HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-08-03 P & R Minutes Approved
Parks & Recreation Committee
Meeting Minutes
08-03-11
PARKS AND RECREATION COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - 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, August 3, 2011 at Centerville City Hall, 1880 Main Street.
Present:
Chairperson Patrick Branch
Vice-Chairperson Jon Grahek
Committee Member Kevin Amundsen
Committee Member Brian Peterson
Committee Member Mark Haiden
Committee Member Suzanne Seeley (6:40)
Absent:
Committee Member Kevin Selander
Council:
Council Liaison Steven King
Staff:
Staff Liaison Kim Stephan
Also present were Jeff & Rob Faust.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I. CALL TO ORDER
Roll Call
Chairperson Branch called the August 3, 2011 Parks & Recreation Committee Meeting to order at 6:35
p.m.
II. SET AGENDA
Committee Member Seeley requested a discussion be added as 1A under Updates regarding an
appreciation of the work done for the 8K Walk/Run events.
Motion was made by Committee Member Amundsen, seconded by Vice-Chairperson Grahek, to
set the August 3, 2011 Parks & Recreation Committee Agenda with the above addition. All in
favor. Motion carried unanimously.
III. APPEARANCES
Mr. Rob Faust, Eagle Scout Flag Pole Project
Mr. Rob Faust made an appearance to update the committee on the progress of his Eagle Scout Project to
install a flag pole in Cornerstone Park
1 of 6
Parks & Recreation Committee
Meeting Minutes
08-03-11
Mr. Faust informed the committee he has his volunteers and the equipment ready to start the flag pole
th
project on Saturday, August 6, but there is now a large pile of dirt from moving the driveways right in
the spot where the flagpole was to go. Mr. Faust tried to contact Mr. Palzer who is out of town on
vacation for the next two weeks. He is also concerned about the timing of the contractors test concrete
pour which was going to be utilized for the flag pole.
Chairperson Branch explained to the committee that the contractor for the trail project has to do a test
concrete pour which is then tore out and discarded when the test is completed. Mr. Palzer proposed using
the concrete for the flagpole instead, making the area slightly larger at about 10-12’ diameter surrounding
a 3’ hole in the middle for the flag pole.
The committee directed Mr. Faust to contact Mr. Greg Burmeister, Project Manager, for information
about the dirt pile, the test concrete pour and when it would be advisable to schedule the installation of
the flagpole. The committee felt Mr. Faust’s project may have to be delayed until September.
Chairperson Branch is not convinced that the solar lights will be satisfactory and has proposed another
solution of placing lights on the existing street lamp poles.Mr. Palzer supplied the committee with a cost
estimate from Rivard Electric for $1,449. The committee was surprised at the cost. Committee Member
Peterson questioned whether the estimate was so high because it was on one of the poles City Council
has elected to turn off to conserve costs and would like to see a breakdown of the electrical costs included
in the estimate.
Motion was made by Committee Member Peterson, seconded by Committee Member Amundsen to
request staff research why this estimate is so high and what can be done to lower the costs. The
committee would also request soliciting two more bids.All in favor. Motion carried unanimously.
IV. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES
July 6, 2011 Parks & Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes
Committee Member Peterson requested changing the following sentence on page 3 of 5 under Movies in
the Park to reflect ‘Committee Member Peterson’ instead of ‘Chairperson Peterson’. Chairperson
Peterson suggested letting Creative Kids pick out the movie(s).
Committee Member Seeley requested the word ‘in’ be changed to ‘is’ in the last sentence on page 2.
Committee Member Seeley also requested replacing the question mark with a period in the following
sentence on page 5 of 5 - There was concern this might be a violation of the City’s Waste Management
contract?
Committee Member Peterson requested changing the word ‘lens’ to ‘lumens’ on page 3 under Movies in
the Park.
Motion was made by Committee Member Peterson, seconded by Committee Member Seeley, to
approve the July 6, 2011 Parks & Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes with the above
corrections. Ayes – 5, Nays – 0, Abstain – 1 (Haiden). Motion carried.
2 of 6
Parks & Recreation Committee
Meeting Minutes
08-03-11
V. COMMITTEE BUSINESS
Lighting of Flagpole at Cornerstone Park
This item was discussed under appearances, but Committee Member Haiden stated he took some pictures
of a Veteran’s Memorial Plaque he had seen on vacation that he thought was worded really nicely. He
will forward these to Ms. Stephan for the September agenda.
