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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1984-03-13 Park Board MinutesEDINA PARK BOARD March 13, 1984 7:30 p.m. Edina City Hall Members Present: Marilyn Wooldridge, Jean Rydell, Mack Thayer, Don Wineberg, Bill Lord, Joan Lonsbury, Chairman, Bob Christianson, Andy Montgomery Staff Present: Bob Kojetin, John Keprios, Madelyn Krinke Others Present: Craig Swanson,Chief of Police, Len Kleven, Captain, Edina Police Dept., Donna Hipps Joan Lonsbury called the meeting to order. I. Approval of minutes of February 14, 1984 Meeting. Marilyn Wooldridge moved for approval of the February 14, 1984 minutes. Mack Thayer seconded. Minutes were approved. Ii. Announcement of Committees Joan Lonsbury appointed members to committees as follows: Finance Committee: George Warner*, Bill Lord, Leonard Ring na d`Mac c1 T ager . Golf Committee: Don Wineberg* and Mack Thayer Etc bourough Committee: Bill Lord* and Doug King Facilities: Marilyn Wooldridge*, Andy Montgomery, Bob Christians -on and Jean Rydell. Wooddale School Committee: Marilyn Wooldridge *Indicates chairperson III. Vandalism Craig Swanson, Chief of Police of Edina, was present to discuss various aspects of vandalism from the police department's perspective. He explained that vandalism seems to have a definite correlation with what is happening in society. At times when the society problems seem to be in greater turmoil, there is also more vandalism. Chief Swanson had various ideas on ways to deter vandalism, including better security alarm systems, reporting all acts of,vandalism immediately, constructing facilities and fixtures of more heavy duty materials which could not be so easily damaged, alerting more city employees to be watchful for vandalism as it is occurring, establishing more neighborhood watches. Chief Swanson also noted that it is difficult to prosecute.vandalism because someone has to observe the entire act being done and be able to clearly identify who did it. It was also pointed out that there is still a reward offered to individuals who report acts of vandalism which they have observed. Joan Lonsbury stated that she has discussed the matter of publishing information about vandalism with the editor of the Sun newspaper and the Sun would print articles about vandalism if they were presented. The matter of publishing names (if the person is over 18 years of age) was discussed by the park board and it was generally felt that if an article could relate the restitution which has been required of some of those caught vandalizing, it might deter further vandalism. Craig Swanson stated that one of the most effective deterrants is to have an alarm system. He also asked Bob Kojetin that whenever any act of vandalism which costs more than $25 to repair, the police department should be notified immediately. That would help the police department in watching patterns of areas that are being vandalized and his department might then be able to take more action to either prevent or catch those doing the vandalism. IV. Posting of "No Dogs Allowed" Bob Kojetin state that under Ordinance 811 concerning dogs, he, as director, has the authority to post signs stating "No Dogs Allowed" in any park. Mr. Kojetin stated that he had considered posting all parks where there is a walking path or biking path, because that is where the problem is most annoying. Dog owners have been allowing their dogs to run freely and have not been cleaning up the feces, so especially when the snow melts, the mess is extremely bad. Some ideas proposed to remedy this included passing of an ordinance requiring that all dogs be on a leash at all times while on public property, raising dog license fees to cover the cost of having a maintenance person clean the paths and parks, publicize (in the city newsletter) the requirement that all dogs in the City are to be licensed, publicize that if the problem is not corrected by dog owners, there will be a banning of dogs in all parks in the city. It was felt that if the dog license fee was raised possibly fewer people would cooperate with buying the license, and further that those who are buying the license already are probably the ones who are abiding by the rules and should not be punished by having to pay an additional fee. Don Wineberg MOVED THAT THE PARK BOARD RECOMMEND TO THE CITY COUNCIL THAT THEY ADOPT A LAW REQUIRING THAT ALL DOGS BE -2- LEASHED WHEN ON PUBLIC PROPERTY, USING THE WORDING OF THE MINNEAPOLIS ORDINANCE AS IT RELATES TO THE LEASHING OF DOGS AS A GUIDELINE; AND TO PUBLICIZE THAT IF THE LEASHING LAW IS NOT FOLLOWED AND IF PROBLEMS WITH DOG OWNERS NOT PROPERLY DISPOSING OF DOG FECES CONTINUES THE NEXT STEP WILL BE BANNING OF DOGS ON PUBLIC PROPERTY. Bob Christianson SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED. V. GARDEN PARK Bob Kojetin reported that Hansen Road is going to be upgraded this year and as that project is done there would be an opportunity to do some work with the parking lot and reorganization of the skating facility. His suggestion would be to fill the present hockey rink, remove the temporary warming house, reorganize the parking lot, create a new entrance, put a shelter building in a new location near the center of the park so restrooms would be conveniently available near the ball fields and for summer use. A water line would be put in at the same time as the construction is done on the road. The