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100907 PK MIN CITY OF SHOREWOOD 5755 COUNTRY CLUB RD PARK COMMISSION MEETING SHOREWOOD CITY HALL TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2007 7:00 P.M. MINUTES 1.CONVENE PARK COMMISSION MEETING Chair Davis called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. A. Roll Call Present: Chair Davis; Commissioners Young, Trent, Norman, and Quinlan; Public Works Director Brown; and late arrival City Council liaison Turgeon Absent: Commissioners Alegi and Hensley B. Review Agenda Item 10B, New Business, was added to the agenda. Trent moved, Norman seconded, approving the Agenda as revised. Motion passed 5/0. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Park Commission Meeting Minutes of September 5, 2007 Norman moved, Chair Davis seconded, approving the Minutes of the September 5, 2007, meeting as presented. Motion passed 5/0. 3. REPORTS A. Report on City Council Meeting of October 8, 2007 Brown reported that the City Council debated whether to host the Appreciation Event typically held in December. It was determined that the appreciation party would continue and be held on December 14, 2007. In addition, the Council worked on Enterprise Budgets, which included the City’s two liquor operations currently for sale. Brown mentioned that the Amlee and Manitou Road construction project public hearing would be held next month, although easements are not forthcoming and the project will likely stagnate. B. Report on Arctic Fever Meeting of September 26, 2007 Chair Davis stated that, while Tonka Bay had not scheduled activities for the event, they do wish to participate in Arctic Fever next year. Davis noted that, at the previous meeting, the group discussed funding, passports, and finalized its vendor participants. She acknowledged the City Council’s $3000 commitment to the seed fund and mentioned that PARK COMMISSION AGENDA TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2007 PAGE 2 OF 6 representatives would be attending the upcoming Park Foundation meeting to request th funding on the 17. In addition, Chair Davis pointed out that it is their intent to finalize all participants and a schedule as soon as possible so that support materials, in store displays, and magazine/newsletter deadlines can be met to sufficiently promote the event. Norman added that the planning phase is in a good place and that over the next 1-2 months they will be solidifying the details. Quinlan questioned when the deadlines for corporate sponsorship would occur. Chair Davis noted that it is their intent to have everything completed by Thanksgiving so that the support documents and displays can be set up in stores over the holiday. City Council liaison Turgeon arrived at 7:15 p.m. 4. REPORT FROM MCE ON SUMMER ACTIVITIES MCE’s Meg Low, Coordinator of Children’s Services, and Christine Best, Youth and Recreation Manager, gave a brief paper power point presentation recap of the Summer Rec program at Freeman Park. In essence, MCE was quite pleased with the public reception and Freeman Park facilities this past summer and look forward to an ongoing and expanded summer series next year. A few highlights from the rec program included, the program length which ran Tuesdays and Thursdays from June 19- August 16; hosted 80 children, 40 boys/40 girls, 66% of which were aged 4-6; and 85% were Shorewood residents. Chair Davis asked if they felt the program met or exceeded their expectations. Best stated that they had hoped for a minimum of 15 youth and were surprised by the response of 40 who enrolled, so much so that they had to place a cap on the enrollment. Obviously well received, the program filled a niche within the community. MCE representatives thanked Shorewood for the partnership and acknowledged Park Secretary Grout for her exceptional support. Best stated that they hosted 2 T-Ball teams of 16 players each at Cathcart Park during the day and hoped to expand that program as well next year. Chair Davis thanked Best and Low for coming, mentioning that this is a program the Commission has wanted to institute for a long time. She encouraged MCE to consider expanding the program to Manor Park next season. Trent commended MCE for its efforts and asked if they had the ability or desire to expand the program size or if there was anything else the City could do to support them. Best stated that 40 kids is a good number and they would not wish to increase that; however, they would consider adding additional days and potentially other parks to the mix. She commented that it was convenient for staff to be able to leave their equipment at PARK COMMISSION AGENDA TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2007 PAGE 3 OF 6 Freeman station over night and pull it out each morning. She mentioned that it might be nice if there were a faucet and hose outside for their water activities. Brown noted that this is not the first time a faucet or hose has been brought up as a request at Eddy Station, acknowledging that there might be a real need to install a hose bib near the drinking fountain for this group, as well as the garden club. Chair Davis thanked the MCE representatives for coming and suggested that the Commission hold a work session in February to look at summer programming with MCE, rd the 3 Lair, and Music in the Park. Norman stated that this is a program similar to one he loved growing up and was pleased at how this has exceeded expectations. 