HomeMy WebLinkAbout1979-03-13 Park Board MinutesEDINA PARK BOARD MEETING
MINUTES
Tuesday, March 13, 1979
7:30 p.m.
PARK BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Virginia Shaw; Chairperson, George Warner, Joan Lonsbury,
Mack Thayer, Frank Gyetvan, Al Fischer, Arthur Erdall,
Marilyn Wooldrige, Mary McDonald, Les Wanninger
STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: Bob Kojetin, Rick Jacobson, John Keprios, Cecelia Smith
OTHERS PRESENT: Margie Basil, Dorothy Anderson, John Nelson; Edina Swim Club
Mrs. Shaw welcomed new Park Board member Arthur Erdall to the meeting.
I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 13_
Minutes approved with change of line regarding golf course fees to read: The only
increases that Mr. Valliere suggested were in the 9 hole non -patron fees (from 3.75
to $4.00) and 9 hole golf car rentals (from $5.00 to $6.00). Mr. Gyetvan MADE A
MOTION to approve the minutes as corrected. Mr. Warner SECONDED. CARRIED.
II. SWIM CLUB
Mr. John Nelson was present from the "Edina Swim Club" and gave a brief overview of
the club. There are approximately 100 to 125 members in the club. Youngsters can
start to participate in the club at the age of 6 or 7. Flyers are sent out to the
grade schools stating that anyone of that age that can swim the length of the pool
can juin the club. The club breaks down to 3 basic groups; heavy workout (swim
2 hours per night, 5 nights per week), medium workout (Wednesday & Friday nights),
and light workout (Tuesday and Thursday nights). The age breakdown consists of:
8 and under, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14 and 15-18; with interest tapering off around the
age of 12 especially for boys due to other interests. Greg and Ann Anklan are the
coaches hired by the swim club to help run the club. Mr. Nelson briefly went over
some of the achievements of past swimmers in the club, e.g., 'last year 3 qualified
for the junior olympics. He brought up the case of his own somF stating that this
sport has really taught him dedication. Mr. Warner asked if there was anything
the Park Board could do for the swim club. Mr. Nelson explained that they could
use 2 more swimming work out boards (these are boards that help to build the muscles
of the swimmers). The swim club has purchased 3 such boards but could use 2 more.
One of the main problems is storage space out at the pool. Mr. Kojetin pointed out
that in the Capital Improvement budget, along with rejuvenating the roof of the pool,
they are hoping to re -arrange the inside of the pool area to allow for better traffic
patterns and storage space..
Mrs. Shaw inquired as to whether or not any of the swimmers were taken from the high
school teams. Mr. Nelson stated that the swim club could actually use some encourage-
ment from the high schools particularly with the boys.
Mr. Nelson also brought the subject of the Aquatennial Meet which is to be held this
July 21 and 22. He stated that they would like to use the pool Friday night, July 20 in
addition to Saturday and Sunday. This would allow more time to run the meet. In the
past the members of the swim club have worked from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight on
Saturday running the meet in order to get everyone in. If the pool could be used on
Friday there would be no need for such a long day on Saturday. Mr. Jacobson pointed
out that this would mean closing the pool for a few hours during open swimming on
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Friday. This should not cause much of a problem for the public, however, since the
pool wasn't used much during these times. Mr. Kojetin pointed out that candidates
for this meet come from all over the United States and Canada. Mr. Warner
MADE A MOTION that the pool be made available on Friday, July 20 to the Swim Club
for the Aquatennial Meet. Mr. Gyetvan SECONDED. CARRIED.
III. ART CENTER
Mr. Kojetin explained, that the Art Center Board is functioning very well since
turning it into a working Board with By-laws and guide lines. It would still,
however, be under the wing of the Park Board. The Park Board would appoint
members to the Board of Directors of the Art Center. Mr. Kojetin had passed around
a sample copy of the By-laws for the Park Board members to read and look over.
He explained that the members would be reporting to the Park Board as apposed to
reporting directly to the Council. Joan Lonsbury MADE A MOTION that the Board accept
the By-laws in concept. Marilyn Wooldridge SECONDED. CARRIED.
