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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-03-12 Park Board Minutes 1 EDINA PARK BOARD 7:00 P.M. BRAEMAR ARENA MARCH 12, 2002 _____________________________ MEMBERS PRESENT: Tom White, Mike Damman, Ardis Wexler, Floyd Grabiel, Allyson Grande, George Klus, Jeff Johnson, Linda Presthus, Dave Fredlund, Karla Sitek MEMBERS ABSENT: Andy Finsness STAFF PRESENT: John Keprios, Ed MacHolda, Janet Canton ______________________________ I. APPROVAL OF THE TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2002 PARK BOARD MINUTES Karla Sitek MOVED TO APPROVE THE FEBRURY 12, 2002 PARK BOARD MINUTES. George Klus SECONDED THE MOTION. Ms. Wexler pointed out a couple of corrections. On page four the last sentence the words “as to” need to be taken out. One page six it should read “South Suburban Hennepin Regional Park District”. MINUTES APPROVED. II. NOMINATIONS FOR MAYOR’S COMMENDATION AWARDS Mr. Klus indicated that he thinks the Park Board should accept all of the recommendations. Mr. White asked Mr. Keprios if the Park Board can do that to which Mr. Keprios replied that the Park Board can nominate as many people as they want. Mr. Klus noted that he thinks they all sound very worthy. Mr. Keprios stated that he can fill out the paper work to nominate everyone mentioned and give the Mayor several to choose from. Mr. Keprios explained to the Park Board that they can also select one of their own and present that recipient with a plaque or something else. Mr. Klus commented that last year they did present their own plaque to Andy Herring, retiring Park Board member. It was noted that the Edina Football Association, Edina Soccer Club and Twin Cities Tree Trust be listed under the Mayor’s Service Club Commendation and Gary Soule be listed under the Mayor’s Individual Service Commendation. Mr. 2 White indicated that the Twin Cities Tree Trust does a great job but perhaps the Park Board could nominate them next year and this year just nominate the Edina Football Association and Edina Soccer Club for the Mayor’s Service Club Commendation since both associations have given so much money to the City. Mr. Damman asked if it is bad to nominate all three to which Mr. Keprios replied it’s really the Park Board’s call. Ms. Presthus pointed out that the Mayor will pick who he wants. Mr. Keprios noted that those who don’t get picked can be nominated again next year. Mr. Klus indicated that he isn’t so sure that they should all be nominated under the Service Club Commendation but maybe under Individual Service Commendation. Mr. Klus noted that we could also consider giving out our own award to one of these groups like what was done last year. Mr. White suggested nominating all three organizations under the Service Club Commendation. Linda Presthus MOVED TO NOMINATE THE EDINA FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION, EDINA SOCCER CLUB AND TWIN CITIES TREE TRUST UNDER THE MAYOR’S SERVICE CLUB COMMENDATION AND NOMINATE GARY SOULE UNDER THE MAYOR’S INDIVIDUAL SERVICE COMMENDATION. George Klus SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. III. EDINA AQUATIC CENTER RENOVATION – ED MACHOLDA Mr. MacHolda explained that there are basically three amenities they are adding to the facility. The first amenity is a new waterslide tower with both body and inner tube flumes. The second amenity that is being put in is a themed platform, which looks like a ship’s bow for a cable ride across the pool that will be replacing one of the one-meter diving boards. The third amenity is a dry land play area themed like a tree house. Mr. MacHolda indicated that so far he thinks the construction has gone very well and the majority of the work should be done by June 1st. However, final completion for the dry land play area is scheduled to be done by July 5th. The water slides and cable ride are scheduled to be done by June 1st. Mr. MacHolda passed around some pictures of what they have been working on at the Aquatic Center. One of the pictures showed how the themed cable ride looks like the bow of a ship and noted that it actually looks better than he had visualized. Mr. Keprios added that we anticipate that kids will love it and be drawn to this attraction. Mr. Fredlund asked what the cable ride is. Mr. MacHolda explained that the cable ride will be replacing one of the one meter diving boards. It will have a themed platform (a ship’s bow) and will be about the same height as the three- meter board. There will be a t-bar from the cable where kids will grab that t-bar 3 and then descend over the water and there will be a stop bar about ten feet from the other edge of the pool. Mr. MacHolda indicated that the ride is intended for 10 year-olds on up and noted there will be a height requirement. He also stated this is something they couldn’t buy out of a catalog and that they are designing and building the ride as they go. Mr. Keprios pointed out that another beauty of the plan is that it really opens up the deck space, which means there will be a lot more room for lounge chairs. Mr. White asked if the Aquatic Center is getting more lounge chairs to which Mr. MacHolda replied not this year. He