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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-12-10 Park Board MinutesEDINA PARK BOARD 7:30 p.m. December 10, 1996 MEMBERS PRESENT: John Dovolis, Beth Hall, Jim Fee, Dave Crowther, Andy Herring, Bill Jenkins, Jean Rydell, Becky Bennett, Andrew Montgomery MEMBERS ABSENT: Idith Almog, Nfike Burley STAFF PRESENT: John Keprios, Janet Canton OTHERS PRESENT: Ronald Rich, Shellie Specter, Marjorie Ruedy, Shirley Peterson, Lucille Carlson, Ruth Johnson L APPROVAL OF THE NOVEMBER 12, 1996 PARK BOARD MINUTES Mr. Montgomery questioned if the November Park Board meeting was an official meeting because of the lack of a quorum. He indicated that he would like a motion to be made to re -approve the October minutes. John Dovolis MOVED TO APPROVE THE OCTOBER 8, 1996 PARK BOARD MINUTES. Jean Rydell SECONDED THE MOTION. Mr. Montgomery stated that he has one correction to add to the November 12'h Park Board Minutes. Under item V the amount should read 6 million dollars and not $6. The word million needs to be added. MINUTES APPROVED. John Dovolis MOVED TO APPROVE THE NOVEMBER 12, 1996 MINUTES. Jean Rydell SECONDED THE MOTION. MINUTES APPROVED. Mr. Montgomery expressed his disappointment in the lack of attendance at last month's Park Board meeting especially since it was such an important meeting with the fees and charges. H. ARNESON ACRES PARK WATER GARDENS PLAN Mr. Keprios stated that the minutes from the Arneson Acres neighborhood input meeting reflect the results of the meeting. He noted that staff recommends at this time that nothing be done at Arneson Acres and that it be put on hold indefinitely, or until there is the desire and support from the residents and neighborhood to do something in terms of a water amenity. W. Keprios explained that he still feels Arneson Acres is a park that is designed to have an attractive water amenity. Mr. Keprios indicated that it was obvious that the immediate neighborhood does not approve of the project. He explained that if staff were to ever again recommend putting in a water amenity he would certainly would go about it differently. He explained he would scale it back to be much smaller and would reconsider it's location as well as canvas the entire neighborhood to see who would be interested in serving on an input committee. Mr. Keprios commented that right now there are plenty of items on our plate where people want improvements and amenities in their park. Therefore, in case we find ourselves short some dollars in the process, it seems to make sense to hold off on the Arneson Acres project. Mr. Fee asked how much money was going to be spent on the project and Mr. Keprios replied approximately $100,000. Mr. Fee asked where that money was going to come from and it was noted $80,000 was going to come from the Developer's Fund, which was appropriated three years ago for the project. The other $20,000 would have come from the Park Referendum. Mr. Montgomery indicated that he was at the Arneson Acres neighborhood meeting and felt that basically Mr. Rich and Ms. Specter dominated the meeting and were definitely opposed to having water in any way, shape or form. Mr. Montgomery stated that he felt the presentation was very biased and in his mind was not constructive. He pointed out there were some valid items brought up that we didn't necessarily have the answers to at the time. However, the delivery by the residents was one that he takes a lot of exception to in the way it was presented. Mr. Montgomery informed the Park Board that the Garden Council is definitely in favor of having some type of water amenity. Ms. Bennett asked if the Arneson Acres neighborhood was canvassed and Mr. Keprios replied that 150 notices were sent out to inform everyone of the meeting, however, it was not a survey. Mr. Dovolis noted that he would go with the staff s recommendation but he wouldn't put it on an indefinite hold but revisit the plan and work in conjunction with the neighborhood to see exactly what they would like. Mr. Dovolis commented that it has always been his impression that Mr. Arneson wanted some sort of water in the plans. Therefore, he would like to go with the staffs recommendation of putting the project on hold. However, he would not like it to read to be put on hold indefinitely but rather add an addendum that it should be and revisited again in working in conjunction with the neighborhood. Mr. Fee stated that he would agree there are enough things going right now that this does not need to be at the top of the list. He then asked what the time frame is on all of the other projects. Mr. Keprios replied that the money has to all be spent by August 1, 1998. Mr. Fee indicated that he does, however, want to make sure that this is the consensus of the neighborhood and not just the two people mentioned. Mr. Keprios explained that he tried to form a committee that he thought was a representative of the neighborhood. He noted that the committee was randomly picked. Mr. Keprios stated that he felt all of the issues were addressed and his only regret is that he didn't call the neighborhood back 2 together again to show them the final plan. He noted that would have saved a lot of agony and he would have likely come up with a different plan. John Dovolis MOVED TO ACCEPT STAFF'S RECOMMENDATION THAT THE ARNESON ACRES PROJECT BE PUT ON HOLD