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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-04-13 Park Board PacketZEA, oe J3 0 \�ConPOP�T4'9/ ,eea AGENDA Regular Meeting of the Edina Park Board Tuesday, April 13, 2010, 7:00 P.M. Edina City Hall Council Chambers 4801 West 50`h Street PARK BOARD MEETING PROCEDURES During 'Public Hearings, " the Chair will ask for public comment after City staff members make their presentations. If you wish to speak on the topic, you are welcome to do so as long as your comments are relevant to the discussion. To ensure fairness to all speakers and to allow the efficient conduct of a public hearing, speakers must observe the following guidelines: • Individuals must limit their presentations to three minutes or less. The Chair will modify presentation times, as deemed necessary. • Try not to repeat remarks or points of view made by prior speakers and limit comments to the matter under consideration. • In order to maintain a comfortable environment for all those in attendance, the use of signs, clapping, cheering or booing or any other form of verbal or nonverbal communication is not allowed. PARK BOARD AGENDA I. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES * Tuesday, March 9, 2010, Park Board Minutes. II. NEW BUSINESS A. *U.S. Open Flying Disc Championship Sponsorship. B. *Rental of Pathways Policy. C. Community Advisory Team Report — Member Ellen Jones. III. PUBLIC COMMENTS During 'Public Comments, " the Chair will ask to hear from those in attendance who would like to speak about something not on the agenda. Individuals must limit their presentations to three minutes or less and cannot speak to an issue for which a public hearing was previously held and closed or a matter scheduled for a future hearing. Individuals should not expect the Park Board to respond to their comments. Instead, the Park Board might direct the matter to staff for consideration at a future meeting. IV. UPDATES FROM STAFF (information only — no action requested) A. 9 -Mile Creek Regional Trail. B. Veterans Memorial. 1 C. Farmers Market. V. PARK BOARD COMMENTS VI. * ADJOURNMENT The City of Edina wants all residents to be comfortable being part of the public process. If you need assistance in the way of hearing amplification, an interpreter, large print documents or something else, please call 952-927-8861 72 hours in advance of the meeting. * These are agenda items that require or request Park Board action. 2 Memo To: Edina Park Board From: John Keprios, Director Edina Park and Recreation Department Date: March 31, 2010 Re: TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2010, PARK BOARD MEETING STAFF REPORT. Enclosed you should find the following items: 1. Tuesday, March 9, 2010, Park Board Minutes. 2. Tuesday, April 13, 2010, Park Board Agenda. 3. U.S. Open Flying Disc Championship Flyer. 4. Exert from October 12, 1999, Park Board Minutes. 5. Email from Emma Krieter. The following is the monthly Staff Report concerning each item on the agenda with the exception of Approval of the Minutes, Public Comment and Park Board Comment. PARK BOARD MEETING IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS EDINA CITY HALL 4801 WEST SOTH STREET is The Tuesday, April 13, 2010, Park Board meeting will be at 7:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at Edina City Hall. If you are unable to attend, please call either Office Coordinator, Janet Canton, at 952-826-0435 or me at 952-826-0430. I. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES Enclosed is a copy of the Minutes from the March 9, 2010 Park Board meeting. Formal action is requested on this agenda item. II. NEW BUSINESS A. U.S. OPEN FLYING DISC CHAMPIONSHIP SPONSORSHIP Edina resident Paul Thompson is requesting that the City of Edina sponsor the 2010 U.S. Open Flying Disc Championships. In short, sponsorship would mean that we waive any park land rental fees and assist with promoting the event. The event would not cost the City of Edina any out of pocket expenses and will be scheduled in a manner that would not displace any existing scheduled athletic events at either Normandale Park or Highlands Park. Please see the attached flyer for event details. • In this case, general park areas would otherwise rent for $48 per hour up to a maximum of $137 per day. This special event will not displace an otherwise would be scheduled event; however, the greatest impact will be on the immediate neighborhoods due to slightly increased traffic and parking. In my view, this event will benefit the residents of Edina who will have convenient access to participate in the activities including spectator viewing of some of the best disc athletes in the country. Mr. Thompson has also offered to provide free on-site disc throwing clinics for children and adults at Highlands Park as part of the schedule of events. I am pleased to support the event and provide promotional assistance for this wonderful opportunity for the Edina Park and Recreation Department and residents of Edina. I recommend that the Park Board approve the request to support and sponsor the event and waive the fees. Formal Park Board action is requested on this agenda item. B. RENTAL OF PATHWAYS POLICY There is clearly a trend to use park pathways more frequently as a means to use as walk/run fundraisers. The Edina Park and Recreation Department recently received a request to rent Lewis Park, Bredesen Park or Pamela Park to use as walk/run fundraiser. There currently is no established fee or policy to permit or deny the request at Lewis Park or Pamela Park. Therefore, it seemed to make sense to address this specific access to facilities policy (specifically pathways) in general before responding to this request. The request is from an Edina High School senior who is proposing to do a charity fundraiser for an Edina High School May Term project. There are actually two senior students working closely together on this joint May Term project to use a park pathway for the morning of Saturday, June 5, 2010. At the time of this Staff Report (Thursday, April 08, 2010), I received an email (copy enclosed) from Emma Krieter requesting the use of Pamela Park for their charity fundraiser event. There are several on street fundraiser walks/runs in Edina that require traffic control for which requires hiring Edina Police Officers to direct traffic. For smaller fundraiser