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PR 10/06/2008 - 29891CITY OF FRIDLEY PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING — OCTOBER 6, 2008 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Kondrick called the October 6, 2008 Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting to order at 7:04 p. m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Dave Kondrick, Michele Barrett, Marcy Sibell, Tim Solberg Others Present: Jack Kirk, Director of Parks and Recreation Dave Lindquist, Parks Supervisor Connie Thompson, Senior Citizen Program Supervisor APPROVAL OF SEPTEMBER 8, 2008 PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES MOTION by Mr. Solberg, seconded by Ms. Barrett, to approve the minutes of the September 8, 2008 meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. APPROVAL OF PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION AGENDA FOR OCTOBER 6, 2008 MOTION by Ms. Barrett, seconded by Ms. Sibell, to approve the agenda for the October 6, 2008 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 there is a written Program Update included in the Commission meeting packet for this month. You can see in the Update that staff has been very busy running many programs and activities. The Nature Center staff is working with the environmental education program in the elementary schools, the Recreation Division staff have started the after school activities for students and the Senior Program is back in full swing after the summer months. Mr. Kirk further stated that the department participated in the Banfill Locke Center for the Arts special event on Sunday, September 14t". The fall softball program is now over for the season and the football league is nearing the end of the regular season. Mr. Kirk stated that the ZONE is the teen center program at the Fridley Community Center. Attendance during the first week of the school year was great when we had over 360 kids participate. We made the first week free admission to promote the program. Now that there is an entry fee at the ZONE, the attendance has dropped off. The cost is only $2 per day and is even less expensive if they get a 25 day pass for $25. That really seems like a pretty reasonable fee for a daily admission. We really would like to see the bigger numbers at the ZONE on a daily basis. The answer may be a sponsor of the program, so we can make the activity free on certain days. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — October 6, 2008 Paqe 2 b. Park Maintenance Report Mr. Lindquist stated that during the past month, the Park Maintenance crew has been busy mowing all of the park areas and Water Department properties, City Hall, and the fire stations. They also mow the University Avenue right-of-way. They have also been preparing football and softball fields for game play and cleaning the park buildings. Mr. Lindquist further stated that they have been working on the path at Farr Lake Park and around the pond. They removed the old asphalt and are completing the wood chip trail. They helped get ready for the 49er Days Oktoberfest event at Commons Park on September 27t" They also moved the Showmobile for a couple of events. Mr. Lindquist stated that they will be blowing out the irrigation systems and shutting off the drinking fountains very soon in preparation for the colder weather. c. Springbrook Nature Center Report Mr. Kirk stated that we try to give you a report on Springbrook Nature Center related items at each Commission meeting. There are three items on this report. First, staff at Springbrook has completely revised the new environmental science curriculum for Fridley's third and fourth grade classes. It involved the creation of new props and teaching materials. The second item is that maintenance staff has had to deal with several large trees that had been cut by beavers in the park and then fell over and blocked the trail. The third item is that staff continues to work on specifications for the boardwalk and bridges to be used with the 85t" Avenue Trail Project. d. Pumpkin Night in the Park Mr. Kirk stated that the Pumpkin Night in the Park event at Springbrook Nature Center is a week from Saturday on October 18t". He invited the Commission members to attend this very popular community event. e. Senior Program Report — Connie Thompson Mr. Kondrick stated that the Commission had asked to have a report from Connie Thompson on the Senior Citizen Program activities and services. He is pleased that Connie is at tonight's meeting to give the report. Ms. Thompson stated that due to some construction work at the Community Center this past summer, the Senior Program activities were relocated to Hayes Elementary School. They have now moved back to the Community Center. The temporary move to Hayes was positive because we now have some seniors who are volunteering to help students in reading and math at the elementary school. Ms. Thompson stated that a recent development is that the Senior Program was given a $5,000 grant from Humana to help pay for the senior newsletter, sponsor some special events and cover costs for birthday lunches at Congregate Dining. We were one of four senior centers to receive a grant of this type from Humana. Ms. Thompson further stated that the Senior Program also received a New Initiative Grant from the Minnesota Recreation and Park Foundation for a Wii Play for a Wellness program. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — October 6, 2008 Paqe 3 We were able to purchase two Nintendo Wii units and are using them for active senior activities such as bowling. Ms. Thompson stated that they try to provide fitness and active lifestyle opportunities and they now have four different types of fitness classes. Ms. Thompson stated that they recently had their fall kick-off event and had 234 people show up for Congregate Dining. They are still the largest dining site in Anoka County and one of the largest in the metro area. She attributes the great program to Lois and Jean, the dining coordinators. They do a great job. Ms. Thompson stated that this Wednesday is the Senior Safety Camp. It is a take off on the very popular children's Safety Camp held each summer. The topics at the senior camp are specific to the senior citizen population. At this year's camp they will have a speaker related to security at the Republican National Convention. They also will be offering flu shots for seniors this week. Ms. Thompson stated that a new program they have started is a technology education class that is taught by Best Buy. They introduce the seniors to the new technology being used like digital cameras and phones. They would like to roll this program out nationwide and we are the first place they are trying this. Programs are once per month. Ms. Thompson stated that another program that they are really excited about is the Great Decisions series that is run in cooperation with the University of Minnesota. This is a series of lectures on foreign policy decisions and the speakers have been phenomenal. The last session was on issues dealing with Iran. Next month's topic is the European Union at 50 years. Ms. Thompson stated that they also work with an attorney to run a series called LegalWise. She had 35 seniors in attendance at the last program and it also runs on local cable TV. Ms. Thompson further stated that service to the community is also important at the Senior Program and a relatively new program is called "Rockin Nanas". The seniors volunteer to visit the infant child care area and rock the babies. They also have tutors in the school. The Campaign of Cheer and the "JAMS" group make clothing and lap items for hospitals and the needy. They use donated fabric to make the items. Ms. Thompson stated that they work with the High School to provide a dinner theater for the seniors. They have a nice dinner in the cafeteria, followed by attending the high school play in the auditorium. They usually have around 200 seniors that participate in this program. This program has won the Hennepin Trust Spot light award for the past 3 years. Ms. Thompson stated that she wanted to tell the Commission about the Chores and More Program. It is coordinated by Terri Brooke and is funded by a Title 3 federal grant. Terri is really doing some great things with a small budget. This program hires independent contractors that do some chores and minor home repair in senior's homes. This year to date they have accomplished over 5,700 hours, and we had 60 new seniors that had never been in the program before. We are now servicing over 330 households and over 450 clients in both Columbia Heights and Fridley. Yard work and snow removal are the most requested services. Mr. Solberg asked how the seniors arranged for the Chore Program to come to their home. Ms. Thompson said they call the senior office, talk with Terri about what needs to be done and she matches up a worker to take care of their projects. The seniors pay what they can afford for the service and the grant allows for some subsidy money to cover the balance of the worker's pay. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — October 6, 2008 Paqe 4 Mr. Solberg stated that the Senior Program in Fridley offers a tremendous amount of activity and service to the seniors. He feels very good about what is available for seniors in our community. Ms. Thompson stated the last thing she wanted to talk with the Commission about was our future and the direction we are going. We are reaching a lot of seniors with current programs, but we want to the program to continue to grow with new involvement. We are not reaching a lot of seniors in the 50 to 65 age bracket. What she is toying with doing is marketing directly to that age group, but they don't necessarily want to go to a"senior center". Some of the activities such as exercise, defensive driving, Legal Wise, the Great Discussions group, art activities and day trips may very well appeal to this group. They will need to put this information in a different marketing piece than other senior information. The Commission thought this would be a good idea. Ms. Barrett stated that many of the activities are currently offered during the day and people in this age group may still be working. Different activity times and weekends may be needed. Mr. Kondrick stated that it is amazing what is going on at our Senior Program. He thanked Ms. Thompson for her presentation and her good work with the seniors. f. Parks and Recreation Activities Brochure Mr. Kirk stated that he wanted the Commission members to be aware of the discontinuation of the mass mailing of the Parks and Recreation Department brochure as a money saving approach. This came up during the budget preparation process and will go into