BUT ADD THE AMENDMENT THAT THE PROJECT BE REVISITED SOMETIME BEFORE 1998 IN CONJUNCTION WITH NEIGHBORHOOD. Bill Jenkins SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Mr. Keprios indicated that when it is time to revisit this issue, he will send out notices to approximately 200 or more people in a combination survey and ask people to serve on a new task force committee. Mr. Rich noted that when the time comes he would like to give some serious input because he could provide a lot of technical help. Ms. Specter indicated that she would appreciate being part of a committee that works on the plan. Mr. Rich asked Mr. Keprios if there are plans to replace the trees that were cut down for the project. Mr. Keprios replied that he will look into that and is confident that the trees could easily be replaced if necessary. III. PARKS REFERENDUM PROJECTS PRIORITY LIST Mr. Keprios indicated that he has made two lists, one listing what projects need to be done at each park, the other listing projects according to priority. He stated that he felt this is the best way he could show what has been done so far and where we are headed. Mr. Keprios explained that the Arden Park residents do not want a parking lot, which he somewhat disagrees with, however he won't force the issue because there are plenty of other projects that need funding. Mr. Keprios also pointed out that in the letter that was sent by the Arden park neighborhood they indicated wanting some other amenities that were not originally recommended. Mr. Keprios explained that it would be nice to ultimately accomplish all of these additional amenities some day. However, when the bond issue was passed, it was not passed on the premise that each park would get a set dollar amount for a neighborhood committee to spend as they would like. He indicated that isn't to say we don't want input from neighborhood committees, but it's the Park Board who needs to prioritize what gets done first, second, third, fourth, etc. Mr. Keprios noted that this bond issue had specific projects that people voted on and were promised they would be done according to priority. He indicated that safety is the first priority with replacing what's broken then adding items such as the renovation of the pool and the new ice arena. He noted that the newer amenities, with the exception of the shelter buildings and comfort stations, would be last on the priority list. Mr. Keprios asked the Park Board if they had any comments or would like to see any of the items on the priority list moved up or down. Mr. Keprios pointed out that we hope to have enough money to do all of these things. 3 Ms. Bennett asked when the Courtney baseball fields will be completed and Mr. Keprios replied that they hope to have the contractors start the day after the baseball season is over which will be near the end of July. Mr. Herring indicated that he wasn't at the last Park Board meeting but read in the minutes that the bids came in at 1.5 million for the aquatic center and staff was able to negotiate $108,000 out of the project. Therefore, we are still approximately $240,000 over budget on the project. Mr. Herring stated that what he is not clear about what items were cut from the project. Mr. Herring asked if we could still add the large play equipment. Mr. Keprios explained that the City Council did not approve that recommendation from Council Member Maetzold. Therefore, we are going to continue to use the old equipment until there is funding available to replace it with the new large play structure. Mr. Keprios pointed out that Mr. MacHolda has done a great job with that pool's financial operations. The pool has recently been operating in the black. However, we will have to see what St. Louis Park's pool construction is going to do to our numbers as well as what next year's weather will be like. Mr. Crowther indicated that it looks like from the priority list that some of the hockey rinks have been asphalted and asked if maybe those should be done later when we know that will have the money to do them. Mr. Keprios responded that Lewis Park was already an asphalt surface that was so broken up there really was no other choice than to rip out and re -grade the whole thing. Also, Normandale Park was scheduled to be done all along and, in fact, should have been higher on the priority list. Mr. Crowther commented that if we are going to prioritize items, the items listed on page 7 should not be done before the items listed on page 1 and 2. He noted that buying benches and cooking grills may be small dollars, however, we still need to prioritize everything. Mr. Crowther asked about the $763,000 at Braemar Arena and Mr. Keprios replied that the $763,000 is to fund the renovation portion which is all lead under the same contract as the third rink. Therefore, whatever contractor is awarded the bid will get the renovation as well as the third rink. Mr. Dovolis asked about the Mighty Ducks money and Mr. Keprios indicated that is an additional $250,000. Mr. Keprios explained that the actual funding is $763,000 for the renovation, $2.5 million for a third rink and $250,000 for the Mighty Ducks, for a total of $3,513,000. Ms. Rydell indicated that she feels the fire protection system on page 8 should be moved up on the priority list, especially at Tupa Park because those items are irreplaceable. She noted that she also