Mr. Kojetin then reviewed the Income and Expense Report for the Art Center.
He explained that being $2000 in the red when the Center was only in its second year
was not that bad a report; also, there had been more memberships taken in since this
report. Mr. Warner inquired as to how many memberships there were in total now.
Mr. Kojetin replied that there were approximately 250. It was the general
consensus of the Board, however, that this was a good report.
IV. SWIMMING POOL
Mr. Jacobson briefly went over the Statement of Income and Expense for the pool;
capsulising the report by stating that the most positive thing he could say was
that we lost $1500 less this year than last year. Revenues were up $5000 over last
year. Salaries and wages were up only $1000. Repairs were up due to some valve
work that had to be done. Mr. Jacobson stated that there should be more of a profit
on concession sales than was shown, therefore, some of the products were being
dropped, e.g., low profit items such as Twinkies. Mr. Fischer questioned what had caused
the increased revenues. Mr. Jacobson explained that General Admissions were up.
Mr. Kojetin pointed out, however, that although general admissions were up family season
ticket sales were down. This indicates that rather than buying the family tickets
people were buying general admission tickets.
Mr. Kojetin brought up the idea of buying a slide for the pool, to be installed by the
lifeguard chair, in hopes that it would increase ticket sales. Mr. Fischer inquired
as to how this would effect the insurance costs. Mrs. Shaw inquired as to the cost
of such a slide. Mr. Jacobson informed the Board that the cost of such a slide would
be around $1000 and although other communities that have them report that they get
a lot of use, there is no indication that they would increase ticket sales.
V. GUN RANGE
Mr. Kojetin briefly went over the Statement of Income and Expense for the Gun Range
explaining that one of the things we are doing to increase revenue is to rent the
range out to other community police departments, e.g., Minnetonka, during daylight
hours when it would not be available for open shooting, at a cost of $3000 per year.
The Edina Police Department also rents the range for a price of $2,500 per year.
Additional revenue is received from security companies, e.g., Pinkertons, that
rent the range on an hourly basis.
VI. GREEN HOUSE
Mr. Kojetin brought the Board up to date on some of the work being done at the
Arneson Acres Greenhouse located on 70th street. He displayed photographs taken
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that day illustrating the planting of 200 Geraniums and 300 Wax Begonias; which
would later be put into the various parks in Edina. Margie Basil then briefly
discussed the work that the Garden Club is doing at the Green House.
Mr. Kojetin announced that the Edina Junior Federated Women's Club (the organization
that sponsors Santa House), wanted to donate $10,000 ($2,500 per year over a four
year period) to buy playground equipment for the handicapped. This equipment would
be placed in Cornelia Park (Pool). Mr. Kojetin briefly explained the function and
use of this equipment and stated that it would be an, excellent addition to the
Edina Park system.
Mr. Kojetin also annouced that we had received $40-,000'in dedication funds from
the Victorsen Property (around 8%) and $29,000 in -dedication funds from National Car
Rental for their new office building.
Mr. Wanninger brought the Board up to date on School Board decisions regarding school
closings. They have decided to close Wooddale School in 1980 and will vote one year
from now whether or not to close Edina East. Mr. Wanninger explained that since they
could not get the full market value for most of the schools they were going to put
a lot of them in "mothballs", with the hope that perhaps 10 years from now the
population might be up to the point where they could be re-openned. Mr. Kojetin
inquired as to what they would be doing with some of the huts at the high schools
after the schools themselves were closed; suggesting that they could be used by the
Park Department, perhaps for maintenance buildings. Mr. Wanninger suggested too,
that these buildings could be used for certain Park Board programs. Mr. Kojetin
then interjected that one of the things the Council wanted to discuss with the Park
Board was what could be done with Morningside School.
Mr. Fischer requested a report on the use of the Platform Tennis facilities. Mr.
Jacobson replied that it had not been used that much this past year (2 or 3 times
in the evening and a few times on weekends). Mr. Gyetvan pointed out thi.s was'
probably due to fact that few people knew about it.
Mr. Kojetin then briefly went over the plans for the irrigation system at the Golf
Course.
Meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m.
Rosie Hafner