ADJOURNED.