feels the signs should be last on the priority list. Mr. Crowther asked if there are any safety issues with the bleachers that should be moved up on the priority list and Mr. Keprios indicated that he will look at those in the spring to see what needs to be taken care of. Mr. Keprios pointed out that they are going to try to coordinate the development of the 66th Street area along with the pool, playground, comfort station, pathways, etc., so everything can be torn up at once. Mr. Keprios explained that with this project they will be putting in new lights and NSP has requested that we come up with an idea to have standardized park lights. Mr. Keprios explained that if we buy into this, NSP would mass produce the lights that could become the standard for our parks. Therefore, when we start to replace lights, they would all be the same. Mr. Keprios noted there are different types of lights and colors to chose from and indicated that a good question is how much attention do you want to draw to your lights. The Park Board agreed that they liked the standard light in Forest Green. Mr. Keprios pointed out that if they purchase the poles from NSP and NSP installs them we will get a contract with NSP and they will maintain them for the next 25 years. We only need to come forward with the up front cost, which is similar to what we currently have at several park sites. Ms. Hall asked if the comfort stations are open all the time or does someone go around and lock them up. Mr. Keprios explained that the City has a plan to buy into an electronic keyless security system for all of the buildings and from a computer will be able to automatically lock and unlock all of the buildings. Therefore, keys will no longer have to be checked out. Mr. Montgomery asked Mr. Keprios if the basketball courts at Lewis Park are a separate issue from the Park Referendum. Mr. Keprios indicated that's correct and noted that the Basketball Association wants to donate money to do those courts as well as possibly the basketball courts at Weber Park. Mr. Keprios stated that the City Council was very receptive to their donation. Mr. Keprios indicated that he will keep the Park Board up-to-date each month on what is currently happening. Mr. Keprios pointed out that the Shelter Building Task Force Committee will be meeting tomorrow to go on a tour to see four different shelter buildings throughout the Twin Cities area. Mr. Keprios explained that that he put together a committee of residents from each of the neighborhoods that will have a new shelter building. He noted that the architects will also be going on the tour. Mr. Keprios stated that he hopes they can come up with a common design which will then save the city some money. Mr. Fee asked if the new shelter buildings will be able to be used in the summer and Mr. Keprios replied they are hoping they will be able to do that. Mr. Keprios indicated that the Park Board will see the design before they go forward with the plan to make sure everyone all agrees. Ms. Rydell asked what the status is with the Senior Center and the YMCA in which Mr. Keprios replied they are still in the discussion stage at this point. Mr. Keprios asked the Park Board to be sure to let him know if they have anything they would like to see changed on the priority list. IV. A. Attendance Mr. Jenkins indicated that the Park Board attendance has not been real good this year and noted that he would like to see everyone try to get to a lot more meetings. Mr. Fee stated that he was out of town last month but noted that if we see a situation where there may not be a quorum maybe the meeting should be postponed for a week. Mr. Keprios explained that he needed to go forward with the meeting because the fees and charges had to be resolved so the City Council could receive the advisory information in time. Mr. Fee suggested that if people know they will not be attending the Park Board meeting to call the Park and Recreation office ahead of time. B. Warming Houses - Ms. Bennett asked when will the warming houses be open and it was noted they are scheduled to open on Saturday, December 10. C. Lewis Park for Scheduled Hockey Practice - Mr. Crowther indicated that he sent a fax to Mr. Keprios on November I Vh regarding the Edina Hockey Association and the use of Lewis Park for scheduled practices prior to 6:00 p.m. He asked Mr. Keprios if that issue has been resolved and he replied that they will be using it, however, he is hoping that it will just be one year until the third rink is operational. Mr. Crowther indicated that he didn't have a position one way or another. Mr. Jenkins asked if the Edina Hockey Association wanted to do this on an ongoing basis would there be a problem. Mr. Keprios replied yes because traditionally the 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. time slot during school days is for open hockey for the general public. Mr. Keprios indicated that he contacted the person who schedules ice time for Bloomington and he assured him that they are not using Lewis Park for scheduled hockey practices. The Bloomington volunteer noted that he will send out a letter to all of his coaches that if they need additional ice time to not assume that Edina's ice is open. V. ADJOURNMENT Dave Crowther MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 8:30 P.M. John Dovolis SECONDED THE MOTION. MEETING ADJOURNED. 0