races/walks, the enforcement staffing budget constitutes a larger percentage of the net profit. As a result, groups tend to consider races and walks that are entirely within park boundaries to avoid paying the law enforcement personnel expenses. When fundraiser events become too large for a park only venue, they are forced to use street based venues such as the Race for the Cure which first began at Rosland Park and is now entirely an on -street venue in Bloomington starting and finishing at the Mall of America. In dealing with requests from residents to use parks for a variety of functions, it has long been our intent to do whatever we can to say "yes" and do our best to make reasonable accommodations. It is my desire to permit these students to rent a pathway or park area and help them make their event successful. The most popular and heavily used park amenities in the park system are the pathways. Obviously, every time we allow private individuals, groups or businesses to rent a pathway for fundraiser purposes, it temporarily eliminates public access to that facility. The other negative is the increased traffic, parking and noise to the neighborhood. The only asphalt pathway that is currently rented for exclusive use for their fundraising purposes (walks and runs) is Rosland Park pathway, which rents for $55.00/hour up to a maximum of $210.00/day. There currently are no other set fees for rental of any other park pathways. There is no policy that governs the number of races or fundraisers permitted at Rosland Park each year which could become problematic; however, I do not permit the rental of the pathway for large events while the Edina Aquatic Center is open to the public. In the past 12 months there have been seven (7) exclusive use rentals of Rosland Park pathway. We need to ensure that we have adequate parking available for our Aquatic Center customers. Regulating the frequency of permitted pathway rentals at Rosland Park is an issue that may have to be addressed in our pending comprehensive pathway policy. There currently is a policy regarding the rental of Bredesen Park pathway. At the October 12, 1999 Park Board meeting, board members discussed the option of renting out the Bredesen Park pathway. A copy of those minutes is included in this packet. In short, the Park Board voted unanimously for "NO EXCLUSIVE USE ALLOWED OF THE BREDESEN PARK PATHWAY." Since that day, I have received only three requests (that I can recall) to rent the Bredesen Park pathway for their exclusive use. When parties are told that it cannot be rented on an exclusive use basis, they seek alternate sites. With a large group use for a fundraiser walk and/or run, it is not realistic to assume that the general public will have uninterrupted access to the pathway during the "non-exclusive use rental." It is just not practical. Non-exclusive use of the pathway is not appealing to those who are seeking a fundraiser venue for a large walk and/or run event. The Park Board has not yet discussed a policy regarding the requests to use other pathways (such as Lewis Park, Braemar, Garden Park, Todd Park, Pamela Park, Centennial Lakes Park and Walnut Ridge Park) for private fundraisers. There is a policy and process in place to deal with special events that require road closures and/or traffic control; however, there are no formal policies for addressing rental requests for paths other than Rosland Park and Bredesen Park. This is somewhat new territory which is why I feel it is important to have the Park Board begin thinking about and give staff some direction to form a formal policy. As we begin the process of forming a policy, one question that I am asking for direction is regarding the requests for exclusive use of pathways other than Rosland Park and Bredesen Park. We should ask ourselves; "Should the public be inconvenienced to accommodate special event rentals of those park amenities?" If so, the frequency of rentals could be (and in my view should be) regulated in case this trend continues and we are faced with multiple requests for pathway rentals for fundraisers. As we contemplate a formal policy to address these types of requests, I suggest that the Park Board approve this pending request on a trial basis. My recommendation is to accommodate this request with the following restrictions and requirements: • Signs must be posted and provided by the applicant one week prior to the scheduled fundraiser to inform the public of the pending fundraiser event and must state that the pathway will be closed to the public during those specific times. • The applicant must provide adequate portable restroom facilities commensurate with the size group (one unit per hundred attendees, including spectators). • If the event has greater than 100 participants (including spectators), the applicant must remove all refuse and recyclables from the park that are generated by their event. • The rental fee will be the same as the Rosland Park pathway rental fee which is $55/hour up to a maximum of $210/day. We keep the Lewis Park building restrooms available to the public during the daylight hours via our electronic keyless entry system. The Pamela Park restrooms require a staff person to manually open and close; however, we would ensure that the restrooms at Pamela would be open and available for public use during their fundraiser event. We require a minimum of $500,000 liability insurance with the City of Edina listed as an additional insured for these special race/walk fundraiser events. To address the insurance issue, I made contact with Edina School District Business Director Jay Willemssen and Edina High School Principal Bruce Locklear regarding this proposed High School student May Term project. Principal Locklear is of the opinion that this is an Edina High School sponsored project and therefore the Edina School District will assume liability for the May Term project. Thus we should not need to request the students to provide insurance certificates in this case. It is my intent to work toward proposing a comprehensive policy in the future for the Park Board to consider that covers rental of pathways throughout the entire park system, including Centennial Lakes Park. In my view there are some pathways that should not be eligible for rent, such as Walnut Ridge Park and Todd Park pathways as they do not have adequate parking. For the time