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PR 02/04/2008 - 29884CITY OF FRIDLEY PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING — FEBRUARY 4, 2008 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Kondrick called the February 4, 2008 Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting to order at 7:08 p.m. ROLL CALL: Members Present Others Present Dave Kondrick, Michele Barrett, Mike Heintz, Tim Solberg 7ack Kirk, Director of Parks and Recreation Dave Lindquist, Parks Supervisor APPROVAL OF JANUARY 7, 2008 PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES MOTION by Mr. Solberg, seconded by Ms. Barrett to approve the minutes of the January 7, 2008 meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. APPROVAL OF PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION AGENDA FOR FEBRUARY 4, 2008 MOTION by Mr. Heintz, seconded by Mr. Solberg, to approve the agenda for the February 4, 2008 meeting as submitted by staff. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. 1. STAFF REPORT a. Program Update Mr. Kirk stated that the Program Update includes a year end report of the Chores and More program. This program provides home maintenance and household repair services to the seniors in our community and, in some cases, may allow certain seniors to remain in their own home. The number of households served by this program in 2007 was very significant. There were 330 different households that benefited from this program last year. Over 6800 worker hours and over 1200 volunteer hours went into making this program a success. Terri Brooke is the coordinator of this program for us and she does a great job. Mr. Kondrick stated that the final number of hours of people that helped out other people in our community is really remarkable. That is a lot of time that people are investing in the community that we live in, helping other people that often cannot help themselves. It is important that we get the word out to let people know about this program. Mr. Kirk stated that Connie Thompson, Senior Citizen Program Supervisor, started a new program this past month at the Senior Center. The title of the program is "Donut make you wonder". The seniors gather with some coffee and donuts to listen to a guest speaker and discuss the topic of the month. The Parks and Recreation Commission Meetin� — Februarv 4, 2008 Pa�e 2 first session was on the JFK assassination. There were nine seniors in attendance and the feedback was very positive. Mr. Kirk stated that at the last Commission meeting in January, one of the Commission members had asked about the attendance at the Springbrook Nature Center New Year's Eve event. He did not have the numbers at that meeting, but wants to report that there were 65 people that participated in the activities. b. Park Maintenance Report Mr. Lindquist stated that during the month of January, they were kept busy maintaining the ice rinks. It was a fairly easy month for making and keeping the ice due to the colder temperatures. Vandalism has been minimal over the past month, so they weren't called away to attend to those types of repairs. Mr. Lindquist further stated that the Parks employees helped prepare for the activities in the Parks and Recreation Winterfest activity. Mr. Lindquist stated that they had a little issue over at West Moore Lake that was brought to his attention by a State of Minnesota inspector. He told us that the aerator on the west basin of the lake, just off of Medtronic Parkway, is not functioning properly. It does not appear that the aerator is effective and we are going to need to discuss what to do in terms of repair or replacement. Mr. Lindquist stated that they had another incident at Moore Lake last week where one of his workers noticed something on the ice near the open water. He retrieved the items and reported to the police that he found a hat, gloves and driver's license. It turns out that the name on the license matched the name of a Fridley man that was reported missing for five days. The Sheriff's Department dive team came to Moore Lake the ne�t day and recovered the body in the water. Mr. Kirk stated that Dave Lindquist was very helpful to the Police and Sheriff's Departments by opening the Moore Lake beach building to be used as a staging area for this recovery operation. Both Departments have called and thanked our Parks people for the accommodations. Mr. Kondrick stated that, in his opinion, Mr. Lindquist does a very good job for the City and should be recognized for that. He thanked Mr. Lindquist for his work and for the monthly reports. c. Springbrook Nature Center Report Mr. Kirk stated that the Springbrook Nature Center was the location for an event hosted by the Fridley Lions Club on Friday, January 24t'`. Appro�mately 300 people attended a Wine Tasting fundraiser. Those in attendance were very positive on Springbrook as the site for this type of event. Mr. Kondrick stated that he was at the event and thought it was very well done. He further stated that it was crowded and would really be nice to have a larger facility to accommodate these types of events. Mr. Kirk stated that he went to the State Capitol on Thursday, January 31gt with Siah St. Clair and Malcolm Mitchell to discuss the Springbrook Nature Center proposed improvement project with Representative Laine and State Finance Department officials. There is an emphasis being placed on projects being considered for this year's bonding bill to be able to initiate jobs as soon as possible. Our discussion with State officials was on restructuring the SPRING project proposal to be divided into phases and the early phases of the project not requiring matching local funds. