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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-06-12 Park Board MinutesEDINA PARK BOARD 7:30 p.m. June 12, 1996 MEMBERS PRESENT: Jean Rydell, Beth Hall, Andrew Montgomery, Dave Crowther, Andy Herring, Becky Bennett, Mike Burley, Jim Fee MEMBERS ABSENT: Frank Bennett, John Dovolis, Bill Jenkins STAFF PRESENT: John Keprios, Ed MacHolda, Janet Canton OTHERS PRESENT: James Bourey, Cindy Coughlin, Brian Carley, Tom Huffmann, A.G. Lowell, Les Robison, Kelly Coughlin, J.R. Blanner, Kim Luther, Jim Callanan, Dennis Johnson, David Braun I. APPROVAL OF THE MAY 14 1996 PARK BOARD MINUTES Jean Rydell MOVED TO APPROVE THE MAY 14, 1996 PARK BOARD MINUTES. Mike Burley SECONDED THE MOTION. MINUTES APPROVED. II. EDINA AQUATIC CENTER DOME PROPOSAL - JIM BOUREY AND THE EDINA SWIM CLUB Mr. Keprios explained that Mr. Bourey has approached the city with a proposal to put a dome up at the Edina Aquatic Center for the purpose of competitive swimming during the non -summer months. He indicated that Mr. Rosland sent the Swim Club on a charge with some items to be met which included performing a feasibility study at the expense of the Edina Swim Club. Mr. Bourey indicated that the swimming community has been experiencing some significant problems. They currently use five different pools over the course of a year, however, they are old and are not all necessarily suited for the competitive swimmer. Another problem is there is no 50 meter facility in the immediate area. Mr. Bourey stated that they looked at different options and had a lot of conversations with the YMCA because they are potentially going to expand. However, they do not want to expand to a 50 meter facility at this time because they are concerned about the operating costs. Also, they looked at building a new facility, but the cost would be too huge. Therefore, the best alternative they arrived at was to dome the Edina Aquatic Center. Mr. Keprios pointed out that the Edina Swim Club employed an engineering firm to look at this and they have come back with a feasibility study. The feasibility report stated that it is possible to dome the pool and also noted the costs associated with the proposed project. Mr. Keprios explained that as part of the bond issue there is a significant amount of upgrading to the pool facility that will happen. It will cost approximately $500,000 to upgrade the bathhouse and office facility. The filtration system will cost approximately $300,000 as well as expand the zero depth wading pool area. The budget for those items is approximately 1.1 million dollars. Mr. Keprios suggested that the cost to make those improvements would increase if the plan is to make the Edina Aquatic Center a year round facility. It was noted that the cost of the dome itself is approximately $260,000, upgrading the bathhouse to make it an all weather facility is estimated at $150,000 to $200,000. To make the filtration system winterized, as well as pool deck modifications, and miscellaneous expenses the total cost comes to approximately $645,000 for which the Swim Club would be responsible for. Mr. Bourey explained that the Swim Club would undertake a fundraising effort to raise the capital money for this project. He indicated that the Swim Club would use it but also noted they would anticipate that it would be open and available for the entire community and potentially other swim clubs as well. Mr. Burley asked how many families are in the Edina Swim Club and it was noted there are 150 families. Mr. Burley indicated that he has some issues with this and he feels that spending over $600,000 for a 150 family organization is a lot money. He also noted that he thinks Mr. Rosland asked the Swim Club to come to the Park Board because the funding of it is one of the key steps. He stated that he would need to have some assurance as to how $600,000 is an attainable number. Number one just to get it built and number two what operating costs are involved. Mr. Burley asked how the Swim Club is going to raise that money. Mr. Bourey noted that the city will not be at risk because the Swim Club will be raising the funds to construct the dome. Also, if the operating costs cannot be paid then the city will not be operating the dome. Therefore, it is fool proof from the city's standpoint because the city is not responsible for the construction, operation or capital dollars. Ms. Bennett asked how the Swim Club will continue to raise money for the operating costs and Mr. Bourey replied they are working on that. They are still looking at exactly how much it will cost. He explained that they realize the timing of this project is very tight. However, they want to do this in conjunction with the city when they are making improvements to the facility. Mr. Burley asked the Swim Club if they had the money today, how long would it take to do all of this in conjunction with the original plan. Mr. Bourey replied it would probably be done more rapidly than the rest of it. Mr. Burley asked Mr. Keprios if there is a certain amount of pressure for a time frame on this plan. Mr. Keprios replied that they just finished interviewing 17 architect firms and have narrowed it down to two or three. Right now they are planning to start a day or two after the aquatic center closes on Labor Day with hopes to have construction completed in time to open Memorial Day weekend in 1997. He noted that it is a pretty tight schedule. 