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043009 PK MINS CITY OF SHOREWOOD 5755 COUNTRY CLUB RD PARK COMMISSION MEETING SHOREWOOD CITY HALL THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2009 6:45 OR IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE PARK TOURS MINUTES 1. CONVENE PARK COMMISSION MEETING Acting Chair Davis convened the Regular Park Commission Meeting at 7:00 p.m. A. Roll Call Present: Acting Chair Davis; Commissioners DeMers, Trent, Quinlan, Robb, and Edmondson; City Council liaison Woodruff; Public Works Director Brown; and Park Coordinator Anderson. Absent: Chair Norman B. Review Agenda Item 4B was moved to 5B – Community Garden Proposal. Trent moved, Robb seconded, approving the Agenda as amended. Motion passed 6/0. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Park Commission Meeting Minutes of April 14, 2009 Edmondson moved, DeMers seconded, approving the Minutes as submitted. Motion passed 6/0. 3. MATTERS FROM THE FLOOR There were none. 4. REPORTS A. Report on City Council Meetings of April 27, 2009 Woodruff reported that the Eddy Station and tennis court proposals were both approved by Council. In addition, Bob Newman, member of an ‘ad hoc’ group supporting the Southshore Center suggested the five communities all get together in person to discuss the future of the Southshore Community Center. Woodruff added that the five joint City committee is considering presentations by two groups for the management of the facility. th Woodruff stated that the City of Shorewood voted to contribute $2500 to the Excelsior 4 of July fireworks celebration and challenged the other cities to raise their contributions by 10%. Woodruff encouraged the Commission to tie up the loose ends surrounding the demonstration garden so that the City Council can see what is being proposed. B. Report on Park Foundation Meeting of April 9, 2009 Acting chair Davis stated that she had nothing new to report. As reported at the previous meeting, the Foundation has committed to a $500 contribution for summer music programs and a $500 contribution for Arctic Fever. PARK COMMISSION MINUTES TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2009 6 PAGE 2 OF C. Garage Jam Band Update and Schedule Committee Meeting Anderson stated that there is quite a bit of ‘buzz’ being generated around the Garage Band Jam, in fact, six informational packets had been set out thus far. She pointed out that she had created Official Rules and an Application which is sent out to interested parties. Considering the City never heard back from past Commissioner Hensley, and at about a third of what other sound systems were costing, Anderson booked the sound system and lighting thru EMI. She suggested the GBJ committee members, or those interested in helping, get together soon to hammer out details, such as recruiting judges. She was pleased to report that the first and second place winners will also win performances to play at the Minnesota State Fair. 5. A. DISCUSS PARK TOURS Badger Park - Most Commissioners wanted to wait to make suggestions until the final TKDA recommendations were presented, however, positive comments were made about the proposed trails and some negative comments were made about removing the hockey rink. Crescent Beach - Staff is to follow-up on the lifeguard fee schedule to ensure our beach is staffed. Cathcart Park - Consider options for a safety bar on playground equipment and/or smaller tot equipment Acting Chair Davis contended that the Commission should wait to consider playground equipment until a plan for the park is determined. She cautioned continuing to ‘plop’ stuff in the parks without a plan and spending money from the budget that might be better spent with more consideration. Trent agreed the safety issue must be addressed, however, concurred that alternatives should be considered before buying new equipment. Anderson and Brown stated they would follow-up with the manufacturer to address the current safety concern. Anderson also pointed out that she was in the process of investigating playground equipment options for the open house which will feature the City Hall, TKDA’s designs, and playground equipment. Freeman Park - Contact Xcel about the two lights at Freeman - Raise the benches at field 1 - Consider asphalting the batting cages – follow-up with the watershed via Engineer Landini - Park layout and directions be added to the website, if they are not there currently - Have Planning Director Nielsen contact the gas station and automotive business to formally ask them to clean up the premises Acting Chair Davis stated that she found it interesting that the STLL folks want to build a concession building, 2-3 batting cages, etc. but they need advertising to help them pay for scholarships. PARK COMMISSION MINUTES TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2009 6 PAGE 3 OF Trent concurred, stating that it seems scholarships have sort of fallen by the way side and suddenly they have all this money to make improvements. Woodruff pointed out that, if the STLL representatives wish to make improvements like these long term, the Commission needs to have a CIP plan from them stating what they want to accomplish with an accompanying break down of what the ongoing maintenance costs for the improvements might mean to the City, especially if we are to accept the improvements for perpetuity and take on the maintenance costs of said improvements. The challenge to the Commission is going to be requiring STLL to provide some contribution for long term maintenance into perpetuity for their improvements. Acting Chair Davis stated that the Arboretum has a model in which 90% of the contribution for an