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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-11-14 Park Board Minutes 1 EDINA PARK BOARD TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2006 7:00 P.M. EDINA COMMUNITY ROOM _____________________________ MEMBERS PRESENT: Mike Damman, Ray O’Connell, Linda Presthus, Gordon Roland, Andy Finsness, Todd Fronek, Jeff Sorem, George Klus, Jeff Johnson, Karla Sitek MEMBERS ABSENT: Mike Weiss STAFF PRESENT: John Keprios, Ed MacHolda, Janet Canton OTHERS PRESENT: Heidi Dorfmeister, Jennifer Janovy ___________________________ I. APPROVAL OF THE OCTOBER 10, 2006 PARK BOARD MINUTES George Klus MOVED TO APPROVE THE OCTOBER 10, 2006 PARK BOARD MINUTES. Jeff Johnson SECONDED THE MOTION. MINUTES APPROVED. II. PATHWAYS AND SIDEWALKS PRESENTATION – WAYNE HOULE Per the Park Board’s request, Wayne Houle, City Engineer, gave a presentation on the sidewalks, pathways, master plan, etc. Mr. Finsness asked who is in charge of the “Bike Task Force” that the City Council appointed and who does all of that work. Mr. Houle explained that the Bike Task Force is a group of residents that the City Council has recognized and in addition is providing them with a consultant to work with. He noted that so far the task force has done a lot of work as far as origin destinations and those types of things. He indicated that they are trying to figure out how people are commuting to work, entertainment, parks, etc. Mr. Houle indicated that he has viewed some of the drawings and suspects that he will probably be meeting with the task force within the next couple of months to get an up-to- date of where they are in their process. He pointed out that he is hoping he can take some of their findings and fold that into the Transportation Comprehensive Plan Update that they will be working on in the next year. Mr. Finsness asked if the task force is reporting directly to the City Council at this time to which Mr. Houle replied that is correct. III. K-9 MEMORIAL PROPOSAL – KEVIN ROFIDAL, EDINA POLICE OFFICER Mr. Keprios introduced Kevin Rofidal, Edina’s K-9 police officer. He noted that Mr. Rofidal will be giving a presentation regarding the concept of a K-9 Memorial near the South Metro Training Facility at Braemar Park. 2 Mr. Rofidal gave the Park Board a brief history about the Edina Police Department’s K-9 program. He pointed out that the program was revitalized in 2002 with the addition of his dog, Kodiak. He noted that because of their workload they just added another dog this past spring. Mr. Rofidal indicated that what he is looking for is approval from the Park Board for the use of some land near the South Metro Training Facility for a K-9 memorial. He noted that the number of dogs varies from each of the departments that make up the South Metro Training Facility which include the Airport, Eden Prairie, Bloomington and Edina. He commented that most of the dogs are still in service; however, a few have retired and now live with their handler. Mr. Rofidal explained that the memorial would be for the dogs after they have passed away and it doesn’t need to be that they were killed or hurt in the line of duty. Mr. Rofidal showed the area on the map of where they are looking at placing the proposed memorial. He indicated that a company called JLM Landscapes has volunteered to donate their time to design this. In addition, JLM Landscapes have a lot of connections with suppliers who will hopefully also be able to help out. Mr. Rofidal showed a presentation of what other K-9 memorials look like throughout Minnesota as well as the rest of the country. Mr. Rofidal stated that he has been in contact with Brodin Studios, a Minnesota based company, which makes statues for a variety of purposes which are sent all around the world. However, he is not 100% sure he would use this company and added that they will need to raise funds in order to secure something such as this. Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that Mr. Rofidal and he did talk about a few different sites and came up with this particular area because it is an area that is probably not going to be desirable for a whole lot of other uses. He noted that there is a little bit of a grade; however, he thinks it is gradual enough where they could put in some kind of a winding path. Mr. Keprios pointed that there is only one thing he is not 100% sure on the land use restrictions in the areas defined as an Oak Savannah Forest which was part of the mitigation process when they developed the new nine-hole golf course. He commented that he will have to research the restrictions before they pull the trigger on anything. Mr. Rofidal explained that one of their goals is they want this to be something that the public can enjoy and isn’t locked behind a gate. He stated that he doesn’t expect people to visit this on a regular basis but if they were waiting for a ballgame or something it would be a nice area to visit. He commented that he would also like to see it have a little sitting area. Ms. Presthus asked Mr. Rofidal how much land they would need for the memorial to which Mr. Rofidal replied that at this time he is not sure how much they are going to need because the landscapers are still designing it. He noted that hopefully he will have some type of blueprint or concept that he will be able to show the Park Board. Mr. 3 Rofidal stated that before anyone starts anything