5. COMMUNITY REC. RESOURCES QUARTERLY REPORT Kristi Anderson, CRR representative, gave a brief synopsis of the first and second quarterly report acknowledging that both ‘everything and nothing stays the same’. For instance, while the ongoing facility use continues each season, the organizations and their representatives continually change and require varying degrees of attention, especially in light of new relationships formed with users such as MCE. Anderson noted that the spring sports information meeting was held last March and after much communication all fees and documents were collected, some more timely than others, due in part to new personnel within the organizations themselves. After spending time bringing the new representatives up to speed on the process, the season ran with little interruption. Anderson stated that ongoing systematic communication will be the key to maintaining and providing users with a good experience. She acknowledged an increase in not only the numbers of organized sports users, but also the numbers of ‘random’ users, those who request use of the parks for a one time use or event. As always, monitoring continues to be a valuable piece of CRR’s responsibility, as the public enjoys seeing the City take an interest in park use and ask for their input. Monitoring was critical, especially in light of the fact that Badger was put on rest in preparation for its new lighting and field improvements this summer, which displaced Lacrosse at Manor Park again this year. Anderson stated that on several occasions while monitoring both Manor and Freeman individuals complimented the City on its facilities. While there were no tournaments scheduled at Freeman Park this year, Anderson noted that it is apparent that park usage is expanding and with this continued demand it is critical that the City continue its efforts to sustain, maintain and improve the overall quality of its park system. Anderson thanked the Commission for its ongoing support and complimented them on their initiatives to provide a good experience to all users. PARK COMMISSION AGENDA TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2007 PAGE 4 OF 6 Brown interjected, commending CRR for their efforts, pointing out that in their humble estimation they did not adequately relay to the Commission how much ongoing communication it takes to educate new sports organization representatives and deal with the scheduling and collection process; saving significant amounts of staff time. He shared with new Commissioners the amount of time needed behind the scenes to accomplish what CRR does day by day. He maintained that CRR does an incredible job for the City and their efforts are appreciated by all. Turgeon echoed the sentiments, stating that before contracting the park coordinator services to CRR, staff was bombarded by special interest and park scheduling, as well as document and fee collection, which ate up a great deal of their time. Quinlan asked if there was a link on line under parks to retrieve the annual schedule. Anderson stated that, to her knowledge, there is a link to each season’s schedule, though not an annual schedule for the entire year on the website. She acknowledged that many of the newer Commissioner’s are probably not aware what CRR does as park coordinator. She relayed that CRR hold sports information meetings twice a year at which time the season schedules are distributed to the sports organizations. Prior to the meeting, the sports organization representatives provide CRR with a data request form delineating what it is they are looking for and CRR uses these forms, along with the Park Priority Policy, an equation created by the Commission several years ago, to determine schedule use. Brown pointed out that CRR plays an integral role in communicating or balancing out the field use. Trent asked how the fields are policed and whether the users are good about maintaining the fields when they are finished. Anderson stated that as part of their facility use agreement, each organization agrees to leave the fields as they find them, and for the most part the fields are left in good condition. Most of the users know what is expected of them at the outset of the season. Brown concurred, adding that on occasion some additional trash is left after an event, but that is where his public works staff comes into play, coming out early the next morning to clean up. He noted that they have never had to assign punitive damages, except for one tournament many years ago, and that is why it is great to have CRR on hand to let people know on the front end what is expected of them before anything occurs. Turgeon asked whether Anderson had heard any impacts the City might feel from the construction of the new fields at Minnetonka and the user implications of that. Anderson stated that, according to several conversations that she had been a part of, the new fields will mostly accommodate the more mature youth player; whereas, a majority of those who use Shorewood fields