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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin-september-23, 09 City of Columbia Heights Park and Recreation Commission September 23, 2009 Eileen Evans called the meeting to order at 5:33 p.m. ROLL CALL Members present: Eileen Evans; Tom Greenhalgh; Stan Hoium; Kevin McDonald; David Payne; Marsha Stroik; Gary Peterson, Mayor; Kevin Hansen, Public Works Director; Keith Windschitl, Recreation Director Also present: Carolie Carlson, Wilshire Park Parents Association APPROVAL CONSENT AGENDA Motion by Hoium, second by McDonald, to approve consent agenda. Upon vote: All Motion Carried. ayes. LETTERS AND REQUESTS A. Request for a non-profit rental rate on Friday, March 19, 2010 Carolie Carlson, co-chair of the silent auction for the Wilshire Park Parents Association, discussed the details of the fundraiser. Carlson stated it would be an adult social networking evening with alcohol, food, dancing and a silent auction. The group looked at other venues and like the setup of Murzyn Hall and proximity to the school. Wilshire Park has open enrolled students that live in Columbia Heights and works with the C. H. Recreation Department for youth soccer program. The event is from 6:30 - 11:00 p.m. Evans asked what the staffing needs are for this time frame. Windschitl replied that staffing would be needed for the event and the turnaround the following day with cleaning and setting up for the Saturday rental. Hoium asked if the Lion’s Club would be doing the bar service. Carlson responded that they would use them for the bar. Evans suggested charging for the cleanup on the following day. Windschitl stated that the Commission could offer charging a resident discount rate for the rate of the main hall. Hoium suggested offering the non-profit rate plus cleanup time. Windschitl indicated cleanup the following day could range from four to eight hours the next day and charge the group after the cleanup is complete. He stated if the group does majority of the cleanup the following day charges would be minimal at the $15 per hour non-profit rate. Motion by Hoium, second by Greenhalgh, to charge the non-profit rate of $40 entry fee and $15 per hour in the building plus the time needed for cleanup the following day. Motion Carried. Upon vote: All ayes. OLD BUSINESS A. Gateway Pedestrian Bridge Hansen discussed the progress on the gateway pedestrian bridge. Preliminary plans have been submitted, comments were received and final plan preparation is under way. Hansen presented possible design plans for the bridge. The plans indicated size Park & Recreation Commission 2 1/12/20109 comparisons to an average person and design elements of the bridge. He stated there is no center support under the bridge. Aesthetic lighting will be located on the bridge deck and approaches. Hansen pointed out that the approaches would need to be built up and look similar to a short retaining wall. The recommendation is to cast the stones in with concrete for a higher longevity. Stroik asked if the bus stop would be affected. Hansen replied that it would not be changed. Evans asked about the sidewalk. Hansen replied that the sidewalk would be pulled back away from the curb line to go underneath the bridge. On the Walgreens side there is the opportunity to bring the sidewalk along an easement if Walgreens is accepting of it. Hansen indicated an alternate bid option for steps on both sides of the bridge as a shorter route for pedestrian than the 300-yard walkways. Payne asked if the bridge would be set back further on Central Avenue than the current bridge. Hansen replied that it would be about 50 feet further south. Hoium asked if there would be a cover over the walkway. Hansen indicated there would not be. Windschitl asked about shoveling snow. Hansen replied that the design allows for staff to get equipment on the walkway. Greenhalgh asked about placing anything on the bridge with a Columbia Heights symbol or wording. Hansen replied that the subject is still being evaluated and what MnDOT will allow the City to do. Payne stated that he doesn’t believe that people will use the bridge because he has witnessed so many people walk across the street. Hansen stated pedestrian counts from either 2007 or 2008 during the school year; average count was 300 per day. He indicated public comments requested street-scaping in the area to guide pedestrians to the bridge. B. New City Gym Windschitl informed the Commission that the gym is being used by all ages and nationalities. As the word gets out about the available hours the use will increase. A day shift is being run with future additions for after school hours. There will be after school open gym for specific age groups one day at a time: High School, Middle School and Elementary School. This time does overlap with District after school programs but it gives those students who choose not to participate in that program another option of some activity to do. Windschitl indicated once evening programs begin, specifically basketball, adults would have the opportunity to workout at those times. He stated the punch list is mostly worked off and overall things are running well. Payne asked about adult evenings. Windschitl stated currently there are Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. He also indicated the School District fitness center is open from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Stroik asked about staffing. Windschitl indicated the current times are being staffed and there are some volunteers willing to help supervise. He stated that he has been the one currently staffing the morning hours to make sure that all components are running smoothly before asking volunteers to take over. There are a few college students working the after school open gym times; they also worked the summer park programs. Park & Recreation Commission 3 1/12/20109 Stroik asked about the number of exercise pieces in the fitness area. Windschitl