being, I recommend that the Park Board approve the students' request on a trial basis to use Pamela Park for a charity fundraiser walk/run for Saturday, June 5, 2010. Trial basis means that the event will be viewed as a test case rental that will serve as a guide in establishing a formal pathway rental policy. I do not view the approval of this event as necessarily setting precedence for future requests. We hope to learn through this experience that this may or may not be an acceptable use of a neighborhood or community park. If it is successful, there is no doubt that we will receive more similar requests in the future. I propose that we charge the same fee as the established Rosland Park pathway rental of $55/hour up to a maximum of $210/day. My only other concern is that the students may change their mind and request Lewis or Garden Park instead because Pamela Park does not have a hard surface path. If that is the case, my recommendation is to permit the request under the same restrictions and requirements. I also ask that the Park Board discuss the issue of rental of park pathways and give staff some preliminary direction in working toward establishing a formal policy. Formal Park Board action is requested on this agenda item. C. Community Advisory Team Report — Member Ellen Jones Park Board member Ellen Jones will give the Park Board a verbal report on the results of the first meeting of the Community Advisory Team which is working to recommend a process to decide what to do with the current Public Works Building site that will be vacated later this year. III. PUBLIC COMMENTS During "Public Comments, " the Chair will ask to hear from those in attendance who would like to speak about something not on the agenda. Individuals must limit their presentations to three minutes or less and cannot speak to an issue for which a public hearing was previously held and closed or a matter scheduled for a future hearing. Individuals should not expect the Park Board to respond to their comments. Instead, the Park Board might direct the matter to staff for consideration at a future meeting. IV. UPDATES FROM STAFF Staff will give a verbal update on the following matters: A. 9 -Mile Creek Regional Trail. B. Veterans Memorial. C. Farmers Market. No formal Park Board action is requested on this agenda item. V. PARK BOARD COMMENTS A This is the opportunity for Park Board members to provide comments on park and recreation related matters not on the regular agenda. Ll Minutes of the Edina Park Board March 9, 2010 Edina City Hall, Council Chambers MEMBERS PRESENT: Jennifer Kenney, Todd Fronek, Dan Peterson, Bill Lough, Rob Presthus, Randy Meyer, Joseph Hulbert, Keeya Steel, Ben Pobuda, Ellen Jones, Louise Segreto STAFF PRESENT: John Keprios, Ed MacHolda, Janet Canton I. APPROVAL OF THE JANUARY 12, 2010 PARK BOARD MINUTES Dan Peterson MOVED TO APPROVE THE JANUARY 12, 2010 PARK BOARD MINUTES. Bill Lough SECONDED THE MOTION. MINUTES APPROVED. II. WELCOME NEW PARK BOARD MEMBERS Mr. Keprios introduced the two new Park Board members: Louise Segreto and Ellen Jones. III. PARK BOARD ORIENTATION PRESENTATION Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that the "Park Board Orientation Presentation" is typically earmarked for the new Park Board members. However, because he feels there is enough new information regarding finances, new projects and challenges he thought this would also be a good reminder for the veterans. Mr. Keprios gave the 118 slide presentation which included an overview of the park system's facilities, programs, staff, and areas of responsibility, budget, recent and upcoming issues and challenges, code of ethics, City Code as it relates to the Park Board and meeting procedures. IV. NEW BUSINESS A. Appointment to Community Advisory Team — Mr. Keprios indicated that he is looking for a Park Board member to volunteer to be on the "Community Advisory Team". He explained that it's basically a short term task force that the City Council is putting together to help the Planning Commission go through the process in deciding what direction they should be headed and how the process should be handled when the city vacates the Public Works building site. He noted that the City Council is trying to encompass all of the different bodies to help out with this. Mr. Keprios stated that the volunteer would not have to attend every meeting but would be expected to attend the key core important ones. He added that it looks like it would be for a fairly short term. Ms. Jones indicated that she would be willing to serve on the Community Advisory Team. V. UPDATES FROM STAFF A. Nine Mile Creek Regional Trail — Mr. Keprios asked Mr. Hulbert if he would say a few words about the Nine Mile Creek Regional Trail. Mr. Hulbert replied that he has been to two of the three community assessment meetings and thinks there are at least one or two more planned. Mr. Hulbert explained that they have broken the Nine Mile Creek down into about 20 segments; each of the segments has the ability to nominate a representative from the surrounding neighborhood. He noted that the meetings consist of these representatives as well as representatives from Three Rivers Park and the City of Edina, including Mr. Keprios. He commented that they discuss the various design and social elements both pros and cons. He noted that there is going to be an open house in probably a month or two once they wrap up the meetings. Mr. Keprios pointed out that the Three Rivers Park District has done a wonderful job keeping this moving forward and high on their priority list. He noted that they are also just wrapping up their environmental assessment worksheet which the Bonnestroo Architect firm was hired to do. Mr. Keprios explained that the way that process will play out is they will make their findings and presentation first to the Three Rivers Park District. He indicated if all goes well they ultimately hope to bring a recommendation from staff to the Park Board. He added that it is not his intention for the Park Board to hold a public hearing, although he still thinks they will have a room full of people because this is a very emotionally charged and controversial issue. Mr. Keprios indicated that they still have a long way to go and feels it's still too premature for him to even guess when it will go before the Park Board and from there to the City Council. Mr. Meyer