noted they are spending $1.5 million just to add the three amenities and hopefully in a year or two they can buy more lounge chairs. Mr. MacHolda indicated that he would also like to add trellising for shade over that entire concrete area. Also, he would like to pursue a step-in entry for better accessibility to the large body of water, which would make it a U shape pool versus an L shape pool. Mr. White asked Mr. MacHolda if he has approached anyone like Hoigaard’s to see if they would be interested in donating some lounge chairs. Mr. MacHolda replied he has not but would be happy to make a phone call to them. Mr. MacHolda informed the Park Board that they just finished signing a new contract with the Pepsi beverage company. He noted that they have just completed a three-year term with Coca-cola and have signed a five-year contract with Pepsi. He indicated that part of the contract has $100,000 on the table for promotional dollars that will be divided amongst the facilities. He noted that he is thinking about using some of that money to purchase lounge chairs. Ms. Sitek asked what kind of steps the slide will have. Will they be see-through steps. Mr. MacHolda replied that it is a steel structure and that they will again be see-through steps. Ms. Presthus asked Mr. MacHolda how he came up with July 5th as the completion date. Mr. MacHolda explained that it is their hope that everything will be completed by the time the pool opens. However, the dry play area is quite extensive and not knowing what the spring weather will bring, July 5th ended up being the completion date for the new dry land play area. Mr. MacHolda pointed out that he thinks all of the subcontractors have done a very nice job. Mr. Johnson asked if the old water slide was salvageable to which Mr. MacHolda replied he tried very hard to sell it and he came close to selling it to Albert Lea. Ms. Sitek asked if there is any danger having that cable ride near the diving board to which Mr. MacHolda responded they will have a lifeguard standing right on the platform. He noted there is a 45 second return on the cable so their hope is to have the kids alternating between the diving board and the cable ride. Ms. Sitek 4 asked if they could hit the cable itself to which Mr. MacHolda replied no because the platform is slightly higher than the three meter board and the cable is above that. Ms. Grande asked how does the cable get back to the platform to which Mr. MacHolda replied they are going to have a hydraulic system pull it back, which is currently being engineered. Ms. Sitek asked what the pool rates are going to be this year. Mr. MacHolda replied that the daily admission has stayed the same and the season tickets went up slightly. He explained that the reason they did not raise the rates too much is because they are under construction, which means they do not know for sure when it will be completed. Last time the pool was under construction they did not complete the job until mid-July. IV. UPDATES A. Lewis Park Soccer Fields Renovation – Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that the City Council accepted the proposed deduct changes and alternates on the Lewis Park soccer field renovation project. It was decided that the topsoil will be 9 inches and not 12 inches. They are also going to accept the change order to excavate down to 30 inches rather than 36 inches. Mr. Keprios stated that both the architect and turf specialist said we will still have the best fields in the Twin Cities. We won’t have to worry about debris surfacing for at least 40 years or more. He commented that it’s tough to justify spending $42,000 for an extra 3 inches of topsoil. Mr. Keprios noted that they will start tearing into the fields on May 15th and that the turf specialist will start seeding the fields the first of August. The fields are scheduled to be playable June 15, 2003. Ms. Presthus asked if there will still be a walking path while construction is going on to which Mr. Keprios replied that it’s very doubtful because there will need to be two entrances to those fields. B. Off-Leash Dog Park – Mr. Keprios indicated that he called the Minneapolis Park Department last week and was told they are in a waiting pattern with the Minneapolis Public Works Department. The Minneapolis Park Board is not willing to invest capital into the site with only a two-year lease from the Minneapolis Public Works Department. Mr. Keprios stated that he is very disappointed because after all of this effort and money on attorney’s fees and establishment of a joint powers agreement finally in place only to find out they don’t even have access to the property. C. Skate Park – Mr. Keprios indicated that the good news is there currently are no local government aid cuts by the State of Minnesota for 2002. However, the bad news is the State of Minnesota still does not have the 2003 budget deficit figured out so we are not quite sure what the legislature is going to do at this 5 point. He noted that the City of Richfield’s City Council is going to vote on the proposed skate park funding soon. Mr. Klus asked Mr. Keprios if he feels positive about it to which Mr. Keprios replied that he thinks it’s