invited the members to go to the gym and he would give them a tour now that the facility is complete and fully equipped. He replied there are two life fitness treadmills, three elliptical machines, one lat pull machine, two leg machines, a universal bench press machine, dumbbells, a bench and then the air Schwin bike that Mayor Peterson donated. All of the machines are either refurbished or brand new machines. He indicated that the City fitness area is well designed for a cardio workout. Windschitl stated the School District is requiring pre-registration to use their fitness area. The rates are ten dollars per month for residents and twenty dollars per month for non- residents with a discount rate of nine dollars for senior citizens and Athletic Booster Club members. He indicated this allows access to the District fitness area from 6:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Monday thru Thursday and on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. The weekday hours prior to that are for students. McDonald asked where parking is available. Windschitl replied that there is designated parking in the Northwest lot from the door. NEW BUSINESS A. Grant Awards for Playground Equipment Hansen indicated two grants were awarded for playground equipment at Huset Park and Ramsdell Park. Each grant was for $30,000 and the equipment cost is $60,000 so it was a 50/50 cost share. Hansen stated that he was contacted from Jeff’s, Bobby and Steve’s Auto World Foundation about the donation for Huset Park and will be meeting with them. Hoium asked if the matching grant was from Game Time. Hansen replied yes and that the playground equipment at Sullivan and Silver Lake Beach Parks were from Game Time. In the last fifteen years the City has primarily used either Game Time or Landscape Structures for equipment. Hansen passed around the catalogue with photos of the equipment for each of the parks. Evans asked if any of the equipment could be reused at Ramsdell Park. Hansen replied that it will get reused but not at that park. He indicated that part of the difficulty in reusing the material is that all of the main support posts are set in concrete. Evans indicated that the swing at Silver Lake Beach is missing the belt or chain in the handicap seat. She stated the Biff is gone at that park and that dogs are becoming an increasing problem because the owners are not picking up after them. Hansen replied the swing would be taken care of. Many of the Biffs at the parks were pulled due to budget cuts. He stated that a doggie-do station was purchased and would be installed at Silver Lake Beach Park. REPORTS A. Recreation Director Windschitl indicated a compliment was received and this resident was thanking the City for operating the wading pools. During the current budget times she did not expect the pools to be open and was appreciative of them. She indicated her children really enjoyed using all three of the City pools this season and thanked staff for their work. Park & Recreation Commission 4 1/12/20109 Windschitl stated that Honeywell was in JPM finalizing some of their punch list items. He informed them that he would not sign off on the project until all controls are working correctly. Evans asked the annual maintenance contract had been reduced. Windschitl replied that it has not been reduced yet. The contract will not be reduced until the project is complete. The City has given Honeywell notification that they will not be continuing with their service for other City buildings. Honeywell may bid on the new proposal for the rest of the City. JPM will continue service with Honeywell. The current contract with JPM should be reduced shortly. Windschitl asked the Commission if any one had a problem making it to the meetings at the 5:30 p.m. time. All members agreed that 5:30 p.m. is good and if the time needs to be adjusted it can be done as needed. Windschitl indicated that all future Park and Recreation Meetings would be at 5:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. B. Public Works Director/City Engineer Hansen indicated he attended a meeting with the Three Rivers Park District to develop a plan for a trail connection between Silver Lake Beach Park and Silverwood Park. This item is on the agenda for the next Three Rivers Park District board meeting. Evans asked if the gate would be open on the trail. Hansen replied that a requirement from the Three Rivers Park District is to keep the trail for pedestrian access only. The agreement would be for the Park District to install the fencing with a gate and for the City to build the trail. Hansen indicated that grant from the DNR for both the City and the Park District have applied for a fishing pier. The DNR will then pay for the full cost of the materials for the pier. The hope is that one of the two groups will be awarded the grant. C. Commission Members Stroik shared information from the Three Rivers Park District on Silverwood programs and rental rates for the facility. Peterson indicated that the pig roast statue fundraiser was very successful. He invited the Members to the Public Safety Building Open House on October 3 from 12:00 - 5:00 p.m. Stroik asked what was going to happen with the old police and fire space in City Hall. Peterson replied that the finance department would rearrange and move the bill taking counter to the lower level. Stroik asked what would happen with the garage space. Peterson replied that the City vehicles would be there. He indicated the desire to see staff use the day room in the current fire department for their break time. Windschitl indicated plans to park all Recreation vehicles in the garages. Hansen indicated need for half of the garage space in December for the transition of the garbage cans. Over 12,000 cans will be delivered December 1st and would need to be assembled. ADJOURNMENT Evans adjourned the meeting at 6:30 p.m. ______________________________ Deanna Saefke, Recreation Clerk Typist II