asked Mr. Keprios if funding has been identified at least with regards to the bridges over the highways to which Mr. Keprios replied they have not. B. Veterans Memorial — Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that since the last Park Board meeting he has been made aware that by state law they must have an ordinance passed by the City Council before they can spend any dollars on a Veterans Memorial. He indicated that staff and the committee will come to the Park Board first and recommend a slate of candidates to serve on the committee. He added that they will also show the Park Board their proposed ordinance which will then go to the City Council for final approval. Mr. Keprios stated that once they receive City Council approval they will start the fundraising. He commented that it is a long process but that they are getting there. He also informed the Park Board that he has been working with the Edina Community Foundation and they have drafted an agreement to have them be a fiscal partner to the Veterans Memorial. They would be the ones to funnel and manage the money as well as the equipment would be purchased directly from the Community Foundation. C. Farmer's Market - Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that the City Council did approve the amendment to the ordinance for the City Code to allow for the sale of produce at Centennial Lakes Park. He indicated that they have already received 22 requests for applications and have already received 12 back. He noted that they expect to fill their 25 spots within the next few weeks. 2 D. Outdoor Hockey Rink Project Grant — Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that he has made application for a $60,000 grant to help them fund the replacement of the Pamela Park and Walnut Ridge Park hockey rinks; both are on the 2010 Capital Improvement Plan. He pointed out that the grant does require a resolution from the City Council to which he has already received their approval. Mr. Keprios explained that he is asking Hennepin County to help them fund half of the project because it requires a matching grant. The total cost of the project is $120,000. He commented that they should have an answer by the middle of May because that's when the county board will make its decision. He added that due to our tough economic times there is no guarantee they will be able to afford to get both rinks done this year without support from a grant. E. Bike Rack Grant (SHIP) — Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that from the grant they received earlier from the Statewide Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) they will hopefully be able to get in 13 bike racks at 9 different sites. He pointed out that they did an analysis of the parks and prioritized them. He noted that they have 46 different sites where he feels they can put in bike racks. Mr. Keprios added that by doing this they are in keeping with the long range comprehensive plan to make Edina more of a bike friendly community. Mr. Keprios stated that there is probably more grant money available; however, they don't have the manpower to install all of them in a years' time. F. Primary Election — Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that there will be a primary election held on August 10th which is when the scheduled Park Board meeting is. He noted that because it is state mandated they cannot hold a meeting that night and therefore would like to hold the Park Board meeting on Monday, August 9th. He noted that if it looks like that date won't work for the majority of the members and they won't have a quorum they can certainly look at an alternative date. Mr. Peterson asked Mr. Keprios if it would be possible for the Park Board members to get a copy of his power point presentation on the Park Board orientation. Mr. Keprios replied that it is too big of a file to e-mail so he will put it on a disc and mail it to everyone. VI. ELECTION OF OFFICERS A. Election of Chair — John Keprios opened up the floor for nominations for Chair of the Park Board. Randy Meyer MOVED TO NOMINATE BILL LOUGH. Todd Fronek SECONDED THE MOTION. Mr. Lough stated that he is going to have to turn down the nomination because of personal reasons for his travel schedule this year. He noted that he doesn't think it would be fair of him to accept the nomination when he would not be able to exercise the leadership duties that would be required of him. He added that he is thankful for the honor of the nomination. Todd Fronek MOVED TO NOMINATE JOSEPH HULBERT. Mr. Keprios asked for a motion to close the nominations. Rob Presthus MOVED TO CLOSE NOMINATIONS. Randy Meyer SECONDED THE MOTION. Mr. Hulbert 3 accepted the nomination. PARK BOARD VOTED UNANIMOUSLY TO APPOINT JOSEPH HULBERT AS CHAIRMAN OF THE PARK BOARD. B. Election of Vice -Chair - John Keprios opened up the floor for nominations for Vice Chair of the Park Board. Bill Lough NOMINATED KEEYA STEEL. Joseph Hulbert SECONDED THE MOTION. Ms. Steel accepted the nomination. Dan Peterson MOVED TO CLOSE THE NOMINATIONS. Todd Fronek SECONDED THE MOTION. PARK BOARD VOTED UNANIMOUSLY TO APPOINT KEEYA STEEL AS VICE CHAIR OF THE PARK BOARD. Mr. Keprios stated that as a result of the elections they will need to reposition the seating arrangements. Mr. Meyer commented that his thought is that it's a little unfair if everybody who is in the lower level is always seated there. He suggested that they rotate the seating as a matter of fairness. There was a consensus to approve Mr. Meyer's suggestion. VII. PARK BOARD COMMENTS A. Park Board Members - Mr. Fronek again welcomed Ms. Jones and Ms. Segreto to the Park Board and thanked them for serving. Mr. Fronek indicated that he would also like to recognize Jeff Sorem and Ray O'Connell who were the two Park Board members who were replaced and thanked them for their years of service. MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:00 PM 4 Proposal to Edina Park Board Re: US Open Flying Disc Championships July 11-17, 2010 *V'! or Sponsors: Cool Planet, MFA Hall of Fame Committee, and Three Rivers Park District. We are also seeking the cities of Edina, Eden Prairie and Bloomington as event sponsors. The sport of overall flying disc sports has granted MN with the premiere annual 7 event "World Frisbee Championships" for 2010. Cool Planet has stepped up to be the major organizer with the help of the MFA (Minnesota Frisbee Association), the local flying disc community and the Three Rivers Park District with the support of Commissioner Dale Woodcock, Tim Gill, from Par 72 and Fred Seymour the Alpine Services Manager at Hyland Ski & Snowboard Area. Background: This event has been an annual gathering since 1983 with over 15 locations hosting the summer week long event from San Diego to Rochester NY and Jacksonville FL (last year) to Fort Collins and Boulder CO. Minnesota has hosted this tournament in 1986 (Mpls.), 1990 (Inver Grove Heights), 1999 (St, Cloud) and now 2010. 