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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-02-13 Park Board Minutes 1 EDINA PARK BOARD 7:00 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS FEBRUARY 13, 2001 _____________________________ MEMBERS PRESENT: Michael Damman, Andrew Finsness, David Fredlund, George Klus, Linda Presthus, Karla Sitek, Ardis Wexler, Tom White MEMBERS ABSENT: Floyd Grabiel, John Murrin STAFF PRESENT: John Keprios, Ed MacHolda, Janet Canton _____________________________ I. APPROVAL OF THE JANUARY 9, 2001 PARK BOARD MINUTES George Klus MOVED TO APPROVE THE JANUARY 9, 2001 PARK BOARD MINUTES. Karla Sitek SECONDED THE MOTION. MINUTES APPROVED. II. WELCOME NEW PARK BOARD MEMBERS MIKE DAMMAN AND ARDIS WEXLER Ardis Wexler and Mike Damman were introduced as the two new Park Board members. Mr. White asked the two new members to tell the Park Board a little bit about themselves. Mr. Damman indicated that he has worked for the University of Minnesota for the past 30 years and is the Stage Manager at Northrup Auditorium. He noted that he recently received a degree from the University of Minnesota in Park and Recreation and in fact did his internship with the City of Edina. He stated that he has always been interested in Park and Recreation. Mr. Damman indicated that he has a daughter who is a senior and a son who is freshman and added that both have played sports through Edina. He also noted that he has lived in Edina for 19 years. Mr. Keprios pointed out that Mr. Damman was a wonderful intern and did a great job. He commented that Mr. Damman also helped in getting the fishing pier at Lake Cornelia. Ardis Wexler indicated that she has lived in Edina a little over 29 years. She noted that she works for the Jewish Vocational Services and before that she was a buyer for B. Dalton. Ms. Wexler stated that she has been active in a number of activities within the community. Mr. White welcomed both new Park Board members. 2 III. ELECTION OF OFFICERS Mr. Keprios opened up the floor for nominations for Chair of the Park Board. George Klus NOMINATED Tom White. Andy Finsness SECONDED. Mr. Keprios asked for a motion to close the nominations. George Klus MOVED TO CLOSE NOMINATIONS and Ardis Wexler SECONDED THE MOTION. PARK BOARD VOTED UNANIMOUSLY FOR TOM WHITE TO BE CHAIR OF THE PARK BOARD. Mr. Keprios opened up nominations for Vice Chair of the Park Board. Tom White NOMINATED George Klus. Andy Finsness SECONDED. PARK BOARD VOTED UNANIMOUSLY FOR GEORGE KLUS TO BE VICE CHAIR OF THE PARK BOARD. IV. RESOLUTION OF APPRECIATION Mr. Keprios handed out a “Resolution of Appreciation” for Andy Herring to be signed by the Park Board members. Mr. White noted that the resolution basically states that we appreciate Mr. Herring’s long-term service on the Park Board and expresses our appreciation for his generous contributions to the City of Edina. Mr. White suggested that in addition to Mr. Herring receiving the plaque maybe he should also receive a gift certificate, such as the one that was given to Bill Jenkins last year. Mr. White noted that he will be in charge of getting the certificate and collecting money from whomever wants to give. George Klus MOVED TO APPROVE THE RESOLUTION OF APPRECIATION FOR ANDY HERRING. Karla Sitek SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Mr. Keprios indicated that he will be sure to get all the Park Board members signatures on the resolution before they frame it. It will be given to Mr. Herring at the Boards and Commissions meeting. Mr. Keprios stated that he will send out a notice to everyone letting them know when and where the Boards and Commissions meeting will be held. V. NOMINATION FOR MAYOR’S ALL-VOLUNTEER AWARDS RECEPTION Mr. Keprios explained that the “Mayor’s All-Volunteer Awards Reception” is an annual event. It’s an opportunity for boards and commissions and civic groups to recognize anyone within their organization with whatever it is they want to give them. He added that is probably the time the Park Board will want to give their gift certificate to Andy Herring. Mr. Klus asked if there is anyone on the Blue Ribbon Committee that should be recognized who hasn’t received an award in the past. Mr. Keprios suggested recognizing 3 them as a group. He noted that he has never seen a group with a more intense schedule. He stated that there are some outstanding volunteers in that group. Tom White MOVED THAT WE NOMINATE ANDY HERRING FOR A SPECIAL AWARD FROM THE PARK BOARD AND NOMINATE THE BLUE RIBBON COMMITTEE UNDER THE MAYOR’S AWARD. George Klus SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED. Linda Presthus ABSTAINED FROM VOTING. VI. PARK BOARD ANNUAL CALENDAR Mr. White indicated that at the last