looking good and politically there is a lot of support over there. Ms. Wexler asked if the Richfield City Council does not vote in support of the Skate Park or votes for a lesser amount is it possible that the City of Edina may be able to contribute more money from a reserve fund. Mr. Keprios explained that if that happens he will come back to the Park Board with a recommendation to contribute more money. He noted that one way or another he is going to try to make the skate park work this year. Mr. Klus indicated that we will not know until next week what Richfield will end up doing and if we need to come up with more money it will take another month before we will be able to make a recommendation to the City Council. Therefore, that will bring us into April and May and asked if there would still be enough time to build it for this summer. Mr. Keprios replied that he thinks there should still be enough time to build the park this year. Mr. Klus asked Mr. Keprios how long he thinks the project will take to which Mr. Keprios replied he would need to talk to the engineer and architect to see how quickly it can go out for bid. Mr. Keprios stated that he at least wants to get construction started this year. Ms. Wexler asked, if there is a time crunch, could a special meeting of the Park Board be called rather than wait another month. Mr. Keprios noted that if he needs the Park Board’s recommendation to spend money from the Developer’s Fund and there is a time crunch he will ask permission to set up a special meeting. Mr. Keprios noted that the Park Board has already approved the skate park and the City Council has approved it in the capital plan. The only item that has not been approved yet is the Joint Powers Agreement with all the parties involved and the Ground Lease Agreement with the YMCA and the City of Edina. D. Fox Meadow Park Neighborhood Committee – Mr. Keprios indicated that he just had his first meeting with the two architects from Brauer and Associates and the five neighborhood committee members from Fox Meadow Park. He noted it was an excellent meeting and they received really good feedback. He stated that they gave the architect a charge to go back and design concept drawings that include a lot of the natural plantings that are currently in place and come up with some plans that will create a gathering place for the neighborhood. They would like to see a small play area for the kids as well as pathways. They also talked about the possibility of putting in a pathway all the way down to the lake to which the idea received a luke warm reception. However, the rest of the ideas were highly endorsed by the committee. Mr. Keprios indicated that by next week the architect will have drawings done to reflect the input they were given to which the committee will then provide additional feedback. Next, the architect will then come up with one or two more 6 plans. At that point, the committee plans to knock on the doors of the neighbors who live next to the park. He noted that is where the political challenges are going to be and they hope to solicit their input and make them advocates of developing the park. Mr. Johnson asked if any of the people living next to the park are on the committee to which Mr. Keprios replied yes. Mr. Keprios noted they are making good progress. V. OTHER A. Senior Center – Mr. Damman indicated that he had the opportunity to visit the new Senior Center and it is certainly a very nice facility and everyone seems to be happy there. He noted that they have a few issues that they are currently working out. Mr. Fredlund asked if they had an open house to which Mr. Damman replied no he just showed up and some people took him on a tour. He noted that the facility is up and running. Mr. Keprios reminded everyone that the next Park Board meeting will be held at the new Senior Center. B. Pepsi/Skate Park – Mr. Keprios stated that Mr. MacHolda has been doing a wonderful job in raising money for the skate park; he has currently raised approximately $26,000. He explained that when Pepsi took over the city beverage contract they graciously came forward with $20,000 for the skate park. He indicated that they now have a proposal before the Mountain Dew national account to possibly raise that amount anywhere from $20,000 to $60,000. He noted that if they offered us an additional $60,000, then a portion of the skate park could be named Pepsi or Mountain Dew. Mr. MacHolda noted that they are very hopeful they will have some additional dollars coming from National Mountain Dew. C. School District Charging Gymnasium Fees – Ms. Presthus indicated that it has been brought to her attention through the Edina Basketball Association that the schools are going to start charging a fee for their gymnasiums. She indicated that she doesn’t think they will be able to afford to rent the gyms for their tournaments which is where the association makes their money. She also noted that with the money they have made they have given things back to the schools such as the backboards, etc. Ms. Presthus asked how much do the schools and the city work together because she noted that the schools use a tremendous amount of parks free of