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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01.09.19 Parks and Rec MinutesFarmington Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes from the January 9, 2019 Regular Meeting Members Present: David McMillen, Laurie Suchanek, John Moore and Dustin Johnson Members Absent: Neil Ramdhan Other’s Present: Recreation Supervisor Ryan Hayes and Parks and Recreation Director Randy Distad I. Call Meeting To Order Chair Johnson called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Quorum was present. II. Approval of January 9, 2019 Meeting Agenda Moved by McMillen and seconded by Suchanek to approve the meeting agenda. All persons in favor (APIF). Motion carried. III. Approval of December 12, 2018 Regular Meeting Minutes The December 12, 2018 meeting minutes were approved with no revisions. IV. Presentations A. Passport Program Recreation Supervisor Ryan Hayes provided information about a new program called Summer Activities Passport Program. He shared the purpose of the new program is to encourage people to participate in events and visit city parks. He shared he was looking to have the Commission provide some direction on two things. The first is if a fee should be charged and if so, what should the fee be to participate in the program. He shared that he and Parks and Recreation Director Distad had discussed and thought a nominal fee of $5.00 would be appropriate, so it is affordable. By charging a small fee, it will motivate participants to be involved in the program. He stated the second thing would be to have the Commission give direction on what kind of reward would be offered to participant who successfully complete the passport program. He shared that he and Distad had discussed a couple of possible items including a t-shirt or a $5.00 gift card to a local business. McMillen asked who the program would be geared towards. Hayes responded it is for all ages. McMillen stated he felt the $5.00 participation fee would be a fair amount. Suchanek shared she felt there shouldn’t be a fee charged to participate in order to encourage more people to participate, especially those who maybe couldn’t afford to pay the registration fee. Distad shared the city does have a scholarship program to cover program registration fees if someone cannot afford to pay the fee. Moore asked if a year round program could be offered. Hayes responded that it will be a trial basis over the summer to see how well it is received. If it is successful then staff can look at expanding the program to other times of the year. Moore suggested that maybe the reward could be based on participants attending a certain number of activities or visits to a park and as a different level or attendance is reached and then a different reward would be offered. Distad shared he feels it would be best not to get too complicated with the rewards program and keep it simple the first year to see what kind of participation occurs in the first year. Moore also shared he would like to see a nominal fee such as $5.00 be implemented so people don’t cheat on the program. Johnson commended Hayes on putting together this program. He felt it is being taken in a good direction from what was discussed previously during a Commission meeting. He asked if ads could be sold on the passport. Hayes said he would contact local businesses and see if they would be interested. Distad suggested maybe businesses would provide some kind of a discount on the purchase of gift cards in exchange for having their name on the passport as a sponsor. Moved by Moor and seconded by Suchanek to charge a $5.00 registration fee to participate in the program; to reach out to local businesses to help sponsor the program; and to leave it up to staff to determine what kind of reward would be given to participants who successfully complete the program attendance requirement. APIF. Motion carried. B. Recognition of Outgoing Commission Members Commission members Moore and Johnson were recognized for the three years of service they provided on the Commission. McMillen thanked Moore for his service and thanked Johnson for being a terrific chair of the Commission. Suchanek shared she will miss the “out of the box” thinking that both Moore and Johnson showed while on the Commission. V. Business Items A. Approve 2019 Work Plan Distad asked if there were any further revisions to be made to the Commission’s 2019 work plan. Suchanek asked if Objective #1 in Goal #2 and #3 would be met by the deadline. Distad shared it has been met because the Commission provided input at the November 2018 meeting about what kind of playground equipment it preferred in each park. It was decided to leave Objective #1 in the work plan and when it is updated before the February meeting it would be noted that Objective #1 in Goal #2 and #3 would be completed. Moved by McMillen and seconded by Suchanek to approve the Commission’s 2019 work plan. APIF. Motion carried. VI. Discussion Items A. Bike Pedestrian Plan (Plan) Distad shared there has been good public input so far on the Plan. He informed Commission members that an email was sent to the school district requesting students participate in a survey monkey questionnaire. The response to this request was overwhelming. There have been almost 500 responses to the survey, with most being responses