Park Board meeting he asked Mr. Keprios to change the calendar and have a few more meetings held at different sites instead of just at City Hall. Mr. Keprios commented that he doesn’t need a vote on this. He would like to know if anyone has any other ideas and noted that it can always be revised mid-stream if the schedule needs to be adjusted . It was noted that if anyone has any changes to let Mr. Keprios know. VII. RECREATIONAL FACILITIES REFERENDUM AND TRI-CITY SKATE PARK UPDATE A. REFERENDUM UPDATE - Mr. Keprios indicated that the School District has received the green light from the Department of Children and Families in Learning. However, the architect firm they used has underestimated the cost of a lot of the projects. He explained that unfortunately the School District didn’t go with the architecture firm that has been used by the City since the beginning of the project, which is TSP One, Inc. The School District chose KKE Architects, who have been involved in designing classrooms, auditorium and black box theater in the schools. Mr. Keprios commented that we hope that the difference in estimates does not become a major problem with the Department of Children and Families and Learning (Dept. of CFL). The Department of CFL really looks for the traffic impact, operational costs and the overall impact on the school to be sure it doesn’t affect the safety, health and welfare of the kids. Ms. Presthus asked if this is for the whole plan or just the school part to which Mr. Keprios replied they have to approve everything on school property. Mr. Klus asked what portion has been underestimated to which Mr. Keprios replied that they were short approximately 3.5 million on Kuhlman field alone. Mr. Keprios indicated that the Edina Swim Club requested that the Mayor reconvene the Blue Ribbon Committee to readdress the 50 meter pool issue. There is still a strong interest within the swimming community to promote construction of a 50 meter pool. Mr. Keprios handed out to the Park Board members the written report that TSP One put together. He indicated that the same report will be handed out at the public hearing on Thursday, February 15th. He also handed out a copy of what should be the final draft of the Joint Powers Agreement. Mr. Keprios explained that 192 notices have been mailed out to the Edina Community Center neighborhood and approximately 150 notices were 4 mailed to the Edina High School neighborhood. He explained that they base this on residents who live within a 500 ft. radius of the school property. The notice informed the residents of the improvements that are occurring on the two campuses. Mr. Keprios indicated that he has received a lot of feedback from the Community Center neighborhood who are opposed to the bubble at Kuhlman Field. However, in the absence of the bubble most of them said they are in support of all the other proposed facilities. He noted that the Community Center neighborhood has been circulating a petition against the bubble, which so far has 402 names on it. Mr. Klus asked if they are still considering putting the bubble over at Braemar Park as an alternative. Mr. Keprios responded that is still an option. However, staff would be concerned with that because it would really compromise our best soccer field in the city. Also, the widest bubble that they could put in there would still be 10 feet narrower than what would fit at Kuhlman field because they would need to create an access path as well as build enormous retaining walls. Also, to put a bubble at the Braemar site would cost an additional 2.3 million dollars and therefore with all of these factors it doesn’t make sense to construct a bubble at that particular site. We would probably be better off not doing a bubble at all for now and further study the issue because it can still be built with revenue bonds at a later date. Another possible site would be at the proposed police/fire facility training site if that doesn’t go through. Mr. Klus asked if people are against putting it at Kuhlman field because of the noise factor to which Mr. Keprios replied they are opposed mostly because of the increased traffic into the neighborhood. However, people have a misunderstanding of this. If Community Education were to add another adult class it would generate the same amount of traffic as the bubble would. Also, if the bubble is thrown out there would still be more traffic and parking needs in the summertime when they are using the two artificial turf fields than there would be in the winter time with a bubble. Ms. Presthus asked why don’t they know that. Mr. Keprios replied that the neighborhood has been hearing only one side of the story, in fact, a flyer has been sent around the neighborhood