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051303 PK MIN CITY OF SHOREWOOD 5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD PARK COMMISSION MEETING CITY HALL TUESDAY, MAY 13, 2003 7:00 P.M. MINUTES 1. CONVENE PARK COMMISSION MEETING Chair Arnst called the meeting to order at 7:02 P.M. A. Introduction of New Park Commissioner Chair Arnst introduced and welcomed Commissioner Gilbertson to the Commission. B. Roll Call Present: Chair Arnst, Commissioners Davis, Gilbertson, Meyer, and Young; Late Arrival Engineer Brown; City Council liaison Turgeon Absent: Commissioners Callies and Palesch C. Review Agenda Chair Arnst added three items, A-C, to New Business item #7. Including New Commissioner Orientation, Soccer Field Placement, and Emailing Park Packets. Davis moved, Meyer seconded, approve the Agenda as amended. Motion passed 5/0. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Park Commission Meeting Minutes of April 8, 2003 Meyer moved, Davis seconded, approving the Park Commission Meeting Minutes of April 8, 2003, as submitted. Motion passed 4/0/1, Gilbertson abstaining. 3. MATTERS FROM THE FLOOR Chris Lizée, 27055 Smithtown Road, thanked the Park Commission for opening Eddy Station Concessions. She stated that it is a wonderful concession building and regrets that TUSA declined to participate. As a parent and potential volunteer, Ms. Lizee asked if the Commission had a schedule that parents could sign up to volunteer their services at the concessions the evenings it is not manned now. She complimented MGSA for their efforts to run the concessions on Tuesday and Wednesday nights and stated that she knew parents who would like to volunteer for Mondays and Thursdays. Meyer asked what method Lizée would use to recruit these folks. Ms. Lizée stated that she would speak to both parents and coaches to recruit volunteers, and was already familiar with some interested parties. Gilbertson suggested the City begin a waiting list for interested volunteers to register. Brown arrived at 7:17 P.M. Chair Arnst asked Brown to have Park Secretary Twila Grout create a calendar for volunteers that Ms. Lizée could circulate, which might include Sundays. PARK COMMISSION MINUTES Tuesday, May 13, 2003 Page 2 of 5 Brown stated that the current concessionaire contract did not include Sundays. He pointed out that he had just come from Freeman Park and that even with three volunteers, the customers were lined up to the ballfield backstops. He explained that, while recruiting volunteers would be a noble mission, training those volunteers every night takes greater commitment. While he could not commit, he believed that between, Ms. Grout, Mr. Davis, and himself, someone could be available to train on Sundays. Meyer suggested that the concessionaire consider finding someone to specifically run the concession operations on Sundays, so that City staff would not be burdened with the responsibility. While he fully supported recruiting volunteers for Monday and Thursday evenings, Brown indicated that he would explore the possibilities for Sundays. 4. REPORTS A. Update on Park Coordinator Progress Brown asked CRR representative, Kristi Anderson, to give a brief report. Ms. Anderson stated that, in CRR’s view, their position as Park Coordinators for the City of Shorewood has been very successful to date. She reported that collection of 90% of the required sports organization data and fees were completed within one week of the spring sports information meeting held in February. Soon after collection, CRR worked with sports organizations preferred time slots, and individual sports representatives to resolve conflicts, to create a finalized sports schedule. Ms. Anderson stated that the biggest challenge had proven to be roster collection and a new request for schedule utilization data, in order to allow CRR the ability to compare schedules to usage. Since the 2004 spring information meeting was tentatively slated for November/December, she voiced her concern with regard to supplying schedules prior to collecting fees and documentation for the next year. With regard to on-site monitoring, Ms. Anderson indicated that CRR has made, and will continue, to make visits to the parks to analyze usage and parking. She stated that upon a visit over the past weekend, several scheduled fields were not in use, including all of the soccer fields and softball fields. She pointed out that after speaking to a representative of TUSA working on striping the fields, she learned that TUSA does not use the Freeman rec fields on the weekends at all. Tim BeDuhn, representative of STLL, was pleased to see a representative of the City assessing the field use and stated that he felt things were going well with regard to usage and parking so far. He asked about the menu offered by the Eddy Station concessions, and Ms. Anderson relayed this to the Commission. Ms. Anderson informed the Commission that the fall sports information meeting would be held on Thursday, May 29, 2003, and invited the Commissioners to attend. B. Update on Eddy Station Brown had nothing further to add to the earlier discussion. Meyer indicated that Bennett Family Park had done the City a big favor, with regard to concessions, and reminded staff to acknowledge them for their assistance. PARK COMMISSION MINUTES Tuesday, May 13, 2003 Page 3 of 5 C. Recreation Parks Association Young reported that the Minnesota Park and Recreation Association was very enthusiastic to support Shorewood and provide speakers for the seminar series this fall. They, too, believed that the goal for the seminar, to be held October 14, 2003, should be to share trends, communicate successful practices, and network with other commissions. Young noted that the Mn. Park and Rec. Assoc was committed to developing and mailing brochures and invitations, and handling registration for the event at the Southshore Center. They believed that an initial goal of 30 people at approximately $10 per person would be realistic. He indicated that he and Chair Arnst would be meeting with the Association again on June 12 to refine the format and agenda. Chair Arnst added that the Association complimented Shorewood for its continued initiative and would try to find Commissions with similar hands-on commitment to participate. She indicated that Victoria