Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-11-09 Park Board Minutes 1 EDINA PARK BOARD 7:30 P.M. CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS NOVEMBER 9, 1999 ____________________________________ MEMBERS PRESENT: Bill Jenkins, Dave Fredlund, George Klus, Karla Sitek, John Murrin, Chuck Mooty, Tom White MEMBERS ABSENT: Andrew Herring, Andrew Finsness, Floyd Grabiel, Linda Presthus STAFF PRESENT: John Keprios, Janet Canton, John Valliere OTHERS PRESENT: Bruce Carlson, Jude Dugan Olson ____________________________________ I. APPROVAL OF THE OCTOBER 12, 1999 PARK BOARD MINUTES George Klus MOVED TO APPROVE THE OCTOBER 12, 1999 PARK BOARD MINUTES. Bill Jenkins SECONDED THE MOTION. MINUTES APPROVED. II. EDINA HOCKEY ASSOCIATION ADVERTISING PROPOSAL Mr. Keprios indicated that as his staff report points out the Edina Hockey Association (EHA) is requesting that they be able to venture into an advertising fundraiser. He noted that Mr. Bruce Carlson, President of EHA, has submitted a letter that outlines EHA’s proposal. Mr. Keprios showed examples of what the ads would look like and indicated that Larry Thayer, manager of Braemar Ice Arena, gave the EHA permission to put advertising on the dashers on a temporary basis for a recent Bantam tournament. Mr. Carlson explained that the advertisements are clear decals that are 10’ long by 30” high and stick right onto the boards. Mr. Jenkins asked which arenas would have the advertisements and Mr. Carlson replied they would be in the West and South arenas. This way the East arena is open for the Figure Skating Club to have the same opportunity. Mr. Keprios pointed out that some precedent has already been set in the arena with the advertising that was done for the hockey tournaments on a short-term basis. He also commented that the Edina Baseball Association has set some precedent because they have been advertising on the scoreboards at Courtney fields. Mr. Carlson commented that they use the same company that does the decals for Mariucci Arena, and it’s a very high quality look. Mr. Keprios indicated that one question that came to his mind is the aesthetics. Also, he noted that the city is not doing this with the 2 intent to make money but with the intent to be supportive much like we are with the concession stand for the Edina Hockey Parents. He noted, however, that the city does get a cut of the profits. Mr. Keprios indicated that another issue of concern is to make sure that the East arena is set aside if the Figure Skating Club is interested in using advertising as a fundraiser. He explained that he did speak to the president of the Figure Skating Club and was told the issue would be discussed with their Board members, however, they are not sure if this is something they would be interested in. Mr. Keprios noted that the Figure Skating Club’s concern is could the advertisements be taken down from the West arena when they have their figure skating show. He informed her that he did not have the answer. Mr. Carlson commented that once you remove the adhesive you have to redo them in which Mr. Keprios responded that, if necessary, they we could simply cover them up. Mr. Murrin asked if this has good revenue potential. Mr. Carlson explained that if they sold everything the gross revenue would be approximately $40,000 with net revenues of $26,500. The revenue sharing market appears to be 25% of the net revenue going to Braemar Arena, which would be $6,625 in this example. Mr. Keprios commented that this would be a great fundraising opportunity for the EHA. Mr. Mooty asked what is the approach as far as what’s appropriate to have advertised as well as the look and consistency of the advertising. Mr. Keprios explained that a few year ago he was asked to come up with a policy for advertising on city property. The policy included language that covers us so we are sure to stay away from alcohol, tobacco and all of the other politically and culturally sensitive issues. The process is that it has to meet the city’s approval and he will administratively handle that issue. Ms. Sitek explained that the graphic people suggest just using one word with their logo because that is what the people will see, as well as it makes less of a danger of coming up with inappropriate items. Mr. Mooty confirmed that Mr. Keprios is saying that he will be giving the approval from the city’s standpoint in which Mr. Keprios replied that is correct. He noted that if there is ever any question or issue he will run it through the process, however, he doesn’t see there being a problem. Mr. Carlson indicated that he had a discussion with Mr. Thayer regarding the fact that the city has a deal with Coca-Cola and therefore we do need to offer them a dasher on each board if they want to pay for it. Mr. Mooty asked if the deal with Coca-Cola prohibits any tie with a competitor. Mr. Keprios noted that the contract arrangement is that we have so no other soft drink competitors could come into the city throughout the whole park system including the golf course. In return Coca-Cola gives us a lot of dollars up front to use for capital at those enterprise facilities, $80,000 to be exact. He noted that was part of the contract arrangement that if there was any advertising they would be it. Mr. Keprios stated that at one time Coca-Cola requested to advertise on a dasher board and we told them no. Mr. Murrin asked if it is legal to favor one competitor