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetin� — Februarv 4, 2008 Pa�e 3 Mr. Kirk further stated that the project would still require $2.5 million dollars to be raised locally. The Springbrook Nature Center Foundation has pledged to coordinate the raising of these dollars and their plan is to commence the fundraising when the City is approved a part of the state bonding bill. Mr. Kirk further stated that on February lgt, Siah St. Clair made a presentation on the Spring Project to the Environmental, Energy, and Natural Resources Committee of the Minnesota State Senate. d. Winterfest 2008 Mr. Kirk stated that this year's Winterfest was the best one yet. There were over 600 people that participated in the event. It was a mild day, weather-wise, so the outdoor activities were a big hit. The Fridley Lions Club, the Fridley American Legion Post #303, and the Fridley VFW Post #363 all contributed dollars to help make this event a success. We had a number of community partners for this event and they are all listed on the write up in the Commission member's packets. Mr. Kirk stated he wanted to thank Commission member Barrett for attending the event and he hoped her family had a good time. Ms. Barrett stated that they did enjoy themselves. e. Centerpoint Energy Pipeline Easement Mr. Kirk stated that at the January 7t'` Commission meeting, a motion was passed supporting the easement requests by Centerpoint Energy to construct a natural gas pipeline through some of the City parks. The support of the motion was contingent upon working out all of the details listed on Exhibit C, which outlined the requirements for construction and communication expected by both parties for the easement agreement. Mr. Kirk further stated that City staff and Centerpoint Energy representatives reached an agreement on Exhibit C and on Monday, January 28t'`, the City Council approved the easement requests. 2. NEW BUSINESS a. Showmobile Rental Request — City of Spring Lake Park Mr. Kirk stated that a request has been received from the City of Spring Lake Park to rental our showmobile for their Tower Days celebration on June 8, 2008. We have rented to Spring Lake Park for many years now and have not had any problems with their using of the unit. Staff would recommend approval of this rental request at the normal rental rates. Mr. Solberg suggested that we look at the possibility of a per mile charge for moving of the showmobile to account for both personnel used and fuel costs. Mr. Kirk stated that the rental agreement could be looked at to include those items. MOTION by Mr. Solberg, seconded by Ms. Barrett, to approve the showmobile rental request from the City of Spring Lake Park for use on June 8, 2008 with regular rental rates to apply. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetin� — Februarv 4, 2008 Pa�e 4 b. FYSA Baseball Tournament Applications Mr. Kirk stated that the City has received five applications from the Fridley Youth Sports Association for baseball tournaments this upcoming season. The tournament dates are as follows: • May 3& 4 Request use of the Little League Fields and possibly Commons #2 • May 17 & 18 Request use of Commons #1 • May 30 — June 1 Request use of all Little League Fields • June 21 & 22 Request use of all Little League Fields • August 2& 3 Request use of all Little League Fields Mr. Kirk further stated that the City normally charges a rate of $75 per field for each tournament, plus the cost of a garbage dumpster and the cost of any portable toilets required for the tournament. The need for a dumpster and the portable toilet facilities depends on the size of the tournament being planned. Mr. Kirk would recommend approval on all of these tournaments. Mr. Lindquist stated that he had a concern about the availability of Little League Field #4 for the August 2"d and 3rd weekend. The City has been working with the FYSA baseball program and the high school to do some renovations to that field. It will likely be during that time when the work on that field will be underway. Mr. Heintz asked if it was possible to have the field completed before the August tournament. Mr. Lindquist stated that it was possible, depending on when they had access to the field to start the work. MOTION by Mr. Heintz, seconded by Mr. Solberg, to approve the baseball tournament requests from the Fridley Youth Sports Association for baseball tournaments on May 3& 4; May 17 & 18; May 30 through June 1; June 21 & 22; and August 2& 3. It needs to be understood by FYSA that Field #4 at the Little League complex may not be available during the August 2& 3 tournament due to planned field renovations. City staffwould work with the FYSA on a possible alternate location. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. 3. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Mr. Solberg, seconded by Ms. Barrett to adjourn the February 4, 2008 meeting at 8:06 p.m. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE FEBRUARY 4, 2008 MEETING ADJOURNED.