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041321 Park Minutes CITY OF SHOREWOOD 5755 COUNTRY CLUB RD PARK COMMISSION MEETING SHOREWOOD CITY HALL TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2021 7:00 P.M. MINUTES 1. CONVENE PARK COMMISSION MEETING Chair Hirner convened the meeting at 7:02 p.m. A. Roll Call Present: Chair Hirner, Commissioners Schmid, Gallivan, Tauer, and Heinz; City Council Liaison Siakel; Parks and Recreation Director Grout; Planning Director Darling Absent: None B. Review Agenda Schmid moved to approve the agenda as written. Gallivan seconded the motion. Roll Call Vote: Ayes – all. Motion carried 5-0. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Park Commission Meeting Minutes of March 9, 2021 Heinz moved to approve the minutes of the March 9, 2021 meeting as written. Schmid seconded the motion. Roll Call Vote: Ayes – all. Motion carried 5-0. 3. MATTERS FROM THE FLOOR There were none. 4. NEW BUSINESS A. Determine Liaisons to City Council Meetings May – Commissioner Tauer June – Chair Hirner July – Commissioner Heinz August – Commissioner Gallivan B. Review Results of the Park Survey for Adult/Senior Activities Chair Hirner noted that from the responses of the Park Survey, there was one topic that was very important to everyone, the walking trails. Commissioner Heinz stated that he agreed and noted that the walking trails were important to people regardless of the demographics. PARK COMMISSION MINUTES TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2021 PAGE 2 OF 6 Commissioner Schmid expressed her disappointment that there were not more people over the age of 75 that responded to the survey. Chair Hirner noted that there are three different types of trails in the City and wished that the survey would have asked a more specific question about what type of trail people would prefer. He asked Commissioner Heinz if he had seen much use on the trail through the woods at Freeman Park. Commissioner Heinz stated that his wife uses them every morning and he uses them during the mid-day. He stated that they are nature trails, so it is a nice feeling. He stated that in wet weather the trails do get a bit mushy but are quite well compacted. He noted that during the winter months, the City plows them so people can utilize the trails in all seasons. Commissioner Tauer stated that she also lives in this area and they walk them frequently and do see people using the trails. Commissioner Schmid stated that she thinks the access to the trails are more difficult for people who have balance issues. Commissioner Tauer asked if there was live data that she could play with and suggested that it be sent in Excel. Parks and Recreation Director Grout stated that she will send it after the meeting. Councilmember Siakel asked if there was more detail under the third question about other facilities. Parks and Recreation Director Grout stated that the comments for that were things like pickle ball, tennis, walking trails, and disc golf. Commissioner Gallivan noted that they had also mentioned outdoor yoga and tai chi classes. He listed off a few more of the comments and noted that quite a few people mentioned pickle ball. Parks and Recreation Director Grout noted that currently the only parks marked for pickle ball are Badger and Manor. The Commission discussed the almost even split of comments related to having equipment spread out or in one location. Chair Hirner asked if there had been any thought to lighting for this kind of equipment or if it will be just a use at your own risk and the City just provides the equipment. Planning Director Darling explained that the planning has not gotten as far as thinking about lighting. Chair Hirner stated that he would be interested in knowing what other cities have done because lighting can get expensive. Commissioner Schmid noted that she did not think many seniors would go out after dark whether the equipment is lit or not. PARK COMMISSION MINUTES TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2021 PAGE 3 OF 6 Commissioner Gallivan stated that he found it interesting that there were only 4 people that answered South Shore as the park they had spent the most time in over the last thirty days, but 19 respondents said that was where they would like to see the equipment placed. He stated that there was also quite a bit of interest, besides the exercise equipment, in bocce or horseshoe courts. He clarified that there is not currently a CIP item for a project that would add this type of exercise equipment. Planning Director Darling stated that there is not one as a separate line item, but the budget set aside for redevelopment of, for instance, South Shore Park, could be used for it. She believes that it has been set for 2027. Commissioner Heinz asked if this survey would be conducted annually. Chair Hirner explained that this was the first time it had been done and was done with the focus on finding out what the senior residents may be interested in. Commissioner Heinz stated that he would like to see the survey conducted in some sort of schedule time period in order to establish trends. 5. OLD BUSINESS A. Silverwood Park Playground Planning Director Darling reviewed the information she had gotten from the vendor to answer the questions from the Commission. Commissioner Gallivan asked about the e-mail Planning Director Darling had sent earlier today and asked if all of those elements were done if it would be in addition to the $212,901. Planning Director Darling stated that this was correct and would be a total cost of around $282,900. She noted that there is already $240,000 budgeted and the City has applied for a $25,000 grant. She noted some ways there may be to hold down the costs a bit, but asked for input from the Commission on a few things or areas where they would not mind cutting back on the price just in case the City cannot find the money to pay for it. She gave possible examples where costs could possibly be brought down. . The Commission discussed the importance of keeping the shade sails and perhaps consider eliminating the second platform and perhaps going down from two slides to one on the playground structures because if kids wanted to race, they could do it on the big slides. Chair Hirner asked if a way to keep the costs down may be to do a community project for some of the work like replacing railings. Planning Director Darling noted that is a good idea, in general, but the railings are one place that she