to the exclusivity of another. Mr. Keprios explained that we had an open bid process where other soft drink companies competed for the large contract, which resulted in tremendous savings for the city. He commented that not long ago Pepsi was the provider for the city. 3 Mr. Jenkins asked what is going to be done with the money that is made. Mr. Carlson replied that the additional resources will assist in keeping our program costs affordable to the youth hockey players in our community and help us to maintain the standards associated with administering the program. Mr. Jenkins asked how many participants are there in the program to which Mr. Carlson noted about 800. Primarily what they want to do is reduce or maintain registration fees and make it a more affordable experience. He also explained that what they do through capital improvements helps out the entire program and more times than not the High School as well. They put in a shooting cage a few years ago, they now have a furnished meeting room, video resources, coaching resources and an education program for coaches. He pointed out that they require all of their coaches to be certified even the assistant coaches which costs $35.00 to $40.00 per person and there are a lot of coaches. Jude Dugan Olson pointed out that they have one sponsor for each team and they are usually Edina businesses or parents who sponsor these teams. She noted that right now they have 35 community sponsors. She indicated that five of those sponsors have already indicated that they would be interested in this advertising fundraiser. Mr. Mooty asked if the hockey season is a full year as far as the hockey association is involved. Mr. Carlson responded that their season is basically November through the middle of March. However, there are kids who play hockey all year which is through other organizations and individuals. Mr. Mooty indicated that the reason he is asking is does the association really get the benefit for a full year. He noted that he doesn’t see that to be a real problem but he thinks again it is setting a precedent for other activities that we get into where the beneficiary of it is not for the time that all of the activity is going on. This may have a potential to cause some more issues as we go into this endeavor. Mr. Mooty commented that he thinks it’s a great way to capitalize and utilize whatever dollars we can get from outside to support it. Mr. Carlson suggested taking it one year at a time and see how it goes. Mr. Mooty replied he thinks that is the approach we are going to have to take. It should be done on an annual basis. Mr. Carlson indicated that maybe it would make sense to make the contract 6 to 8 months. Mr. Mooty noted that he doesn’t know if you would lose much by saying it’s for the season, but again you could try it and see what happens. George Klus MOVED THAT WE APPROVE THE EDINA HOCKEY ASSOCIATION ADVERTISING PROPOSAL FOR THE PERIOD OF DECEMBER 1ST, 1999 THROUGH NOVEMBER 30, 2000. Mr. White noted that Mr. Keprios had mentioned in his proposal that the motion needs to be contingent on the Figure Skating Club. Mr. Keprios replied that he wanted them to have their day in court if they are interested and believes they have been informed and will continue to have an opportunity to participate. Mr. Klus stated that the EHA is only asking for the West and South arenas. 4 John MURRIN SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. III. BRAEMAR & FRED RICHARDS GOLF COURSES PRESENTATION - JOHN VALLIERE Mr. Keprios indicated that John Valliere, manager of the golf courses, will give a brief presentation to inform the Park Board about Braemar and Fred Richards golf courses. He will discuss the history, mission, philosophy and general operations of the golf courses. Mr. Keprios commented that the finances were already discussed at the October meeting and therefore the focus will be more on the philosophy and operations. Mr. Valliere indicated that he would first like to start off with the history of the Braemar Golf Course. He explained that the golf course was built in 1963 and opened in 1964, therefore, the city manager at that time decided that the address should be 6364 Dewey Hill Road. The address is now 6364 John Harris Drive in honor of John Harris who is an Edina resident who won the US National Amateur in 1993. The city wanted to recognize him and that is why it was renamed. Mr. Valliere stated that Braemar has hosted a lot of national tournaments as well as state tournaments and there have been a lot of good reviews. Mr. Valliere pointed out that Braemar also prides itself with the outstanding lesson programs that are offered. He indicated that Braemar has seven PGA instructors who are renowned in the state. There are group lessons and individual lessons offered for both juniors and adults. He explained that they introduce people to the game and hopefully get them involved so they stay with the game. Mr. Valliere indicated that the patron card was already in place when he started working at Braemar Golf Course in 1969. He explained that the patron card is a card that gives people who live in the community first access to the course as well as it gives them a reduction in the green fees. He noted that he feels the patron card has created customer loyalty and the desire for them to get into leagues. It’s almost like a community within a community at Braemar. He commented that there