charge. She also asked if there is an agreement between the two. Mr. Johnson asked if the city charges the school for the baseball program to which it was noted they do not. Mr. Keprios explained that Edina has been fortunate since day one because they have had a wonderful bartering system in place because we both serve the same customer. He also noted that he feels through all of the years the city has actually received the better end of the deal with all of the free use of the gymnasiums. He noted that gymnasium time has 7 always been free of charge with the exception of weekend tournaments where they have had to bring in staff for overtime or other times when there otherwise would not be a janitor on site. Mr. Keprios explained that instead of continually charging each other, we in turn have facilitated free of charge essentially all of the varsity and junior varsity baseball, softball and golf. We have also given the schools free use of our picnic shelters and meeting rooms. Mr. Keprios stated that it has really worked out well and we don’t have to get into the hourly charge. Unfortunately, it looks like that is coming to a close because of the school’s budget constraints they need to find other sources of revenue and the bartering system isn’t going to exist anymore. Therefore, as a Park Board we are going to have to address this issue and when that time comes he will provide the Park Board with a written statement that outlines all of the facilities and services the City provides the School District free of charge. He noted that it will equate to somewhere between $30,000 and $35,000 a year. Mr. Johnson indicated that they are raising the gym fees and noted that there is a School Board meeting next Monday where this is something he will bring up. He stated that it’s very nice to have the bartering system and he will point that out because in turn the schools will probably start to get charged for baseball, golf, etc. Ms. Presthus pointed out that some of the associations will not be able to continue to run their programs which are for the community. She noted that the schools may want to take a look at giving a break on tournaments, because additional charges will really hurt them. Mr. Grabiel asked why can’t the associations raise its fees to which Ms. Presthus indicated that they will have to just cover regular gym time but at tournament time it will wipe out every profit of the tournament and then there is no point in even having a tournament. Ms. Presthus indicated that for a three-day tournament they are getting thousands of dollars worth of gym time to which they do pay for the janitors’ overtime. Mr. Johnson explained that if the legislature will give them what’s called a “security bond” or “issue” then the money for hiring janitor’s and their overtime would not come out of the school board’s budget. The schools right now are paying the janitors to stay late. Ms. Presthus replied that the associations are paying some of those too. Currently, when the schools are supposed to be open for school activities, the youth athletic associations do not pay for gym use during those times. Also, if the tournament fees were raised nobody would show up for the tournaments. Mr. Johnson noted that he will find out what the School Board’s rationale is for all of this. Ms. Presthus asked Mr. Johnson to be sure to bring up the fact that the associations donate dollars back to the schools for facility improvements. Mr. Keprios commented that just recently the city has been receiving invoices from the School District for late night gym clean-up even though the teams had left the facility before 9:30 p.m. It is written on the permit for the adult teams at 8 the high school that the gymnasium is available and there’s no charge unless there’s a clean up charge. However, on some of the nights, for whatever reason, there is a charge showing an overtime charge for anywhere from 1:00 am until 2:00 a.m. He noted that the teams are most often out of the gymnasiums by 9:00 p.m. Mr. Keprios explained that it’s very difficult to budget for because they don’t know this ahead of time. Mr. White indicated that he always thought it would be interesting to have a joint Park Board/School Board meeting. He noted that he doesn’t know the people on the School Board. Mr. Johnson indicated that before every School Board meeting people have a chance to discuss items of concern for three minutes. He noted that possibly the Park Board would want to give a presentation regarding the new fees at this time. Mr. Grabiel asked if the School Board is going to charge for gymnasiums can the Park Department charge for baseball fields or is that something that the City Council has to do. Mr. Keprios replied that recommendation should first come from the Park Board. Mr. Keprios noted that there is a joint City Council/School Board meeting later this month. Mr. White stated that the Park Board should think about having a future joint meeting with the School Board. VI. ADJOURNMENT Ardis Wexler MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 8:05 P.M. George Klus SECONDED THE MOTION. MEETING ADJOURNED. THE PARK BOARD THEN WENT ON A TOUR OF BRAEMAR ICE ARENA.