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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin-May 7, 08 City of Columbia Heights Park and Recreation Commission May 7, 2008 Eileen Evans called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. ROLL CALL Members present: Eileen Evans; Jerry Foss; Tom Greenhalgh; Stan Hoium; Kevin McDonald; David Payne; Marsha Stroik; Keith Windschitl, Recreation Director; Kevin Hansen, Public Works Director/City Engineer; Gary Peterson, Mayor Also present: Cliff Shedlov, resident APPROVAL CONSENT AGENDA Motion by Foss, second by Payne, to approve consent agenda. Upon vote: all ayes, motion carried. LETTERS AND REQUESTS A. Resident Cliff Shedlov thanked the Commission for the use of John P. Murzyn Hall Shedlov expressed his gratitude to each member for the use of JPM to host the benefit on April 23, 2008. B. Letter of appreciation of the facilities at John P. Murzyn Hall Evans acknowledged the letter of appreciation from Lisa’s Catering. C. Letter of request for a reduced fee of JPM from St. Timothy’s Lutheran Church Windschitl discussed the letter from St. Timothy’s Lutheran Church in request for a reduced fee for the use of JPM. He suggested the $40 entry fee and $15 per hour of use. Motion by Foss, second by Payne, to charge the $40 entry fee and $15 per hour for the use of JPM on Sunday April 5, 2009. Upon vote: all ayes, motion carried. D. Fee waived request for the Columbia Heights Prayer Breakfast Windschitl stated that in previous years the fee for this event has been waived. Motion by Foss, second by Greenhalgh, to waive the rental fee of John P. Murzyn Hall for the Prayer Breakfast on May 14, 2008. Upon vote: all ayes, motion carried. OLD BUSINESS A. Silver Lake Park & Sullivan Lake Park improvement update Hansen reported on the updated of the biding process. 14 bids were received. Two grants were received for park improvements. The City Council accepted the recommended park improvements for Silver Lake and Sullivan Lake Parks. Hansen reported on the color selection for the park shelters and playground equipment. The Commission desired to stay away from bright colors. Hansen displayed the color Park & Recreation Commission 5/7/2008 Page 2 palettes. Darker colors are best for touching up any vandalism or scaring. One suggested color combination is a dark red roof and tan metal because it will blend well into the stone and sand used within the park. Motion by Payne, second by Foss, to use the color combination of the burgundy roof and tan steel for the shelters at Sullivan and Silver Lake Parks. Upon vote: all ayes, motion carried. Regarding the playground colors the same color palette could be used with additional colors for the plastics and decking. It would tie in with the shelter colors. Motion by Payne, second by Foss, to use the color combination of the burgundy metal uprights and tan/beige plastics and bronze decking for the playgrounds at Sullivan and Silver Lake Parks. Upon vote: all ayes, motion carried. NEW BUSINESS A. 2008 Fireworks Windschitl reported that in previous years both Melrose Pyrotechnics, Inc. and RES have done the fireworks for the Jamboree show. Proposals were received from both companies. He reported that both companies have done a good job in the past. Last years show was by Melrose Pyrotechnics of which we received many good compliments. Windschitl feels that Melrose Pyrotechnics does a good job and provides all of the documentation. Resident, Ben Erickson, is the employee from Melrose Pyrotechnics that shoots off the fireworks. Windschitl feels that Erickson looks out for the interest of Columbia Heights and is very easy to work with. He recommends using Melrose Pyrotechnics for the 2008 Jamboree Fireworks show. Foss indicated that last year he heard strong positive comments about the fireworks show. He suggested for any interested commission member to talk with Ben Erickson and he will show them the setup of the fireworks. Hoium asked if the companies were given a budget to work with for the proposals. Windschitl replied that they are given a $6000 budget and an itemized detailed spec sheet, a 15-minute show and insurance provided. Motion by Hoium, second by Payne, to use Melrose Pyrotechnics for the 2008 Jamboree Fireworks Show. Upon vote: all ayes, motion carried. B. Minnesota Twins Community Fund Grant Windschitl reported that the Recreation Program Coordinator, Liz Bray, submitted the application for the MN Twins Community Fund Grant. A $5000 matching grant was awarded to the Recreation Department. A few years ago this same type of grant was received for Keyes Park baseball field. The goal is to provide safe fencing along the backstop and in front of the dugout, especially at the parks that are used on a regular basis. Windschitl receives a lot of compliments on the condition of our fields such as at Huset Park. The Parks Department does a good job with dragging and lining the fields. Windschitl indicated that the fencing at McKenna Park would not be installed until the Park & Recreation Commission 5/7/2008 Page 3 fall to utilize the ballfield through the summer. Both backstops and player benching will be installed. Hansen indicated that improvements would use a combination of City staff labor and contacted work on the fencing. Hoium asked where the other half of the matching money for the grant would come from. Hansen replied that it is in the parks budget. Foss stated that the grant letter indicated to contact the media regarding the awarding of the grant. Windschitl indicated that the Sun Focus is currently writing an article. Motion by Foss, Second by Hoium, to accept the MN Twins Community Fund Grant with matching funds and thank Bray for writing the grant. Upon vote: all ayes, motion carried. C. Establish fees for soda/pop usage Windschitl indicated that Coke and Pepsi are phasing out PreMix canisters. A lot of problems have occurred with leaking and the taste of the product. With the new post-mix system