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PR 12/01/2008 - 29893CITY OF FRIDLEY PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING — DECEMBER 1, 2008 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Sibell called the December 1, 2008 Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting to order at 7:10 p. m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Marcy Sibell, Michele Barrett, Mike Heintz, Dave Kondrick, Tim Solberg Others Present: Jack Kirk, Director of Parks and Recreation Dave Lindquist, Parks Supervisor Dan Coulliard, 914 68t" Avenue NE APPROVAL OF NOVEMBER 3, 2008 PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES MOTION by Mr. Kondrick, seconded by Mr. Solberg, to approve the minutes of the November 3, 2008 meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SIBELL DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. APPROVAL OF PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION AGENDA FOR DECEMBER 1, 2008 MOTION by Mr. Kondrick, seconded by Mr. Heintz, to approve the agenda for the December 1, 2008 meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SIBELL DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. 1. STAFF REPORT a. Program Update Mr. Kirk stated that the Program Update has been included in the meeting packet to provide Commission members with information on some of the programs and events over the past month. He wanted to call attention the Veteran's Day program at the Senior Center. There were over 200 people that attended this year's event. The guest speaker was Christy Sauro, who spoke about the Twins Platoon. The Twins Platoon was a group of soldiers who were sworn in at a Minnesota Twins baseball game and went to Vietnam together. It was a very interesting presentation. Mr. Kirk further stated that there is additional program information in the written update. The activities, programs and events have been going quite well. The staff is in the process of registration for the winter programs and many of those will be starting in the next couple of weeks. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq — December 1, 2008 Paqe 2 b. Park Maintenance Report Mr. Lindquist stated that during the past month, the Park Maintenance crew had spent a lot of their time cleaning up leaves in the parks, putting summer equipment away, getting winter equipment ready, preparing berms for the rinks, and checking out the skating rink lighting. They also have been putting up safety fencing at the Commons sliding hill and decorative lights next to the skating oval. They have also been taking care of some graffiti on the storage building on Cheri Lane. Mr. Lindquist further stated that the maintenance workers have also been doing safety inspections on the playgrounds and park areas. They started putting water on the skating and hockey rinks in the past week. Mr. Lindquist stated the little brick building at Riverview Heights Park has been taken down and the area has been restored. He thought that it looked very nice down there now. c. Springbrook Nature Center Report Mr. Kirk stated that Springbrook had a contractor replace 200 feet of boardwalk on the east hiking trail of the park with recycled plastic lumber. The project was made possible with funds from the City of Fridley recycling program. Mr. Kirk further stated that the Springbrook Nature Center Foundation recently received a $10,000 grant from Excel Energy to support programs and activities at the Nature Center. He also stated that the Foundation was continuing to work on fundraising for the SPRING project. Mr. Kirk stated that City staff is still working on the details for the 85t" Avenue bikeway project on the north side of the nature center. The bid opening is scheduled for next week. d. Community Park Ballfields Progress Report Mr. Kirk stated that the Community Park ballfields project is in its third year and it was expected to be completed by this fall. All of the work was not completed this fall and it will now carry over into next spring and summer. It is frustrating that it did not get finished this year and it will mean that we will have to pay to rent fields from neighboring communities once again next year in order to run our softball programs. Mr. Kirk further stated that the grading got completed on the final two fields about two months later than scheduled and the irrigation contractor could not get started on time. With the delay, the irrigation contractor did not get the opportunity to finish the work before the cold weather and has to come back next spring. When the irrigation part of the project is complete, the fields will then be seeded and it will take most of next year to grow the turf. Mr. Lindquist stated that there was also a shortage of fill material toward the end of the project this year. There was not enough sand from the street project to raise the fields up to the height required. Some of the material brought in to fill the fields may have been less desirable, but it was all that was available. Mr. Solberg asked if the less than desirable material was actually used for the fields and if so, wasn't that defeating the purpose of why the fields were being worked on. Mr. Lindquist stated that some of that material did in fact get used on the fields. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetina — December 1. 2008 Paae 3 Mr. Kirk stated that they were trying to monitor the quality of the material throughout the grading process and when some questionable material appeared on site, he asked our Public Works/Engineering staff about its suitability. Our Engineering staff has assured him that it is going to work and the material in question is a granular material that will perform as needed for the fields to drain. Mr. Kirk stated that the reason this item was placed on the agenda was to bring the Commission up to date and to let them know the project is not on schedule. It is expected to be completed next year. 2. NEW BUSINESS a. 2009 Adult Softball Fees Mr. Kirk stated that he has the staff proposed Adult softball league fees for 2009. Staff is recommending a slight increase in fees for this year due to an increase in the umpiring fees. The increase actually amounts to a$1 per game increase per team. Mr. Kirk stated the Monday through Thursday Leagues would be raised from $720 to $742. The Sunday League would go from $649 to $669. The Friday night Co-Rec League would go