with this piece of land he would like some kind of go ahead from the Park Board. Ms. Presthus asked if they would be looking for donated materials for landscaping, monuments, etc., and asked if that would all have to be raised through additional fundraising, sponsorships, etc., to which Mr. Rofidal replied that is correct. Mr. Rofidal noted that he’s giving the landscaper the opportunity to come up with what they think they will need and then he will start raising funds. Mr. Rofidal informed the Park Board that the entire K-9 program has been raised by private funds. George Klus MOVED TO GIVE MR. KEPRIOS THE AUTHORITY TO WORK WITH KEVIN ROFIDAL AND AUTHORIZE USE OF THE PROPOSED PARK AREA CONTINGENT UPON COMPLIANCE WITH THE MITIGATION RULES AFFECTING THE PROPOSED PARK LAND. Linda Presthus SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Mr. Finsness clarified that it’s a motion of intent to let Mr. Keprios go ahead and kind of scope out the area and then move forward. Mr. Keprios pointed that Officer Rofidal is not asking for them to build it, maintain it or operate it, he is just asking for permission to use the land. IV. FEE WAIVER POLICY FOR NEIGHBOHROOD ASSOCIATIONS Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that he did some research and talked to the Park and Recreation Director from St. Louis Park and other local park directors regarding a fee waiver policy. He noted that in his findings, St. Louis Park is the only one he talked to that waives the rental fee for this purpose. Mr. Keprios explained that he does support what St. Louis Park is doing which is they give the formal neighborhood associations; ones that have by-laws and are incorporated, free use of the city’s park shelter buildings to conduct their formal neighborhood association board meetings. He noted that this is still in the pilot project basis for St. Louis Park and so far it has been working. Mr. Keprios noted that St. Louis Park does not give their facilities to neighborhood associations to run special events, such as fund-raisers and neighborhood socials at no charge. For those types of events they pay the normal fee. Mr. Klus asked if this would only be for neighborhood associations that have park buildings or is it for any formalized neighborhood association that wants to use a park. Mr. Keprios replied that he would not object to letting informal neighborhood associations have their official board meetings as long as they are not parties. Mr. Keprios commented that he thinks it’s really designed to accommodate their board meetings, much like we host athletic association meetings at no charge. He noted that by doing this there is very little cost to the city because it’s not a maintenance item. However, if they were to start to have events and parties then there would be more of a 4 maintenance refuse cost, etc. He added that it will also set a precedent for other groups and at what point do you say no. Ms. Presthus asked whether or not there would be any problem with overusing these buildings or is there a lot of open time. Mr. Keprios replied that they are not overused. However, they are rented enough where people need to schedule them ahead of time so there are no issues with double bookings. He commented that some buildings are used more than others. Jennifer Janovy, Edina resident, stated that when they have their meetings there is usually a social component to it and asked how clear is the line going to be drawn. Mr. Keprios replied that in his view if it’s just the board that meets and you have coffee or cake it’s not a big deal. However, if you are talking about a big food drive event or a political rally that would be a neighborhood wide event which would run up costs; that would not be considered a board meeting. Ms. Janovy clarified that their annual meeting, which is a neighborhood wide, meeting, would be charged the fee to which Mr. Keprios replied that in his view under this type of a policy that would be correct. George Klus MOVED THAT THEY OFFER THE PARK SHELTER BUILDINGS FREE OF CHARGE FOR FORMALLY ORGANIZED EDINA NEIGHBHORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS TO HOST THEIR FORMAL BOARD MEETINGS. Jeff Sorem SECONDED THE MOTION. Mr. Fronek commented that Hurricane Katrina was a perfect example of the Park Board waiving a fee on that particular event/fundraiser. He noted that he doesn’t see an overload of various groups wasting their time if it’s not a reasonable cause to have a fee waived. Mr. Keprios pointed out that this doesn’t preclude groups from coming to the Park Board in the future to ask for a special one time circumstance waiver of fees. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. V. UPDATE TO “PRIORITY USE OF EDINA’S SCHEDULED OUTDOOR ATHLETIC FACILITIES POLICY.” Mr. Keprios noted that the Park Board members should have in their packet the proposed changes for the “Priority Use of Edina’s Scheduled Outdoor Athletic Facilities Policy”. He noted that the reason for updating the Facilities Policy document is to incorporate the two new documents (Core Values & Relationship Documents) into the Facilities Policy document. He noted that in addition he also removed some redundant language and changed the order of how things appeared in the Facilities Policy Document; however, none of the changes made changed the current policy. Mr. Keprios stated that if the Park Board wants to keep it this way then he would do the same thing for the gymnasium access to facilities policies which will need to be updated since they now own two gymnasiums. 