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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-11-03 P & R Minutes Approved Parks & Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes 11-03-10 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, November 3, 2010 - 6:30 p.m. Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the Parks & Recreation Committee of the City of Centerville held the regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday, November 3, 2010 at Centerville City Hall, 1880 Main Street. Present: Vice Chairperson Jon Grahek Committee Member Suzanne Seeley Committee Member Mark Haiden Committee Member Kevin Amundsen Committee Member Kevin Selander Absent: Chairperson Patrick Branch Committee Member Brian Peterson Council: Mayor Mary Capra Staff: Staff Liaison Kim Stephan Also in attendance were Mr. Patrick Mahr and Mr. Bob Erlbeck, Centennial Little League and Mr. Mark Spitzmueller and Ms. Tina Lobin, Bald Eagle Water Ski Club. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ I. CALL TO ORDER Roll Call Vice-Chairperson Grahek called the November 3, 2010 Parks & Recreation Committee Meeting to order at 6:33 p.m. II. SET AGENDA Motion was made by Committee Member Haiden, seconded by Committee Member Selander, to set the November 3, 2010 Parks & Recreation Committee Agenda as is. All in favor. Motion carried unanimously. III. APPEARANCES Mr. Patrick Mahr, Centennial Little League Mr. Patrick Mahr and Mr. Bob Erlbeck, Centennial Little League, were in attendance to discuss proposed changes to field #1 at Laurie LaMotte Memorial Park. Mayor Capra updated the committee stating because of the time frame of the events, this proposal was not able to go before the committee prior to City Council’s approval. At the mid-October City Council Meeting it was brought to City Council’s attention that when the aglime was removed from the ball fields to install the drain tile the soil conditions were very poor. To correct the situation the estimate to replace with new red rock aglime was $19,000. Council felt they could not approve the funding at that time so Mayor Capra involved both Centennial 1 of 6 Parks & Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes 11-03-10 Little League and the Centerville Lions, both whom use the fields for ball games. A meeting was held at the park with representatives of both groups, as well as Mayor Capra and Mr. Paul Palzer, Public Works Director, to discuss the problem and possible solutions. Mr. Mahr presented a proposal to City Council at the October 27, 2010 City Council meeting that would convert Laurie LaMotte Memorial Park field #1 to a grass infield and raised pitching mound. This will help Centennial Little League with their shortage of mounded fields for the major baseball program which involves 9 - 11 year olds. Centennial Little League would also like to move in the outfield fence to a distance of 225 feet per Little League Guidelines and add additional fencing from the dugouts to third base and first base, which would be for spectator safety. They would also like to move the scoreboard and outfield light poles in as well. Centennial Little League will be responsible for the above items including the costs of the entire grass infield and preparation work, using A & L Sod Company. Mr. Mahr stated Centennial Little League has recommended that the City of Centerville add more drain tile to Laurie LaMotte Memorial Park field #1 to ensure better drainage. A & L Sod will be bringing in 5 trucks of high quality fine sand which will also improve drainage. The league has agreed to mow the infield grass on #1 and groom and maintain the pitching mound, but is asking the City of Centerville to groom the aglime on all three ball fields on a daily basis to maintain the integrity of the new red rock aglime. Centennial Little League has provided a new drag to the City just a few years ago with the agreement that they would be groomed regularly. With City Council’s approval of the above proposal Centennial Little League also agreed to contribute $3,500 towards the cost of the aglime. This will actually reduce the City’s cost of the aglime to 1/3 of the previous estimate due to the reduction of the area being covered. The Centerville Lions did not have a problem with reducing the number of fields available to them from 3 to 2, but did not have the funds available to contribute towards the aglime. Motion was made by Committee Member Seeley, seconded by Committee Member Amundsen to fully support the proposal as presented by Centennial Little League. All in favor. Motion carried unanimously . Mr. Mahr stated the last time Centennial Little League was able to build a field like this was 1988 and they are very excited to be able to do this. The lights are currently brighter in the outfield which is geared for adults playing ball. By bringing the lights in to the infield they will be able to have night games potentially using the field 5 nights a week and have double headers. There are electricians who are part of Centennial Little League who have volunteered their time in the past and will most likely do so again to perform this work. Mr. Mahr also stated he talked to the representatives of the Centerville Lions who met at the park regarding their concession trailer and possibly selling concessions during Little League games. He said at other fields, parents use the concessions frequently and it has been a good fund raising tool, but the concession trailer would have to be there consistently on a daily basis for parents to count on it. Mr. Mark Spitzmueller, Bald Eagle Water Ski Club Mr. Mark Spitzmueller and Ms. Tina Lobin were in attendance to continue to discuss the potential for the Bald Eagle Water Ski Show performing from the area intended to be Trailside Park off CSAH14/Centerville Lake. While the Ski Club understands development of this area is not going to take place with the Trail Project due to budget constraints, they would still like to ski at the site if possible. 