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021208 PK MIN WS CITY OF SHOREWOOD 5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD PARK COMMISSION WORK SESSION SHOREWOOD CITY HALL TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2008 IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING REGULAR MEETING MINUTES 1.CONVENE PARK COMMISSION WORK SESSION MEETING Chair Davis convened the Work Session at 8:11p.m. A.Roll Call Present: Chair Davis; Commissioners Young, Quinlan, Hensley, and Norman; Public Works Director Brown; and City Council liaison Wellens Absent: Commissioner Trent B. Review Agenda 2. PARK PRIORITIES FOR 2008 Council member Wellens stated that the City would be conducting a City Wide survey in the spring and encouraged the Commission to supply staff with a list of park related questions they would like to include in it. With regard to Park Priorities, Chair Davis stated that there were three things that concerned her. First, the aging infrastructure, to which she indicated that each park was in need of some special attention or updating; second, park funding as a necessary tool going forward. Davis acknowledged that funding parks into the future would be an issue as finite dollars are limited. Finally, she stated that the future configuration of the parks, including the need for more trails both within and outside the parks as a desired outcome. Though details are sketchy, Brown reported that the cities of Orono, Shorewood, and Tonka Bay are expected to spearhead a trail project from Smithtown to Orono in partnership with the Hennepin County Regional Trail, Dakota Trail system, and 3 Rivers Park District. Hensley interjected his disappointment regarding the poor decision not to put a better trail down Smithtown Road. He shared his frustration with the City and neighbors for failing to come to an agreement on a trail for the betterment of the community and safety for school children, and residents negotiating this treacherous roadway. He asked what it would take to add an additional 1-2 feet of shoulder on either side of the street and restripe the roadway to make this safer for passage. In addition, Hensley felt the other issue he felt should be addressed was the need for tennis courts, and whether it was worth the investment to update those at Manor and Cathcart Parks. Young felt the greatest need for the City in 2008 was to continue to build the alliance with MCE by adding daytime programming which gets kids outside and in the parks. He was pleased to see this being accomplished as indicated this evening. PARK COMMISSION AGENDA TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2008 PAGE 2 OF 4 Quinlan stated that, he too, had issue with the Smithtown trail, or lack thereof. While this fired him up, he also saw it as a charged issue even though he was not present for the planning phases. The other thing that he wished to see accomplished in 2008 was to obtain more feedback, via the proposed spring survey, of just how the parks are used and what the residents hope for their future. In addition, he felt the City should provide a way for residents to provide immediate feedback via the website Chair Davis mentioned that the City could place a question of the day on the website. Norman agreed that the City wide survey would be a very useful tool for the Commission to provide feedback of what the city’s residents were looking for. Chair Davis stated that there was an odd number of parks to Commissioners and that attendance was too unpredictable. Norman stated that he viewed infrastructure as definitely something that needs a focus, for instance the lighting issues at the rinks and other safety issues that need attention must be addressed. He felt that, if the goal of the Commission was to build active use, updates to the park amenities were necessary. In addition, he was concerned by future funding for the parks. Brown questioned what other options, in addition to the tennis courts and lighting systems, would the Commission like to see occur. He stated that this was an opportunity for the Commission to make requests to the Council via its priorities. Chair Davis asked how much it would cost to bring water to Manor Park. Brown stated that with the water main nearby, the costs to install sanitary sewer and connect to the water main, as well as install a small restroom, would be approximately $50,000. He pointed out that the building was in need of some updating as well. Chair Davis asked for a rough idea for the lighting as well. Brown stated that hockey lighting at both Badger and Cathcart Parks were due, and based on earlier bids done when Badger football field lighting was completed, the rough estimates were another $45,000 per rink. While the tennis court improvements were estimated at nearly $100,000 each. as far as Brown could recall. Hensley asked how many people actually used the tennis courts per year. Brown agreed that an analysis of the cost to use ratio would be beneficial. He felt the community wide survey could give the Commission its chance to gauge community interest by tailoring question to determine whether the tennis courts are actually desirable. Anderson, of CRR, pointed out that during their monitoring of the parks, it has observed that Badger Park tennis courts are highly used; whereas, the Cathcart and Manor courts are seldom used. CRR could not be sure whether this could be accredited to the level of interest or a product of the poor court conditions. PARK COMMISSION AGENDA TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2008 PAGE 3 OF 4 Hensley asked whether the Badger court system could be expanded in lieu of rebuilding the courts at Cathcart and Manor Parks. He would support adding courts to Badger and bringing water to Manor Park as initiatives for 2008. Norman questioned whether the Commission should wait for an overall Badger Park and City Hall master plan to be completed before the Commission proposes additional courts, new lighting, and tot lot improvements for the area. Hensley stated that he would like to see rough estimates for the proposed new facilities and water at Manor Park, additional courts at Badger and removal of courts at Cathcart and Manor Park, year round expansion and improvement to the building at Manor Park, new rink lighting at Cathcart and Badger, as well as, expanding the Cathcart rink, in addition to, rough costs to expand the width of Smithtown Road and related work. Chair Davis stated that she would like to focus on improvements to the Manor Park building, as well as providing water and sanitary sewer there, tennis court expansion at Badger Park, and potential removals at Manor and Cathcart Parks. Brown pointed out that Public Works staff could handle the tennis court removals in house. Quinlan suggested the Commission consider a permanent warming house facility at Cathcart Park if they are considering a rink expansion. Chair Davis indicated that staff would need to talk to Chanhassen about any proposed improvements in their park, especially as a cost sharing measure. Hensley suggested they obtain an estimate to improve the tennis courts at Manor Park to use to back-up their decision if the Commission chooses to remove the court due to costs. Norman asked whether updates to the equipment at the Skate Park were necessary. Brown stated that pieces were added to the equipment at the Skate Park last year. In addition, Brown noted that the tot lots were all in pretty good shape too. He did however point out that the old swing set at Cathcart needed to be replaced with a newer safer version. Quinlan stated that park signage could stand to be updated, cleaned up, and replaced with new more identifiable signs. Chair Davis asked when the Commission needed to supply the City Council with a laundry list of improvement items for 2008. Wellens stated that the sooner the better, noting that the survey would be going out likely in May. He urged the Commission to pose some provocative questions to residents. Quinlan reiterated the need for a permanent online survey, as well as, the need to make the spring survey an online survey altogether, as people are more likely to respond to an PARK COMMISSION AGENDA TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2008 PAGE 4 OF 4 online survey than to a long paper survey that they need to mail in as oppose to click and send. Hensley agreed that response would be higher to an online survey. Brown stated that he believed the Commission had identified good nuts and bolts that can be used to put together a new capital improvement plan. Hensley stated that he would not be able to attend the next Commission meeting, although he would like to see the agenda information electronically as soon as possible so that his comments may be included in the next meeting. Brown stated that he would make the information available electronically online as soon as possible, though he could make any promises. 3. REVIEW NUMBER OF MEMBERS FOR PARK COMMISSION Wellens commented that, as mentioned in the earlier meeting, the Council has chosen to keep the current number of Commissioners at 7. 4. DISCUSS STATUS OF TENNIS COURTS Covered in discussion above. 5. ADJOURN The February 12, 2008, Park Commission Work Session was adjourned at 9:18 p.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, Kristi B. Anderson Recorder