2009-10-07 P & R Minutes Approved

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Parks & Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes 10-07-09 Flea Market / Cleanup Days Chairperson Seeley had requested a discussion of potentially sponsoring a Flea Market / Craft Fair / Cleanup Days event, perhaps in coordination with Garage Sale Days, at the last committee meeting as an event the Parks & Recreation Committee sponsored for the community. The item was tabled for further discussion at the October committee meeting. Over the last month Chairperson Seeley has given this idea more thought, discussing the event with residents and is willing to take primary responsibility to put it together. Chairperson Seeley said she has done some research as to what residents would like to see offered and there is interest in having a Master Gardner on site for example and that would need to be arranged in January with the University of Minnesota Extension Program Office. There will need to be advertising well in advance, perhaps in upcoming newsletters and the newspapers. There would be potential to look for donations or sponsors. Research would need to be done as far as offering food booths regarding the Health Department or City Code. As mentioned under the budget discussion, Chairperson Seeley would like to designate $1000 for startup costs for this event. Costs would include; advertising, signage, possibly tables some of which would be informational booths such as for Waste Management/Recycling and CERT. Drainage of Laurie LaMotte Memorial Park Ball Fields After discussion at the September committee meeting regarding the drainage problem with the ball fields at Laurie LaMotte Memorial Park, the committee requested more information from Mr. Paul Palzer, Public Works Director as to what would need to be done to resolve this problem and what would the potential cost be for re-grading and re-landscaping the ball fields? Ms. Stephan forwarded the request to Mr. Palzer and Mr. Dallas Larson, City Administrator who responded with the following: While re-grading the ball fields’ sounds like an easy solution, re-grading an area that size could cost tens of thousands of dollars plus the cost of seed or sod. The fields are approximately 40,000 square yards of area. Reseeding would be at least $1 per square yard; we have had bids over $3. Where would that kind of money come from? While re-grading would be nice, it is hard to justify the cost. The field would be vastly improved with drain tile and irrigation. That has substantial funding already in place, so it seems likely to happen in the next year or so. The committee acknowledged re-grading would be too expensive, but would like leave this item on the agenda for future discussions. Pleasure Rink & Player Box Safety Issues at Laurie LaMotte Memorial Park Update for the committee from Mr. Paul Palzer: The roof and walls have been removed. The rest will depend upon our work load. We had discussion about a railing to the pleasure rink and determined it would be more dangerous than the 5 of 6