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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05.13.20 Parks and Rec MinutesFarmington Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes from the May 13, 2020 Virtual Meeting Members Present: David McMillen, Laurie Suchanek, Elizabeth Koss, Ashley Crabtree and Brian Tennant Members Absent: None Other’s Present: Parks and Facilities Supervisor Jeremy Pire, Communication Specialist Lauren Siebenaler and Parks and Recreation Director Randy Distad I. Call Meeting To Order Chair McMillen called the virtual meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Quorum was present. II. Approval of May 13, 2020 Meeting Agenda Moved by Tennant and seconded by Crabtree to approve the amended meeting agenda, which moved the public comments to the end of the agenda. All persons in favor (APIF). Motion carried. III. Approval of March 11, 2020 Regular Meeting Minutes The meeting minutes were approved with no revisions. IV. Presentations A. 2019-20 Schmitz-Maki Arena Seasonal Reports Parks and Facilities Supervisor Pire presented the following summary of this past winter ice season and the spring turf season: • There was 35 more hours rented this past ice season than the previous season and revenue increased by almost $14,000 from the previous season • Special events serve as a food drive to the Farmington Food Shelf and it resulted in 326 pounds of canned goods and $95.00 being donated • Learn to Skate program saw an increase in participation and this program continues to grow and be a good revenue generator for the arena • Spring indoor turf and event season this year did not generate any revenue because of COVID 19 pandemic and in the past is has generated about $2,000 in revenue He also updated the Commission about the improvement projects that are occurring in the arena this spring because there was no indoor turf due to the COVID 19 pandemic causing the Arena to not be open to the public to use. This information included: • Painting completed in the lobby area • Painting completed on the rink floor • Removal and replacement of the rubber tile floor in the men’s restroom • Demolition of vending surround and painting of the wall behind the vending machine area • Wall coverings that were affixed to the walls of the area outside team rooms #5 and #6 and was painted making this area much improved V. Business Items A. Commission Bylaws Tennant provided a summary of the revisions made to the bylaws since the last time the Commission met. Chair McMillen suggested adding in language in Article 3. Section 1. that allows someone to serve more than two consecutive terms, but only if no other Commission member wants to serve in the chair position. By consensus this language was acceptable to Commission member to be added to the bylaws. Moved by Vice-Chair Suchanek and seconded by Crabtree to approve the amended bylaws adding the language suggested by Chair McMillen concerning term limits for the chair position. APIF. Motion carried. Tennant said he would revise the bylaws based on the motion and provide them to Director Distad. Director Distad shared the bylaws would be placed on a future City Council meeting for approval. B. Parks and Facilities Tour with Rambling River Center Advisory Board Director Distad shared the tour date in the memo to the Commission was wrong. The correct date of the tour is July 8. He shared the list of parks and facilities that the Advisory Board had identified to be toured. He asked Commission members for input. By consensus Commission members felt the list of parks and facilities identified to be toured was an acceptable list. Director Distad shared he would put together a draft schedule and provide it at the June 10 Commission meeting to be reviewed and approved. Chair McMillen reminded others that the tour will depend on COVID 19 restrictions that may be in place and it will be a challenge to be able to social distance in a bus during the tour if this requirement is still in place. C. Park Improvement Fund 2021-2025 Capital Improvement Projects Director Distad reviewed the five-year capital improvement project document for the park improvement fund. He shared that in 2021 the only project planned is for the tennis courts in Rambling River Park to be resurfaced because there is a high need for this work given the court surface current condition. The amount he was showing was too low and he shared the amount should be raised from $10,000 to $15,000 given the current condition. He also made Commission members in 2022 funding was being requested to create a master plan for Flagstaff Meadow Park in order to create a plan to address capturing future land in new development that could be strategically added to this park to make it larger as it was previously identified to be at least five acres in size when all land was acquired for this park. This amount shown was also to low and said it should be increased to $10,000 because of the work it will take to develop the master plan incorporating additional land into the park and then designing the park with this additional acreage. He reminded Commission members that the plan is for the park improvement fund to build its fund balance in the next couple of years by limiting the number of projects to complete. Then beginning in 2023, the parks would start to be assessed for improvements because of it being 20 years since the parks were last improved. The first park to be assessed in 2023 would be Meadowview Park because improvements in the park were last done in 2003. Chair McMillen asked what the funding identified in 2024 for Jim Bell Park and Preserve would be used to improve. Director Distad shared it was meant as a place holder to grade and seed the site, so green space could be created for soccer, lacrosse and football fields. It was identified in this year in case the city did not hold any type of referendum to fund these improvements before 2024. Moved by Koss to approve the amended park improvement funds 2021-2025 capital improvement project document by increasing the 2021 tennis court project to $15,000 and the development of the master plan in Flagstaff Meadow Park to $10,000 in 2022. The motion was seconded by Suchanek. APIF. Motion carried. D. 2021 Community Survey Letter of Support Tennant informed members because of the current COVID 19 