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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03.11.15 Parks and Rec MinutesFarmington Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes from the March 11, 2015 Regular Meeting Members Present: Chad Elliott, David McMillen, and Rob Carpentier Members Absent: Mike Haley and Gene Spars Other’s Present: Parks and Recreation Director Randy Distad I. Call Meeting To Order Chair McMillen called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Quorum was present. III. Approval of March 11, 2015 Meeting Agenda Moved by Elliott and seconded by Carpentier to approve the meeting agenda. All persons in favor (APIF). Motion carried. III. Approval of February 11, 2015 Meeting Minutes Moved by Elliott and seconded by Carpentier to approve the February 11, 2015 regular meeting minutes. APIF. Motion carried. IV. Presentations None V. Business Items A. Election of Officers Chair McMillen asked for nominations for the Commission’s Chair position. Carpentier moved to nominate McMillen for the Chair postion and the nomination was seconded by Elliott. McMillen asked for nominations for the Chair position. There were no more nominations made. Moved by Elliott and seconded by Carpentier to close nominations for the Chair position. APIF. Motion carried. On a 3-0 vote, McMillen was elected to be the Chair of the Commission until next year’s election. McMillen asked for nominations for the Commission’s Vice-Chair position. McMillen moved to nominate Haley for the Vice-Chair position and Elliott seconded the nomination. McMillen asked for nominations for the Vice-Chair position. Carpentier moved to nominate himself for the position and Elliott seconded the nomination. McMillen asked for nominations of the Vice-Chair position. There were no more nominations. Moved by Elliott to close nomination and seconded by Carpentier. APIF. Motion carried. On a 3-0 vote, Carpentier was elected to be the Vice-Chair of the Commission until next year’s election. B. Fair Hills Park Shelter Selection Distad shared the proposals received. He stated that staff is recommending to purchase a shelter from St. Croix Recreation Fun Playground, Inc because the proposal submitted offered the largest shelter when compared to other proposals. McMillen asked about ornamentation for the shelter. Distad shared that the construction budget for the shelter was $30,000.00 and that vendors were asked to submit a price for optional ornamentation. If the Commission agreed with staff’s recommendation on who to purchase the shelter from, the additional cost for the ornamentation would be $ , which would leave the project over budget. By consensus, Commission members decided not to purchase ornamentation for the shelter. Carpentier asked what the warranty is for each of the shelters. Distad shared the shelter proposal submitted by St. Croix Recreation Fun Playground, Inc. has a 10 year warranty but that the other proposals did not identify a warranty. Commission members agreed by consensus that in the future, city shelter specifications should include language that requires vendors to include warranty information in their proposal. Moved by Elliott and seconded by Carpentier to recommend to the City Council the approval of the purchase of the shelter from St. Croix Recreation Fun Playground, Inc. APIF. Motion carried. The Commission by consensus agreed that staff should be responsible to pick the shelter colors but that the colors picked should be similar to the playground equipment colors. C. Commission Member Group Photo Because not all of the Commission members were able to attend the meeting, Commission members by consensus agreed to table the group photo until the April 8, 2015 meeting. VI. Discussion Items A. 2015 Park and Recreation Commission Work Plan Review Chair McMillen reviewed the 2015 work plan and identified items completed since the last Commission meeting. B. 2016 Park Improvement Project(s) Distad shared that in the Park Improvement Fund’s 2015-2019 Capital Improvement Plan, a new building in North Creek should be constructed that would contain a warming house with restrooms and shelter overhang. He informed Commission members that this project was identified to be completed in 2015 but that the City Council was uncomfortable spending the money to construct this building given the balance left in the Park Improvement Fund and this project was deferred until 2016. He asked if the Commission would like to recommend the project to be funded in 2016. Commission members by consensus felt that no formal recommendation for 2016 projects should be made but instead it should continue to be discussed and that the community survey may provide some direction on what projects the community feels should be focused on. C. 2015-2016 Winter Outdoor Recreation Event Distad informed Commission members that staff completed an evaluation of the Smores and More event that was held on Sunday, 1, 2015. Because this program was held on the same day as the Super Bowl, staff will be moving the event to a different weekend and a lot of the same games and activities would be offered during the 2016 event. McMillen asked if hot chocolate could be offered a few times during the outdoor skating season. Distad stated that it could be arranged. Elliott felt an event should be held in Whitetail Woods Regional Park that could be identified for Farmington residents. McMillen suggested that perhaps a bus could be used to transport children and adults, so that transportation would not be a barrier to participation. Distad stated he felt city staff could reach out to Dakota County Parks staff about possibly trying to jointly offer this event at Whitetail Woods Regional Park. D. Recreational Facilities Task Force Commission members by consensus agreed this item should be tabled to the April 8, 2015 meeting so all Commission members were present when possible representation could be discussed and selected. McMillen stated he thought Spars might be interested in serving on the Task Force and Elliott agreed with him. McMillen asked if anyone else might be interested. Carpentier stated that he too would be interested in serving on the Task Force. Distad stated that perhaps there could be two Commission members on the Task Force. VII. Commission Roundtable Elliott: Asked when the park clean-up day event will be held. Distad shared that the Pond and Park Clean-Up Day event will be held on Saturday, April 25th from 9:00-11:00 a.m. Carpentier: Did not have anything to share. McMillen: Thanked Rambling River Center staff and maintenance staff for the painting that was recently completed in the Rambling River Center hallways. Stated that it looks nice and should help hide scuff marks on the walls. VIII. Staff Report A. Community Survey Distad shared with Commission members the draft version of a community survey that will be completed this spring. He reviewed the survey and shared that all of the questions that the Commission had identified to be included in the survey, were in the survey. He shared that it is likely the survey will be completed from mid-April to mid-May and results would be known in late May. B. City Council Retreat Distad shared information about the March 6, 2015 City Council strategic planning session. He shared that Department Heads met with Council for two hours and presented items/projects each Department will be working on in 2015 and what issues are being faced by each Department. He informed Commission members that the City Council then took this information and for the last two hours of the strategic planning session met by themselves to come up with strategic plan priorities to be worked on during the next year. He made Commission members aware the Council will publicly review and approve a strategic plan at one of its future meetings. IX. April 8, 2015 Meeting Agenda Items The following items were identified by Commission members for its December 10, 2014 meeting agenda: 1. Presentation of Arena’s 2014-2015 ice season report 2. Commission member group photo 3. 2016 park improvement project(s) discussion 4. Recreational Facilities Task Force representation 5. Arena Financial Plan X. Adjournment Moved by Elliott and seconded by Carpentier to adjourn the meeting. APIF. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 8:18 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Randy Distad Parks and Recreation Director and Recording Secretary