effect for 2009. They have a long history of providing this publication to every household in the community, so this change will take some getting used to. They will still mail the brochure to households that have been participating in the programs or to households that request a mailing. The brochure will be made available on the city's website and copies will be available at City Hall. They will be working hard at other direct marketing pieces to get the word out on their programs. Mr. Kirk further stated that having the brochure on the website will work great for some people, but we know that 30% of our residents do not have the internet. It will be more of a challenge to get the information to these people. Mr. Solberg asked if the Parks and Recreation Department had talked with any other municipalities that had done a similar discontinuation of the brochure and did those cities have a fall off in their registration numbers. Mr. Kirk stated that they have talked to many other cities about this and almost all cities still mail a brochure to everyone. He does know that Bloomington only sends out a summer brochure to everyone and then uses the City Newsletter to promote programs during other times of the year. Mr. Kondrick stated he feels that we need to monitor our registration numbers in the programs very closely and if this approach has a negative effect, the City may need to take a different approach with the brochure. Mr. Sibell asked if the residents were being notified of the change. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — October 6, 2008 Paqe 5 Mr. Kirk stated that there is an article in the next issue of the City Newsletter about the brochure and the last two brochures of the year include information on this change. Ms. Sibell asked if there was a cost analysis done on the brochure to see if such things as changing paper to newsprint or reducing the size of the publication would work instead of eliminating the brochure. Mr. Kirk stated that those approaches were looked at, but the bottom line was that postage was still a big factor when mailing to so many households. Mr. Kondrick stated that the Commission members need to be aware of this change in promoting the Parks and Recreation programs, as we may get questions and comments from residents about the brochure. We need to tell them that we are going to monitor to this approach very closely and may need to make changes again in the future. 2. NEW BUSINESS a. 2008 — 2009 Skating Rink Locations Mr. Kirk stated that staff is recommending the same skating locations as last year for the hockey and general skating rinks this winter. There would be one supervised warming house at Commons Park, which has two hockey rinks, the skating oval and the sliding hill in one area. The general rink locations being suggested by staff would be Briardale Park, Commons Park, Creekridge Park, Flanery Park, Hackmann Park, Hayes Elementary, Logan Park, Madsen Park, Ruth Circle Park, Stevenson Elementary, Summit Square Park, and Sylvan Hills Park. The hockey rink locations being suggested are two rinks at Commons Park and one rink each at Flanery Park, Hayes Elementary, Madsen Park, Ruth Circle Park and Stevenson Elementary. MOTION by Ms. Barrett, seconded by Mr. Solberg, to approve the staff recommended 2008 — 2009 skating rink locations. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. b. Park Service Area Study — Areas 21 — 30 Mr. Kirk stated that the Park Service Area Study is an update of the plan that we completed approximately ten years ago. It will serve as a supplement to the Parks and Open Space section of the City's Comprehensive Plan. The study looks at all residential areas of our community and determines how well that area is served by parks and recreation facilities. It takes into consideration the City and County parks, as well as public school grounds. The 1997 study used 40 different park service area and we will use those same areas in the 2008 updated version. The first ten park service areas were discussed at the August Parks and Recreation Commission meeting and the second ten were discussed at the September meeting. Areas 21 through 30 will be discussed tonight. Mr. Kirk stated that the real key information in the study is the action plan for each area. He would like to address the action plan at this time for park service areas 21 through 30. Mr. Kirk stated that area #21 is the Creekridge Park area. This area is south of Rice Creek and north of Mississippi Street with a western border of Central Avenue and an eastern border of Stinson Boulevard. The action plan for this area is as follows: Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — October 6, 2008 Paqe 6 • Place the hard surface court areas on a regular upgrade and maintenance schedule. • No changes planned for the park — maintain current facilities Mr. Kirk stated that area #22 is Ed Wilmes Park. This area is bordered on the west by the Mississippi River, on the east by East River Road, on the north by the Banfill Locke House and on the south by 62"d Way. The action plan for Ed Wilmes Park is as follows: • No changes planned for park — maintain current facilities Mr. Kirk stated that area #23 is the Ashton area. This area is south of Mississippi Street just west of the Burlington Northern railroad track, east of East River Road and north of 61St Way. The action