are some people who have played golf together for 30 years. Mr. Valliere stated that the golf dome has been very profitable. He explained that the dome started out as a privately owned facility on public land and they were paying the city rent. The golf dome didn’t turn the corner as quickly as the previous owners wanted and subsequently the city bought it. Mr. Valliere commented that with the staff’s efforts it has become a very profitable venture for the city. However, right now it is starting to have more competition because there are more and more inflatable domes being built in the metropolitan area. Mr. Valliere pointed out that there are 45 holes total and they take a lot of maintenance. He indicated that there are approximately 130 to 140 people who work at the golf courses 5 in the summer. He then noted that the question he always gets asked is what do we do during the winter. Mr. Valliere explained that in the summer they start at 6:00 a.m. and are usually still there until 10:00 p.m. Therefore, his staff is run ragged especially when the seasonal help is gone and the weather is still nice outside. Mr. White asked if the golf courses are still open to which Valliere replied yes they are. Mr. Valliere noted that there are 12 full-time people who work for the golf courses and 8 of them work on maintenance. He indicated that because there are so many seasonal people, training and wages can be a problem because they are only there for 90 days. However, the majority of his seasonal staff do a good job and have a good work ethic and care about the facility. Mr. Valliere pointed out that a lot of improvements have been made over the years with the driving range, executive course and so on. He noted that they are always trying to meet the needs of the community as it grows. Mr. Valliere explained that when the golf course first opened up in the 1960’s there were 350 patron card holders. In the late 1970’s there were 900 to 1,100 patron cards sold. In the late 1980’s there were 1,800 patron cards sold to which we could not accommodate everyone on the regulation 18 hole course. Therefore, it became necessary to expand and now meets the needs of the community. This year there were 2,650 patron cards sold. However, it’s still a challenge because the new nine hasn’t been tremendously received by the larger portion of clientele which are seniors. The reason is because there are climbs involved which needed to be there because of stipulations from the Corps of Engineers. He indicated that they are hoping that they can somehow soften the golf course and make it a little more receptive. This is something that will definitely have to be addressed in the future. Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that Mr. Valliere does a tremendous job with the golf courses. It’s not just a summer operation but it’s a twelve month operation with the golf dome, banquet facilities, grill area and maintenance. There is a great staff out there and Mr. Valliere and his staff deserve a lot of credit. Mr. Fredlund asked Mr. Valliere if there have been any ideas on softening the golf course. Mr. Valliere replied there have been a couple of architects who have looked at it but there have not been any permanent plans drawn up. He noted that now that some time has gone by maybe they can approach the Corps of Engineers with a new routing plan so that we can soften the course. Mr. Keprios added that Mr. Valliere has an excellent goose management program at Braemar. He noted that the golf course has had a dog living there for the last three years and it has done a wonderful job. IV. COMMUNITY EDUCATION SERVICES REPORT - LINDA PRESTHUS Ms. Presthus was not at the Park Board meeting but Mr. Keprios commented that he attended the most recent Community Education Services Meeting where they discussed 6 putting together a generic joint publicity piece. He explained that Park and Recreation will be putting in about 2 ½ pages of our basic program service offerings and who to contact. As more progress is made on this issue Ms. Presthus and himself will keep the Park Board up-to-date. Mr. Murrin informed the Park Board that the School Board just finished their election and Colleen Feige, Peyton Robb and Maureen Andrew-Knudsen will be the new School Board members. He noted that they are looking forward to the new group but that they are also losing some good people. V. COMMUNITY CENTER STUDY UPDATE - CHUCK MOOTY Mr. Mooty indicated that he has been meeting every two to three weeks with the various people who have been involved in this process. These are people from the school board, city and outside experts who are in the fields of engineering and architecture. He explained that currently they are trying to get a better sense of what the costs are going to be for the project. Mr. Mooty stated that the concept is basically to revitalize the whole community center area which includes improvements to the football and soccer facilities. Currently they are looking into the different types of turf in order to get the maximum utilization of that space. They are also looking at trying to enhance the baseball field. Mr. Mooty indicated that they are also looking at adding on to the field house three basketball courts on the south side of the community center. Mr. Jenkins asked Mr. Mooty if this is a task force that he is on and asked who put the committee together. Mr. Mooty replied that basically