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082807 Joint Mtg CC Park Comm Min CITY OF SHOREWOOD JOINT CITY COUNCIL AND PARK COMMISSION MEETING TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2007 5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD COUNCIL CHAMBERS 6:00 PM MINUTES 1. CONVENE JOINT COUNCIL AND PARK COMMISSION MEETING Mayor Lizee called the meeting to order at 6:00 P.M. A. Roll Call Present: Mayor Lizee; Councilmembers Callies, Turgeon, Wellens, and Woodruff; Administrator Dawson; and Director of Public Works Brown Park Commission Chair Davis; Park Commissioners Norman, Quinlan, and Trent Absent: Commissioners Alegi, Hensley and Young B. Review Agenda Wellens moved, Woodruff seconded, Approving the agenda as Presented. Motion passed 5/0. 2. REVIEW PARK COMMISSION ACTIVITIES Mayor Lizee stated the City had a very active Park Commission, and she appreciated the Commission's commitment to future needs of the community. She asked Park Commission Chair Davis to review Park Commission activities and needs. Park Commission Chair Davis stated for the past couple of years the Park Commission had focused on programming activities. It was difficult to get residents to support park renovations and maintenance issues. In the past year the Commission decided to scale back Music in the Park to one main activity (Big Walter) and to aggressively advertise for that event. The Commission also focused on a few activities for children that did not require funding from the City. The Commission had requested a proposal from Minnetonka Community Education (MCE) for activities for 2008 at Freeman Park and Manor Park. The City had received a proposal from 3rd Lair to coordinate a two-day skateboard camp for October 2007 and it would conduct another camp in 2008. Chair Davis then stated the Commission distributed a questionnaire to the neighboring residents of Manor Park and Silverwood Park (those within 500 feet of the parks) asking the residents what types of programs and repairs they would like to have at those parks. The Commission was pleased with the number of responses it received. Commissioner Norman stated MCE had planned for one T-ball group and a second was added because of high demand. The attendance at the 3rd Lair skate board camp exceeded expectations, especially when one considered the participants paid $160 to attend the camp. CITY OF SHOREWOOD JOINT CITY COUNCIL AND PARK COMMISSION MEETING August 28, 2007 Page 2 of 4 Chair Davis stated the MCE representative would share the attendees' evaluations of the past summer MCE activities with the Commission. Director Brown stated 3rd Lair had been asked for participant feedback on the camp as well. Commissioner Trent commented the Commission also wanted demographic information from 3rd Lair. Commissioner Norman stated the Commission wanted to propose a skateboard camp for intermediate skateboarders to entice the 2007 participants to take part in the camp. He explained that the Commission paid an up-front deposit for the 3rd Lair camp; the entire deposit, plus a little more, was recouped because of the attendance level. Norman stated the skateboard equipment the City had was entry level; the Commission would have to be sensitive to the impact on the residents if the equipment were to be expanded. Director Brown stated the City had a mixture of three- and four-foot equipment, and the oldest equipment would probably have to be replaced in two years. Brown commented that the second group of equipment was much better than the original equipment. He also commented that Chanhassen replaced its equipment every five years. Commissioner Trent commented 3rd Lair thought the City's equipment was more than adequate to conduct a quality skateboard camp. Chair Davis stated the camp had a relatively high teacher-to-student ratio, and the camp was primarily marketed on 3rd Lair's website. Director Brown stated tennis courts and parking were issues at Badger Park. Tennis courts were very costly to reconstruct and maintain. Although those tennis courts were used more heavily than other courts in the City, the Commission was trying to determine if those courts were used enough to warrant the cost to reconstruct them. He commented that the City had made a recent significant investment in lighting for the Badger Park football field. He also commented the City had received a request to research the feasibility of installing a walking path around the field. He stated the Commission was considering retaining the services of an outside firm to assess if Badger Park and Silverwood Park were being utilized effectively and to their full capacity. Chair Davis stated because of the proximity of Badger Park, City Hall and the City-owned house, that area could be viewed as the City's campus; therefore, the Commission thought Badger Park should be considered as part of the City's Comprehensive Plan. Councilmember Callies stated she thought it was possible to have cost-effective parks and buildings that could be esthetically pleasing and reflected what the City was about. Mayor Lizee stated she agreed it was important to consider each of the City's parks individually to determine if they were being utilized effectively and to their full capacity, and to identify what the future needs of each park were. The "campus" must also be addressed to ensure it created the image the City wanted to portray. Director Brown and Chair Davis both stated the Lacrosse Association was cooperative and easy to work with. Brown stated the Association was denied its request for permanent fencing. He then stated participation in Lacrosse was growing rapidly, and the City would not have enough space to satisfy the growing demand. Brown commented that Community Rec Resources did an outstanding job resolving issues with the various athletic associations that used the City's facilities. He also commented that the City had a Park Priority Policy that allowed for new organizations to compete for the use of City park space. Chair Davis stated that Tonka Bay would be involved in the 2008 Arctic Fever event staff and funding. She commented rescue dog, sleigh ride, and musher events were some