Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-04-13 Park Board Minutes 1 Minutes of the Edina Park Board April 13, 2010 Edina City Hall, Council Chambers MEMBERS PRESENT: Jennifer Kenney, Todd Fronek, Dan Peterson, Bill Lough, Randy Meyer, Joseph Hulbert, Keeya Steel, Ben Pobuda, Ellen Jones, Louise Segreto MEMBERS ABSENT: Rob Presthus STAFF PRESENT: John Keprios, Ed MacHolda, Janet Canton I. APPROVAL OF THE MARCH 9, 2010 PARK BOARD MINUTES Dan Peterson MOVED TO APPROVE THE MARCH 9, 2010 PARK BOARD MINUTES. Keeya Steel SECONDED THE MOTION. MINUTES APPROVED. II. NEW BUSINESS A. U.S. Open Flying Disc Championship Sponsorship - Mr. Keprios indicated that staff would like to recommend to the Park Board to consider a sponsorship of the 2010 US Open Flying Disc Championship event that is headed up by Edina resident Paul Thompson. Mr. Thompson gave a presentation on the history of the disc. He informed the Park Board he has been playing Frisbee since he was a young man. He explained to the Park Board that this year it is his turn to host this event and is looking for the Park Board’s consideration to have it in Edina, along with Bloomington and Eden Prairie to a lesser extent, to host the overall championships. Mr. Thompson pointed out that they have taken out the word “open” and therefore it is the “2010 Overall Flying Disc Championship”. He noted that it is for men, women and children of all ages. Mr. Thompson indicated that it is a week-long event and that they would like to use Highlands Park. He noted that Three Rivers Park District is a sponsor of the event as well and they are hoping to use Highlands Hills and Bryant Lake, both of which are in Bloomington. Mr. Thompson indicated that he has been working with the gym classes at Highlands Elementary and Normandale to promote it to kids and families to come out and play and watch good players. He explained that they are also creating a beginners division so that people can come for a low cost entry fee to try a few of the events. Mr. Thompson stated that they would like to have the mayors from the cities at their opening ceremony as well as have a remembrance of the disc players who have passed away in the last year. 2 Mr. Meyer asked if there needs to be a concern regarding parking and congestion for the neighborhood. Mr. Thompson replied that Monday through Friday there should not be a problem but that on Saturday they would like to encourage a crowd, however he still does not see there being a problem. Mr. Hulbert noted that it states there will be approximately 100 to 120 participants to which Mr. Thompson replied that he would be happy with 80 but if they could get 40 or 50 local folks to join the beginner division along with the out of town people they may get 120 participants. Mr. Hulbert asked if there is an entry fee to which Mr. Thompson replied it is $100 to $125 for the Open Division, $60 to $75 for the Junior Division and $35.00 for the beginners. Mr. Hulbert asked is that just to cover costs to which Mr. Thompson responded yes as well as they will receive a player’s packet and there will be an auction Wednesday night for “Save the Children” where people will be donating things. Mr. Thompson explained that they are sponsoring five kids through “Save the Children” as well as one-third of the money will go towards next year’s tournament. Mr. Thompson commented that they are trying to educate people about disc sports other than ultimate and golf which are well known. Mr. Meyer asked Mr. Keprios if there are any liability issues beyond what a typical park usage would be. Mr. Keprios replied that he did check on that and was informed that it will be covered under the city’s current insurance carrier. Todd Fronek MOVED THAT THE PARK BOARD ACCEPT THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DIRECTOR AND WAIVE THE FEE AT HIGHLANDS PARK. Dan Peterson SECONDED THE MOTION. Mr. Hulbert asked if all four entities, Three Rivers Park, Eden Prairie, Bloomington and Edina are all on the same page with the waiver of any fees for park usage. Mr. Thompson replied that he is not sure yet if Three Rivers will waive the fee or if they will have to pay $3.00 per person for the golf for the day. Mr. Thompson explained that they are not using any city parks in Bloomington and Eden Prairie, just the Three Rivers parks that are in those two cities. He commented that he sees Edina as the lead city. He added that they are going to invite the other mayors but that they are not going to be asking those cities for anything specific. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. B. Rental of Pathways Policy – Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that a couple of Edina High School students have approached him regarding a “May Term Project” that they would like to do at Pamela Park on Saturday, June 5th. He explained that they would like to have a cross country race and mark off their own trail and that the money they raise would be donated to a charity. Mr. Keprios indicated that through 3 this process there were also a couple of other requests to use Pamela, Garden, and Bredesen which they finally zeroed in on Pamela Park. He noted that they haven’t had requests for those in the past and therefore it seems to make sense to put some policies in place for this because they really don’t have any. Mr. Keprios pointed out that one written policy they have in place is there is no exclusive use allowed of the Bredesen Park pathway. This policy was set by the Park Board on October 12, 1999. He noted that they have allowed races to take place at Rosland Park to which there have been seven fundraiser events at Rosland Park in the past 12 months. Mr. Keprios commented that he does see this trend continuing which is not a bad thing and it’s great they are using the parks for these things. However they are getting into a gray area because it’s not clear for staff as to how to respond to what he thinks is going to be a stronger trend. He noted that they are quickly learning that if they do have on- street fundraising races or walks they have to pay police to monitor traffic which eats up a lot of the profits. He stated that staff would like to start working toward a long- term policy. Therefore he is asking for two things. First, approval for the request to try the May Term project as well as he would also like to have a dialog on how the Park Board would feel about allowing these type of events at other locations such as Garden, Walnut Ridge and Todd. Mr. Hulbert commented that it seems hypothetically that five parks could have something like this to which Mr. Keprios replied that is correct. Mr. Hulbert indicated that he has been to Rosland Park when they’ve had these types of events and noted that sometimes there are so many people that they end up leaving and going to a different park. He stated that he would personally hate to see public usage of a park get monopolized in those weeks by people who want to rent these facilities. Mr. Hulbert indicated that with five potential parks perhaps there could be a policy that not more than two of them could be rented out in any given weekend. Ms. Segreto stated that she thinks that is an excellent idea as well as it’s an excellent idea that staff is going to come up with some kind of policy to deal with requests like these. Ms. Segreto asked if there will be people in wheelchairs using the park being that it is a Courage Center fundraiser. Mr. Keprios replied that he did ask that question and was told it wouldn’t be an issue for this particular race. Ms. Segreto commented that she would hope that the facilities that are rented for the bathrooms could accommodate people with disabilities and asked if they are renting Edina port- a-potties or are they going to private vendors. Mr. Keprios replied that the port-a- potties that they have are through a state contract through the Park Department and so they would get the best price by going through their contact. Ms. Kenney made a suggestion that the policy state that these fundraisers be held earlier in the morning when the parks typically are being used less by the public. She noted that perhaps they could have a time limit such as 7:00 am to 10:30 am or 8:00 am to 11:00 am so that it will minimize the inconvenience to the public. 4 Mr. Lough stated that it was mentioned that the fees for the path rentals for this kind of an activity are modest and asked what does it typically cost the Park and Recreation Department for set-up, take down, clean up, etc., following an event like this and do the fees cover the expenses. Mr. Keprios replied that he believes the fees are commensurate with the expenses. He pointed out that when it gets beyond what they are charging then they put those expenses on the shoulders of the people who are renting such as additional restroom facilities, refuse removal, etc. Mr. Hulbert asked Mr. Keprios what type of formal action is he looking for from the Park Board. Mr. Keprios replied that he would like a formal action that will give the green light to go ahead and allow this May Term project at Pamela Park on June 5th. He commented that as staff starts to work on a long-term policy if the Park Board could give him their comments in addition to what has already been provided he will start to put together a policy for the Park Board to review. Mr. Lough asked specifically what the purpose is of the May Term project so that the Park Board might have a better idea of what it is they are supporting. Mr. Meyer explained that during the last few weeks of school the seniors are required to do these projects which can be community based and have all different types of involvement and opportunities. He noted that it’s sort of a way to keep the seniors focused a little bit on school before graduation. Jennifer Kenney MOVED TO APPROVE THE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS REQUEST ON A TRIAL BASIS TO USE PAMELA PARK FOR THEIR CHARITY FUNDRAISER ON SATURDAY, JUNE 5TH BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 8:00 AND 11:00 AM. Todd Fronek SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. C. Community Advisory Team Report – Member Ellen Jones – Ms. Jones informed the Park Board that she has already been to three meetings. She noted that they are working on coming up with some guidelines but they are not going to come up with a final blue print for a plan. This group is going