5 Mr. Finsness asked Mr. Keprios how he put the policy together to which Mr. Keprios replied that he eliminated redundant language and added the two documents as appendix one and appendix two. Mr. Keprios noted that he also clarified what an “Edina Non- Profit Athletic Association” is so that language is now in there. Mr. Keprios stated that he did not write any other new language; but simply changed the order in which it appears in the policy document. Mr. Keprios explained that he wanted it to have the appearance that if you don’t abide by the newly established policies you are going to jeopardize your access to facilities. He pointed out that they cannot deny access to facilities, however, they do have the power to prioritize access and charge fees differently from one association to another. He stated that the one they recognize will get priority access and will get a better rate than a new competing organization that just shows up. Therefore, that is why he felt it belonged in the document. Mr. Keprios noted that if everyone agrees with the concept he’ll start working on the gymnasium policy. Mike Damman MOVED TO APPROVE THE UPDATED VERSION OF THE OUTDOOR ATHLETIC FACILITY POLICY. Todd Fronek SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. VI. PARK BOARD MEMBER LIAISON TO ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION PRESIDENTS MEETINGS Mr. Finsness indicated that Mr. Keprios is recommending that there be a Park Board representative to attend the President Association meetings and then report back to the Park Board on what is happening with the associations. It was noted that Todd Fronek, Jeff Sorem and Ray O’Connell will be the Park Board liaisons at the Athletic Associations Presidents meetings. VII. UPDATES A. Gymnasium Construction – Mr. MacHolda informed the Park Board that the gymnasiums are now approximately 95% complete. He noted that they became operational on October 16th. He indicated that the acoustical tile still needs to be done as well as they are still missing some of the final coring of the doors. Mr. MacHolda stated that they recently went on a walk through and the facilities are top shelf. He added that they have received nothing but compliments from the people who will be using them. Mr. Keprios indicated that a grand opening will be taking place when the school has its major grand opening for all of its facilities once everything is complete. He stated that he would also like to give a big thanks to Jeff Johnson for serving on the Joint Powers Oversight Committee. It has been a great success story. Mr. Johnson asked Mr. MacHolda to update the Park Board on the batting cage. Mr. MacHolda replied that there is a batting cage that is mounted on the ceiling of the 6 ECC City Gym. He noted that it will be primarily used by the varsity baseball program. He explained that the concern they had was the hardwood floor, there should be some sort of safety surface on the floor before people are swatting balls, therefore, a cover has been ordered. Mr. MacHolda stated that Mr. Johnson had another good idea and that was to use weight training tiles in front of home plate where most of the balls get swatted down to the floor which would give it additional safety coverage. Mr. Keprios pointed out that they anticipate we will be approximately $40,000 under budget, which is fabulous. B. Needs Assessment Survey/Workshop With City Council – Mr. Keprios reminded the Park Board that on Tuesday, November 21st at 5:00 pm Ron Vine will be here to present the data from the Needs Assessment Survey. Mr. Keprios commented that Mr. Vine told him that trails, bikeways and walkways are listed as number one; it is head and shoulders above everything else. In second place is having a recreation center to which Mr. Keprios found surprising. Mr. Keprios indicated that he believes they received over 800 responses out of the 3,000 that were mailed which is very good because we were guaranteed 500. Ms. Presthus asked if the City Council will also be at this meeting to which Mr. Keprios replied yes. Ms. Presthus asked if the public will be there to which Mr. Keprios replied that the public is allowed to attend the meeting, however, there will be no public input because it is a workshop. Mr. Finsness asked if Mr. Vine will be done with his job after next weeks meeting to which Mr. Keprios responded that other than giving them hard copies of the results he will be done. Mr. Keprios added there is going to be some very powerful and valuable information that will assists us with planning the Comprehensive Plan and our Capital Improvement Plan. Ms. Presthus asked if the Council Elect will be there to which Mr. Keprios replied that Joni Bennett will be invited to attend. C. Courtney Fields Construction Project – Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that the Courtney Fields construction project is coming along very well and added that they haven’t had one unforeseen change order. He noted that the field part is done, it has been graded, seeded and has a new irrigation system. He stated that the field will be playable in June of next year. Mr. Keprios commented that the building is now really starting to take shape. Mr. Keprios explained that they also ran sanitary sewer and water lines as part of the project