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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09.13.17 Parks and Rec MinutesFarmington Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes from the September 13, 2017 Regular Meeting Members Present: John Moore, David McMillen, Laurie Suchanek and Dustin Johnson Members Absent: Hannah Simmons 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 September 13, 2017 Meeting Agenda Moved by McMillen and seconded by Suchanek to approve the meeting agenda. All persons in favor (APIF). Motion carried. III. Approval of July 12, 2017 Regular Meeting Minutes The meeting minutes were approved with no revisions identified. IV. Presentations None V. Business Items A. Approve 2018 Parks and Recreation Department Fees and Charges Director Distad presented the recommended 2018 fees and charges for the Parks and Recreation Department. He shared the Rambling River Center Advisory Board reviewed and approved a recommendation to the Commission for the Rambling River Center 2018 fees and charges. Commission member Suchanek asked when the fees were last increased. Distad shared the Rambling River Center fees and charges were adjusted last year including revising the membership fees and what is included with the membership fees. Johnson shared there were other park and recreation fees and charges that were increased in 2017. Motion by McMillen and seconded by Suchanek to approve the 2018 park and recreation fees and charges and forward a recommendation to the City Council to adopt the 2018 fees and charges being recommended by the Commission. APIF. Motion carried. B. Fairhill Estate at North Creek Development Park Proposal Director Distad provided information about the development including where public and private parks are located, they types of trails proposed in the development and location of sidewalks. He shared the developer has a vision of creating a rural feel to the development and has included some acreage in the development to allow crop farming to occur . The crops grown are meant to be fruits and/or vegetables, which will allow the crops to go from field to table. Commission members Suchanek shared she was concerned about the residents who live on the west side of the development not having any sidewalks or paved trails to access. Distad shared the developer indicated the residents would be able to walk on either the gravel shoulders or the mowed trails to access the trails and public park. He further shared however the gravel shoulders would also be a place for vehicles to park on, which may cause pedestrians to have to walk in the street to get around parked vehicles. Distad shared the developer was informed about this meeting and expressed an interest in attending to present a proposal to the Commission about the developer’s interest in designing and building the public neighborhood park in the development. The developer would use the park fees the city would normally collect and use these fees to design and build the park. The developer indicated they would like to build the park around a theme, but haven’t worked through yet what the theme may be. Commission members by consensus directed Distad to invite the developer to the next Commission meeting to present their proposal and because there was no proposal given, there was no reason to vote on this item. C. October 4, 2017 Meeting Date Chair Johnson shared that he and Director Distad discussed the possibility of changing the meeting date of the October meeting if the rest of the Commission supported this. By consensus and based on the probable items that will be on the October meeting agenda, it was decided to not change the meeting date. VI. Discussion Items A. Review 2017 Annual Work Plan Chair Johnson reviewed the 2017 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. Review September 11, 2017 Park Tour with Empire Township Park and Recreation Commission Commission member McMillen thought it was good to see what has been built by Empire Township in its parks and for Empire Township’s Park and Recreation Commission to see what has been built in city parks. Chair Johnson said the discussion during the tour was similar to last year’s meeting, but took on a different feel with being able to see what has been discussed in the past with each other’s park system. There was discussion about if the meeting should occur every year with Empire Township given the size of each entities park system. There seemed to be support for having a meeting with the Empire Township Park and Recreation Commission occur every other year, which means the two groups would not meet in 2018. It was suggested that a tour occur in 2019 as part of the meeting with Empire Township’s Park and Recreation Commission. C. 2018 and 2019 City’s General Fund Preliminary Budget Distad highlighted for Commission members about what was included in the approved Parks and Recreation Department’s 2018 and 2019 preliminary General Fund budget including the preliminary budget showing the outdoor pool being closed. There was considerable discussion about the approved 2018 and 2019 preliminary budgets currently showing the outdoor pool being closed and demolition to occur. The Commission thought Chair Johnson should draft a letter to the City Council about the Commission’s concern with the communication process used to inform them about the outdoor pool closing. The letter would then be presented to the City Council. D. 2040 Dakota County Comprehensive Plan Report Chair Johnson was invited to participate on a task force to talk about Dakota County (County) natural resources and parks. Chair Johnson shared that information gathered from the task force meetings will be used in the updating of the County’s plan. He identified some of the concerns raised about what will occur in the next 20 years included:  loss of more agricultural land  aging population  focus on the County making it a priority to preserve large green spaces for hiking and walking and preserving large water bodies for fishing and boating. E. Business Partnerships Moved by McMillen and seconded by Suchanek to move this item to the October 4, 2017 meeting, since Simmons was not able to attend the meeting. VII. Commission Roundtable Suchanek: Shared she was disappointment about not knowing about the pool being closed in advance of the media coverage. She felt the Commission should have been notified this decision was being considered. Moore: Shared he was also disappointed about the outdoor pool being closed and not knowing about it in advance of the media coverage. He said it was difficult to answer questions from the public about the pool closing because he had no prior knowledge of this. He said he was also disappointed with no long term plan on how to replace this amenity in the community. It will be one less thing that young people and families in the community can do in Farmington. McMillen: Said he agreed with the comments that Moore and Suchanek made. He was disappointed the Commission was not asked for a recommendation about the pool closure, which he felt the Commission should have been able to do per the City Ordinance. He asked if the city will be increasing the park maintenance staff because of the new parks that will be built in the city. H e felt that we can’t keep adding parks and then not add staff to maintain them. Distad shared this would have to be a request of the City Council during the budget process and because these two new parks are not likely to be constructed in the next year, there would be time to make this request. Johnson: Shared he too was concerned about the communication that did not occur with the Commission about the outdoor pool closing after the 2017 season. He was surprised by the media reports. VIII. Staff Report A. Vermillion River Streambank and Habitat Restoration and Trail Project Informed Commission members that progress is being made on the trail construction and the base material has almost entirely being placed. If the weather remains dry, the contractor is planning to pave the trail yet this week and then will complete the restoration work along the edge of the trail, seed this area and then apply an erosion control blanket. If the weather continues to be favorable he thought the trail could be opened up sometime the following week. B. Prairieview Park Informed Commission members the contractor has had to step back from completing the shelter construction because he has had to finish installing playground equipment at several school sites in the metro area. Once he has finished with the playground installations, the contractor will be back to install the metal roof and cupola. This work will hopefully occur by the end of September. C. Upcoming Rambling River Center Fundraising Events Distad shared that a Garage and Jewelry Sale Fundraising event will be held on September 21 and 22. He also shared the annual Waffle Breakfast and Silent Auction fundraising event will occur on Saturday, October 28. IX. October 4, 2017 Meeting Agenda Items The following items were tentatively identified by Commission members for its October, 2017 meeting agenda: 1. Summer ice report 2. Summer programs report 3. Rambling River Center first half report 4. Fairhill Estate at North Creek Park Proposal 5. 2017 Annual Work Plan review 6. Review City Council Presentation 7. Business Partnerships X. Adjournment Moved by Moore and seconded by Suchaneke to adjourn the meeting. APIF. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 8:28 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Randy Distad Parks and Recreation Director and Recording Secretary