2 of 6 Parks & Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes 11-03-10 Ms. Lobin stated the ski club really wants to have a home base and be more a part of the community. They have been skiing on Centerville Lake for 10 years tucked back behind Water Works with very poor visibility to the public. They would like to be in a more visible location to better attract people to both watch their shows and potentially become members. Their goal is to get back into competing and would like to get more families and children involved. Ms. Lobin stated it is a family orientated club with positions available for people of all ages. Some discussion was started by Mayor Capra as to the potential of a future marina in that spot for maybe sailboats which may not be conducive to the Ski Club using this area for shows or practice. Mr. Spitzmueller went through a power point presentation, which will be attached to the minutes, addressing the Ski Club’s needs and concerns. Mr. Spitzmueller questioned whether Trailside Park actually needs to be developed or can spectators simply sit on the grass? There is a flat spot on the top of the hill near the trail which would be suitable, although there was a concern that viewers would put chairs on the trail, blocking it. Mr. Spitzmueller said the Ski Club has a number of members that work in the landscape and excavation fields and a big crew of volunteer labor and they would like to explore the possibility of using their resources to help move the park project forward. The boats would continue to be launched at Water Works or the Anoka County Regional Park. The Ski Club has a 12 x 16 enclosed trailer which they would like to store on site, near the property line to the south, for the duration of the season. The dock, installed by the Ski Club, would be permanent for the season, being removed in the fall. They currently have one section, but probably need two because of the shallow depth of the lake in that area, or perhaps eventually would like to have a second dock to stage performances from. The Ski Club’s current dock is approximately 60’ in length and can be folded upon itself to disable it from use when not being used by the Ski Club. Ms. Lobin stated the Ski Club is self supporting and is not looking for any funding from the City. One of the first steps per Mayor Capra is to work with Mr. Paul Palzer, Public Workers Director and/or Mr. Dallas Larson, City Administrator to see what the City would be able to do or not do for this site to accommodate the Ski Club. Mr. Spitzmueller stated one of the Ski Club’s concerns is weeds in the lake and would like to work with the City on weed control. Mayor Capra said the City is not involved in weed control on either Centerville or Peltier Lakes and the Ski Club would need to work with the DNR on that item. Mr. Spitzmueller said the DNR has treated Reshanau Lake in the past so it is a possibility. Ms. Lobin said there are DNR approved chemicals that can be purchased and applied by residents. Committee Member Seeley had a concern with putting chemicals, even DNR approved, in the lake. Discussion was had as to what property is actually owned by the city, where the property lines are, and where it can be brushed. There is a concern from the Ski Club at the vegetation on shore as well as a shoreline soil berm that is a result of ice pushing the shoreline. This berm has trees leaning into the water and roots supporting the lakeshore, it blocks viewing and access to the shore, but it is also a big part of erosion control as it stabilizes that section of lakeshore. Committee Member Haiden stated he felt the Ski Club was a very positive addition to the City of Centerville and he personally would love to have them become a more visible influence. Committee Member Haiden will work on a PDR form with Mr. Spitzmueller and submit a draft to Mr. Palzer. 3 of 6 Parks & Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes 11-03-10 IV. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES October 6, 2010 Parks & Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes Chairperson Branch submitted the following correction via email: In the Diva Dash paragraph - their race distance is 5 miles, not 5K. Motion was made by Committee Member Seeley, seconded by Committee Member Haiden to approve the October 6, 2010 Parks & Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes with the above correction. Ayes – 3, Nays – 0, Abstain – 2 (Amundsen, Selander). Motion carried. V. COMMITTEE BUSINESS Laurie LaMotte Memorial Park Ball Fields Item was discussed under Appearances. Bald Eagle Water Ski Club/Shows Committee Member Seeley expressed the concern that if the Ski Club puts in a dock and prevents others from using it, then she felt it becomes their park and not a community park. Mayor Capra said if there is a future marina, the Ski Club’s dock will just be part of that. It was felt that Cornerstone Park is for the