plan for this area is as follows: • Include this area with the Edgewater Gardens Park area when planning for recreation facilities. • Promote continued maintenance of the regional bikeway/walkway system to link the neighborhood with City, County, and School District recreation opportunities. Mr. Kirk stated that area #24 is Sylvan Hills Park. This area is located south of Mississippi Street, with an eastern border of University Avenue, a western border of the railroad tracks and a southern boundary of 61 St Avenue. The action plan for this area is as follows: • Place the hard surface court areas on a regular upgrade and maintenance schedule. • No changes planned for the park — maintain current facilities. Mr. Kirk stated that area #25 is the North Moore Lake Area. This park service area is south of Mississippi Street between Highway 65 and Central Avenue. The southern border of this area is East Moore Lake Drive. The action plan for this area is as follows: • Promote continued operation and maintenance of the Central Avenue bikeway/walkway system to link this area with regional trails and other city and county facilities. Mr. Kirk stated that area #26 is Harris Lake Park. It is the area south of Mississippi Street and east of Central Avenue. The eastern border is Stinson Boulevard and the southern border is Rice Creek Road. The action plan for this area is as follows: • No changes planned for the park — maintain current facilities Mr. Kirk stated that area #27 is River Edge Way Park and Stevenson Elementary School. This area is located along the Mississippi River just south of River Edge Way, west of East River Road and north of I-694. The action plan for this area is as follows: • Cooperate with School District #14 on the maintaining of the playground equipment at Stevenson School for neighborhood use. • Maintain neighborhood access via trails to the school district playground and park area. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — October 6, 2008 Paqe 7 Mr. Kirk stated that area #28 is Commons Park. This is the largest park service area in the City and is located south of Mississippi Street, between University Avenue and Highway 65. This large area is north of I-694. The action plan is as follows: • Install a hard surface path at the West Moore Lake Dunes area. • Replace the warming house with a new building to include a storage area, as a cooperative project with the Fridley High School Building Trades class. • Upgrade and expand the upper parking lot by the warming house at Commons Park — scheduled for 2010 in the Parks CIP. • Consider replacement of the old turf irrigation system at Commons Park. • Replace the dugouts with a fenced team bench area on all fields at the Ray Thompson Little League Fields. Mr. Kondrick stated that we could really use a replacement warming house at Commons Park, one that is nicer for than the current one. Mr. Kirk stated that he would favor a multi-use building at Commons Park. He would like to see a building that could serve as a warming house, a storage facility and even a concession stand for the many activities that take place in the Commons Park and Middle School athletic area. Mr. Kirk stated that area #29 is Moore Lake Park. This area is located south of East Moore Lake Drive, east of Highway 65 and north of Gardena Avenue. The action plan for this area is as follows: • Replace the remaining old picnic shelters at Moore Lake Park. • Improve landscaping around the flagpole in the plaza area at the south end of the park. • Consider buying properties to the north of the existing park (as they become available on the market) to expand the park and natural area trails. • Place the hard surface court areas on a regular upgrade and maintenance schedule. • Replace the sand in the two sand volleyball courts with a fine grade material (masonry sand). Mr. Kirk stated that service area #30 is the Briardale Park area. This area is located east of the Moore Lake Park Service area, south of Rice Creek Road, west of Stinson Boulevard and north of Gardena Avenue. The action plan for this area is as follows: • Place the hard surface court areas on a regular upgrade and maintenance schedule. • Replace the old picnic shelter with a new open-air shelter — scheduled for 2009 in the Parks CIP. MOTION by Mr. Solberg, seconded by Ms. Barrett, to approve the staff recommended action plan for park service areas #21 through #30. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — October 6, 2008 Paqe 8 UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. c. 2009 Commission Meeting Schedule Mr. Kondrick stated that the Commission members have before them a proposed schedule of meeting dates for 2009. The proposed meetings are generally on the first Monday of the month at 7:00 p.m. The proposed schedule for 2009 is as follows: • January 5 • February 2 • March 2 • April6 • May 4 • June 1 • July 6 (tentative) • August 3 • September 7 • October 5 • November 2 • December 7 MOTION by Ms. Sibell, seconded by Mr. Solberg, to approve the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting schedule for 2009 as proposed in the meeting agenda packet. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Mr. Solberg, seconded by Ms. Barrett, to adjourn the October 6, 2008 meeting at 8:28 p.m. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE OCTOBER 6, 2008 MEETING ADJOURNED.