Loading...
PRM 05/04/2015 CITY OF FRIDLEY PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING – MAY 4, 2015 CALL TO ORDER: Vice-Chairperson Heintz called the May 4, 2015 Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Greg Ackerman, Mike Heintz, and Dave Kondrick Others Present: Jack Kirk, Director of Parks and Recreation APPROVAL OF MARCH 2, 2015 PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES MOTION by Mr. Ackerman, seconded by Mr. Kondrick, to approve the minutes of the March 2, 2015 meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, VICE-CHAIRPERSON HEINTZ DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. APPROVAL OF PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION AGENDA FOR MAY 4, 2015 Mr. Kirk requested to add item 2c to the agenda, the FYSA Baseball Tournament requests. MOTION by Mr. Kondrick, seconded by Mr. Ackerman, to approve the agenda for the May 4, 2015 meeting, with the addition of item 2c, the FYSA Baseball Tournament requests. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, VICE-CHAIRPERSON HEINTZ DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. 1. STAFF REPORT a. Program Update Mr. Kirk stated that the Program Update was included in the agenda packet to provide information on the Parks and Recreation Department program’s in the past month. Mr. Kirk stated that the Springbrook Nature Center had a community clean-up day on April th 18 and it was a huge success. There were 40 volunteers that worked hard picking up trash, improving trails, removing old fence posts, putting down wood chips and clearing an area for nature play. Home Depot supplied gloves and trash bags for the event. Mr. Kirk further stated that the Senior Tax Assistance program was a big success again this year. He will have the numbers on seniors served with this program available at the next meeting. Dan Gourde was the manager of the Tax Assistance program and did a great job. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting - May 4, 2015 Page 2 b. Park Maintenance Report Mr. Kirk stated that Jeff Jensen has provided a written report of Park Maintenance activities over the past month. During the month of April, the Parks Division has been busy preparing all the parks and athletic fields for the summer season. They have started mowing in some of the parks and should be on the full mowing schedule soon. They have multiple landscape projects that they have started on and will be working on more as they bring on the summer seasonal help. c.Springbrook Nature Center Report Mr. Kirk stated that Mike Maher provided a written report for the Commission that is in the agenda packet. The spring school programming is going well with programs in the Fridley schools and Adams Elementary. Several of the school classes will be making field trips to Springbrook this month. Summer camp planning is underway and three naturalists have been hired as camp staff. Registration is going well with about 70% of last year’s numbers reached already. Additional nature center information is in the written report. d. Commission Member Tim Solberg Retirement Mr. Kirk stated that long time Parks and Recreation Commission member and current Commission Chairperson Tim Solberg has notified him that he is retiring from the Commission. Tim has been a great member for nearly 26 years and we will miss his expertise and guidance. e. Commission Member Re-Appointments Mr. Kirk stated that on March 23, 2015, the Fridley City Council re-appointed Dave Kondrick and Greg Ackerman to new 3-year terms as members of the Parks and Recreation Commission. Mr. Kirk thanked both of them for their willingness to serve our community. f. Canada Goose Management Report Mr. Kirk stated that he recently received an e-mail from the head of the Canada Goose Management program. This is the organization that has been removing Canada Geese from the Moore Lake Park and Beach for over 20 years. The communication points to the success of the goose management program in the metro area. In 2013, the Canada Goose Management program removed 876 geese in the twin cities metro area. Last year, there were 692 geese removed. Just five years ago the organization removed 2,000 geese and in the 1990’s, they were removing about 8,000 geese per year. Mr. Kirk stated that the City of Fridley will be working with the Canada Goose Management Program again this year for goose removal at Moore Lake. g. Springbrook Nature Center Groundbreaking Mr. Kirk stated that the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Springbrook Nature Center th Interpretive Building will be held on Wednesday, May 20 at 9:30 a.m. A second groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 6:00 p.m. for those unable to attend the morning event. He invited the Commission members to attend. h. Springbrook Nature Center Spring Fling Event Mr. Kirk stated that the annual Spring Fling at Springbrook Nature Center will be held on th Saturday, May 16 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. There will be a petting zoo, climbing wall, entertainment, food and more. The Commission members are invited to attend. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting - May 4, 2015 Page 3 2. NEW BUSINESS a. Election of Officers Mr. Kirk stated that the Parks and Recreation Commission annually elects a Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson. The Chairperson presides over the meetings of the Parks and Recreation Commission and is a member of the City’s Planning Commission. The Vice-Chairperson acts as Chairperson, if the Chairperson is not able to attend the meeting. MOTION by Mr. Kondrick, seconded by Mr. Ackerman, to elect Mike Heintz as Chairperson and Greg Ackerman as Vice-Chairperson of the Parks and Recreation Commission. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, VICE-CHAIRPERSON HEINTZ DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. b. 5-Year Parks Capital Improvement Program Mr. Kirk stated that he is bringing the staff recommended Parks 5-Year Capital Improvement Program to the Parks and Recreation Commission for their consideration and input. He would like to hear the comments and suggestions of the Commission members regarding the plan. Mr. Kirk stated that he would like to go through the projects that are scheduled for 2016. One of the large items you will see on the plan for next year is the completion of the Springbrook Nature Center Interpretive building. We have $3 million in the 2015 Parks CIP and $2 million in next year’s plan. While the money for this project is coming from the State bonding grant and from the Springbrook Nature Center Foundation, it is a major park project and it should be listed in our Parks plan. Mr. Kirk further stated that the 2016 plan calls for court surfacing and overlays at an amount of $30,000. This part of the plan is to resurface and color-coat a number of our tennis and basketball courts in the park system. A review of the courts is done in the spring of the year and the courts in most need are then attended to. As a general rule, courts need to be recoated every three to four years in order to retain a good playing surface. Court surfacing is included each year in the CIP to keep our facilities in good condition. Mr. Kirk stated that there is $30,000 recommended for play equipment replacements. Many of our park play equipment structures are getting to be 20 or more years old and are showing their age. While $30,000 does not provide for a lot of play components, it would replace equipment at one of the smaller neighborhood parks. Mr. Heintz asked which park or parks would have the equipment replaced this year in 2015. Mr. Kirk stated that the play equipment replacement budget for this year will be used to replace individual components at several parks. He will be working with the Parks and Streets Supervisor to determine the locations and play structure components. Mr. Kirk further stated that the 2016 plan allows for $10,000 in park furnishings. This would be replacement benches, picnic tables, picnic grills and fencing in the parks. We try to include funding for replacing park furnishings in each year of the CIP plan. Mr. Kirk stated that the parking lots at Moore Lake are in need of replacement and the larger lot near the swimming beach is being scheduled for next year. We had $50,000 for this project in a previous 5-Year plan, but have since learned that there are watershed rules to Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting - May 4, 2015 Page 4 protect the lake that will require additional work related to the parking lot replacement. The amount in the 2016 plan for this Moore Lake parking lot is $90,000. Mr. Kirk stated that there is $25,000 for boardwalk/bridge replacement at Springbrook Nature Center in the plan. There is a 200 foot bridge over a section of the pond that is need of replacement. There is $250,000 in the 2015 CIP to replace the long floating boardwalk at the nature center this year. Mr. Kondrick asked if we would be using all of that amount on the long boardwalk. Mr. Kirk stated yes, that they have gotten some prices and it likely will take that full amount to complete the project. Mr. Kirk stated that another item listed in the 2016 CIP is security cameras in the parks. They plan to install some at Springbrook Nature Center this year as part of the work being done there. It is the plan to have cameras at Community Park and Commons Park next year. The cameras are installed to serve as a deterrent to vandalism and graffiti, as well as to capture images that may help in prosecuting the offenders. There is $30,000 in the plan for cameras in 2016. Mr. Kirk stated that there is a table in the packet that shows the projects listed for 2017 through 2020. The Commission members will see that many of the same project categories appear in each year of the plan. Staff believes that this plan will help us keep our park facilities in good condition for future years. Mr. Kirk stated that the Parks CIP has several funding sources. Funds will come from Local Government Aid monies, Park Dedication Fees, interest on investment of park reserve funds and some liquor store proceeds transferred to the parks fund. A breakdown of these costs is listed in the table of Parks Capital Improvement Program projections. MOTION by Mr. Kondrick, seconded by Mr. Ackerman to approve the staff recommended Parks 5-Year Capital Improvement Program plan as presented to the Commission. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, VICE-CHAIRPERSON HEINTZ DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. c. FYSA Youth Baseball Tournament Requests Mr. Kirk stated that the Fridley youth baseball association has requested the use of the Little League fields for three youth baseball tournaments this summer. The first tournament would be on June 6 and 7. The second tournament would be on June 13 and 14. The third tournament would be July 31, August 1 and August 2. Mr. Kirk stated that staff would recommend approval of all these requests with the normal fees associated for a non-profit group use of the facility be applied. The facility fee would be $75 per field for each tournament. Fridley Youth Baseball would also be responsible for any additional costs incurred by the City related to these tournaments such as portable toilets or garbage dumpsters. MOTION by Mr. Ackerman, seconded by Mr. Kondrick, to approve the Fridley Youth Baseball requests to use the Little League fields for tournaments on June 6 & &, June 13 & 14, and July 31, August 1 & 2. All tournaments would be at the normal facility use rate of $75 per field for the tournament and youth baseball would be responsible for additional costs to run the events. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, VICE-CHAIRPERSON HEINTZ DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting - May 4, 2015 Page 5 ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Mr. Ackerman, seconded by Mr. Kondrick to adjourn the meeting at 8:10 p.m. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, VICE-CHAIRPERSON HEINTZ DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE MAY 4, 2015 MEETING ADJOURNED.