public and it is just right around the corner, the public is not going to miss anything in this small piece of property. Committee Member Amundsen has concerns with grading the shoreline and boats creating wakes which are going to further erode the shoreline, especially with the amount of funding that went into protecting the shoreline at Hidden Spring Park, the plans for the Bald Eagle Water Ski Show’s usage goes against this’. Committee Member Amundsen also had concerns with putting herbicides into the lake, both issues he feels need to be addressed. VI. UPDATES Skate Night / Horse Drawn Hayride Motion was made by Committee Member Haiden, seconded by Committee Member Seeley to request City Council approve funding not to exceed $750 for the Bunker Stable Horse Drawn Hayride scheduled for the Saturday, January 8, 2011 Parks & Recreation Committee Skate Night. All in favor. Motion carried unanimously. Star Gazing in Conjunction with February 5, 2011 Skate Night (Seeley) Committee Member Seeley discussed the star gazing idea with Mr. Todd Murawski, Wargo Nature Center and his input was to not only offer star gazing, but also snowshoeing, that way if there was cloud cover and star gazing was not possible there would be another option. He felt his staff could provide this service for approximately $200. Committee Member Seeley also researched the idea of having Mr. Mike Lynch, WCCO Radio Meteorologist come to give a star gazing presentation. Mr. Lynch works with community education programs. The committee however liked the idea of having snowshoeing as a th backup in case the weather did not cooperate for star gazing on February 5. Motion was made by Committee Member Haiden, seconded by Committee Member Seeley to 4 of 6 Parks & Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes 11-03-10 request City Council approve funding not to exceed $200 for a Wargo Nature Center Star Gazing/Snowshoeing Program in conjunction with the Saturday, February 5, 2011 Parks & Recreation Committee Skate Night. All in favor. Motion carried unanimously. Signage for Trails (Seeley) No updates at this time per Committee Member Seeley. The committee would like this back on the agenda in the early spring 2011. Trail Project Update Update to the committee from Mr. Mark Statz, City Engineer regarding the Trail Project: The contractor has been working with the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) office to gain their approval of the efforts made to hire Disadvantaged Business Enterprises as subcontractors, as is required for federally funded projects. Unfortunately, this process has moved very slowly as many federal government approvals do. Once EEO office approval is gained, the County Board will need to take action to award the contract to Veit. Then, and only then, may we begin working with the contractor. In conversations I’ve had with Veit representatives, they have expressed interest in having a pre- construction conference this fall, but do not intend on doing any work until spring. Update to the committee from Mr. Mark Statz, City Engineer regarding the Laurie LaMotte Memorial Park Irrigation Project: Bids were received for what’s being called the “Downtown Storm Water Reclamation Project – Phase I”. This project was split up into three contracts. Contract A will install a storm pipe between the pond in the Anoka County Regional Park and the southwest corner of LaMotte Park. Contract B will install a wet well at that location and will hook to the storm line. Inside the wet well, there will be a pump which will feed the irrigation system up to 500 gallons per minute at a pressure of 80 – 100 pounds per square inch. Finally, Contract C involves the installation of the irrigation system itself. Two different irrigation systems were bid; the gun style system and a traditional athletic field system. The gun style system, using the irrigation head we saw demonstrated, was about $50,000 less expensive than the traditional system. Therefore, the City Council decided to move forward using the large gun sprinkler system. There will be a total of 7 guns. 6 will be along the outfield fences (in right-center and left centerfield). The seventh will be placed near the parking lot and will spray the soccer field. For the infield area and the area around the playground and picnic shelter, there will be a quick-coupler that the public works department can utilize for watering with a portable sprinkler and hose. Construction of the storm line and wet well will take place this fall/winter. Construction of the irrigation system will most likely not take place until next year. We will be working with the contractor to make sure disruption to the use of the fields is minimized. Most of the irrigation pipe will be on the back side of the outfield fence, so interference with park activities should be as little as possible. The system will not irrigate Hidden Spring Park; however it could be expanded in the future for such a purpose. The city has hired a contractor to install drain tile in the fields as well. Paul Palzer can give you more information on that process as well as the work being done on the infields by City crews. VII. ADJOURNMENT Motion was made by Committee Member Selander, seconded by Committee Member Haiden to adjourn the November 3, 2010 Parks & Recreation Committee meeting at 8:20 p.m. All in favor. 5 of 6 Parks & Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes 11-03-10 Motion carried unanimously. 6 of 6