60-80 world-class men and woman participants usually play in the overall (distance, accuracy, self caught flights (SCF), DDC -Double Disc Court, discathon, disc golf and freestyle) while a number of specialists play only in disc golf and freestyle bringing the total number to 100-120. We are also planning to run a concurrent mentoring event to encourage play by beginning and intermediate players in the Edina, Eden Prairie and Bloomington area to expand participation of the overall aspects of disc play. I will be working with the Edina Public Schools to encourage disc play in the PE classes this year and participation in the tournament next July. Request. We are seeking a permit to use Highlands Park as the main "Field Events" location for distance, accuracy, DDC, SCF and Freestyle during the week of July 12-16 (m -f), one of those days we would be playing disc golf and not use the field, and possibly Sat July 17 for the final day, if another location is not secured. We would also like your help in promoting the event, offering play shops and skill sessions before the event to engage new players, and to find a suitable location for the discathon event (large trees, hills, space to set up a 1 km obstacle course for a running and throwing race between 5 players). Something New: Being that Cool Planet is the lead sponsor for the event we are also wanting to run this event as "Green" as possible. We will be providing carbon credits for travel, staying in green hotels, limiting travel miles and encourage car pooling whenever possible, composting and recycling at all venues and are working with the Edina Energy and Environment Commission and Edina Community Foundation to host a community event on "Greening Your Events and Celebrations" durina the week_ Contact info: For questions and further information please contact Paul Thompson at 952-920-1547 or ntflydiscOaol. com "frisbee play joins human's greatest tool, the hand, with their grafidest dream, to fly" EDINA PARK BOARD 7:30 P.M. CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS OCTOBER 12, 1999 MEMBERS PRESENT: Chuck Mooty, Andy Herring, Linda Presthus, George Klus, Karla Sitek, John Murrin, Dave Fredlund, Andy Finsness, Bill Jenkins, Tom White MEMBERS ABSENT: Floyd Grabiel STAFF PRESENT: John Keprios, Ed MacHolda, Janet Canton, Tom Shirley, Larry Thayer, John Valliere, Ann Kattreh, Phil Johnson OTHERS PRESENT: Gene Persha IV. FEES AND CHARGES Mr. Wallin explained that the philosophy on the fees and charges is that some are used to make money and some are used to break even. He pointed out that the philosophy for the fees within the general fund has a totally different philosophy and that is based on the state statutes. The state statutes say we cannot make money on a service, we can only charge a fee that will pay for the operation and what it costs us to provide the service. Mr. Wallin indicated that two places where they want to make a profit are the liquor stores and the golf dome in order for us to be able to take money out of one fund and put it into another where the money is needed. Mr. Keprios noted that he would like to mention a few things that were not mentioned in his staff report. He indicated that coach pitch is going to be removed from the fees and charges list because the Edina Baseball Association is going to take over that program and they are very excited about it. Therefore, he would like for that to be part of the motion for the fees and charges. Mr. Keprios indicated that he has heard back from a spokesperson for the bandy players and was told that they will be back this year, however, they feel we are gauging them with the fee we are charging. Mr. Keprios pointed out there are some new items listed under general park areas; resident use per hour and resident use per day. He commented that he has had several requests over the last few years where people have wanted to rent the general park and he never had a designated category for this request. Therefore, he is proposing that it be the same fee that is charged for an athletic field rental because that is basically the same size area the residents are requesting. Mr. Keprios pointed out that he has also had a lot of requests to privatize their use of the hard surface pathways for either a fun run, fundraiser or a family function. He noted that there usually are some costs involved with setting up traffic cones and other special requests. Therefore, he is proposing a fee be established for these requests. Mr. Keprios indicated that the Athletic Association User Participation Fee is going from $6.00 to $7.00, which will generate approximately an additional $9,800.00, which includes both field use and outdoor hockey rink. use. Mr. Keprios noted that he felt the new comfort stations would get a lot more use than they have had if they lowered the fee. He indicated that he had almost as many people turn away as he had rentals. He stated he would like the four facilities to be charged the same fee and believes that we will still be able to cover expenses. Mr. Klus asked Mr. Shirley, Manager of Edinborough Park and Centennial Lakes, if there is not a family pass being offered because it looks like there is only an individual pass where names can be added up to a maximum number. Mr. Shirley replied that is correct, there used to be so many different categories and it was so confusing that this system should work a lot better. Ms. Presthus asked if Edinborough charges a different rental fee for residents and non-residents. Mr. Shirley replied there is no price difference because what was happening is people were finding Edina residents to rent the facility for them. Larry Thayer, Manager of Braemar Ice Arena, indicated that most of his fees went up $5.00 which will generate approximately $30,000 and added that the fees are still competitive with the surrounding communities. Mr. Keprios commented that Mr. Thayer's profit and loss statement shows that the arena is $46,000 ahead of where they were last year at this time. Mr. Thayer stated that the arenas are open from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. 