indicating that it is a sports complex and will be open until 11:00 p.m. to which both are not true. The bubble would be open until 10:00 p.m. and it is not a sports complex. Mr. Keprios explained that at the public hearing he will give a presentation that will last approximately 30 minutes and then Doug Johnson from the School District will say a few words. At the time the public will then have a chance to be heard. Mr. Keprios indicated that he has notified everyone who gave a presentation, including all the members of the Blue Ribbon Committee, and unfortunately the only letters that he has received to be copied for the city council packets so far have been negative. Not one letter has been in support of anything. Ms. Presthus commented that maybe these people feel that if they’ve already made their presentations that they don’t need to. Mr. White asked if it’s too late to still submit a letter to which Mr. Keprios replied no, anyone can still submit a letter. Mr. Keprios stated that the next step after the public hearing will be a joint meeting on February 26th with the School Board and City Council to discuss the results of the public hearing and cover any issues that need to be resolved. They will also go over the two 5 agreements. He noted that the City Council has already given their preliminary nod and okay on the two documents, the Joint Powers agreement and the Facilities Use Agreement. Mr. White asked Mr. Keprios for a summary of who is going to be responsible for what duties and upkeep and that sort of thing. Mr. Keprios responded that a Joint Powers Board will be formed with two elected officials from the school board and two from the city council as well as two staff from each the school and the city. The reason for the joint powers agreement document is that the working bodies will collectively decide what architects and construction manager to choose, what designs they are going to use, etc. The Facilities Use Agreement states that the city will pay for these things through its referendum. However, once everything is complete it becomes property of the school district and becomes their responsibility to operate and maintain. The agreement also has some language allowing them to charge fees to cover their incremental additional operational expenses but not to the extent that they make a profit. Mr. White asked how this will affect the cost of playing basketball. Mr. Keprios replied that that is a great question and the exact costs per hour have yet to be determined by the school district. Mr. White stated that, if this passes, taxes are going to go up and asked how people are going to feel knowing that they are not only paying for a fieldhouse but have to pay to use it too. Mr. Keprios responded that it’s no different than when they built the third ice arena. Taxes went to pay for that and people still have to pay $130.00 an hour to use it. Mr. Keprios explained that Edina has a user fee based philosophy and believe very strongly in user fees. Ms. Presthus asked what the feeling is on making the bubble a separate item on the referendum to which Mr. Keprios replied that’s a possibility. However, that still won’t resolve the issue for the neighbors and creates the scenario for them to still vote no for both. Mr. Keprios also pointed out that Decision Resources warned them that if there is a controversial issue on the referendum it probably will not pass. Ms. Presthus asked if the bubble gets taken out will the Blue Ribbon Committee review the situation and look at the possibility of putting back in a gym that was taken out. Mr. Keprios replied that the City Council has seen the Blue Ribbon Committee’s recommendation and it is now the City Council’s call. Mr. Keprios pointed out that the City Council will decide on March 6th whether or not to hold a referendum and if so what the scope of it will be. That is when it will be determined whether or not the bubble is in and how many gyms there will actually be. If they vote to have the referendum that is when staff will have to start informing the residents of what is in the referendum. B. TRI-CITY SKATE PARK - Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that they did not get the $250,000 grant from the Department of Children, Families and Learning, which really surprised everyone. He indicated that having an indoor skate park will now be out of the price range and they are therefore looking at having an outdoor skate park only. He 6 noted that each community will be putting in $80,000 to which Edina will get their $80,000 from the referendum, assuming it’s successful. Mr. Keprios stated that what is unique about this skate park is that the whole thing is going to be concrete, which will be