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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOct 28, 2015 minutes Park & Recreation Commission Minutes of the Meeting Keyes Room, John P. Murzyn Hall October 28, 2015 David Payne called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Roll Call Members present: Sean Clerkin, Bruce Evans, Tom Greenhalgh, Kevin McDonald, David Payne, Marsha Stroik Staff present: Kevin Hansen, Public Works Director; Keith Windschitl, Recreation Director; Deanna Saefke, Secretary Approval Consent Agenda Motion by Clerkin, second by Stroik, to approve the consent agenda. Upon vote: All ayes. Motion Carried. Letters and Requests A.Request for an open bar for a wedding reception on July 16, 2015. Windschitl indicated staff recommends approving the request as long as the group is using staff approved bartenders. Greenhalgh clarified that they are not bringing in their own bartenders and using bartenders recommended by staff. Motion by Greenhalgh, second by Clerkin, to approve the request for an open bar using staff approved bartenders on July 16, 2015. Upon vote: All ayes. Motion Carried. Old Business A.Grand opening celebration for Huset Splash Pad (June 2016). Hansen would like to have the grand opening in May however the regular week for a meeting falls around Memorial Day. Waiting until June tends to be a little late. Wading pools are normally open from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Clerking suggested having the grand opening when it is convenient and not just on a Commission meeting date. Stroik suggested moving the May meeting to June 1. Members indicated there isn’t a need to hold a meeting, and just have an event. Hansen asked how the Commission wants to inform the public of the event; direct invites to the immediate area would be over 1,000 people, advertisements in the paper or not, and maybe asking the police department to incorporate a community picnic at the same time. Stroik stated that the neighborhood picnics are very well attended. Hansen will discuss the idea with the Chief of police and report back at the next meeting. For now consider the June 1 date for the special grand opening event. B. Master Planning: select next park and direct staff to obtain proposals. Payne asked what park is in need of improvement. Hansen indicated the last park that the Commission discussed during recent park tours was Keyes Park. Payne replied he would like to see money saved to continue the work on the Huset Park Master Plan. Hansen stated the more realistic approach is to move forward with improvements on a park by park basis. A large amount of money is needed to complete the work at Huset Park and the only reason why the splash pad was able to be completed was due to an excess in LGA which doesn’t happen regularly. Some funding will be coming into the park deduction City of Columbia Heights October 28, 2015 Park & Recreation Commission Minutes of the Meeting Page 2 funds through the new development coming. The remaining work at Huset Park is over a 2 million dollar project. Hansen indicated the from a funding perspective the Commission may want to think about a referendum for Huset and/or the remaining parks to be updated. Stroik mentioned that many other cities are asking for them this year. Stroik asked how much money will be received from the development. Hansen replied approximately $180,000 to $200,000 from Dominium. Payne asked what the estimated cost is to complete the Huset Park Master Plan. Hansen replied in 2004 the total was 3.5 million. Now the cost for the splash pad could be removed, using state funding for changes to the roadway, and adding in the cost of inflation, the guess is approximately 2 million. Stroik indicated that amount does not seem unrealistic. Hansen indicated the referendum process can take a year to prepare, get a plan ready for improvements throughout the entire city, develop and update a capital improvement plan, and hold public meetings. If the Commission wants to pursue a referendum they should begin the process mid to late summer of 2016. Clerkin asked about the cost of that process. Hansen replied the cost to put together a capital improvement plan and a referendum is about $15,000 to $30,000. Hansen indicated Keyes Park is due for playground replacements. The playground well over twenty plus years old and replacement parts are no longer available for it any more. McKenna Park is the second largest park where the playground equipment has been replaced. Ostrander Park is the third largest park where no improvements have been made. Lomianki Park has the oldest playground equipment and is in a remote area. A brand new small playground cost begins would be in the $60,000-$90,000 range. Payne stated McKenna Park has had recent improvements. Hansen replied yes the playground equipment was updated. Other park improvements discussed have been making the ballfields better functioning because the two currently overlap, and better parking. Keyes Park improvements would include looking at the sliding hill to offer more permanent protection during the winter as multiple times during the season the snow fence will be removed. Hansen stated that the City does carry extra insurance for the sliding hill. He stated the Commission could move forward with another master plan but does not suggest changing the Huset Park Mast Plan because we do not have the ability to finance improvements. McDonald stated that a lot of time and energy was put into the last master plan for Huset Park and now it is stalled. Hansen replied that updating the plan would not be expensive but there still would not be any movement beyond that. Clerkin replied it is not worth doing anything to the plan until there is funding available. Stroik indicated after 2016 another city election would take place in 2018. Clerkin agreed that is a good target. Evans asked if the Circle Terrace park building will need a referendum. Hansen replied no, staff and community members are looking into other funding. The building itself is approximately $250,000. In 2016 the largest part of the parks budget will be to replace the playground equipment at Circle Terrace. Stroik asked if there is enough funding for improvements at Keyes Park. Hansen replied yes and the earliest availability to fund improvements would be in 2017 or 2018, or if movement is made towards a referendum Keyes Park could be included in that and the master park plan would already be complete. Hansen reported there are other items at Keyes Park that need improvements. The storm water retention pond does not work properly. Clerkin asked about the hockey rink problems. Hansen replied the area has settled and has an elevation difference from one side to the other of about fifteen inches. It takes about sixteen inches of water to get even ice. The boards need replacement as well. Clerkin asked what the most important item in need of replacement is at Keyes Park. Hansen replied the playground equipment. He