2 Mr. Keprios suggested that one option which could be considered is during the waiting process the architect could come up with two different sets of drawings and add an alternate type bidding. That possibly could buy some time to see if the fundraising event would be successful. Mr. Burley asked if the dome is built who is going to manage it. Mr. Bourey noted that the proposal made is that the Swim Club would manage it. However, they are open to different mechanisms in ways that the city would want to do it. Initially, the discussions suggested that during nine months the Swim Club would operate the dome. A Swim Club member noted that their expectations are to have control over scheduling pool time for their kids to swim where they can bring them on regular scheduled hours and not have the threat of getting bounced out of one pool or another. Mr. Fee asked what are the different options that the Swim Club now has for facilities. Mr. Bourey replied that the Swim Club uses South View, Valley View, Edinborough, Blake and the Aquatic Center in the summer. However, each of those facilities have their own difficulties. Mr. Fee asked how many kids are in Swim Club and it was noted there are between 220 and 225 participants. Mr. Montgomery asked how does this program interface with the junior high and high school programs. It was noted that the Edina Swim Club is the feeder system for them. Ms. Bennett indicated that she and Mr. MacHolda were discussing some of the problems the Swim Club has with Community Education. Mr. MacHolda noted there are three Edina pools used by the Swim Club during the nine month period. They are Valley View, South View and Edinborough. All three pools schedule and operate somewhat the same which doesn't appear to be real economical as far as time. Each pool has a little bit of lap time, a little bit of public time and a little bit instruction. He stated it would be great to have two pools, probably Valley View and South View, designated to the Swim Club and Edinborough designated as the lesson pool. They will possibly spill over into an additional site but he feels that would help considerably. Ms. Bennett asked if there has been any discussion with Community Education and Mr. MacHolda noted that he has been involved with them in some meetings. He explained that a year ago Community Education came forward and told Park and Recreation as well as the Swim Club that they were going to begin a Learn to Swim program during the summer months. This time had traditionally been used by Park and Recreation and the Swim Club. Therefore, we are now competing with Community Education. As far as cooperation he doesn't know that it has always been real slick. Mr. MacHolda noted that the concern he has is the pool rental in the summertime with the city and in the winter time with the school is not even close to covering the expenses. He also indicated that Mr. Rosland has asked that the Swim Club come up with the operating costs which are estimated at $340,000 for the nine month period. Mr. MacHolda pointed out that his biggest concern is he would hate for them to raise the money and find out a year or two later that they cannot successfully year to year come up with the $340,000. 3 A Swim Club member pointed out that the reason their number of participants is at 225 is because they are limited on the number of facilities. This year they had to turn 45 people away. Mr. Burley stated that he is not in favor of this at all. He indicated that his kids have participated in the program and he admires the effort that the Swim Club is putting into this. However, he doesn't think it's very practical or reasonable to ask the city for this. Mr. Burley pointed out that there recently was an issue for a separate soccer field for an organization of over 2,000 kids. He stated that he has a hard time having a separate outside organization basically buy a piece of park real estate for the benefit of their kids. He also noted that he doesn't see how it's practical to raise a million dollars when we are in a crunch to try to execute and improve the existing pool. This just does not seem very realistic or feasible to him. He noted that he feels it has to be part of the overall program for the city. A member responded that this is not going to take away from anything, it's a piece of land that is not being used for nine months of the year and therefore he cannot see how it's going to negatively impact anything else. Mr. Fee asked the Swim Club if they get over the first hurdle and raise the million dollars and by the third year Mr. Keprios indicates that the Swim Club is not covering their expenses, is that going to fall back on the city. A Swim Club member replied that they will simply stop operating. Mr. Montgomery indicated that the Swim Club is coming at a time that's very difficult because of having to get started on all the $5.5 million worth of projects. It was then suggested that the design process be put in the initial construction plan now so that it isn't designed out in the future. Therefore, if the Swim Club comes forth with the money to buy the dome that's all that's left. Dave Braun asked what is the big deal about giving the Swim Club 60 days to come up with a viable rental, fundraising and architectural design. He noted that is basically what they are asking for and would like the opportunity to figure something out and get it in before the deadline after such time the Park Board can make their decision. Mr. Keprios indicated that they could allow 60 days, however, there would be some extra costs incurred for the architect to grind out extra drawings and specifications to make it admissible to add a dome to the structure. That would be the only extra added cost