of the events that had already been committed to for Freeman Park. She stated that Carver County Parks would put information about the event on its website. CITY OF SHOREWOOD JOINT CITY COUNCIL AND PARK COMMISSION MEETING August 28, 2007 Page 3 of 4 Director Brown explained based on a situation that occurred with the Twin City Curling Association, the Commission became convinced it was important to have up-front signed agreements between the event participants and the City. He questioned if Council was willing to expose the City to the possibility of liability issues that could result from accidents that could happen at the event; not all event participants have liability insurance. Councilmember Callies commented there was liability associated with any event. Mayor Lizee asked the Commission to draft a budget for the Arctic Fever event and present that to Council. Chair Davis stated Commissioner Norman had prepared a draft budget which reflected some funds for advertising for each sponsor. Davis stated an advertising plan had also been prepared for the event. Norman stated without including the cost for fireworks, the preliminary budget reflected a $4,000 - $5,000 cost for operational expenses, some advertising, securing event participants, for Freeman Park activities. Davis stated they had not determined what funds it would be requesting from the City as all planning had not been done. Davis explained the Commission was considering a Passport Artic Fund event to raise funds. Director Brown stated the City paid $13 5 for the 2007 Arctic Fever event, in addition to the time donated by office staff. Director Brown stated it was important that a contractual commitment be made to secure the event participants. Councilmember Wellens stated he would support the City contributing $2,000 - $3,000 for the 2008 Arctic Event. Mayor Lizee stated the City should support the event; and she hoped Greenwood would also support the event as they City had been supportive of other community events. Director Brown stated the Commission had asked Staff to conduct a survey to determine what the park dedication fees were for cities of similar size to the City. There was a comment that that Deephaven's fee was 10 percent of the lot value. Councilmember Wellens suggested the fee be abolished, and parks funding be included in the General Fund Budget; he did not think it would be fair to charge owners of newly developed properties significantly more than previous developers had paid. Councilmember Callies stated parks were an amenity of the City and park dedications fees were a funding source the Legislature allowed. Commissioner Norman stated the Commission viewed the park dedication fees as funds to help with infrastructure maintenance; because there was little land remaining to be developed, another funding source needed to be identified. Administrator Dawson commented that the current park dedication fee had been $1,500 for a new lot since 2001. Councilmember Woodruff stated the fees could be increased to $3,000, and taxes could fund the rest. Director Brown stated the City's user impact fee was $10 per player per season, and that rate had not changed for a while. The fee was controversial and at times difficult to collect. The City was one of the few cities that charged that type of fee. There were times that sports organizations increased their fees, and explained it was based on the City increasing its user impact fee (which was not true). Administrator Dawson commented that some cities charge a team or league fee. Mayor Lizee stated the City was very forthright when it first started to charge the user impact fee; there was resistance at first, but once individuals understood the need the resistance lessened. Brown stated he would research the funds raised from the fees, and identify the costs to maintain the athletic facilities. Director Brown stated the City had partnered with the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD), the Metropolitan Council, and the Department of Natural Resources on the Gideon Glen wetland restoration / water quality demonstration project. A maintenance program had been implemented to assess how the plantings in the wetland area were responding. Brown stated at some time the topic of long-term maintenance for the area must be addressed. Administrator Dawson stated educational signage CITY OF SHOREWOOD JOINT CITY COUNCIL AND PARK COMMISSION MEETING August 28, 2007 Page 4 of 4 for the area would be installed in the near future; and the MCWD would conduct an opening later in the fall. Mayor Lizee stated the MCWD had reviewed the types of things that had been planted with Council in October 2006. Councilmember Woodruff suggested the City publish something in the Shore Report about Gideon Glen. Director Brown stated the Park Commission had asked Staff to estimate the maintenance costs for the parks and recreational facilities for the next 10 years; the costs were astronomical. He commented the Badger Park hockey field lighting would need to be replaced. Administrator Dawson there was a continued revenue stream into the Park Improvement Fund in addition to park dedication fees. Mayor Lizee stated that what she heard at this meeting was there was a commitment to obtaining residents' feedback regarding the potential uses and needs of the City's parks. She suggested the City conduct a City-wide survey to obtain that feedback; the survey could help shape the goals and priorities and it was important for government to get that feedback. Commissioner Quinlan questioned if the City's website allowed for comments from the residents; and there were companies that helped with survey efforts. Administrator Dawson commented that some cities do an annual survey of their residents. Mayor Lizee thanked the Councilmembers and Commissioners for their participation; she thought the meeting was beneficial. 3. OTHER BUSINESS None. 4. ADJOURN Turgeon moved, Woodruff seconded, Adjourning the Joint City Council and Park Commission Meeting of August 28, 2007, at 7:06 P.M. Motion passed 5/0. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, Christine Freeman, Recorder 0~~ Christine Lizee, Mayor