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PRM 11/02/2015 CITY OF FRIDLEY PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING – NOVEMBER 2, 2015 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Heintz called the November 2, 2015 Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Greg Ackerman, Michele Barrett, Mike Heintz, Dave Kondrick, Shanna Larson Others Present: Jack Kirk, Director of Parks and Recreation Jeff Jensen, Operations Manager - Streets and Parks Julie Jones, Planning Manager APPROVAL OF September 14, 2015 PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES MOTION by Mr. Ackerman, seconded by Mr. Kondrick, to approve the minutes of the September 14, 2015 Parks and Recreation Commission meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON HEINTZ DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. APPROVAL OF PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION AGENDA FOR NOVEMBER 2, 2015 MOTION by Mr. Kondrick, seconded by Mr. Ackerman, to approve the agenda for the November 2, 2015 meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON HEINTZ DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. 1. STAFF REPORT a. Program Update Mr. Kirk stated that the program Update is included in the Commission packet to provide information on programs and activities that have occurred during the past two months. The Recreation staff ran Halloween parties at the two Fridley elementary schools with over 200 students participating at each location. The Teen Center program, known as the ZONE, also had a successful Halloween party event with over 120 in attendance. The Recreation staff also sponsored several field trips over the teacher convention days in mid-October. Mr. Kirk stated that the Senior Program had its September kickoff event to promote the fall programming and the event drew 130 seniors. A number of vendors that provide services for seniors attended the event to inform the seniors of what is available to them. Mr. Kirk stated a more detailed report was included in the agenda packet for tonight’s meeting. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting – November 2, 2015 Page 2 b. Park Maintenance Report Mr. Jensen stated that the Parks Maintenance workers had a busy summer and fall. One of their goals has been to get out of just doing maintenance and get into completing some new projects. They were able to do that this year. They have done a lot of work at Springbrook Nature Center this past year, including a new 750 foot boardwalk on the east side of the park and the replacement of the 900 foot floating boardwalk. Other projects include the stth landscaping at the Commons Park sign at the corner of 61 and 7 Street, raingardens in several locations, and improving a number of the hockey rinks. Mr. Kondrick stated that he was pleased that Mr. Jensen came to the meeting, so the Commission had the opportunity to talk with him and tell him how much they appreciate the work that he and his workers do in the parks. c. Springbrook Nature Center Report Mr. Kirk stated that the Pumpkin Night in the Park event was a huge success with an estimated attendance of 4,150. There were over 1000 carved pumpkins laminating the trail system in the park. We received a lot of help from our Public Works staff, our Police Department and our Fire Department. We had a shuttle bus service to the event this year from Community Park and 1,400 people used this service. Mr. Kirk further stated that the Springbrook Nature Center Foundation is still working hard on fundraising for the SPRING project and they are doing a great job. Mr. Kirk stated that the groundbreaking for the new interpretive center was held on th Wednesday, October 7 and we had a very nice turnout of people. The Parks and Recreation Commission was well represented at the event with participation by Commission members Mike Heintz and Dave Kondrick. The construction of the facility has started and is going well. Mr. Kirk shared pictures of the building under construction. Mr. Kirk stated that staff continues to work with Split Rock Studios on finalizing the plans for getting the exhibits constructed. The plan is to have the exhibits ready to be installed when the building construction gets completed next spring. d. Fridley Hall of Fame Mr. Kirk stated that the Fridley Hall of Fame inductees for 2015 include two long time staff members of the Fridley Parks and Recreation Department. Siah St. Clair served as the Director of Springbrook Nature Center for 35 years until his retirement in 2013 is one of the inductees this year. Connie Thompson, our Senior Program Coordinator and a member of our th staff for the past 36 years will also get inducted. The event is on Saturday, November 7 at the Fridley Community Center. e. University of Minnesota Students Project Mr. Jensen stated that City staff members are working with students from the University of Minnesota on several projects that will benefit our park system. One of the student groups will be helping the City write a new proposed policy for dealing with the Emerald Ash Borer problem. They will also be working with City staff on coming up with a sustainable, 30 year Formatted: Indent: Left: 0" management plan for our local urban forest. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting – November 2, 2015 Page 3 Mr. Jensen stated that another student group is working on a project titled Fridley Parks are for Everyone. They are going to be doing a study of all of our parks, how the parks are used, changes that we are seeing related to demographics, and the trail system. The goal of their study and report is to have the Fridley parks used as much as possible. They will be making recommendations on what might need to be changed in our park system. They are also looking at costs of maintaining the parks. Ms. Jones stated she had the opportunity to meet with the student groups at the University of Minnesota last Thursday. This park project is particularly exciting, as it has a good group of graduate students working on the project. They are part of a problem solving class on environmental issues and they are looking at maintenance costs and how they can be reduced. The students completed a survey of Fridley residents at Cub Foods, so they have some good information from the community as to what they want to see in the parks. Mr. Jensen stated that another area that the students will be looking at is the highway right of way areas in our community. The study will address the visual preferences, as well as the maintenance concerns of the right of ways. Ms. Jones stated that the students will be making their presentations to the City Council at the th Council meeting on December 14. f. Memorial Tree Donation – Zach Nelson Mr. Kirk stated that the City received a donation from Mr. Zach Nelson to plant a tree at Moore Lake Park in memory of his grandparents. A copy of the thank you letter to Mr. Nelson is included in the agenda packet. 2. NEW BUSINESS a. Madsen Park Proposed Soccer Field Mr. Kirk stated that Mr. Jensen had talked to him recently about an idea to convert the softball field area at Madsen Park into a soccer field or large open play area. Mr. Jensen is at the meeting tonight and he can give some background information on why he would promote making this change. Mr. Jensen stated that there is a private Christian High School located immediately east of Madsen Park and they have a soccer team. He has talked with the school’s Activities Director and he indicated the soccer team traveled a long way to a practice facility. The school has soccer goals and nets that they sometimes take over to Madsen Park for team practice. Mr. Jensen stated that there are indications that the neighborhood may have more interest in playing soccer than in softball or other sports activities at the park. Neighborhood residents have moved the Christian school’s soccer nets to Madsen Park to play soccer on a number of occasions. Mr. Jensen stated that his park workers maintain many softball fields throughout the community and they have a pretty good idea on how much the facilities are being used. They are not seeing much use of the ball field at Madsen Park. They believe a soccer field would get more use. He would like the City to consider removing the softball field and turning this area into a soccer field. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting – November 2, 2015 Page 4 Mr. Jensen stated that if the City wanted to move ahead with putting in a soccer field, he would like to propose a cost sharing arrangement on equipment with the private school next door. An example would be that they would cover the costs of the goals and nets. Mr. Jensen stated that in addition to providing a nice open play and soccer facility for the neighborhood park, it would provide for another soccer field in the community to allow for league games. When soccer fields are in need of renovation, especially in the goal mouth area, it requires taking the field out of service for a period of time. Having another field to accommodate the games really helps with the scheduling. Mr. Heintz further stated that it might be a good idea to run more tournaments throughout the year so teams become familiar with our Community Park athletic fields. They may want to sign up for our leagues the following year. Mr. Jensen stated that park use in many area communities shows that interest in soccer is on the rise. He would like to see more soccer opportunities in our park system. Mr. Kondrick stated that he agreed that soccer interest is increasing. He liked the idea of a soccer field at Madsen that could be used occasionally for adult and youth league play. There is already a parking lot at the park that could accommodate the cars. Mr. Ackerman asked if the City had looked at artificial turf for soccer fields to address the problem of maintaining a good playing surface. Mr. Kirk stated that costs for installing artificial turf surfaces is not something that looks attainable with our Parks Capital Improvement Program and the funds expected to be available to support the future projects. Mr. Kirk stated that Madsen Park is a neighborhood park and when there is a proposed change to facilities in a neighborhood park, it is often appropriate to notify the area residents. They could be invited to a future Parks and Recreation Commission meeting where this idea of a field change could be discussed. b. Summer 2016 Program Format and Fees Mr. Kirk stated that there were a number of changes to the program format and fees this past year, but there are very few changes recommended for next year. The memo includes information on each program and the recommended fee schedule. For each program, there is a summary of any changes. This memo is what the programming staff has recommended for the 2016 summer program. Mr. Kirk stated that the recommendations also include a proposed early bird registration th discount. It would provide for discounted fees for anyone registering before May 8. In order to plan appropriate staffing levels and get supplies ordered, it is important to know the number of participants early on. Staff is hoping this will encourage registrations earlier in the spring. Mr. Heintz stated that he recalled that we had good participation number this past summer. MOTION by Mr. Ackerman, seconded by Ms. Larson, to approve the staff recommended Summer 2016 Program Format and Fees. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON HEINTZ DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting – November 2, 2015 Page 5 c. Meeting Schedule 2016 Mr. Kirk stated that he has presented the Commission with a schedule of proposed meeting dates for 2016. The schedule generally has the meetings on the first Monday of each month starting at 7:00 p.m. The meeting in September would be on the second Monday because of the Labor Day holiday. Also, there is not a July meeting scheduled, which has been the practice for the past several years. MOTION by Ms. Barrett, seconded by Ms. Larson, to approve the 2016 proposed Parks and Recreation meeting schedule as suggested by staff. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON HEINTZ DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. d. Mississippi Water Trail – Julie Jones Mr. Kirk stated that he was asked by Julie Jones, Planning Manager for the City of Fridley, if she could be on the agenda to present information on the Mississippi River Trail. Ms. Jones stated that she had the opportunity two weeks ago to canoe down the Mississippi River and ride bikes on the MRT national bike trail. This event was coordinated by the National Park Service. Ms. Jones stated that the Islands of Peace Park is key to the Master Plan redevelopment of this area as a desirable place to live. It is part of the Northstar Transit Oriented Development District that is being planned to provide for housing in fairly close proximity to transportation opportunities in the area. There are a number of components to the plan that would involve expansion and improvements at the Islands of Peace Park. Ms. Jones stated that once the plan gets put together, the City would like to go after grants related to park improvements and for enhancing the Mississippi River bike trail. Ms. Jones stated that the National Park Service has decided that they want to provide alternative transportation nodes. They have set up one in Fridley that is centered around the Northstar Train Station. This designation of an alternative transportation node may open the door for federal money to fund projects here. Mr. Heintz asked what an alternative transportation node was. Ms. Jones stated that the National Park Service wants to make sure that the national parks are accessible by transportation opportunities in addition to a car. That is why the train station was selected as the center of the transportation node. They would plan to have a bike rental station as part of the alternative transportation opportunities. Also, a canoe rental would be considered since the Mississippi River is part of the national water trail. That is why the National Park Service started doing these canoe/bike trips to promote these alternative transportation development projects. Ms. Jones went on the trip two weeks ago and was impressed with the opportunities for our area. The NPS has established nine alternative transportation nodes along the Mississippi in the metro area. One of those is in Fridley. Ms. Jones stated that it is interesting that this transportation node is centered around an area in Fridley where, for some reason, there are higher poverty rates, higher number of households that have no car or only one car, and higher number of households with someone living there that is handicapped. These facts should help us score high on transportation related grant applications. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting – November 2, 2015 Page 6 Ms. Jones showed the Commission members pictures from her canoe and bike trip with the National Park Service group. She pointed out features of the parks, the river, and explained the Nice Ride bike system. She stated that the DNR is working toward finding camping opportunities along the river in the Twin Cities, possibly on the islands in the river. Ms. Jones stated that the NPS rated the Fridley site as their second favorite for a canoe rental location. One in Minneapolis was rated higher due to its proximity to restaurants and other establishments. Ms. Jones stated she wanted the Commission to know about this alternative transportation work, because the City is starting its next comprehensive plan update process. The City’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan needs to be completed by the end of 2018. One of the chapters in the document is a parks chapter. The planning staff will look to the Parks and Recreation Commission for input on updating that parks chapter. The amenities of the parks should be identified and a determination of what the needs are for that park area. The plan should identify what the City would want to do in the next ten years. Mr. Kirk stated the Comprehensive Plan is really a blueprint for the City to follow as we look to future development and improvements. He expects that the Parks and Recreation Commission will have much discussion in the next couple years about future planning for our park system. Mr. Kondrick asked if any type of recommendation or action was needed on this tonight. Mr. Jones stated that she is just providing information at this point, but looks forward to working with the Commission on the parks issues in the future. She expects the next action item related to this would be working on the City’s Comprehensive Plan parks chapter. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Mr. Kondrick, seconded by Mr. Ackerman, to adjourn the November 2, 2015 meeting at 8:36 p.m. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON HEINTZ DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE NOVEMBER 2, 2015 MEETING ADJOURNED.