7 days a week with the exception of a couple of weeks in the summer when they are shut down for maintenance. John Valliere, Golf Course Manager, passed around a handout comparing Edina's golf course fees with surrounding communities that have the same municipally or county run courses. He pointed out that Braemar was built in 1963 so we have retired a lot of our debt, however, new golf courses today still have a lot of their debt and that is why they do charge a little bit more than Braemar. Mr. Valliere stated that Braemar Golf Course is a very good product for a very good price. Mr. Valliere indicated that the second page of the handout shows the fees and charges for the last three years and they tend to be in the 4.5 to 5 percent range annually. He noted that fees are cost driven and that they could certainly generate more money but their philosophy is to charge a fair price. 2 Mr. Mooty indicated that it seems to him that the numbers at the Fred Richards Golf Course have dropped and asked if that is a correct statement. Mr. Valliere replied that most golf courses around the metropolitan area are down 7% to 8% from last year because we had such a wonderful spring, summer and fall in 1998. However, he does feel that we do need to go out and promote the Fred Richards Golf Course a lot more. Mr. Valliere noted that they have a lot of customer loyalty. In the late 1970's there were 800 patron cards sold and when it grew to 1,800 they realized they didn't have enough golf course. He indicated that the patron card holders are residents of the community and were saying they have a patron card but cannot get on the golf course. That was when the new nine hole course was built. Mr. Valliere stated that a lot of people don't realize that the Fred Richards Course even exists, therefore, it does need to be marketed more. It was asked does the Fred Richards Course compete with Braemar and it was noted that they are in competition with each other. Also, one of the contributing problems with the Fred Richards Course is that there are a lot of goose droppings on the course and it has really become a bad situation. Right now and in the spring the course is covered almost 100%. Mr. White asked Mr. Valliere how many patron cards he sold to which he replied 2,700 and that is an increase over last year. Mr. White asked Mr. Valliere if the patron card price was raised $5.00 does he think it would have any effect on the sales of the patron cards. Mr. Valliere noted that it depends on the number of rounds each golfer plays a year. If you just charge the patron -card holder maybe a little more for a round of golf, as opposed to raising the patron card, you could potentially take in more revenue based on the number of rounds of golf played. Mr. Valliere suggested that raising the patron -card fee would have a negative effect on the senior population, which is a large portion of our business. Mr. Mooty noted that it might be a bigger issue for those who play fewer rounds of golf. Mr. White noted that he feels that for those who play 10 or 11 rounds a year, it would not make a big difference if we raised the patron -card $5.00 bucks. Phil Johnson, Manager of the Peggy Kelly Media Art Studios, indicated that he is here on behalf of Diana Hedges, Director of the Edina Art Center. Mr. Johnson pointed out that this is the first time the Art Center has raised their fees since 1995 and that the fee increases are nominal. Also, these are the first fee increases for the Media Arts Studio since it began in 1996. Mr. Keprios commented that he has also shown these fees and charges to the Edina Art Center Board. The Art Center Board noted that they are not a subordinate group to the Park Board but indicated that they do support staff's recommended fees and charges. Mr. MacHolda indicated that he is proposing to raise the aquatic center fees quite a bit. He stated that his daily admission fee hasn't had an increase since 1997. He noted that the season tickets haven't gone up for two seasons with the reason being that we have been able to meet our expenses plus provide ourselves with a little capital. Mr. MacHolda explained that for years we typically sell around 1,400 season tickets and this season over 3,000 season tickets were sold. Mr. MacHolda pointed out that the non- resident base has really increased. Mr. MacHolda informed the Park Board the aquatic center's fees have not been comparable with other aquatic center facilities of similar design. He indicated that Eagan just built a new aquatic center and they charged $162.00 for a season pass for a family of four, in Edina the same season pass was $80.00. He stated that St. Louis Park has been open for a couple of seasons now and they charged $128.00 for a resident family of four and $176.00 for a non-resident family of four. Mr. MacHolda noted that the primary motive for the proposed 2000 fees is to put us in the same line as comparable aquatic facilities. He also explained that expenses are going up and commented that there is a lifeguard shortage and those wages will be going up in order to fill the positions. Mr. White asked what does the aquatic facility at Eagan have. Mr. MacHolda replied that they built a very nice 7.1 million dollar aquatic center that has a lazy river and two water slides. He noted that St. Louis Park has 2 water slides. Mr. MacHolda indicated that what Edina has over everyone else is the large play structure in the zero depth pool. He feels we are the best ticket around for children aged 14 months to 8 years. Mr. Jenkins stated that he knows Mr. MacHolda was concerned when St. Louis Park built their pool and asked how has that impacted Edina's numbers. Mr. MacHolda replied that the season tickets have continued to increase despite St. Louis Park's aquatic center. He stated, however, that Edina will start to have additional competition in the near future because Bloomington and Richfield are both supposed to be getting new aquatic centers. Mr. White indicated that Mr. Herring asked him to bring up the fact that he is concerned with having pathway