Ken Dragseth and Gordon Hughes have put this committee together. Mr. Jenkins asked Mr. Mooty if he is on the committee irrespective of his position on the Park Board. Mr. Mooty noted that he is on this committee because he has been a big proponent of trying to enhance the different facilities and therefore was asked to be part of the committee. This way the Park Board is also part of it. Mr. Mooty indicated that he feels everything is progressing and right now they are trying to prioritize because of the dollars, it’s not going to be cheap. We need to figure out what are the critical items and then try to finalize the overall improvements. Mr. Mooty stated that there are also other things such as the theatre improvements and parking enhancements. Mr. Jenkins asked if those plans are firmed up a little bit with the finalization of the Lewis site. Mr. Mooty responded that things will start moving more now that they’ve made that decision. Mr. Jenkins stated that he thought there was some talk about putting gymnasiums on that site. Mr. Mooty replied at one time there was but when the WEMEP proposal got turned down so did the gymnasiums. He indicated that potentially gymnasiums could be put there, however, it makes the most economic sense to keep everything together and not separate it further out. 7 Mr. Mooty noted that the goal is to have the referendum take place in May. Mr. Keprios indicated that he received the latest numbers and it’s not going to be a cheap venture, however, it is one that is very important and we need to pursue it and see what type of response there is because it’s important for the community. Mr. Jenkins asked have they finalized the components that are going into the bid. Mr. Mooty replied that all of the components have been identified but because there are so many things there is a basic core of items. Mr. Jenkins asked what are the core items. Mr. Mooty noted that it is basically the field house with three gymnasiums. Mr. Jenkins asked if that is enough to which Mr. Mooty replied three are not enough. Mr. Jenkins asked why don’t you do four. Mr. Mooty commented that four is one of the options with the concept of adding one gymnasium onto Concord because from an enrollment standpoint they have been the ballooning elementary school. Mr. Mooty stated that according to the experts the issue with four is the economics, it turned out better to do three and splitting the fourth gymnasium somewhere else. The three gymnasiums will be side by side with basically net dividers because of the cost. Therefore, the core will be the field house, locker room improvements, some remodeling of Concord, South View and the Community Center gymnasiums as well as remodeling of the theatre. There will be new facilities for the football stadium. Mr. Mooty went on to say that the two tennis courts may be moved up to where the other tennis courts are and ultimately may be lighted. Mr. Jenkins asked if all of this will be district maintained to which Mr. Mooty replied yes. Mr. Jenkins asked how much are they looking at to which Mr. Mooty replied it currently is in the 15 plus million. Mr. Murrin asked if this includes what is being done at the Kunz-Lewis site with the senior center and library. Mr. Mooty commented that will be a separate deal. Ms. Sitek asked who is going to say what the referendum is for and how is this going to be sold to the public. Mr. Mooty replied that both the school and city will be selling this referendum and will be saying it is for enhancements for the school district as well as the city. He indicated that the city will have the up front dollars and the school district will take care of the ongoing maintenance. Ms. Sitek noted that she feels a lot of people will say didn’t you recently ask for everything you needed. Mr. Jenkins stated that he would like to bring up the bidding process and noted to make sure the numbers are correct and you don’t end up short like we did for the Park Bond. You have to spend money to figure out what it’s going to cost, you can’t just guess. Mr. Mooty commented that he agrees. Mr. Keprios pointed out that at the last meeting all of the numbers were laid out. If such and such was done it would cost a certain amount and if other things were done it would cost this amount. Every scenario imaginable was discussed. A lot of comments were thrown out as to what makes financial sense and what doesn’t. Therefore, like Mr. Mooty mentioned, we are down to three gymnasiums and a track up above and those kinds of things. Mr. Keprios stated that where it stands today is both Ken Dragseth and Gordon Hughes are cooperatively drafting a memo to the elected officials (school board and city 8 council) to request a joint meeting to answer all of the tough questions. He pointed out that there are a lot of questions that still need to be answered and ultimately thinks that some of this will come before the Park Board. Mr. Keprios commented that he would like to go back to what was discussed earlier regarding Mr. Mooty serving on the committee. He indicated that Mr. Mooty is being a little bit humble in that his participation with this group is far more than just an interested party. Mr. Mooty is really leading the charge, very respectfully, on the gymnasium side of life and if it wasn’t for him this may not even be on the docket. Mr. Murrin commented that he knows the school district has invested a lot of time and effort