had already expressed interest in the event and that Shorewood would have additional input into the agenda and guest list. She stated that this would, hopefully, be the first in a three part series of seminars. Brown asked if 20-30 attendees was realistic or enough. Chair Arnst stated that the Mn. Park and Recreation Association was of the opinion that quality was more important than quantity when it came to attendees. She stated that the guest list would likely be made up of 100 + individuals, with a turnout of potentially 30-35 people. Meyer questioned whether Chair Arnst found the new direction the event was taking to be acceptable. Chair Arnst maintained that the direction was not too different and that Shorewood should still be able to add to the agenda and offer input to shape the event. Brown complimented the Commission for being on the cutting edge. Chair Arnst stated that, it seems, most people are surprised at the accomplishments made by a small community like Shorewood on its park front and told the Commissioners they had much to be proud of. She added that the Association and others wish to hear more from Community Rec Resources. 5. DISCUSS SCHEDULE AND FORMAT FOR UPCOMING EVENTS A. Park Tours Chair Arnst suggested the Commission take a riding road tour of the parks via a Southshore senior center bus, and visit other points of interest in Deephaven and Chanhassen as well. She informed the Commission that the Park Foundation would like to buy them dinner at Freeman Eddy Station concessions one night and have an informal discussion. She asked Brown if the Commission might visit the public works maintenance buildings and view the equipment used in the parks on the park tour. While the Commissioners liked the idea of a roadtrip, Young questioned whether they would be able to view the parks up close and personal enough to note repairs. PARK COMMISSION MINUTES Tuesday, May 13, 2003 Page 4 of 5 Brown stated that, as it is their job, the public works staff, namely Mr. Davis, usually sees and takes care of all of the repair work necessary in the parks. He pointed out that it is the job of the Park Commission to look beyond the repair work, at policy, what’s happening in the parks, what’s right, what’s wrong, and craft a vision that each of the parks should evolve into. Meyer felt it to be an important piece of orientation for new commissioners to view all of the parks. Brown agreed, noting that the orientation would accompany the park tour. B. Joint Meeting with Park Foundation Chair Arnst asked the Commissioners to provide her with any suggestions within the next couple of days in regard to the second meeting in June for the joint Park Foundation meeting and park bus tour slated for July 8, 2003. C. Determine Liaison for City Council Meeting of May 27, 2003 Commissioner Davis volunteered. 6. DISCUSS JOINT MEETING WITH CITY COUNCIL Brown indicated that a second joint City Council meeting would likely happen in July/August and asked for any comments with regard to the one held this spring. Although she enjoyed and learned from the joint meeting, Davis stated that she felt the City Council rushed through their presentation in order to adhere to the schedule, and perhaps she would have liked to hear more. Chair Arnst agreed, stating that the meeting seemed rushed and should last longer when all three groups are present. She felt that it was exciting to have both Commissions and Council at the same meeting and that an interesting commentary could have occurred provided there was more time. 7. NEW BUSINESS A. New Commissioner Orientation As new commissioner training was very important, Chair Arnst reminded staff to utilize the spiral bound orientation handbook developed in 2001 for the Administrator to present to Commissioner Gilbertson. Although staff is currently carrying a heavy burden, Brown indicated that they had discussed the topic of orientation and acknowledged that it needs to be handled as soon as possible. Chair Arnst added that the fall seminar series would also provide an invaluable training tool for cities. B. Soccer Field Placement PARK COMMISSION MINUTES Tuesday, May 13, 2003 Page 5 of 5 During a recent conversation with Gordon Lindstrom, of Adult Softball, Mr. Lindstrom pointed out to Chair Arnst the dangerous proximity of the soccer fields to the softball fields. She stated that the soccer fields had been marked right up to Softball Field #6 and she and Lindstrom were concerned about the safety of kids playing soccer so close to the softball fields. Since there was plenty of room to do so, she asked that staff ask that the soccer fields be moved over 50’ for safety reasons. C. Emailing of Park Packets Brown stated that the packets wouldn’t typically be emailed to the Commissioners, however, he had been held up by a three day watermain leak. Gilbertson indicated that he would not have a problem with receiving packets by email. Meyer stated that she would prefer to receive the packets further than 24 hours in advance to review the material. D. Other New Business Brown reported that the City received a call from Charlotte Beaddy, of the Senior Center, to reserve the Badger tennis courts. She had indicated that MCES had referred her to the City, since they no longer handle scheduling for the City. He noted that they would be reserving the courts on th Mondays from 9-11AM from May 26 through mid October. Since the new conceal and carry law exempts city owned properties, Turgeon reported that the City Council adopted a resolution to encourage the league of Cities to continue to lobby for additional language to be added that allows cities to post no weapons signs on public property. She stated that there is great concern among the Council members, Mayor, and staff for the safety of city employees and citizens in our parks. With regard to the parking issue in Freeman Park mentioned earlier, Gilbertson suggested that the Commission consider posting ‘car pool’ parking spots in the parking lots to encourage greater car pooling by patrons. He felt self policing by residents would work wonders. 8. ADJOURNMENT Young moved, Gilbertson seconded, adjourning the Park Commission Meeting of May 13, 2003, at 8:12 P.M. Motion passed 5/0. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, Kristi B. Anderson Recording Secretary