between now and the next 60 days. Mr. Herring asked how much would that cost would be and Mr. Keprios replied that he did not know but wouldn't think it would be a tremendous expense, possibly a couple thousand dollars. It was asked who would be responsible for that and Mr. Keprios replied that would be debatable, it's not part of the planning dollars. Mr. MacHolda pointed out that the pool was built in 1958 and is still basically a 1958 pool. He explained that the renovation they want to do is the bathhouse, filtration equipment, and expand the zero depth pool. Mr. MacHolda stated that he never knows what he is going to see the next 4 morning because there are a whole lot of band-aids and he doesn't know where the next one is going to go. Mr. Fee asked if the $1.1 million is a band-aid and Mr. MacHolda replied that the $1.1 million will give us a new bathhouse, it will expand the zero-depth pool and it will address the sanitation and filtration equipment in the filter room. Therefore, the $1.1 million is going to be really tight to get all of these things done. Mr. Fee asked if the additional money the Swim Club wants to spend is going to do any more improvements to the pool or will it just be domed. Mr. MacHolda explained that it will now be a winterized bathhouse as well as a winterized filtration room. Mr. MacHolda pointed out that he sees it as primarily a Swim Club facility and cannot foresee any users during the day because kids are in school. The Swim Club would then be using it from 4:00 to 7:00 which means public swim would be from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and maybe some time on the weekend. Mr. MacHolda stated the Swim Club is right in that they are not the only swim club that's facing difficulties finding pool time. Mr. MacHolda noted that he is real concerned about the time line and feels that 60 days is pushing it. Mr. Keprios indicated that the worst case scenario would be that we may just simply have to open the pool a little later next year. Mr. Montgomery asked Mr. Keprios what process needs to be taken. Mr. Keprios indicated that the Park Board will need to make a recommendation one way or the other which will then go to the City Council. The City Council will hear the issue at the July 1st City Council meeting and at that time they will either give staff direction, send it back to the Park Board, make a decision or ask for community input. Ms. Bennett asked how the people in the neighborhood feel about this because she realizes they have always been sensitive to the traffic and noise. Mr. Keprios noted that he thinks it is an important issue and recommended that community input should be sought. Mr. Keprios asked the Swim Club if notices have been sent to all members of the Swim Club so they are aware of the issue and are all in support of it. Ms. Bennett indicated that she is a member of the Swim Club and no formal notices have been sent out to the members. It was noted that the Edina Swim Club Board approved the plan unanimously, however, notices have not been mailed to their members. Mr. Burley MOVED THAT THE FEASIBILITY AND THE TIMING OF WHAT WE HAVE IN FRONT OF US FOR THE EXISTING POOL THE REALITIES OF IT DON'T MATCH UP SO HE SUGGESTS THAT WE SAY NO. No one second the motion. Mr. Fee indicated that to a certain degree he agrees with Mr. Burley but on the other hand he doesn't want to discourage the Swim Club. He feels that other alternatives need to be looked at. However, something is telling him that this amount of money and time frame do not appear to be very feasible. He explained that he doesn't want to shoot it down without having all of the facts and they do not have all of the information. 5 Mr. Herring stated that he agrees with Mr. Fee on this and would also like to see more community input. Mr. Herring noted that he would be willing to spend $2,000 to go on a parallel path towards this kind of situation and would also like to get more input and information. Mr. Herring pointed out that he is a little concerned about insisting that the Swim Club reimburse us for the expense because he doesn't want to feel like we owe them. Ms. Bennett noted that a letter should be sent out to all Swim Club members to see how they feel about the issue. She indicated that if the Swim Club is talking about a fundraiser for that kind of money they need to be aware of the issue. They also need to be aware of the operating costs because she doesn't know who is going to pay for this on a yearly basis. If all of a sudden the Swim Club cannot meet the expenses it will ultimately, she feels, fall back on the city. Mr. Herring stated that he would like to see an escrow of one year. Ms. Bennett asked what is the Swim Club's pool rental. Mr. MacHolda responded that it is $10.00 an hour for the school pool and $30.00 to $32.00 an hour for the outdoor pool. He explained that five years ago the city had proposed higher fees and the Swim Club came back with a counter proposal. Therefore, he has been trying to bring it back up to where he feels it should be. Mr. MacHolda indicated that the Swim Club paid approximately $5,000 for the outdoor pool for the entire summer last year. Mr. Herring wanted to make it clear that he is not committing himself on the issue. All he wants to do is get more information and make sure we are not holding things up. Andy Herring MOVED TO RUN THIS ON A PARALLEL PATH FOR 60 DAYS TO ALLOW MORE INFORMATION TO COME IN AND TO GET INPUT FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD, COMMUNITY, SWIM CLUB AND ANYONE ELSE. Jim Fee SECONDED THE MOTION. Mr. Herring