improvement is put into a fund to maintain the improvement in perpetuity. She reiterated that it appeared to her that STLL had ‘tipped its hand’ to the City, that it is not all about scholarships at all, nor is there a need for advertising on the fences. B. UPDATE ON COMMUNITY GARDEN PROPOSAL Anderson shared the Community Garden project guidelines for comment. She stated that she had had several conversations that day with representatives from other surrounding communities who had favorable comments with regard to their community garden plot programs. -Eden Prairie has provided garden plots for their citizens for 25 + years. Typically, plowing under the gardens each spring and staking out the plots. If someone is not using their plot the city awards it to someone else on their waiting list -Chanhassen – Environmental Research Specialist has been on staff since 2001 – they provide a ‘deluxe’ set-up of 52 spaces at $25 per plot, which are tilled and staked, 2 water spigots, wood chip path, and hoses – City does all the pre/post work in order to maintain, while each gardener is expected to work a certain number of hours per season. Have a wait list of 50 and would like to expand. Anderson suggested they meet to discuss a joint community garden project to share in Cathcart – Chanhassen was very receptive to a shared project and want to meet in a month if not sooner. -Minnetonka – Has a wait list for the recently expanded site at County Roads 101 and 7. It is run under the Park and Recreation umbrella and participants register thru it’s catalog. The city tills the garden mid May and marks the corners. The users water from the creek nearby. Hopkins also has an even larger garden plot system which is registered thru the park and rec catalog. She hoped the City of Shorewood would convince its Commission to provide this for its citizens. -Excelsior – The City stakes the 15X20 spaces and charges $20 per plot. They are only, this year, beginning to ‘regulate’ the number of plots folks can reserve and provide more direction on clean-up policies, maintenance, and appearance. She stated that people really st like the gardens but suggested the City create a system for providing plots via a lottery, 1 st come 1 served, resident vs. non-resident, or another way to place limits on the number of plots participants can reserve, as they had not done so in the past and had some folks reserving 5 plots while others got none. Woodruff suggested the Commission separate the two efforts into the Demonstration Garden as proposed this year and the Community Garden Plots for next year in order to give some distinction PARK COMMISSION MINUTES TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2009 6 PAGE 4 OF between the two separate items. He noted that the demonstration garden may even continue on for many years but would operate a bit differently than a plot garden. With regard to the ‘success’ of the effort this year, he suggested we base this on whether we feel they cared for the site, kept it up, and the number of participants for ease. He further suggested the garden team consider adding a garden tour to promote the overall project sometime during the year. Acting Chair Davis stated that, while she had suggested the City partner with neighboring communities on garden projects, she would want to serve our own community first. Anderson stated that, if we were to enter into a joint project, there would be agreements set up in advance as to the number of plots designated to each community. In addition, within our own community we may wish to ‘favor’ resident applications vs. non-resident in assigning plots first. Quinlan suggested we begin with the demonstration as planned and post a question on the online survey which asks whether people would be interested in community gardening to continue to gauge interest. Discussion ensued with regard to the necessity for a ‘job box’ or shed for storage. It was determined that no ‘job box’ or shed for storage would be required and that garden participants could bring their own equipment each time they visited the site. Edmondson stated that he favored the guidelines and the process which had been followed. He felt there was a positive long term vision being created. Anderson suggested the Commission consider waiving the permit fees or helping to provide signage as a sign of good will on behalf of the City. She pointed out that the garden team has gone to great lengths to bring this to fruition in some form this year and should be shown some of the same courtesy in return. Woodruff suggested the City post a sign similar to the other brown park signs identifying the site as the Demonstration Garden, City of Shorewood at no cost to them. He further suggested the reference to Community Garden throughout the guideline documents be changed to Demonstration Garden so as to eliminate confusion. He encouraged the Commission and staff to continue to pursue the Community Garden plan throughout the season and make a recommendation to the City Council in the fall regarding our findings. Trent moved, DeMers seconded, recommending the City Council approve the Demonstration Garden Project Guidelines as proposed, with the initial 2009 site installation at the South Shore Community Park; that the City waive permit fees for their fencing request; and that the City provide a Demonstration Garden, City of Shorewood Park sign at the site. Motion passed 6/0. Acting Chair Davis reiterated her suggestion that the Public Safety Facility site off the trail be considered for a joint community garden location for the lake area. She further suggested the garden team consider a woven wire or chicken wire fence this year to present to the Commission at their next meeting. 