are the younger ball players. She noted that more PARK COMMISSION AGENDA TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2007 PAGE 5 OF 6 organization might take advantage of this availability in the long run, as this year more ‘random’ users requested field time than ever before. Brown stated that there appears to be a wider degree of users than ever before, which is a testament of how well the system is working. Norman asked how the City could work with MCE to accommodate more space for them if the Commission chooses to do so. Anderson stated that this will largely be up to the Commission itself. She noted that the Park Priority Policy is currently set up so that sports organizations receive first priority, followed by school districts, churches, perhaps MCE etc. If more emphasis is put on setting up a full blown summer program with MCE, that might be something the Commission wishes to reconsider, as of now Freeman is booked pretty solidly most evenings, unless MCE chooses to expand their daytime or early evening programs there are few options. Brown stated that he hears the need to bring back the priority policy for review and to familiarize Commissioners with its contents. Chair Davis suggested this be reviewed at the work session in February. Anderson encouraged the Commission to consider the policy prior to February, as the spring meeting itself takes place shortly thereafter. Brown echoed this sentiment suggesting they review this in December. 6. SKATE CAMP FEEDBACK, EVALUATION, DEMOGRAPHICS Norman felt the event was a success, offering an activity for a broad range of ages this rd provided a very appropriate level of commitment by the City. He pointed out that 3 Lair is able to bring in mobile equipment to fit varying age brackets. Chair Davis stated that she always sees children at the Skate Park taking advantage of its size and location. 7. DISCUSS ARCTIC FEVER SPONSORSHIP EFFORTS Chair Davis asked if anyone had any sponsorship updates they wished to share. Quinlan stated that he had information in several folk’s hands and would be following up with the Data Doctors and Tino’s Pizza. Norman stated that he had used the passports to offer as a tool to several businesses, though not all business’ can benefit from them. He indicated he would send an email out to Alegi and Hensley to check in on their progress and encourage them to move forward. PARK COMMISSION AGENDA TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2007 PAGE 6 OF 6 8. REVIEW VENDORS AGREEMENT FOR ARCTIC FEVER Chair Davis stated that she would like to hear Hensley’s comment with regard to the agreement before proceeding. She stated that many of the small scale vendors might be intimidated by the insurance requirement. Brown stated that he would be checking into the City applying for a blanket policy for the event to cover those who do not have sufficient insurance themselves. 9. REVIEW SURVEY RESULTS FOR CATHCART PARK According to the handful of surveys returned, Brown stated that it is apparent that playgrounds and tennis courts are key subjects to look at. Chair Davis suggested that the City contact the City of Chanhassen to help cover the costs of maintaining or redoing the tennis courts or playgrounds. Turgeon questioned the viability of moving forward with the tennis court repairs based solely on 6 surveys out of 66. Brown acknowledged that the Commission had a much better ratio of returned surveys at their other parks. Quinlan suggested the City look into an online survey tool that people can go online and fill out at any time and make comments. While Turgeon liked interactive applications, and stated that this is something the City is looking at, they need to proceed cautiously. Young stated that he believed it would be a good idea to schedule a meeting with the City of Chanhassen representatives to discuss this park and the partnership the 2 cities have around it. Brown stated that he and Chair Davis would be seeing representatives of Chanhassen at the Dog Park the end of the month and could try to discuss the idea of getting together with them at that time. 10. DETERMINE LIAISON FOR OCTOBER 22 CITY COUNCIL MEETING nd Quinlan will be liaison on October 22. B. NEW BUSINESS Chair Davis stated that Carver Parks and Chanhassen would be hosting a get together at st the Dog Park on October 31 at 2:30pm to view the progress. She noted that the park PARK COMMISSION AGENDA TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2007 PAGE 7 OF 6 system would likely be looking to collect the money earmarked by the City for the project at that time. Saturday, October 13 from 10am – 12pm, there will be a Gideon Glen dedication ceremony. Although the watershed is responsible for ongoing maintenance, Brown noted that the site is in need of additional maintenance help. Chair Davis asked how badly the graffiti problem was this year. Brown stated that there has not been as much graffiti in the parks this year as in years past, and instead vandals are graffitiing public and street signs. 11. ADJOURN Young moved, Norman seconded, adjourning the Park Commission Meeting of October 9, 2007, at 8:13p.m. Motion passed 5/0. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, Kristi B. Anderson Recorder