would like to see the best fit for a playground spatially within the whole park and what the area is being programmed for. Clerkin asked if a playground can be installed without having a master plan. Hansen replied it would be best to have the Master Plan to work from so park elements can be placed in the most appropriate area in the park. The process has always been making a master plan, and then if there isn’t full funding portions are done as funding becomes available. Stroik asked how long City of Columbia Heights October 28, 2015 Park & Recreation Commission Minutes of the Meeting Page 3 until funding from the new development becomes available in the park dedication fund. Hansen replied soon, within 3-6 months or so. Stroik asked if the money has to be used immediately. Hansen replied no. State law indicates that those funds are dedicated for park related uses. They cannot go into recreation operation and have to have some sort of nexus with recreational benefit such as fields or playgrounds. All capital expenditures come through the Park and Recreation Commission. Stroik stated that a master plan for Keyes Park makes sense. Motion by Greenhalgh, second by Evans, to create a Master Plan for Keyes Park. Upon vote: All ayes. Motion Carried. Windschitl indicated the need for two ballfields at Keyes Park. Both fields were used for t-ball and baseball this year. The soccer field, which is located in the outfield area, receives a lot of use between both fields as well. New Business A. Rental rates for John P. Murzyn Hall in 2017. Windschitl informed the Commission that staff has recommended keeping the John P. Murzyn Hall rental rates at the same prices from 2016 to 2017. The last time rates were increased was from 2010 to 2011 for just Saturday rental fees, and also for 2015 to 2016 there was an increase on Saturdays. The only other increase for 2017 is a slight increase on linen napkin rental fees. Staff recommends keeping the current rates for 2016 the same in 2017. Windschitl reminded the commission that residents of Columbia Heights still receive a 25% discount off of the rental fee of the facility. McDonald asked if the hall makes any revenue. Windschitl replied that the rentals bring in a fair amount of revenue but that sets off the fees associated with running the building for programs, utilities, the recreation office, upgrades or up keep to existing items within the building, and the purchasing of needed equipment. Generally the Murzyn Hall revenue pays for the use of the hall. Evans indicated that the building is used as a community service space too. Clerkin indicated he is not opposed to raising rental rates. Payne asked if a lot more residents rented the facility than nonresidents. Windschitl replied about half of the rentals are from residents. He indicated the Saturdays from the end of April through September are booked for 2016. Stroik replied that wedding venues are very expensive and it is the food minimum requirements that make it so expensive. She would not be opposed to raising the rental rate. Windschitl stated that having an open food option makes Murzyn Hall very unique. He also pointed out that this hall does accommodate a larger number of guests unlike many other venues. Windschitl agreed that the Saturday rental rate could be increased by 5% if the Commission wanted. Stroik would like to see the Saturday rate closer to $1500. Greenhalgh suggested an increase of 10%. Windschitl replied to increase the rental fee to be closer to $1500 is around a 6% increase. Stroik replied that this venue is a bargain even with an increase. Clerkin would like to see a larger increase. Motion by Stroik, second by McDonald, to increase the John P. Murzyn Hall rental rate for a Saturday by 6% for the Hall, Kitchen, and LaBelle Lounge. Upon vote: 5 ayes, 1 nay. Ayes: Evans, Greenhalgh, McDonald, Payne, Stroik. Nay: Clerkin. Motion Carried. Payne asked if there are any complications with the 1:00 a.m. closing time of the building. Windschitl replied that people do ask to stay longer but we do not give them that option. There is also a late fee of $80 every 30 minutes after 1:00 a.m. Clerkin asked if the fee needs to be increased. Windschitl replied no because the goal is still to keep the fee at an amount that will still be used and not priced too high. City of Columbia Heights October 28, 2015 Park & Recreation Commission Minutes of the Meeting Page 4 Reports A.Recreation Director Windschitl reported that volunteer coaches are needed for youth basketball and wrestling. The previous wrestling coaches have been hired by the Columbia Heights school district. He asked for the members to spread the word if they know of any volunteers. At the most recent city council meeting it was approved to increase the Hylander Center facility supervisor rate from $9.00 per hour to $12.41 per hour starting. The goal is to have two people working those shifts as many drop-in participants try to skip out on paying the $1 drop-in fee. Currently the weekend open gym time is not being offered due to lack of staff available to work. Youth basketball will be starting soon and that will eliminate the open gym times except for the use of the fitness room and the Wednesday night open gym. Windschitl indicated the regular meeting dates for November and December fall during the holiday rd weeks. He suggested moving the possible meeting dates to the 3 week of each month. Motion by Clerkin, second by Stroik, to move the regular Park and Recreation Commission meeting rd dates for November and December to the 3 Wednesday if a meeting is needed. Upon vote: All ayes. Motion Carried. B.Public Works Director/City Engineer Hansen reported the Dominium development project is moving forward. The calculation is for around $200,000 for park dedication to the Park Development Fund. The library is continuing to make progress. The foundations are done, the underground piping is being installed, and after Christmas work will begin on the steel structure. The police department staff is looking into funding for the multipurpose building th at Circle Terrace Park. Greenhalgh asked what is happening to the building on 40 and Central Avenue where the bank is located. Hansen replied the building has a new owner with a good reputation. Before they move forward with work on the building he is trying to secure tenants and then he has committed to making the required corrections on the building. McDonald asked if the splash pad water flow was tested. Hansen replied yes, several times. Staff needs to learn how to run the program. Stroik stated that the whole area looks very nice. C.Commission Members Clerking indicated seeing splash pads that hold water to reuse it through the system and is wondering the costs for that type of system. Hansen replied that type of system was looked at for Huset West and it would have almost doubled the cost. Payne adjourned the meeting at 6:30 p.m. _________________________________ Deanna Saefke, Recreation Clerk Typist II