to come up with and present to the City Council some guidelines and ideas they want the plan to contain in the process of deciding what to do with the current Public Works building that will be evacuated later this year. Ms. Jones pointed out that a lot of ideas have been generated to which at least a third of them have had to do with some kind of a park or open space or some type of city center. She indicated that they had a kick off meeting and then they had a site tour where they literally walked the site so that they could define what area they are going to be looking at. 5 Ms. Jones indicated that they had a developer round table where four developers from Edina gave the group their thoughts as well as let the group pick their brains about the site. She stated that they were very helpful with giving them some viewpoints. Mr. Meyer asked what the goal is of the May 18th joint City Council and Planning Commission work session. Is it to discuss the findings or is there a next step that will be taken at that point? Ms. Jones replied that she is not sure what is going to happen at that meeting but would guess it’s to present their findings to the City Council. Mr. Hulbert indicated that his impression is they are trying to figure out the proper process of resident involvement. He noted that he thinks its way down the road before they will know exactly what will be happening with that piece of property. Mr. Keprios stated that his take on this type of process is that it’s going to be pretty comprehensive, starting by determining what direction the City Council should take as far as its use before they make any further decisions. Mr. Keprios explained that this all came about when the City Council considered selling the property and taking those proceeds to help pay for the acquisition and development of the new building. However, some residents came forward saying they don’t think the city should ever sell currently owned public property and, if anything, they should consider turning it into a recreation community center of some sort. Mr. Keprios commented there is a lot of opinion towards this and noted that it might make some sense to do another survey. He suggested that possibly they could receive a grant from the Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) to do a survey to see if it is health related and if this is the direction they want to go. Mr. Keprios commented that possibly there is a survey that could qualify for grant money to see what things and how the community feels about that approach and use of the property for that purpose. Ms. Steel indicated that as this process moves forward and ideas revolve around Park Board type issues can they formally send a message to the City Council about any ideas brought forward. Mr. Keprios replied that if that’s the direction the City Council wants to consider for this property then he would have to believe that it’s going to be a very lengthy comprehensive process and he would request the Park Board’s opinion. He added that if for any park purposes he would think they would need to form a committee. Mr. Keprios stressed this still has a long way to go it still needs to be decided should this be a business property and, if so, what type of business. Should it be publicly owned or privately owned or left open space? He noted these are some big general questions that this group is trying to help the City Council in making this decision. Mr. Meyer asked Ms. Jones from a park perspective what some of the ideas that have been suggested are. Ms. Jones replied one concept was to have underground parking with open space above it. She noted that other concepts have had to do with a bike 6 path and have some sort of park along the side of that potential bike path. She indicated there has also been discussion of having a town square and a sculpture garden. Ms. Segreto indicated that open space and park facilities in a community like Edina is hard to come by and therefore views this as a golden opportunity. She noted that she would like to see the Park Board get involved early on. She added she thinks they need to be a little proactive and maybe come to some of the planning meetings with some ideas to be considered otherwise she thinks they might be forgotten and just be thought of as only having a little sculpture sitting outside of a building. Ms. Segreto commented that she thinks Mr. Keprios idea about having a survey to determine what the community’s needs are is a good one especially if grant money may be available. She asked Mr. Keprios what they would need to go ahead and do that. Mr. Keprios replied that the grant would probably only be approved if they could show that it would improve the health of residents, since it’s a health initiative program. He noted that as long as it’s for some health related amenity such as exercise equipment, pool, etc. he thinks they would have a legitimate shot at getting funding to do a survey if that, in fact, is the direction they want to go. Mr. Hulbert asked Ms. Jones if she had any impression in any way that there would be a survey as a result of what this group is studying at some point to see what the community would want. Ms. Jones replied that no one has talked about a survey, but she does think that sounds like a good idea to pursue. Ms. Jones indicated that being the new person on the Park Board they may want to have someone who is more aware of what other space we may want as a Park Board. Where are the gaps or what could we do better or different or move to this site, because right now she may be the least likely one to bring these forward. Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that they did do a very comprehensive needs assessment survey with 90% accuracy. He noted that he was surprised to find that the community felt we are short a recreation/community center. He commented that he’s not exactly sure what that means and that they would have to do a follow-up study to determine what amenities the community feels we lack. He added that a lot of communities have all of their amenities under one roof and in Edina the amenities/facilities are spread throughout the city. Mr. Peterson noted that a couple of things have come up during the last three years. First, a lot of folks like to play basketball but use their car’s headlights once it gets dark and therefore he would like to see some lighted basketball courts. Secondly, if there is some sort of a building put in at the site he would like the group to think about designing a roof for a community garden, which he continues to believe Edina needs. 7 Mr. Meyer asked Mr. Keprios what the timing would be and what would the process entail to apply for the grant and to receive the funds. Mr. Keprios replied that the grant he was referring to through the SHIP program would be a fairly short term process, possibly a couple of months. He commented that SHIP has enough funding to get them through two years so it would also be a possibility for next year. Mr. Keprios pointed out that the state may approve another round of grants for the SHIP program depending on their success. Mr. Meyer asked Mr. Keprios if he would like a motion, assuming the Park Board supports it, in that direction. Mr. Keprios replied no, it would be premature. He noted that he just brought it up in case it were to be determined that the site would be for recreational use then, at that point, he would suggest that they get a committee together and talk about what the needs are and then do a survey whether it be through a grant or through tax supported dollars. III. UPDATES FROM STAFF A. 9-Mile Creek Regional Trail - Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that last week they had another Community Assessment Team meeting and noted that the architect engineering firm, Bonestroo, gave their preliminary findings on the environmental assessment. He indicated that it became quite clear that the impact on some of the wetlands along the creek route are going to be problematic as they require a 9 to 1 wetlands mitigation which is going to be very challenging. He noted that it seemed clear to the group that some of the segments may not be feasible. Mr. Keprios indicated that the next community assessment meeting will be May 17th. B. Veteran’s Memorial - Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that they should have the Veteran’s Memorial Committee application form on-line by the end of the week. They are looking for volunteers who are ready to serve on the committee. C. Farmer’s Market – Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that currently there are 20 vendors who have signed up and Mr. Shirley is sifting through several more. Therefore, it looks like they will get 25 vendors. He noted that they will be opening July 1st and that SHIP has granted them $3,000 to do some comprehensive advertising and promotion for the Farmer’s Market. IV. PARK BOARD COMMENTS A. Policies - Mr. Meyer indicated that he has a couple of items regarding the process and concepts of policies. He noted that they just approved free use of the facilities for one group because they are having a national event; however, the students' May-term fundraising event will be charged a rental fee. He stated that he is a little sketchy on what really is the line if they are giving away facilities and how do they frame that. Mr. Meyer commented that for the disc event, which he thinks is great, how do they 8 determine whether that makes sense. In addition, if they are using the city logo what are the parameters? Mr. Meyer indicated that he didn’t want to get into details because he felt they were both great projects. However, he thinks they need to have a little bit more framework in order to operate and understand the decisions. He commented that he really doesn’t have any particular policies in mind but it would be more helpful in the future if they had one. Mr. Fronek indicated that they may be jumping through more hoops and hurdles than is necessary and feels that the Edina Community Foundation is a great organization and probably have more in experience looking at grant type things. He noted that it probably would be good to have some sort of a policy or cooperation with the Edina Community Foundation because it is their task to determine what is going to benefit the community and so that is something to think about as well. Meeting adjourned at 8:05 pm