closures at Bredesen Park and Rosland Park. Mr. White noted that he personally thinks if you close Bredesen Park for an hour or two and tell people they can't use it, we will be hearing from a lot of unhappy residents. Mr. Jenkins asked how can we close down a park for a day or even an hour. Mr. Keprios replied that in the past he has mandated that groups who are renting the area need to post signs at least two weeks in advance of the event indicating that the park will be closed to the public for a specific day and time. Mr. Keprios indicated that to date he has only had one request for Bredesen, which he did not allow. He noted that he has had several for Rosland Park and they have worked quite well. Mr. White stated that he feels with Bredesen Park it would have to be non-exclusive use. Mr. Keprios replied they could try that and see how it works. Mr. Mooty asked what is the benefit of this because it would not be a big money maker. Mr. Keprios replied it would be to accommodate resident requests. Mr. White indicated he thinks there could still be a fun run there, it just doesn't need to be exclusive. Mr. Mooty indicated that he doesn't necessarily see the fee as being reflective of the potential inconvenience. Mr. Jenkins commented that he thinks it's deeper than the fee itself. Mr. Mooty noted that he doesn't disagree with that because he believes that the fee is not commensurate with the inconvenience to the public. Mr. Murrin indicated that he thinks this would be a good outlet for the community to be able to do something like this. Mr. White again noted that he doesn't think this is something that should be exclusive. Mr. Murrin suggested that signs could be posted indicating please be patient and space 0 may be limited while such and such an event is going on. Ms. Presthus asked will we still be charging them and it was noted yes. Ms. Sitek indicated that she doesn't feel they should be charged. Mr. Klus commented that he would like to see the community open up their parks to certain types of races, however he does not want it to be exclusive. He noted that there should be a fee for these runs because their participants are usually charged a fee. Mr. Klus also added that these events only take a few hours, it's not a whole day event. Mr. Mooty suggested having a maximum amount of time, such as two to three hours, for these types of events. Mr. Jenkins suggested having a fee and just calling it a use fee. Mr. Keprios commented that he would be happy to handle this administratively and let the residents know that it will not be exclusive and there will not be a charge. However, they will have to reimburse the city for any expenses incurred such as providing barriers and additional staff for clean-up. Mr. Keprios noted that he will take the fee off completely for Bredesen Park. However, he noted that Rosland Park is becoming more and more popular. Mr. Mooty noted that he sees Rosland Park a little bit different than Bredesen Park. Ms. Presthus asked if there is already an established fee for that to which Mr. Keprios replied there hasn't been one in the past but he is recommending one. Mr. Finsness indicated that it seems to him that the fees at the aquatic center on a percentage basis are quite a bit higher than most of the other facilities and asked why is that. Mr. MacHolda replied they want to put Edina in the same market as comparable facilities. Mr. MacHolda noted that if you look at enterprise facilities as a business, we should be charging what the market will bear. However, swimming lessons are considered to be a break-even program and therefore would be more in line with what Mr. Finsness is saying. Mr. White indicated that it seems like everyone else is charging $130.00 and we are only charging $80.00 for a resident family of four. Mr. Klus commented that he doesn't think the Edina Aquatic Center is worth $130.00 because we are only getting the younger kids and not the older ones. Mr. Finsness indicated that the golf course was only raised $1.00. Mr. White noted that he would like to see the patron card go a little higher. Mr. MacHolda stated that Edina charges 50% less than what Eagan charges and noted that the golf course does not charge 50% less than area golf courses. Mr. MacHolda pointed out that he is not going as high as Eagan but he would like to charge what the current market is willing to bear and that is the reason for the big increase. Mr. Klus indicated that he pays $170.00 for a non-resident 12 month pass to Eden Prairie's community center which includes their pool. Mr. MacHolda stated that he is trying to compare himself with other outdoor facilities. He also noted that Edina's season is from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day and no other outdoor facility is open that long. Mr. Keprios asked Mr. Wallin how he views the fees for the aquatic center that have been recommended by staff. Mr. Wallin responded that he thinks it has to come in lieu of what his committee will be doing with the five-year plan. As we look forward to the next five years, the operation of the pool will need to cover the costs of projected expenditures that the pool will need to remain attractive and competitive. He indicated that Mr. MacHolda has informed him that we will be needing a new water slide in the next two years and that is not going to be a cheap undertaking. If we want the facility to keep up, we need to start building up now so we do not drop into the hole in order to buy a new slide or make other needed renovations. Mr. Klus indicated those are capital expenditures and not operating expenses. Mr. Mooty indicated we get to a point where we have a capital intensive element and we know we need to cover costs as we go down the line. However, his question is what's the assurance that we get to keep it from the standpoint of being able to utilize that capital so that we do keep it a competitive and high demand piece of property. Mr. Wallin noted that has been the philosophy of Mr. MacHolda's as well as himself when they talk about the aquatic center. He noted when major renovations were done in 1992 and the water slide was put up, the facility was very much in the red and had a long standing cash deficit. He explained that while the pool was working its way out of the cash deficit part of the profits after that point went to pay off that cash deficit and the other part