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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07.18.18 Parks and Rec MinutesFarmington Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes from the July 18, 2018 Regular Meeting Members Present: Laurie Suchanek, David McMillen and Dustin Johnson Members Absent: John Moore and Neil Ramdhan Other’s Present: 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 July 11, 2018 Meeting Agenda Moved by Suchanek and seconded by McMillen to approve the amended meeting agenda with the following additions to the agenda: adding Letter E. Depot Way Arts Park and Letter F. September Meeting Date Change. All persons in favor (APIF). Motion carried. III. Approval of May 2, 2018 Special Meeting Minutes and June 13, 2019 Regular Meeting Minutes The meeting minutes from May 2, 2018 were approved with no revisions identified. McMillen moved to revise the June 13, 2018 meeting minutes by correcting a typo to change the letter “H” to “He” that was in the fourth paragraph under IV. Presentations, Letter A, Farmington Baseball Association. The motion was seconded by Suchanek. APIF. Motion carried. IV. Presentations None V. Business Items A. Recommend 2019 Parks and Recreation Fees and Charges Distad presented the staff recommended 2019 fees and charges. He shared the Rambling River Center Advisory Board is recommending approval of the staff recommended 2019 fees and charges for the Rambling River Center. McMillen asked if the VCR and DVD player were no longer available to rent. Distad shared that they are rarely ever used and they will just be included with the rental if the renting groups requests to use either one. Chair Johnson suggested the Financial Support Program be adjusted so up to $37.00 can be annually used so it allows a Rambling River Center membership to be fully funded through the FSP program. Distad said he would bring this to the Rambling River Center Advisory Board to make this change should the membership fee be increased to $37.00. McMillen moved to approve the 2019 parks and recreation fees and charges as recommended by staff and the Rambling River Center Advisory Board and recommended they be approved by the City Council. Suchanek seconded the motion. APIF. Motion carried. VI. Discussion Items A. Review 2018 Annual Work Plan Chair Johnson reviewed the 2018 Annual Work Plan and identified items completed since the review that occurred at the June meeting. Director Distad shared he would update the document to show which items were completed based on the discussion that occurred and will include the updated document in the next meeting packet. B. Park and Facilities Tour with the Rambling River Center Advisory Board Distad stated this item was more of a reminder than actual discussion. He asked if McMillen would be able to drive the bus. McMillen shared he could drive. Chair Johnson reminded everyone that the tour starts at 6:00 p.m. and it is on August 15, which is both a different time and date from the regular August meeting date and time. It was also noted the tour will start from the Rambling River Center. C. Bike Pedestrian Plan Committee Commission members discussed a possible list of organizations that could be represented on the committee. Chair Johnson suggested the following possible organizations be targeted to be invited to serve on the committee based on his review of the representatives that served on the city of Apple Valley’s committee:  Park and Recreation Commission  Planning Commission  Farmington School District  Police or Fire Department  Rambling River Center Advisory Board  Two residents not affiliated with a community organization  Biking Advocacy organization that doesn’t need to be from Farmington  Farmington Business Association  Farmington Youth Sports organization Suchanek said she was interested in being the commission’s representative, but since two members were not present was willing to wait until the other two members were in attendance to determine who the commission representative should be. Distad asked if the commission favored one of the youth sports organizations over another. He suggested the commission focus on a youth sports organization that practices and plays outdoors during the spring, summer and fall because they would likely benefit from the plan. It was suggested that Farmington Baseball Association be the first priority to be asked to serve on the committee. It was determined the discussion on the committee members be finalized at the September meeting and a recommendation be forwarded at that time about which organizations should serve on the committee. D. Farmington Baseball Association (FBA) Presentation Review Commission members reviewed the presentation made by the FBA. Director Distad reviewed the requested improvements that the FBA would like to make to some city ballfields. McMillen asked if the city would pay for these improvements. Director Distad shared while the FBA would like the city to be a financial partner in the improvements, FBA would still like to make the improvements even if the city does not financially contribute to the improvements. Suchanek asked when the ballfield improvements would be made. Director Distad shared there wasn’t any set timeline and that the FBA was more interested in having the city make a commitment to allow the improvements t o be made. He said he would recommend a written agreement be approved by both the city and the FBA that would identify the improvements to be made and the terms and conditions upon which the improvements would be made such as what the city’s responsibilities would be and what the FBA responsibilities would be. He recommended that a discussion continue at the September meeting when hopefully all Commission members can be present to participate. E. Depot Way Arts Park McMillen asked if Director Distad could reach out to a resident to discuss some concerns the resident has with the current condition of Depot Way Arts Park. Distad shared he was aware of the resident who has the concerns and he would contact the resident to meet in the park to learn more about the resident’s issues. F. September Meeting Date Change Director Distad shared that he is not available to attend the September 12 Commission meeting and asked if the Commission would be supportive of moving the meeting to September 19. Commission members were in support of rescheduling the meeting to September 19. VII. Commission Roundtable Johnson: Didn’t have anything to share. Suchanek: Shared her niece is planning on visiting all of the city’s parks this summer with her children. She will be making a collage of the parks visited. Distad this sounded familiar with what a few communities have started called a Passport to Parks program that provides a passport with a listing of all the parks in the community and then as each park is visited, a stamp is put on the passport showing the person has visited the park. Commission members felt this would be a good program to try and implement in order to encourage residents to visit more of the city parks. Distad said he would discuss the program idea with department staff to see if this is a program someone would be interested in creating. He will bring back information at the next regular Commission meeting about a possible park passport program. McMillen: Didn’t have anything to share. VIII. Staff Report Distad provided an update on the following items: A. Pool Demolition Update Informed Commission members that the outdoor pool demolition project has been completed. The building’s external restrooms are now working and all of the electrical work has been completed. B. Arena Door Replacement Project Informed Commission members the old doors and metal frames have been removed and the new metal door frames and doors have been installed. Staff will be painting the door after summer ice season concludes. C. Feely Fields Fence Replacement Project Made Commission members aware the current plan is to remove the existing fence after the summer adult softball program has ended in late-July and to have the new fence installed prior to the fall adult softball program starts in mid- August. D. Willow and Buckthorn Tree Removal Informed members the Dakota County Sentence to Service crews have been removing willows along trails and ponds and will be moving on to removing buckthorn in the Farmington Preserve area next. E. 2019 and 2020 Budget Update Made members aware the City Council has discussed the budget twice in work sessions. The levy increase for the preliminary budget is getting closer to what the City Council desires. F. RRC Plaza Update Shared that the City Council is moving forward with the next phase of the plaza by hiring Hoisington Koegler Group, Inc. to complete preliminary design, site survey and construction cost estimates for the project. IX. Next Meeting Agenda Possible Items The following items were tentatively identified by Commission members for its September 19, 2018 meeting agenda (there will not be a regular meeting in August due to the park and facility tour with the Rambling River Center Advisory Board): 1. 2018 Annual Work Plan review 2. Bike Pedestrian Plan 3. 2019 and 2020 budget 4. Review Park and Facilities Tour with Rambling River Center Advisory Board 5. Summer program, Rambling River Center and summer ice presentations 6. Park Passport Program X. Adjournment Moved by Suchanek and seconded by McMillen to adjourn the meeting. APIF. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 7:42 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Randy Distad Parks and Recreation Director and Recording Secretary