6. REVIEW REVISED DONATION PROCESS / ACCEPT DONOR REQUEST FORM, ACCEPTANCE & INDEMNIFICATION AGREEMENT AND MEMO AGREEMENT PARK COMMISSION MINUTES TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2009 6 PAGE 5 OF Acting Chair Davis explained that the Commission created the Donor Recognition Policy back in 2004 in response to the request for the Garibaldi Plaza. She indicated that the Commission spent a great deal of time wordsmithing the document and finally were comfortable with this final piece which was approved 5/0. Anderson presented the documents pointing out that the revisions were highlighted in red for their consideration. She stated that the policy could be tweaked further to fit the Commission’s needs if necessary, though she felt they adequately covered the maintenance piece under discussion. Brown interjected that he recalled the discussion of 2004 mentioning that the policy had been used only a few times since then. Woodruff indicated that he had a number of changes he would recommend to the document. He questioned why the document was directed at park elements only and suggested the Commission create a more general document to cover all donations made to the City. Anderson pointed out that the Commission is charged with improvements and donations made to the parks and it would probably fall outside this body’s responsibilities to make recommendations with regard to donations and improvements for the entire City. Woodruff shared a handful of his changes and asked if someone would like to incorporate his ideas into the text. Acting Chair Davis stated that she was comfortable with what staff had proposed and that she worked on it many months in 2004 and had no desire to go back to it. Anderson shared several of the other items, including the Agreement, Request Form, and updated Memorandum Agreement. Trent stated that he would take all of the documents, as well as, Council member Woodruff’s th suggestions and tweak them for the June 9 meeting. 7. ACCEPT 2009 CONCESSION OPERATION AGREEMENT Brown presented the concessionaire agreement for approval. He explained that the current operator has been very good to work with over the past, has always been willing to open for events, and provided additional insurance when asked to do so. Though not a money making endeavor for the community, Brown contended that this is a worthwhile service provided to our citizens. Edmondson moved, Quinlan seconded, recommending formalizing the Concession Agreement for 2009 with Russ Withum. Motion passed 6/0. 8. REQUEST FUNDING FOR 2010 ARCTIC FEVER Acting Chair Davis stated that the Arctic Fever committee would be approaching the City Council for a contribution of $1500. She noted that the City gave nothing last year, but the event received an abundance of free advertising via the pond hockey tournament promos. Even though pond hockey will return, as are many of the other participants, Davis stated the event has a proven track record and it would be a good gesture if the City Council chose to support the initiative in perpetuity. She stated that they have a business plan for the coming years, that she will be meeting PARK COMMISSION MINUTES TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2009 6 PAGE 6 OF with many past participants in the fall, and that it would be nice to attract and reward more/new/current vendors with some small incentive Woodruff asked where this would come from. He questioned whether this would be pulled from operations or the parks budget. He suggested the Commission consider where they want to pull the funding from when they begin their budget process, keeping in mind that the City wants zero increases. th DeMers asked where the contributions to the 4 of July fireworks community wide festival comes from. Woodruff stated that the contribution comes from the General Fund. Acting Chair Davis pointed out that the Arctic Fever committee, as well as the Park Commission, in general, have a whole lot more planned this year to pay for, and both may need budgeting help. 9. NEW BUSINESS DeMers stated that he hated to see TKDA pursue plan B, with the removal of the hockey rink at Badger Park, having spoken to many of his neighbor’s in recent weeks about the proposals and finding much objection. He stated that he and his neighbors objected to placing Shorewood’s rinks at the other end of town, and removing the only rink in this area altogether. Trent stated that he would prefer to see all of the options proposed by TKDA before discussing it further. Quinlan stated the Commission would have to weigh the vitality of both proposals. Anderson stated that she would check in TKDA to ensure that they provide both options A and B for consideration. In fact, she indicated that she would see if a modular design was possible, in which pieces could be moved around. Woodruff stated that there was room in Freeman to place a hockey rink without displacing the softball field. He urged the Commission to not view this process from the standpoint of what the City can afford or not. He suggested they eliminate all of their preconceived notions and remember that they don’t even have to accept what is proposed. It is the element of re-purposing space that they should consider. Acting Chair Davis urged the Commission to envision how things could be done and pointed out that even if the overall designs would be out of the question now, there would be little things they could do in each park. 10. ADJOURN Acting Chair Davis moved, DeMers seconded, adjourning the Park Commission Meeting at 9:10p.m. Motion passed 6/0. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, Kristi B. Anderson Recorder