funding would be from capital dollars this year for curbing and next year asphalt would be done. This would not take away the present parking lot until after August. There would be parking on only one side of the street and sidewalk only on the park side of the street. It would eliminate the hockey rink and skating rink for the present time, but if in the future, a greater population of youth creates a demand for rinks, they could be built in the newly planned location. Jean Rydell MADE A MOTION TO UPGRADE GARDEN PARK. Bob Christianson SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED. VI. RECREATION REPORT John Keprios reported on the current recreational activities. He stated this will be a year of changes. During the upcoming summer season, T -ball will become a combined boys and girls program for the lst an721-2nd graders and a new soccer program for lst and 2nd graders, boys and girls combined, will also be added. Phil Nell and Tom Engstrom will be the soccer coaches. The programs will be offered at Garden and Pamela Parks. Football will be offered to 4th graders this year for the first time —and will not be very competitive, primarily instructional, with the coaches being on the field with players. Soccer, run by the Soccer Association for grades 3 - 12 is accepting registrations until March 26. Traveling Team selec- tions are done in the fall. The number of registrants are down a little, but the percentage of available participants registered is good. Hockey is nearing the end of its season. March 25 will be the champ o ship day at Braemar Arena. The Greg Rice award will be given at 5:15 p.m. on the 25th. Softball - for the first time will be offering a fast pitch team. It will be offered at registration. Baseball - There is going to be a Minnesota -3- Gopher -Iowa College game on April 25 at 6:30 p.m. at Braemar Complex. The Baseball Board will arrange to run it. The proceeds will be split with the city, Baseball Association and the Gophers. The American Legion Baseball season will begin the 14th of June with its first scheduled game. A dedication ceremony will be held at Braemar that evening to honor the 1983 Edina American Legion World Champions. John Keprios reported because of the increasing number of late registrants in every sport, the associations are looking at some type of monetary incentive to register on the dates set for registration. John also reported that because of the decreasing number of youth in our community and other surrounding communities, there have been some requests from other communities to allow their youth to participate in our programs. It was indicated that at the present time this is not feasible or desirable, but some types of reciprocal programs have worked well for a number of years with teams participating in other communities. Andy Montgomery raised the question of whether some activities could be scheduled for girls during the winter season, since there is not presently anything available to them unless they participate in the boys basketball program. John Keprios recommended that some type of indoor soccer program might be a possibility - the problem of scheduling something in the winter for girls has been availability of facilities. Andy Montgomery also asked whether an over 30 basketball program might be considered in the future. John Keprios reported that he had received a petition from Mr. Sheldon with about 60-70 signatures of neighbors of Highlands Park requesting that broomball not be scheduled at the hockey rink next year. John indicated that there would have to be changes made in location next year. Andy Montgomery suggested that tennis courts be turned over on the hour at all courts so that a person would know if he arrived at a court 5-10 minutes before the hour he would not have to wait long for the court to be available. Bob Kojetin replyed that Rick Jacobson has tried that procedure in the past and not had a great deal of success with it, however the idea would be passed along to Rick for further consideration. Bob Kojetin stated that he would like to see bang boards at each tennis court sometime in the future. VII. OTHER It was reported that the Volunteer Awards would be presented Tuesday, May 8 at Interlachen Club from 5-7 p.m. include: Resolutions officially signed by Park Board members Resolution of Condolence to Hermann Strachauer's Family Resolution of Gratitude to Ronald and Sandra Clark Resolution of Appreciation to Art Erdall Resolution of Appreciation to Virginia Shaw Bob Kojetin reported that bluebird houses will be built at Arneson Park and maintained by an individual who requested permission to do so. Mr. Kojetin also stated that a parking lot will be built at Arneson Park. Bob Kojetin expressed his appreciation for Collins Baxter who put scrapbooks together for the park facilities. It was reported by Bob Kojetin that he had met with Cliff French of the Hennepin County Park Reserve and it was indicated that they would be the implementing agency for the MetrOval but Mr. French felt that Edina would be given consideration to run it if it is built in Edina. The next meeting will be in a couple of weeks. The Hennepin County Park Board is the one who will be the implementing agency. They have to present it to the Metropolitan Open Space and Park Commission. Bob Christianson MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. Mack Thayer SECONDED THE MOTION. MEETING ADJOURNED at 10 p.m.