pandemic, he thought it would be best to have the Commission discuss if it wanted to continue moving forward with the letter of support before a draft was provided. Chair McMillen felt because of the current financial hardships residents and businesses may face in the future due to the pandemic it would be best to postpone a community survey and not create a letter of support until a later date. Vice-Chair Suchanek asked when a community survey is typically done. Director Distad said that in the past it has been done in the spring to early summer. Crabtree thought it would be best to wait and meet with the City Council in 2021 to discus a future community survey because of new new council members being elected in November. Moved by Tennant and seconded by Crabtree to have staff request funding in the 2022 budget for a community survey. APIF. Motion carried. VI. Discussion Items A. Volunteerism in the Parks and Recreation Department Director Distad shared there has been some discussion by the Commission about how to promote and encourage the public to volunteer in the parks and recreation department. He said it is fortunate that Communication Specialist Lauren Siebenaler is part of the meeting tonight and encouraged members to ask her questions and provide comments about how to promote and encourage more people to volunteer. Ideas generated from the discussion on different ways to promote and publicize volunteer opportunities included: • quarterly Farmington Currents publication • social media platforms • e-notifications • using hashtags • press releases • mailed postcards • brochures • flyers • proving information in the large informational signs that are located in various parking lots in parks Chair McMillen thought any information provided about volunteer opportunities should include a contact name and contact information, so people could directly contact the parks and recreation department staff member about the volunteer opportunity. Commission members by consensus would like to continue having a discussion about volunteerism at its June meeting. B. Inclusive Playground Information Suchanek informed Commission members she also tried contacting the group though Facebook, but hasn’t received a response. Koss shared the group in Lakeville and Apple Valley that have been involved in getting inclusive playgrounds built were inactive for a period of time and she has heard they are now resuming their efforts. She said she no longer knows anyone in the group, but is willing to contact them again for information. C. COVID 19 Pandemic Director Distad provided an update about parks and facility closures and staff are preparing plans for when the parks and facilities can reopen. Communication Specialist Lauren Siebenaler shared there was a comment provided by Noel Beck who lives at 1312 Spruce Street and would like arrow signs painted in the trails so people walk and bike in the same direction. She further shared that the City of Edina has done this. She would like to see this done on the Prairie Waterway trail because when she meets groups of people on the trail, they do not separate and maintain a distance of six feet from her. Director Distad said he would contact the City of Edina and see how they are addressing this issue. D. 2020 Work Plan Review Chair McMillen reviewed the work plan and identified items that were completed since the last work plan review at the March 11, 2020 meeting. Director Distad shared he would update the work plan based on the objectives that were identified as being completed. He stated he would provide an updated work plan in the June meeting packet for Commission members to review in order to continue to identify progress being made. VII. Commission Roundtable Koss: Didn’t have anything to share. Suchanek: Didn’t have anything to share. Crabtree: Asked if there was any new information about allowing ads on ball field fences in the city. Director Distad shared that he had a discussion with city Planning Manager Tony Wippler about this request. He learned the city’s planning division is currently working on updating the city’s codes. As part of this city code update, Planning Manager Wippler felt it would be beneficial to have a joint meeting of the Planning Commission and the Park and Recreation Commission to discuss codes that are related to parks and recreation, such as signage on ball field fences. Tennant: Didn’t have anything to share. McMillen: Didn’t have anything to share. VIII. Staff Report Director Distad provided the following information on the following topics: A. Summer Seasonal Staff Recruitment Made Commission members aware the city is still recruiting and planning to hire summer seasonal positions with the Parks and Recreation Department dependent on City Council approval and asked that they spread the word about this, so there is a good pool of applicants for the open positions. B. Arena Made Commission aware that the project will not happen in 2020 because of the bid being significantly higher than the budgeted amount. C. Summer Events and Programs Made Commission members aware of the following items: • Dew Days was cancelled due to COVID 19 • the May Concert in the Park was cancelled due to COVID 19 • the city continues to accept program registrations but will see if they can be held • the Dew Run is currently on for now, but a decision will be made in late May concerning its fate due to COVID 19 D. Arena Exclusive Vending Informed Commission members that city has entered into a three-year agreement with C & S Vending Company to provide exclusive vending services in Schmitz-Maki Arena and as a result of this, the city will receive higher vending commissions. IX. June 10, 2020 Meeting Agenda Items The following items were identified by Commission members for its June 10, 2020 meeting agenda: 1. 2020 work plan review 2. trail signage markings 3. park and facilities tour schedule 4. City communication presentation 5. Volunteerism in Parks and Recreation Department 6. Park and Recreation Commission bylaws update 7. Inclusive playground information 8. COVID 19 update X. Adjournment Moved by Crabtree and seconded by Suchanek to adjourn the meeting. APIF. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 8:06 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Randy Distad Parks and Recreation Director and Recording Secretary