went back into the facility. Mr. Wallin noted that he believes it is very important that we keep ahead of the improvements so we don't find ourselves with an old facility where everything needs to be replaced before it becomes hazardous or an eyesore. Mr. Wallin pointed out that the only thing the investment advisory committee is focused on is the five-year plan. However, if part of the plan is to do something further down the line, then that should be looked at as well. Mr. Keprios commented that in defense of what Mr. Finsness was saying earlier, we try to carry the same philosophy through the whole fees and charges structure. However, it can't be the same for every program and facility. Again, some have a tremendous subsidy, some make a lot of money and others tend to break even. He pointed out that if we were to charge the actual cost of the playground program, the user would pay approximately $75.00 per kid. Also, if were to charge the art center users what it actually costs to run the facility, then we would likely have to shut the doors. Therefore, we have to find what is the best way to maximize the service and still make it accessible to the general public. Mr. White commented that it seems like the pool is making a lot of money and yet we are still raising the fees a lot and there are other facilities that are not making very much money and we are not raising those fees very much. Mr. Klus commented that on the same side we are letting the golf course fund some of the capital improvements and we are not using those profits to fund general park improvements, which he suspects is a controversial issue. Mr. Wallin indicated there is another way to look at this, the golf course has put millions of dollars into the facility and has added a third nine hole as well as a lot of expanding over the years. He noted they used a bond issue to do a lot of this. One philosophy is to use a pay as you go approach, which means that the current user pays for the cost of the current capital but not pay for the cost to replace it for future users. Mr. Wallin noted that his recommendation would be that the profits should basically go back into the facility. However, he wouldn't want to see the aquatic center turn into a profit center and 0 accumulate cash. We would just put money away to eventually go back into the pool at a future date. Mr. Mooty indicated that it is his understanding there is no assurance the money generated from the pool will go back into the pool. Mr. Wallin replied that is correct, it is up to the city council what is done with it. Mr. Mooty asked Mr. MacHolda based upon the incremental fee structure, what does he think it's going to contribute? Mr. MacHolda replied he doesn't know. He indicated that he is surprised that the numbers have gone up with the competition that is out there. Mr. Mooty indicated that part of the rationale for him to look at this increase at the pool is because we know we have some things on the horizon which need to be done. Therefore he would like for the Park Board to suggest to the city council that this is the rationale behind the proposed increase and to reserve some of those incremental dollars for these future improvements. Mr. Finsness noted that it would be a lot easier to tell the pool patrons that. Mr. Klus suggested passing the fee structure and at the next Park Board meeting discuss how we would like to see the enterprise facility money spent and pass that on to the city council. Maybe they will look at it differently and have a different philosophy than what has been in the past. Mr. White indicated that it is his understanding that the city council has never taken money from the pool to pay for something else. Mr. Klus commented that they could if they needed to balance everything out to zero. Mr. Wallin noted that most of the money has been taken out of the liquor fund and utility fund in order to balance everything out to zero. Mr. Klus noted that he just would like to make sure that the city council hears our thoughts on this issue. Mr. Keprios pointed out that he thinks this issue will come before the Park Board once Mr. Wallin and his committee are prepared to make a recommendation to fund a future capital plan. He added that this will most definitely be a controversial topic. John Murrin MOVED TO RECOMMEND THAT THE EDINA CITY COUNCIL APPROVE THE FEES AND CHARGES AS PROPOSED BY STAFF WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A $5.00 INCREASE ON THE GOLF COURSE PATRON -CARD AND NO EXCLUSIVE USE ALLOWED OF THE BREDESEN PARK PATHWAY. George Klus SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Mr. Valliere indicated that he would like to point out that there was a $5.00 increase on the patron card just two years ago and in the past he has been raising that fee once every five years. 7 • -----Original Message ----- From: emmaspeedyfast@aim.com[mai Ito: emmas_pcedylastL;aim.com] Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2010 8:38 AM To: John Keprios Subject: Mayterm project I know you and my mom had talked about helping host my "mayterm" project fun -run at either Garden or Pamela park. It will be strictly charitable with all proceeds going to the Courage Center(more specifically their track program) We were going to need city hall to approve the idea if we were to choose Garden park, however, we decided that Pamela would fit our plans very well. I'm sorry I did not get back to you last night, but thank you so much for helping work this out. I was wondering however if Pamela was available on June 5th from roughly 8-11 o'clock in the morning, and what we would need to do to go ahead and book it. Let me know if it works out, thank you so much. Emma Krieter • 0 From: Mayank Jain [mailto:mjain7OC&grnail.com] Sent: Monday, April 12, 2010 10:11 PM To: Lynette Biunno Subject: suggestion for Todd Park Tennis Hi, I am an Edina resident and wanted to ask the park and recreation board to see if they would be willing to construct two facilities on the tennis courts at Todd Park: 1) Put coin operated flood lights at the tennis courts, so that residents can pay and play in the evenings or night. That way, it can be cost neutral 2) Put up a wall at the tennis courts, so we can do wall practice, especially when we don't have players. I feel the above are not that expensive and would not involve a significant investment outlay. Thanks Mayank