would want to ensure that contractors installed them because the City needs them to last a long time and be very safe. She stated that there is a small amount of work to do like replace the top blocks around the playground area. Commissioner Schmid asked about insurance considerations with volunteer labor. PARK COMMISSION MINUTES TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2021 PAGE 4 OF 6 Planning Director Darling stated that she did not think there would be a difference and noted that she believes all of the old playgrounds were put together by a volunteer labor force. Commissioner Gallivan asked for the pricing difference if the middle platform was removed. Chair Hirner asked for the pricing for the musical instruments. Parks and Recreation Director Grout noted that in March, the music components cost $11,867. Planning Director Darling stated that it was actually reduced to $10,000 because they replaced concert drums and replaced them with harmonic chimes. She stated that she could remove those elements but those are the elements that are usable by everyone within the park. Chair Hirner stated that his concern with taking out the second platform is that they would not want to reduce the older kids playground set to the point that it is not even something they want to play on because it is too small. Commissioner Gallivan asked if the Commission felt people would be more upset if there was only one slide on the hill or if the middle platform was removed. He stated that his thinking was that removing one of the big slides on the hill would upset people more so he would support removal of the platform if the costs needed to be reduced further. The Commission discussed the difficulty of finding ways to cut the budget. Council Liaison Siakel noted that Council in the past has leaned towards finding the extra money for this type of project so it can be done right rather than having to cut corners. She stated that in her opinion, $15,000 will not make or break the plans. She stated that she cannot speak for the other Councilmembers but she feels that these costs are a bit out of their control because of the increase in cost for materials such as steel. Planning Director Darling thanked Council Liaison Siakel for her input and suggested that the Commission could move forward with their plans as they are right now. The Commission discussed the color scheme for the equipment and determined that the posts should be changed to gray, the sails should be purple, so it is a blue, gray and purple color scheme. They reviewed the other plans for the park and noted their preference for flipping the adaptive swing so it is on the west, removal of the existing sidewalk, installation of a sidewalk connection from the shelter over to the playground and then to the south and the swing set area, and to raise the upper end of the big slides rather than excavating the lower end. Schmid moved to recommend approval of the Silverwood Park plans as discussed. Heinz seconded the motion. Roll Call Vote: Ayes – all. Motion carried. 5-0. B. Update on Badger Park Grand Opening Parks and Recreation Director Grout noted that she reached out to a few more food trucks and Urban Sub is interested in participating. She stated that there will also be Joey Nova’s pizza and Kona Ice truck. She stated that the Minnetonka Lacrosse board is meeting this week to decide if they want to participate by doing a demo during the event. The Excelsior Library is also planning PARK COMMISSION MINUTES TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2021 PAGE 5 OF 6 to do a ‘story stroll’. She stated that there will also be demos for tennis, pickleball, football, and balloon creations. She stated that the Commission should consider what should happen in the event of inclement weather and asked if they would like the event to take place rain or shine, schedule a back-up date, and if they would like Urban Sub to participate as a food truck. Chair Hirner stated that he likes the idea of including the Urban Sub food truck and the story stroll. Commissioner Gallivan stated that he agreed with Chair Hirner and noted that he would suggest a back-up date if there is inclement weather since this is the City’s premier park. Chair Hirner suggested the back up date be something in July. Parks and Recreation Director Grout suggested that the back-up date be July 14, 2021 and will check with the vendors to see if that would work in their schedules. Tauer moved to recommend approval of the back-up date for the Badger Park Grand Open in case of inclement weather to July 14, 2021 and that Urban Sub, Joey Nova’s and Kona Ice be the food trucks available at the event. Gallivan seconded the motion. Roll Call Vote: Ayes – all. Motion carried 5-0. C. Determine Movie for Movie in the Park Parks and Recreation Director Grout stated that after she told the sale rep that the Commission had chosen E.T., they informed her that it would not be available until September 6, 2021, so the Commission will need to choose a different movie for the Movie in the Park event. The Commission discussed movie options such as Toy Story, The Lion King, or The Mighty Ducks. Gallivan moved to recommend approval of the animated movie The Lion King for Movie in the Park. Hirner seconded the motion. Roll Call Vote: Ayes – all. Motion carried 5-0. 6. STAFF AND LIAISON REPORTS / UPDATES A. City Council Council Liaison Siakel gave an overview of the April 12, 2021 Council meeting as reflected in the minutes. B. Staff a. Galpin Lake/South of Highway 7 – Safe Routes to School Planning Grant for Trail Planning Director Darling stated that the City got a grant through Safe Routes to School to begin planning for the Galpin Lake trail which will cross Highway 7 at Oak Street. Commissioner Gallivan thanked Planning Director Darling, staff and Mayor Labadie who have been persistent in looking to get this completed. PARK COMMISSION MINUTES TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2021 PAGE 6 OF 6 Chair Hirner noted that he attended the baseball clean up event in Freeman Park this past weekend and the fence posts are about a foot out of the ground on Field #2 which is becoming a hazard. He asked if staff could go take a look and see what can be done to ensure the concrete bases do not cause a problem or an injury. 7. ADJOURN Gallivan moved to adjourn the Park Commission Meeting of April 13, 2021 at 8:30 p.m. Schmid seconded the motion. Roll Call Vote: Ayes – all. Motion carried 5-0.