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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFebruary 26, 2003 City of Columbia Heights Park and Recreation Commission February 26, 2003 Eileen Evans called the meeting to order at 6:31 p.m. ROLL CALL Members present: Eileen Evans; Jerry Foss; Tom Greenhalgh; Matt Henry; Gary Mayer; Dave Payne; Bill Peterson; Bruce Kelzenberg, City Council Representative; Kevin Hansen, Public Works Director/City Engineer; Keith Windschitl, Recreation Director Members absent: Also present: Julienne Wyckoff, Mayor of Columbia Heights, and Karen Moeller, Senior Coordinator/Acting Secretary APPROVAL CONSENT AGENDA: Motion to approve consent agenda by Foss; second by Mayer. All ayes, motion carried. LETTERS ANDREQUESTS: REQUEST FOR "TASTE OF COLUMBIA HEIGHTS" Mayor Julienne Wyckoff submitted a fee-waived request for the "Taste of Columbia Heights" to be held at Murzyn Hall on Sunday, March 23 from 4:00 - 8:00 p.m. A brief discussion was held on the Commission's policy on fees being waived and the concern to keep it consistent. Motion by Foss to waive the fee for the "Taste of Columbia Heights"; second by Payne. All ayes, motion carded. REQUEST FOR FUND-RAISER Todd Barduson, Twin City Co-ops Federal Credit Union, submitted a fee-waived request for a fund-raiser for a friend who has cancer. Motion by Foss to waive the fee but charge a $40 opening fee along with a $15 per hour staff fee; second by Peterson. All ayes, motion carried. REQUEST FOR APPRECIATION NIGHT Ran Rittmiller of Ran Production submitted a fee-waived request for the yearly appreciation night honoring the Columbia Heights Police and Firefighters. It is scheduled for March 7 from 8:00 - 10:30 p.m. Motion by Peterson to waive the fee; second by Foss. All ayes, motion carried. PAGE TWO OLD BUSINESS: PARKS CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN Kevin Hansen, Public Works Director/City Engineer, presented Commission members with a document showing what has been done to date in park improvements. The park plan that was designed in 1996 has been the basis for the City's park planning program to date. A new plan from 2003 to 2007 has been proposed. Kevin indicated the staff had categorized the projects in priority and it would help if the Conunission did the same. Discussion was held regarding picnic shelters, particularly the Sullivan Park shelter. Kevin indicated that Medtronic has been approached for monies and seems interested in pursuing this type of project. Kevin also noted that grant money is needed in order to follow through on desired projects. Huset Park was also mentioned as a priority in updating the facilities. This project needs a great deal of planning and direction from the City Council. A "master plan" needs to be developed before any action can be taken. Jerry Foss mentioned a citizen had called him asking about the weeds by the bridge at Sullivan Park. Kevin indicated this area is heavily regulated by the DNR and this is considered aquatic vegetation. Any weed cutting has to be approved by the DNR. Kevin also pointed out that the wading pools need major updates and a decision will have to be made in the near future as to whether to make the necessary repairs or close them. Motion by Peterson to approve the 2003 - 2007 parks capital improvement plan; second by Foss. All ayes, motion carded. UPDATE OF YOUTH GRANT STATUS AND COORDINATOR POSITION Recreation Director, Keith Windschitl, informed the Commission the CHASE grant would be ending on March 7th. There will be a loss of $65,000. The City will not be filling the Youth Enrichment Coordinator's position so the hope is that the School District will pick up some of the programs. Keith mentioned that the intent for the summer playground programs is to hire a part time coordinator to line these up and supervise staff. Keith informed the Commission that there will be monies coming from the 21st Century Federal Grant in which we are in partnership with the School District. This, too, has been trimmed to $54,000 annually for the Recreation programs. PAGE THREE Also brought up by Keith at this time was the shortage of facilities for both youth and adult sports. Currently teams are getting bumped from the elementary and Middle Schools, which takes away both practice and game time. This hurts the quality of the program and is causing people to look elsewhere for programs. He pointed out that the ball fields are also in need of fixing up in order to run a quality program and to offer tournaments. LION'S CLUB BAR OPERATION Keith informed the Commission that he had attended the Lion's Club meeting on February l0th to review the bar policies for receptions and events. The intent is to make it as customer friendly as possible. New brochures need to be made since the drink prices went up in cost. These are given to renters and need to be accurate. Keith will continue working with the Lion's Club in the areas that need to be addressed. NEW BUSINESS ROUND-UP FOR THE ENVIRONMENT Mayor Julienne Wyckoff spoke to the Commission about "Round-up for the Environment", a program where each water user in the City can donate funds for environmental protection through the City's billing process. This could be a way to bring in a source of funding for park and environmental improvements. Mayor Wyckoff indicated that with the upcoming budget cuts, various new and creative funding methods are going to have to be looked at. It was mentioned that the City's current finance system is not programmed to handle this type of program, but the Finance Director is willing to look into it. Kevin Hansen, Public Works Director/City Engineer pointed out recommendations from the utility rates study will be out in June, and that the citizens would have to be well informed if this type of program was to take place. Motion by Foss to direct Kevin Hansen, Public Works Director/City Engineer, to pursue the "Round-up for the Environment" program and bring information back to the March Commission meeting; second by Greenhalgh. All ayes, motion carried. SKATE PARK Mayor Julienne Wyckoff expressed her interest in providing a skate park in the City and possible options. Keith Windschitl, Recreation Director, began this topic by showing a video entitled "The Day the Park Grew Up". It highlighted various communities, primarily in California and Texas that had installed skate parks. Keith had brochures available from several companies he had contacted regarding skate parks. Discussion was held on the type of skate park (size, surface) and the location. It was determined by the Commission that at the current time there is no money to pursue this. PAGE FOUR Mayor Wyckoff also brought up during this discussion the possibility of developing walking trails by Lomianki Park. The Commission responded by saying this parkland had been given up to be developed. No action was taken regarding the trail system. REPORTS RECREATION DIRECTOR Keith informed the Commission Gary Peterson has generated a fund for a new community center. PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR/CITY ENGINEER Kevin reported results from the skating and hockey rinks. Hockey use stayed about the same as in previous years. General skating was down this year. It was pointed out that by not flooding rinks it would save approximately $60,000. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Karen Moeller, Acting Park and Recreation Commission Secretary