in this and also feels that if it wasn’t for Mr. Mooty this whole thing wouldn’t really be going on. He stated that he thinks this has been well thought out and the people who are working on this are doing a great job. VI. OTHER A. Donation Policy - Mr. Klus asked Mr. Keprios if once in a while he could put in his staff report who has donated what so that the Park Board is aware of who has donated money. Mr. Keprios replied that he is working on updating his donation list so that it is current to where we are at. When this is completed he will make sure the Park Board receives the information. B. EGAA Scholarship - Mr. Jenkins indicated that he read in EGAA’s minutes that they offer scholarships and asked what kind of scholarships they are. Mr. Keprios replied they are $500.00 scholarships for college and they have been doing it for years. C. Referendum - Mr. White stated that he has already discussed briefly with Mr. Keprios to have staff identify capital issues to see if we should pursue a referendum in May. Mr. Jenkins indicated that he feels capital issues for Park and Recreation should be coming out of the annual city budget. We should be receiving $180,000 to $200,000 every year from the city to address these capital needs. Mr. Keprios commented that Mr. Herring did a wonderful job representing the Park Board on the capital budget. He went before the City Council during the budget hearing process and indicated that the Park and Recreation Department’s number one issue is that we need a capital plan and need it right now. Mr. Herring informed the City Council that it doesn’t serve the community well to let things go and then try to fix it all at once. Mr. Keprios stated that Mr. Herring did a fine job, kept it very positive and to the point and was well received. However, in response to what Mr. White has said there are a few large ticket items that might be appropriate to include in the referendum because certain projects would have to wait forever under a capital plan. Mr. White asked Mr. Keprios to have a report regarding this at the next Park Board meeting. 9 D. Julia Bertrand - Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that Julia Bertrand, Recreation Supervisor, will be leaving the department. Her last day will be November 29th. He noted that Ms. Bertrand has been with the city for 5 years and has done a great job. However, she has decided to stay home and be a full-time Mom. Mr. Keprios indicated that they have replaced her with Donna Tilsner who will start with the city on November 22nd. He indicated that Ms. Tilsner is an Edina resident who has worked in Park and Recreation for over 22 years and currently works for the City of Eagan. She is wonderful and he is sure she will do a fabulous job for us. E. Wooddale Comfort Station - Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that the City Council has approved to go forward with the Wooddale Comfort Station. F. Hennepin County Parks - Mr. Keprios indicated that Hennepin County has pulled together a lot of first and second ring suburbs who have made an issue with Hennepin County and he has been part of several meetings with them. Mr. Keprios explained that when Hennepin Parks were first formed by the legislature a lot of suburbs like Edina had already formed their own park system. Therefore, in Edina we have 1,553 acres of park land, all city owned. There is no county, state or federal park land in Edina. Mr. Keprios noted that some people have been complaining that they pay a lot of taxes to the county but don’t get the benefit, they have to drive in order to get a benefit from their county tax dollar. He stated that they are currently trying to get some benefit into the first ring suburbs where maybe there is some land that could be county land. Also, possibly take it a step further and have a consorted effort to have a regional trail system that upgrades some of our trails to connect to some of the major regional corridors. Hennepin County has already identified that if the Canadian Pacific Railroad here in Edina were to ever get abandoned there is already a process in place to make that corridor a wonderful trail system. Mr. Keprios explained that he suggested the possibility to Hennepin County that they may want to consider purchasing Bredesen Park. He noted that it would have restrictions such as they give the city tons of money, it always has to remain park land for natural purposes and they maintain it on their nickel. Also, if it were to ever go to anything other than parkland it goes back to the ownership of the city. Mr. Keprios also pointed out that they would have the funding to do some naturalist programs and possibly build a small nature center. Mr. Keprios stated that he doesn’t know how they are going to respond to this but he thought he would suggest it to them since they asked. Mr. Jenkins asked is Hennepin County Parks driving this in which Mr. Keprios responded that is correct. Mr. Jenkins also asked what is Hennepin County getting out of this deal. Mr. Keprios replied they would add it to their park system and also commented that Hennepin County has a lot of money because they are not strapped with levy limits like we are. He stated that the Park Board will be hearing more about this as we go down the road. VII. ADJOURNMENT 10 Karla Sitek MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 8:55 P.M. George Klus SECONDED THE MOTION. MEETING ADJOURNED.