from $440 to $455. The difference in league fees is due to the number of games each league plays. MOTION by Mr. Heintz, seconded by Mr. Kondrick, to approve the staff recommended adult softball league fees for 2009 UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SIBELL DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. b. Moore Lake Proposed Project (Daniel Coulliard) Mr. Kirk stated that he received a call several weeks ago from Mr. Dan Coulliard, a student at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN (and a Fridley resident for many years) about an idea he had for better lighting at Moore Lake Park. Mr. Coulliard asked if he could address the Parks and Recreation Commission and Mr. Kirk said that he would put the item on the December agenda. Mr. Coulliard sent an introductory letter which was included with the agenda packet. Mr. Coulliard stated that he is a fifteen plus years resident of Fridley and grew up playing sports in the various Fridley parks. He has not had any problems with the parks, but this past summer he spent a lot of time at Moore Lake Park and thought some of the facility lighting could use some improvement. He played a lot of basketball and tennis at Moore Lake and felt the lighting was not very efficient or effective. The park has lighting for the tennis court and the parking lot, but often times the parking lot lights are not on. Some of the bulbs for the tennis court lights are burned out and the courts were not always with appropriate lighting levels. The basketball court is not lit at all and that is one of the most heavily used facilities at the park. He wanted to bring this information to the Parks and Recreation Commission so that in the future, better lighting might be something that could be installed at Moore Lake Park. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetina — December 1. 2008 Paae 4 Mr. Coulliard further stated that poor lighting is a problem for several reasons. First, it prevents Fridley residents from using the park to its full capacity. Secondly, safety becomes an issue for people using the park. Finally, the benefits that parks can provide are lost when the parks cannot be used to their full extent. Mr. Coulliard stated that to counter these problems, he would propose that the lighting issue at Moore Lake Park be looked into. Installing lights would allow our residents the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of the park. According to the Journal of Parks and Recreation, increased park use has many benefits including creating a better sense of community, increased opportunities for families and for the youth, and lower obesity rates. Better lighting would also bring increased safety and feelings of safety for those using the park. Also, according to Douglas Hartman (a University of Minnesota professor), nighttime park use such as basketball playing can help lower citywide crime. Mr. Coulliard further stated that although implementing better lighting would have initial costs, the benefits that would be brought to the city through the increased park use would outweigh these costs. He further stated that there are some new and less expensive lighting systems, including solar powered lights. Mr. Coulliard thanked the Commission for listening to his concerns and thanked the members for their service to the City. Ms. Sibell stated that Mr. Coulliard had done a very thorough assessment of the lighting situation at Moore Lake and thanked him for sharing his thoughts with the Commission. Mr. Kondrick asked if we have lights for the parking lot at Moore Lake. Mr. Lindquist stated that we have two light poles with lights adjacent to the parking lot that were installed to provide lighting for the hockey rink. They could possibly be adapted to provide some lights for the parking area. Mr. Kirk stated that during the summer months there is generally not a need for parking lot lights. The additional daylight hours provides natural light for much of the open hours of the park and the spillover lighting from the tennis courts also provides light for the parking lot. Mr. Kirk stated that lights for the parking lot at Moore Lake is not a request that have received before. Mr. Kondrick asked if the existing light poles at the park are in such a position to serve two or even three purposes. Could they light the tennis court, basketball court and the parking lot? Mr. Lindquist stated that the poles could possibly be utilized with some additional lights being installed on them. There may also be a need for some new wiring. Mr. Kondrick asked if the park system had any experience with solar lighting and the costs of that type of lighting. Mr. Lindquist stated that a solar lighting system would be very expensive for the amount of wattage to light these facilities. Most often, solar lighting is used for ornamental purposes and walking paths. Mr. Heintz stated that solar lighting may work to help light the parking lot, but would likely not work for the basketball court area. Possibly the City could get a grant to help with cost sharing on solar lighting. Mr. Solberg asked if we could use the existing poles and lights to use for the parking lot. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetina — December 1. 2008 Paae 5 Mr. Lindquist stated that they would have to put a different type of lighting fixture on the poles, because the existing flood lights are very bright and would overflow across the street to the residential area. Ms. Sibell stated that it does sound like staff could look into this overall request for more lighting at Moore Lake and report back to the Commission at a later date. Mr. Kirk stated that the possibility and the related costs could be looked into by staff. He thought the security lighting for the parking lot is a very good idea. MOTION by Ms. Barrett, seconded by Mr. Solberg, to receive the letter from Mr. Dan Coulliard regarding his proposal for lighting improvements at Moore Lake Park and to ask staff to look at the possibilities for improving the lighting of facilities at the park. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SIBELL DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Mr. Kondrick, seconded by Mr. Solberg, to adjourn the December 1, 2008 meeting at 8:32 p.m. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SIBELL DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE DECEMBER 1, 2008 MEETING ADJOURNED.