the first all concrete outdoor skate park in the state of Minnesota. Mr. Keprios then showed a plan of what they are currently looking at doing with the outdoor skate park and commented that they still have to show this plan to the kids. Mr. Keprios indicated that along with the outdoor park they are going to need a building where they can sell tickets and hand out safety equipment, etc. He noted that they will not need to build restrooms, which will save a lot of money, because they can use the ones at the YMCA. Mr. Keprios explained that with the $240,000 (assuming the referendum passes) we should have enough money to build this as well as put in some type of buffer or fencing. Mr. White asked Mr. Keprios if he has talked yet with the neighbors regarding the skate park. Mr. Keprios responded that once he has a plan and finer drawings from an architect as well as dollar figures in place he will send out a mailing to the neighbors and have a meeting. VIII. OTHER A. Budget - Mr. Keprios pointed out that the Park Board typically doesn’t get involved in the operations budget. The Park Board is more involved in suggesting programs, getting involved in capital funding and those types of things. The Park Board does, however, recommend fees and charges and capital expenditures, policies, procedures and those types of things. Mr. Keprios then noted that after the Park Board meeting he does have an orientation presentation he will show to the two new Park Board members and everyone is welcome to stay if they want. B. Warming Houses - Ms. Sitek indicated that there have been a lot of problems this year at the Cornelia School Warming House and asked what is happening. Mr. Keprios replied that this year they have had the worst group of warming house attendants he has ever seen in his entire career at Edina. He noted that he went to Cornelia School Park and Walnut Ridge Park in the same day and brought the police with him to file a police report because of vandalism. He stated doors have been left open and therefore pipes have frozen which has caused a lot of damage. Mr. Keprios noted that it has been a terrible year. Mr. Keprios indicated that he talked to the whole group personally and explained to them what is expected of all of them and that they need to take this job seriously, etc. He stated that there have been numerous times that Donna Tilsner has received phone calls from residents saying that attendants have left and left the doors open or attendants have just bothered not to show up for work at all without calling a substitute, etc. He noted that they have also found beer and marijuana at a couple of the warming houses and so far 7 they have had to fire 4 attendants. It has been the worst season ever for irresponsible part-time staff. C. Centennial Lakes - Ms. Presthus commented that it was very nice that Centennial Lakes was left open for the kids after the Sweetheart Dance. She noted that it was just too bad that more people didn’t know about it because it was very nice. Mr. Keprios agreed that it was too bad that the school didn’t do a better job of getting the word out. He stated that this was a nice healthy activity for after the Sweetheart Dance. He noted that they left it open until 2:00 a.m. He pointed out that a busload of 35 sophomores showed up and that was it. He indicated that Tom Shirley informed him that it went great and also pointed out that Donna Tilsner donated her time to help out. Mr. Keprios commented that they will maybe try this one more year and really try to promote the juniors and seniors to be a part of it and make it a safe, fun healthy place to be. He added that if there isn’t a better turnout it’s really not worth having. D. Carl Holmstrom and Art Dickey - Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that Carl Holmstrom passed away. Carl first served as one of our committee volunteers and later became our valued paid consultant on the asset building initiative. He was the former Superintendent of Schools for St. Louis Park and instrumental in establishing St. Louis Park’s Children First Initiative. He noted that it’s a real loss to our community and he will be sorely missed. Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that Art Dickey, Edina Art Center Board member, also recently passed away. He will also be sorely missed. E. Dog Park - Ms. Presthus asked what the status is with the dog park. Mr. Keprios explained that Minneapolis has informed him that they have received his memo and they are still looking at it. Therefore, it is not a dead issue and the ball is in their court. IX. ADJOURNMENT Karla Sitek MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 8:15 P.M. George Klus SECONDED THE MOTION. MEETING ADJOURNED.