from school age youth. He also shared the first Bike Pedestrian Plan Committee meeting will occur on Thursday, January 10. He suggested to Commission members they should let Suchanek know if there is anything they would like to have discussed during the first Committee meeting because she is the Commission’s representative. He shared a summary of the Committee meeting would be provided at the February Commission meeting. Moore requested that another social media push should occur to the public to make them aware of the opportunities to participate in the survey monkey questionnaire and the social pin point exercise. B. Park and Recreation Commission Ordinance Review Distad reviewed the ordinance with Commission members. Johnson asked if the meeting attendance requirement could be included in the ordinance and if it is allowed would like to see something like a 75% attendance requirement. Distad shared he would have to ask the City Attorney to see if this kind of detail could be included in the ordinance. He shared the Commission currently does not have any by-laws, which is typically where some of the details such as meeting attendance requirements would be identified. He shared he will let the Commission know what the City Attorney says about having a meeting attendance requirement in the ordinance. Commission members provided direction to Distad to communicate with the City Council about removing Ramdhan from the Commission because of poor meeting attendance. C. Park Naming Contest Sapphire Lake Development Distad shared the developer of the Sapphire Lake development was interested in selling about 6.2 acres of land that is adjacent to the park land that will be dedicated in the development. He is asking $130,000.00 for the property. He shared that Park Improvement Fund does not have the funds to support the purchase of the land. Instead he offered the Commission should consider asking the developer to donate the land that could be used as a possible tax right off. He also suggested the Commission may want to consider naming the park after the developer if the land is donated as a park. Moore thought that if the developer donated the land it would only be fair to have it named after the developer. He suggested that if the developer didn’t donate the land, then the city consider seeking grant funding to purchase the land. Johnson felt the Commission should wait on naming the park until after it is known if the developer is interested in donating the land in exchange for naming the park after the developer. By consensus staff was directed to make a counter offer to the developer requesting the land be donated to the city as additional park land, that the city would accept the donation by a resolution, and the park would be named after the developer if the land was donated for a city park. By further consensus, it was decided to wait until the February meeting for further discussion on the process to be used to name the park until after it is known if the developer has agreed to the counteroffer. VII. Commission Roundtable Suchanek: Didn’t have anything to share. McMillen: Thanked Commission members Johnson and Moore for serving on the Commission. Reminded everyone about the Farmington VFW Steak Fry that will be occurring on January 19 and it is a fundraiser for the Rambling River Center. He also reminded everyone about the Community Expo being held on Saturday, January 26 at the Farmington High School Moore: Shared it was a privilege and delight to serve on the Commission. Stated he hopes new members do well. Johnson: Thanked Commission members for being able to serve with them. Thanked staff for the good work they do for the city. VIII. Staff Report An update was provided by staff on the following topics: 1. Marigold and Prairie Pines Park playground and shelter plans are due on or before January 25, 2019. 2. Arena preliminary plans will be presented to the city council at the March 11, 2019 work session. 3. Westview Acres reconstruction project will include a shallow holding pond being constructed in Westview Park. The pond will allow water to pool and then quickly discharge out of the pond, which will improve the flooding that occurs on Hickory Street during large rain events. The shallow pond will be mowed and can be used as green space when it is dry. 4. Fairhill Estate at North Creek Park development plan is being revised to a more traditional style devel opment. It appears the park will remain in the same location, but the trails and sidewalks may be altered some from the previous plan that was submitted. The Commission will likely have a chance to review the plan at its February 13 meeting. IX. February 13, 2019 Meeting Agenda Items The following items were tentatively identified by Commission members for its January 9, 2019 meeting agenda: 1. 2019 Work Plan approval 2. Fairhill Estate at North Creek development plan 3. Introduction of new members 4. Marigold and Prairie Pines Parks playground and shelter plan recommendations 5. Chair and vice-chair elections 6. Park naming Sapphire Lake development 7. Bike Pedestrian Plan update 8. Review Park and Recreation Commission Ordinance X. Adjournment Moved by Moore and seconded by Johnson to adjourn the meeting. APIF. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Randy Distad Parks and Recreation Director and Recording Secretary