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Home My WebLink About1988-12-13 Park Board Minutes. 4 EDINA'PARK BOARD Joint Meeting with City Council 8:00 P.M. necember 13, 1988 '._ina City Hall MEMBERS PRESENT: Bob Christianson, Don Wineberg, Bill Lord, Itti Furlong, Andrew Montgomery, Bill Jenkins MEMBERS ABSENT: Jim Fee, Jean Rydell, Mac Thayer, Scott Johnson COUNCIL PRESENT: Mayor Courtney, Fred Richards, Glenn Smith, Peggy Kelly, Leslie Turner STAFF PRESENT: Ken Rosland, Gordon Hughes, Ceil Smith, Marce Daehn, Bob Kojetin, John Keprios, Ed MacHolda, Bill Bach, Vince Cockriel, Diana Hedges, Larry Thayer, John Valliere, Sue Weigle, Stacey Kness, Craig Larsen, Joyce Repya OTHERS PRESENT: Jim Van Valkenburg; Roger Harrold, Braemar Golf Association Mayor Courtney called the meeting to order at 8:10 p.m. I. INTRODUCTION OF COUNCIL AND PARK BOARD MEMBERS II. OVERVIEW OF PARK AND RECREATION TASK FORCE REPORT Mr. Hughes gave an overview of the Task Force Report. The conclusions of the report are as follows: - The parks and facilities meet the needs of the people - Give special attention to unorganized park users - Parks are generally well maintained - Present fee and charges structure is generally well received - Upgrading of pavilion is favored but upgrading of pool and gymnastics facility is not favored III. ELEMENTS OF ASSIGNMENT (See attached Work Program) Mr. Rosland explained the Council wants to hear what the Park Board feels about the year 2000. Mr. Rosland suggested revisiting the open space study, redevelopment within the study, and revisiting the park programming. Mr. Richards asked what can be done to improve the parks. Mr. Jenkins asked if the master plan would come ahead of development of open space. Mr. Kojetin answered each park has a master plan, and in order to do the master plan for each park, we would have to have a bond issue. Mr. Wineberg said as long as we did the study we should focus some attention to that. Mr. Richards asked if we are doing enough. Mr. Wineberg said we are never doing enough. We did spend some money to do a survey. The significant part of the survey is that there is a number of people using the parks who we did not give any attention to. Mr. Christianson stated we should address today but focus on our needs for the year 2000. For instance, Van Valkenburg Park is designated specifically for adult participants and is still not playable. This project was started seven years ago. - 1 - • this could be symptomatic of a larger problem. We as a Park Board have not had in-depth discussions or planning sessions on that issue; we deal with more immediate problems. Mrs. Kelly asked if the 80 percent surveyed are satisfied with passive use of parks. Mr. Wineberg said we should make sure the parks are maintained for unscheduled use. Mr. Richards pointed out in the strategic planning process we attempt to list the five most important issues to deal with. Single most important issue is the Park Board and facilities. Mr. Christianson said he is happy to accept charge to take the number one issue and make some recommendations. Mr. Smith asked what does it cost to finish what we have and to what level should we finish. He wants to make sure what we have will be here 20 to 30 years from now. Mr. Christianson said what we have today and what we improve today might not be functional in ten to 20 years. Mrs. Furlong said we need to go to the original park master plans. Mr. Lord said the survey says the aging people of Edina are the people we should be looking at. There seems to be a desire for more passive parks. adult facilities, and development expansion at Braemar Golf Course. Mrs. Furlong said we should look back and see if the master plan is as natural as when it was conceived. Mr. Smith recommended looking at the assets we have and decide which ones to keep and bring them more ahead to see how much of budget is left for expansion. He welcomes the idea of long range planning. Mr. Montgomery said we are losing revenue capacity. The youth paying the $5 field use fee will not be paying it forever. Now we are bringing in facilities that still will not be collecting revenue. Mr. Rosland said maintenance funding for Edinborough and Centennial Lakes comes from a trust fund. Mr. Richards suggested considering the park system to be the outdoor parks and not the revenue facilities. Mr. Lord said if the survey is accurate, then the residents feel park maintenance is good. It seems we need to meet the demand of the older citizens. Mr. Richards said we have to keep the mission statement in mind too. Mr. Rosland said balance is important. We don't want to swing too far one way or the other. Mr. Van Valkenburg said the Art Center recommends adding some space for classroom for safety and handicapped access. Mr. Van Valkenburg suggested the Park Board develop a plan and then make some recommendations to the Council. Park Board's function is to commit to some of these improvements now to be paid off later by those people using them. Mr. Smith suggested implementing the original plans or decide we don't want to and then get on with some other issues. Mr. Van Valkenburg said Park Board should be idealistic and go to the Council with their recommendations and see how much money can be budgeted. - 2 - t Mr. Richards commented the survey indicates that the park system is okay. The questions is: where do we want to be in ten years and how should we get there. Mr. Smith said the City and the School Board are working together for re -locating the Senior Center. The City has entered a seven-year lease for space at the Edina Community Center. Diana Hedges mentioned the success of the Art Center and their need for more space. Mr. Richards commended Ms. Hedges on the Art Center's success. Mr. Valliere commented if tax increment monies can be set aside for improvement, the problem of financing improvements would not come up. He wondered if it is possible for the Art Center to have a fund to assist them for improvements. He asked if we are always going to rely on taxes, or are we going to have some contingency funds. Mr. Keprios mentioned the things the Park Department has accomplished: Edinborough Park, the renovated Braemar pavilion, purchase of the golf dome, Arneson Acres, Lewis Park tennis courts, upgrading of several hockey rinks, Bredesen Park construction, our new park foreman, the Special Needs Program, maintenance garage and clubhouse at the golf course, Wooddale Park, upgraded tennis courts, and Centennial Lakes. These projects have been very progressive and successful. It is difficult to explain to residents having to compromise capital dollars. This doesn't mean cleaning or painting but replacing.with new equipment to bring it up to standards. Our new park foreman will help decide what needs to be done. Mr. Thayer suggested making strategic planning our number one priority this year and come up with an overall plan for the year 2000. Mr. Richards asked if the size of the Park Board is adequate. Mr. Christianson responded others will have to be involved whatever we do. Mr. Richards requested a subcommittee of the Park Board be formed before the end of 1989. Mr. Christianson indicated the Park Board could discuss at the January 10 meeting if there are enough people and set up a plan. Then the Park Board could report back to the Council with a framework of where we are going and how we will get there. Mr. Richards suggested this subject be added to the January 9 Council agenda re -write the work program and present it at the Park Board meeting January 10. Meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m. - 3 -