Loading...
PRM 10/03/2011 CITY OF FRIDLEY PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING – OCTOBER 3, 2011 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Solberg called the October 3, 2011 Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Tim Solberg, Michele Barrett, Mike Heintz, Dave Kondrick, Marcy Sibell Others Present: Jack Kirk, Director of Parks and Recreation APPROVAL OF September 12, 2011 PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES MOTION by Mr. Kondrick, seconded by Ms. Sibell, to approve the minutes of the September 12, 2011 meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SOLBERG DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. APPROVAL OF PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION AGENDA FOR OCTOBER 3, 2011 MOTION by Mr. Kondrick, seconded by Mr. Heintz, to approve the agenda for the October 3, 2011 meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SOLBERG DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. 1. STAFF REPORT a. Program Update Mr. Kirk stated that there is a Program Update included in the Commission meeting packet with information on Department programming over the past month. The Zone has been operating since the beginning of the school year for middle school students and attendance has been good. The first week of the year was free admission to promote the program and we averaged about 60 kids per day. The following week started the one dollar per day admission fee and attendance fell back to between 35 and 40 per day. We continue to draw high numbers on Friday after school and the Friday night program has been well attended. Mr. Kirk further stated that the ZONE is a good program that provides a safe, supervised, environment for the middle school students during the hours immediately after school is dismissed. These young people can have fun, get some exercise, and socialize with their friends. It would be nice to see large numbers of students using the ZONE all year long. Mr. Kirk handed out a copy of the fall Parks and Recreation Department activities brochure. It only gets mailed out to a limited number of program participants, but the entire brochure is available for viewing on-line at the City of Fridley web site. Participants may also register for the programs on-line. He is passing this out so the Commission members are aware of the variety of programming being offered to the community during the fall season. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting – October 3, 2011 Page 2 b. Park Maintenance Report Mr. Kirk stated that Mr. Lindquist is unable to attend the meeting this evening, but a written report of park maintenance activity is included with the agenda packet. Mr. Kirk stated that the maintenance workers have been very busy keeping up with the athletic field maintenance as well as mowing of all the parks. The summer seasonal workers are no longer on staff, so the maintenance workers do not have as much help this time of year. They have been doing a good job with all the work that needs to be completed. Ms. Sibell asked how much vandalism there has been in the parks lately. Mr. Kirk stated that vandalism has been an issue this fall, especially over at Commons Park. The Activity Building by the tennis courts has had repeatedly been hit with graffiti and damage to the picnic tables. The press box by the youth football field has also been broken into numerous times. Staff has talked with the police and we are working on more surveillance of these facilities. c. Springbrook Nature Center Report Mr. Kirk stated that the gazebo is nearly complete near the beaver pond trail. It is a replacement for the one that was burned to the ground last spring. Mr. Kirk further stated that at the last meeting he reported that Centerpoint Energy had identified a problem with the gas line that runs along the western boundary of the nature center. They have completed the repair work on the line and are now completing the restoration of the land with planting of a wildflower mix of seeds. Mr. Kirk stated that staff has completed a grant request to the Minnesota Clean Water Fund to replace the water control weirs in the nature center, as well as to remove silt and restore the wetlands. The Clean Water Fund is part of the State Legacy monies and the amount of the request is $255,000. The grant request has been submitted through the Board of Soil and Water Resources. Mr. Kirk also stated that a group of employees from Cummins recently completed a volunteer work project at the nature center. They removed brush from the area that will be used for the first phase of a berm to be constructed as part of the SPRING project. d. Pumpkin Night in the Park Mr. Kirk stated that the annual Pumpkin Night in the Park at Springbrook Nature Center is nd scheduled for Saturday, October 22. He invited the Commission members to attend this very popular community event. e. Concussion On-Line Training Information and Links Mr. Kirk stated that a recent state law requires that agencies involved with youth sports activities need to train staff on recognizing and dealing with concussions. There is a good on- line training that is provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He has provided a copy of the on-line page at the start of this training. Once on the site, a user should go to Injury Prevention and Control: Traumatic Brain Injury, and that will take the person to the free on-line training program. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting – October 3, 2011 Page 3 Mr. Kirk further stated that all Fridley Parks and Recreation staff involved with youth sports activities will be directed to the site for this training. A test is offered at the completion of the training and a certificate of completion is available for those who successfully pass the test. 2. NEW BUSINESS a.Proposed 2012 Commission Meeting Schedule Mr. Kirk stated that the Commission members have before them a proposed schedule of meeting dates for 2012. The proposed meetings are on the first Monday of the month at 7:00 p.m. The only exceptions to that are the January meeting, which would be on the second Monday due to the New Year’s Holiday on the first Monday and the September meeting on the second Monday, due to the Labor Day Holiday. Also, the Commission has usually not met in July, so there is no meeting scheduled for that month. The proposed schedule for 2012 is as follows: January 9 February 6 March 5 April 2 May 7 June 4 August 6 September 10 October 1 November 5 December 3 MOTION by Mr. Kondrick, seconded by Mr. Heintz, to approve the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting schedule for 2012 as proposed in the meeting agenda packet. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SOLBERG DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. b. 2011 – 2012 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. The skating rink locations were changed a little last year with the addition of Springbrook Park and the elimination of Creekridge Park. Creekridge Park was seeing very little skating activity and the Commission had received a request from a young man in the Glencoe Park area to locate a rink there. Springbrook Park is about two blocks from Glencoe Park and was a better alternative for situating a rink there. The rink at Springbrook did not get a lot of use last year, but it could have been due to the fact that there was not a light on the rink. We have received some calls to the Recreation Office from neighborhood residents interested in having a rink there again this year. Mr. Kondrick asked what it would cost to put lights on the rink at Springbrook Park. Mr. Kirk stated that he would look at a security light rather than lighting you would put up at a hockey rink. This would still provide enough light for the general skating rink, but should not be an annoyance to the homes that are in very close proximity to this location. A security light would not be expensive compared to activity lights for a hockey rink. Mr. Kondrick suggested that staff look into a security light for this location. He drives by this park at least once per week and sees a lot of kids playing in there. A lighted rink may very well get more use at this location. Mr. Kirk agreed to have staff look at the possibility of a light for the general rink at Springbrook Park. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting – October 3, 2011 Page 4 Mr. Kirk further stated that 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, Flanery Park, Hackmann Park, Hayes Elementary, Logan Park, Madsen Park, Ruth Circle Park, Stevenson Elementary, Springbrook Park, 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. Mr. Kirk asked the Commission if they would want any changes to the proposed locations or if they wanted to cut back on the lighting of any skating facilities. MOTION by Mr. Kondrick, seconded by Ms. Barrett, to approve the 2011 – 2012 skating rink locations recommended by staff. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SOLBERG DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. c. On-Line Police Reporting Mr. Kirk stated that he placed this item on the agenda because he knows that Commission members periodically get calls from residents to notify them of vandalism or graffiti at our park facilities. This on-line reporting system is something that we can steer residents to, so we can hopefully get timely information on issues that need attention in our parks. You can access this on-line reporting system from our City of Fridley web site. Mr. Kirk suggested that the Commission members take a look at the on-line reporting system so they are familiar with it. Commission members could use this when they see damage or vandalism in the parks and, once again, they could encourage residents to use this system to report damage in the parks. Mr. Kirk stated that by reporting on-line, it generates information for the police department and will likely result in more surveillance of the park areas where there are problems. d. 2011 Adult Softball League Fees Mr. Kirk stated he is presenting the staff recommended fees for the 2012 Adult softball league program. The suggested increase in fees for most of the leagues is $10 for next year. Staff is suggesting the fee for the Women’s league remain at the same amount as 2011. We have been struggling to get women’s teams and would be hesitant to recommend an increase. Ms. Barrett asked how the registrations were for the Men’s leagues this past year. Mr. Kirk stated that registration was about the same as 2010, but we did not fill all of the available openings. Mr. Kirk stated that staff would like to keep the fees down to attract more teams, but they are also cognizant of the need to bring in revenue to support the parks and recreation programs. It is a balancing act at times and we are trying to price these leagues appropriately. Mr. Solberg stated that since our costs to operate the league will likely not increase much for next year, would we want to consider leaving the fees at the same rate as 2011. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting – October 3, 2011 Page 5 Mr. Kirk stated that the fees were not raised from 2010 to 2011, so we have gone at the same rate for two years now. While the direct costs for the league will be the same, there are other costs for field maintenance and league administration that also need to be considered. He did not see the $10 increase as a problem for retaining teams or even attracting new teams. Mr. Heintz stated that he would like to see the number of teams increase in our leagues. Mr. Solberg asked how many teams would be affected by the increase in fees and how much revenue would be brought in. Mr. Kirk stated that he estimated about 60 - 70 teams would be affected by the $10 increase, so the additional revenue would not be a large amount. Mr. Heintz asked if we could attract more teams to play in Fridley if we cut back on the $50 fee for outside teams. Could that be reduced to $35 or even lower to bring in more participation. He did not think we get our growth in the league from local teams, rather from more outside teams. He would favor going up the $10 with the league entry fee, but take a look at possibly reducing the outside team fee. Mr. Kirk stated that the staff recommended fees for 2012 are as follows:  Sunday Men’s $699  Mon – Thurs Men’s $769  Women’s $435  Friday Co-Rec $475 Mr. Heintz stated that another suggestion might be to offer a registration discount on the night or nights with lower registrations to try and fill those leagues. Mr. Kondrick stated that offering a “special” price reduction to attract teams might be a good idea. Ms. Sibell stated that focusing on the nights with openings might be the way to go. Mr. Kirk stated that staff could look at some potential fee incentives to try and attract teams to league nights with lower participation numbers. This could be brought back to the Commission at a future meeting. MOTION by Ms. Barrett, seconded by Mr. Kondrick to approve the staff recommended Adult Softball League Fees for the 2012 season with this motion allowing staff some flexibility in offering incentives for league nights with low participation. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SOLBERG DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Mr. Kondrick, seconded by Mr. Heintz, to adjourn the October 3, 2011 meeting at 8:05 p.m. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SOLBERG DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE OCTOBER 3, 2011 MEETING ADJOURNED.