so that they will be able to move the garage to that site. He noted that was part of the CIP plan which the City Council did approve. Mr. Keprios commented that it was an add-on when they opened bids to be sure that they were going to make that commitment to build that building. It’s a great complex for baseball. VIII. OTHER A. Gordon Roland – It was noted that our Student Member, Mr. Gordon Roland, received a national merit commendation for academics on his score for the SAT test. 7 It was noted that his score was in the 98% category. The Park Board congratulated Mr. Roland. B. Lewis Park Hockey Rink - Mr. Sorem asked what the status is with having outdoor artificial ice. Mr. Keprios replied that yesterday he met with Del Erickson, architect from Erickson Associates as well as with Dan Hoene, Edina Hockey Board member. Mr. Keprios indicated that the EHA is paying for the feasibility study that is basically all but complete with the exception of the operating expenses. Mr. Keprios explained that to have an artificial rink at Lewis Park they would need to go with a sand based floor because the soils are so poor the risk would be too big to put in a concrete floor. He noted that it would still be workable if they put it where the current general skating rink is. Mr. Keprios stated that the cost would be a little over $800,000. He noted that they would have to sacrifice some parking stalls to make that happen, however, what that figure doesn’t include is a building for the Zamboni so that is something they are currently looking into. He indicated that when it is all said and done he thinks it will be close to one million dollars to get the job done. Mr. Keprios indicated that Mr. Hoene had asked the question that if the EHA could donate and raise enough funds to make this happen or at least get close to that figure how much political will would there be to kick in some city dollars to put it over the edge to finish it. Mr. Keprios stated that he told him that he doesn’t know what that magic figure would be and that would not be for him to decide. He indicated that the Needs Assessment Survey did ask some questions about an outdoor refrigerated rink to which it did not receive very much support. He commented that really isn’t a surprise since only 30% of the Edina homes have kids. C. Todd Park Hockey Rink – Mr. Sorem asked Mr. Keprios if he has heard anything from the Todd Park neighbors regarding their hockey rink. Mr. Keprios replied that he received his first call this morning from a resident who lives by Countryside Park wanting to know why they don’t have a hockey rink. He noted that he informed the resident what is happening and assured him that they will give them a bigger hockey net to which he was fine with that because his kids are mite hockey players. He also informed him that there is always the possibility of putting a hockey rink back at Countryside Park sometime in the future; however, it needs to be further studied. Mr. Keprios stated that as far as Todd Park is concerned we are entering our second year of a two-year pilot project and he has not heard anything from Todd Park area residents yet this fall. Mr. Klus asked when will they start flooding the rinks to which Mr. Keprios replied they will start flooding the week after Thanksgiving depending on Mother Nature. He commented that it is important to know that Todd Park really is not considered a portable hockey rink but rather a permanent hockey rink that they have to pull out of the ground and remove and store each year. Mr. Sorem asked how the boards look after being in storage to which Mr. Keprios replied that there was some collateral damage with the boards. He indicated that the park maintenance staff has already expressed their feelings about the hockey rink and they feel they could build a much 8 better permanent wood hockey rink for a lot less money. However, the wood rinks are even more permanent as they cannot be put in and taken out each year. D. Dog Parks – Mr. O’Connell informed the Park Board that recently he was walking around Weber Park on three separate occasions to which there were people in the park with their dogs on leashes. He explained how he asked these people the question of how they would feel about using the area in the summer as a dog park and let the dogs run free. He noted that they all replied that would be wonderful. Mr. Keprios stated that he has heard a couple of things from their off-leash dog park at Van Valkenburg. He noted that the center area is muddy most of the time and there are people who will not use the park until there is a fence put around that muddy area. Therefore, it is now in their operating budget to put a fence around the area. Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that to his surprise there have been a lot of requests for a small dog area because some of the smaller dogs are getting beat up by the big dogs and it’s becoming a problem. He indicated that they did ask some questions in the Needs Assessment Survey asking people what they think about having a designated time in several parks that are off leash with no fencing but rather at a certain time of day people can come and let their dogs run. He noted that it’s going to be interesting to see how that data plays out. IX. ADJOURNMENT Ray O’Connell MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 8:10 PM. George Klus SECONDED THE MOTION. MEETING ADJOURNED.