asked Mr. Keprios to let the Park Board know if it will cost between $2,000 to $3,000 or if the number is higher. Mr. Keprios asked if he understands the motion in that it is being recommended to the City Council to authorize the city to pay for the additional expense and allow 60 days for any additional input from any interested party on this issue and to bring it back to the Park Board. Mr. Herring stated that he feels the staff will go along as we do on any similar park related issue informing the neighboring residents and requesting their input. All in favor - Andrew Montgomery, Becky Bennett, Andy Herring, Dave Crowther, Beth Hall, Jean Rydell, Jim Fee Opposed - Mike Burley MOTION CARRIED. III. LAKE EDINA PARK PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT Mr. Keprios explained that when Lake Edina Park was converted into a golf course the city received community input. At that time, the 3 residents in the area voiced their desire to have playground equipment put back in the park and we never heard any opposition at that time. Therefore, the staff in charge at that time made the promise that they would do that and went ahead and put in a concrete ring to show where the future playground equipment would go, with the understanding that equipment would be installed when funding became available. Mr. Keprios indicated now that the bond issue has passed and the resources are there to put in the playground equipment and to his surprise he has received quite a bit of opposition in the last year. Mr. Keprios pointed out that he sent 162 letters to invite the community to attend a meeting on May 22nd to give their input. Mr. Keprios noted that he felt it was a good meeting and there were very good points on both sides of the issue that were brought up. He also indicated that Mr. Crowther attended the meeting. Mr. Keprios explained how staff came up with the recommendation they did and noted that staff will support whatever the Park Board wants to recommend to the City Council. Mr. Keprios indicated that the city has the resources to do what they promised but is not necessarily a good reason to go ahead and put in playground equipment when there is so much opposition. He pointed out that staff's job is to serve the community as a whole. Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that the whole park area has very unstable turf, therefore, to make it stable on a more permanent basis they need to put in fabric which would cost between $150,000 to $160,000. He noted that the city does not have the resources to do that. However, staff's recommendation at the very least would be to make the ground more playable; disc it, grade it, flatten it and reseed the area. In addition, staff recommends connecting a pathway between Kellogg and Parklawn along the fence line and take out the playground ring and see what use the park gets in the future. At this time do not put in any playground equipment and see if there are people using it as a park. Mr. Keprios stated that he thinks Lake Edina became a park by nature of the way that the area was developed. All that is left of Lake Edina Park is essentially a required a buffer between apartment complexes and residential homes that to date has never been developed. Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that staff's recommendation is to spend between $5,000 and $6,000 to grade and seed the area in the fall and not put in any playground equipment. However, spend the extra $7,000 that it would cost to put in an asphalt pathway to connect Kellogg to Parklawn by virtue of the roadway system. The kids have a very difficult time getting around to Parklawn and it's a horrible connection as it sits now. Mr. Crowther indicated that he thinks Mr. Keprios recommendation is good, however, he would like to see it go a step further. He noted that the fact is the land is there and we own it and right now it's underutilized. It's a resource that we have where the land is not good. He stated that if the Park Board does what the staff's recommendation is he thinks that's a step in the right direction. However, he thinks we should continue to look at how we might better utilize the piece of property than what we currently have. 7 Mr. Crowther stated there is a problem with golf balls coming off the 8th tee and although that's not addressed the people who run the golf facility need to look at that problem. They need to come up with a recommendation on how to mitigate that because it's a definite hazard. He pointed out that if a walkway is put in it will become even a bigger hazard. This is an issue that was very evident at the meeting that needs to be addressed regardless of what's done with the piece of property. Tom Huffman, resident, noted that he feels the golf problem is pretty easy to solve. He noted that the tee box is improperly oriented. He also pointed out that the grass is cut improperly at the golf course. He thinks if you fix a couple of minor things like that it will greatly reduce the problem. Les Robison, resident, indicated that he feels the recommendation that was just made is somewhat acceptable, however, he did not hear anyone talk about accessibility. He noted that it would be a major error for anyone to think they can actively develop that land for a playground or whatever without making certain there is clear accessibility to the area. He stated that there needs to be accessibility to the point where you are not going to have people continually walking through the yards of residents around the area to gain access. Mr. Montgomery pointed out that he was at the