the shelf life is very limited and the product needs to be used faster than our current usage. The current JPM policy as of January 1, 2008 requires all renters having an open bar to use our pop system behind the bar. The post-mix system has been installed by Shamrock a local company through a State Contract. The previous Pre-mix system has gone up in price; with the new system we are paying roughly one fifth of the price. Windschitl recommends charging a flat usage fee of $100 to renters of JPM with an open bar. He also suggests passing on the savings to the Columbia Heights Lion’s Club by charging $30 for smaller groups and $60 for larger groups. These fees are lower than the Lion’s have averaged over the last year. Motion by Foss, second by Stroik, to charge a usage fee of $100 to renters of JPM, $60 to the C.H. Lion’s Club for larger groups and $30 for smaller groups. Upon vote: all ayes, motion carried . D. Review Park Rental fees beginning 2009 Windschitl reported that current park rentals for residents are free and non-residents are charged $50 plus tax. The City does not have much to offer for park facilities while Sullivan Lake and Silver Lake Parks are closed for construction. Many potential park reservations have gone to Kordiak Park in the mean time. The Parks Department cleans and does maintenance on the parks. He believes that other communities do not offer this free service and is in favor of a park rental fee to offset the employee labor. Requests from fee-waived groups should also be taken into consideration. The Recreation Department has called to neighboring communities and recorded their park usage fee. Foss indicated support for a Park Fee regardless of whom the group is to cover things like, building/park upkeep, electricity, cleanup and maintenance. Evans indicated support for park usage fee regardless of the renter. Windschitl stated that one of the largest park rentals is by Medtronics at Sullivan Lake Park with hundreds of people two or three times per year. Extra garbage cans are placed there ahead of time and clean up is required afterwards. One situation to consider is the possibility of a reoccurring rental. Hansen Park & Recreation Commission 5/7/2008 Page 4 stated the need to justify costs for cleanup, operating expenses, energy and annual maintenance. There is a firm basis for implementing a rental fee. Motion by Foss, Second by Hoium, to table the park rental fee until the next meeting for staff recommendations. Upon vote: all ayes, motion carried. E. Review Event Wagon Rental fees beginning 2009 Windschitl indicated that the VFW donated the initial funds for the purchase of the Neighborhood Event Wagon and the items inside were passed on from the Recreation Department when not being used by programs. It includes tables, chairs, a water cooler and equipment for recreational games and activities. Residents of Columbia Heights can reserve the wagon for fee and it is delivered and picked up by the Recreation Department. Evans recommends a minimum of a $25 fee for the Event Wagon with rising gas costs regardless of who is using the wagon. Windschitl is aware of a similar wagon in the city of Lion Lakes and would like to research their policy for a recommendation at the next meeting. He indicated keeping it affordable for the community while recouping staff and maintenance costs. Members indicated support for covering costs of gas and staff hours for transportation. Stroik suggested separate fees for non-profit versus other renters. Motion by Foss, Second by McDonald, to table the park rental fee until the next meeting for staff recommendations. Upon vote: Foss – aye, Greenhalgh – aye, Hoium – aye, McDonald – aye, Payne – aye, Stroik – aye, Evans – nay; 6 ayes, 1 nay, motion carried. REPORTS Recreation Director Windschitl indicated that the May 28, 2008 meeting would be canceled due to having a meeting on May 7, 2008. The Recreation Department offices will relocate to City Hall during the week before Labor Day while the wood floor in the main hall is being refinished. The department purchases the product and a contractor is hired to buff the floor and refinish it twice. Public Works Director/City Engineer Hansen updated the Commission on the condition of the LaBelle Park boardwalk. Sketches and financial option updates will be presented at the next meeting. The retaining wall will be finished within a week and then the trail will be paved. Two aerator fountains have been installed at LaBelle Park and one fountain at the Huset Pond to treat the water for odor. An informal neighborhood meeting needs to be scheduled for Ramsdell Park in June or July. This would be an input meeting for park improvements. Hansen stated that he was at the parks on the original scheduled park cleanup day and that it was good that it was canceled because the parks were very wet after all of the rain. Park & Recreation Commission 5/7/2008 Page 5 Much of the areas that the Commission would have been cleaning were the slopes along the ponds. Hansen asked for alternative dates to reschedule the cleanup. Wednesday, th May 28 at 5:30 was agreed upon as the new Park & Recreation Commission park cleanup date. Commission Members Foss asked about the final report from the Honeywell study. Windschitl replied that the final walk through would be held tomorrow. He discussed preliminary options with the City Manager. Evans indicated that there has been a discussion of problems with the roof on JPM ever since she has been on the commission. Windschitl indicated that the HVAC equipment is mostly all original from when the building was built back in the 1930’s. Peterson invited the Commission to the groundbreaking ceremony for the gym space with th Columbia Heights School District on June 26 at 10:00 a.m. Payne indicated how pleased he is with the ballfield lighting at Prestemon Park. ADJOURNMENT Eileen Evans adjourned the meeting at 7:50 p.m. ______________________________ Deanna Saefke, Recreation Clerk Typist II