park on Saturday and there was a person there using the area as a golf course. He stated that you go down there expecting to see a safe area and there are golf balls going both ways that are not just on the golf course. Kelly Coughlin, resident, commented that he hopes the Park Board and City Council realize before they approve something that initially when the houses were developed and built the buffer zone concept was extremely important between the private property and commercial property. Mr. Coughlin explained that he is not asking anyone to enhance the property value, however, it's another question when you start making changes and additions because it does have an impact on the property values. He noted he is very sensitive to the issue of the potential that the property values may go down. A resident suggested that there is a long lake area that has a bridge going across and when he goes by there he sees people eating their lunch there. He noted that he would like to see the brush taken out in front of the lake area because there is a beautiful view there. Jim Fee MOVED THAT PARK BOARD ACCEPT STAFF'S RECOMMENDATION TO ALLOCATE $5,000 TO THE REGRADING AND RESEEDING OF THE REFERENCED AREA AS WELL AS ALLOCATING $7,000 FOR A CONNECTING PATH BETWEEN KELLOGG AND PARKLAWN. ALSO, THAT WE LEAVE ANY FINALIZATION OF THIS AREA OPEN AS TO POSSIBLE FUTURE USES. Jean Rydell SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. A resident requested that if and when future discussions do open up that the community be notified and it was indicated that they will. M Mr. Keprios again thanked Mr. Crowther for taking the time to come to the meeting, he represented the Edina Park Board very well. Mr. Crowther asked Mr. Keprios to explain to him the committee that is headed by Mr. Rosland. He asked if that committee is actually making the decisions on the priorities. Mr. Keprios explained that Mr. Rosland has formed a committee called the Bond Issue Pass committee. He indicated that Mr. Rosland has hand picked a group made up entirely of staff. There are people from various departments on the committee and their function is to assist with coordination and implementation the park improvement plan. He indicated that the Engineering Department is going to be hiring an assistant city engineer who will initially be spending a large share of his/her time working on the park projects. This will save the city a lot of money internally, as opposed to contracting private engineering services. Mr. Keprios stated this is a learn as we go process. He pointed out that 95% of the money needs to be spent by August 1, 1998. If we accomplish this, then we will have the opportunity to retain and possibly spend an additional $200,000 that we earn in interest. Otherwise, this will be forfeited to the federal government. Mr. Crowther asked if the Park Board's job is not to prioritize the items but will be needed when called upon to assist in isolated situations. Mr. Keprios indicated that the priority of projects was established at the beginning of the Park Bond Issue planning stage and these priorities have been shared at many civic group and neighborhood group meetings. Mr. Keprios stated that the Park Board will be very involved down the road when we get to parks like Todd Park for example. At this time there is a petition being circulated through the neighborhood because they don't want a parking lot. There will be future neighborhood input meetings to respond to various park plans once the drawings are complete. These proposed plans and meetings will need the Park Board's involvement. IV. PARK REFERENDA PROJECTS PLAN Mr. Montgomery noted that the park referenda projects plan is for the Park Board to review only at this time. Mr. Fee thanked the staff for the plan because it is exactly what they were looking for. He noted that he now has a better handle on the project because the Park Board does receive a lot of questions. Mr. Montgomery indicated that he did point out to Mr. Keprios that Lewis Park should be listed as possibly adding a basketball hoop or backstop as a consideration. Mr. Keprios informed that Park Board that the Edina Basketball Association is on a charge to donate money to build a basketball court facility at Wooddale Park. At this point it looks very favorable. V. OTHER A. Kojetin Park - Ms. Rydell asked what is being done with the Kojetin dedication because that park was never dedicated. Mr. Keprios stated that if everyone would like to do something as a Park Board he 01 will go ahead and set something up. Dave Crowther MOVED THAT WE DO THAT. Jim Fee SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. B. Budget Assumptions - Mr. Keprios indicated that they have been through the first round of budget assumptions for 1997. He pointed out that he proposed we have a tube sliding hill at Braemar and that we begin a preschool playground program for ages 3 to 5. Both requests were rejected and will not be recommended to the City Council. C. July 4th Fireworks - It was noted that the music will start at 8:45 p.m. with the first firework going up in the air at 10:00 p.m. at Lake Cornelia Park. D. Minnesota Splash - It was noted that Saturday, July 27th is Minnesota Splash at Centennial Lakes. It's going to have a whole different look this year. Instead of a whole weekend event it will be a one day event. E. Braemar Inspection Tour - The Braemar Inspection Tour will be on Tuesday, July 16th. VI. ADJOURNMENT Dave Crowther MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 9:10 P.M. Jean Rydell SECONDED THE MOTION. MEETING ADJOURNED. 10