Movies in the Park – Select Movies & Equipment
Committee Member Peterson stated Creative Kids Academy is willing to select the movie(s) but,
Committee Member Peterson needs to supply them with a list of movies to choose from.
thth
Movies in the Park are scheduled for September 10 & 17. Committee Member Peterson is working
with Creative Kids Academy on the movie selection. With the purchase of the PA system, the costs of
renting equipment will be less than in 2010 as some of the PA system can be used for the movies.
Motion was made by Chairperson Branch, seconded by Committee Member Peterson to
recommend City Council approve expending funds not to exceed $750 from Park Programs as
previously approved with the 2011 Budget. All in favor. Motion carried unanimously.
Committee Member Seeley said she recently attended a Movie event in Minneapolis and brought back
samples of the movie list they provide. Committee Member Seeley also stated Minneapolis Parks shows
a short video prior to the movie promoting the park system and the amenities provided by the Park Board
and thought it a good venue to possibly promote the Parks & Recreation Committee of Centerville and
the events that are offered and supported by the committee.
Consideration of Reserving/Renting of Parks
This item was tabled until the September meeting.
VI. UPDATES
8K Walk/Run/Skate Volunteer Appreciation of 8K Event Volunteers
Committee Member Seeley wanted to take a moment to recognize what a successful race we had with
120 runners and 24 skaters and acknowledge it was predominantly due to the efforts of Chairperson
Branch. The committee would like to recognize and thank Chairperson Branch for all his hard work
through the year on this project. Committee Member Seeley also stated how wonderful it was to see the
whole community come together. Chairperson Branch thanked the committee for their efforts stating
every member of the Parks & Recreation Committee was involved, as well as City Staff, Planning &
Zoning Commission members and resident volunteers.
Festival of the Lakes 8K Run/Walk/Skate Review
Chairperson Branch said considering the low numbers of early registration, he was pleased with the
amount of participants with more than ½ of the numbers being same day registrations. There will be
some changes next year with the following problems noted:
3 of 6
Parks & Recreation Committee
Meeting Minutes
08-03-11
A large number of people complained about the cost with on-line pre-registration charging a
$2.50 fee. There was not enough of a difference between the cost to register early and same day
registration. Chairperson Branch suggested absorbing the $2.50 online pre-registration fee and
raising the same day registration to $30, this would make a $10 difference between pre-
registration and same day registration. Committee Member Peterson suggested allowing
registrants to use pay-pal as a way to not be charged a registration fee from the on-line sites.
There were problems with coordinating the volunteers. Some stops ran out of water and/or didn’t
have cups. Radio communication did not work as well as it should have and this area needs to be
reviewed. Chairperson Branch stated next year there will be a Volunteer Coordinator, some one
who just manages volunteers and is stationed in one location.
It was suggested the registration table be looked at for better organization and there was some
trouble on the finish line with 3 races finishing in the same place, though the children really
appeared to enjoy running through the same gates as the adults did.
There were only 24 skaters, most of which were not Centerville people so the word did get out to
other communities, but the committee needs to consider whether they want to do the in-line race
next year and if so how to attract more skaters.
Chairperson Branch stated the races were self supporting from sponsors so all registration fees are
proceeds. He will have a break down of the costs for the committee at the September meeting. The
committee had discussed using these proceeds towards the sand volleyball court, but Chairperson Branch
would like the committee to think about using a portion towards trail signage. This will be on the next
agenda.
Music in the Park
Committee Members need to commit to an event for the remaining performances. All of the remaining
performers will be using the PA system so a Committee Member who knows how to use the equipment
will need to be present at these events.
After discussion between Vice-Chairperson Grahek, Mr. Tom Lee and Mr. Mike Jeziorski, Finance
Director, a snake cable was bought on Craig’s List by Vice-Chairperson Grahek to be reimbursed by the
City from the remaining funds for the PA system.
This was one of the last pieces of equipment needed for the PA system; it is a thicker, hose-like cord
which consists of a bundle of many individual cables with patch bays at either end so that audio gear can
be connected.
Irrigation System at Laurie LaMotte Memorial Park
Mr. Greg Burmeister reports the irrigation contractor started Monday, July 25th with system layout and
anticipates a 3 week completion.
Recycling of Aluminum Cans at Laurie LaMotte Memorial Park
Parks & Recreation has been discussing an idea to set up an aluminum can collection point as a fund
raiser for the parks. The discussion raised concerns that if we do set up an aluminum collection point, are
4 of 6
Parks & Recreation Committee
Meeting Minutes
08-03-11
we in violation of any contractual agreements with Waste Management. The City Clerk researched the
contract we have with Waste Management and discussed it with our representative and it is not violating
any part of our contract. There is also potential for SCORE Funds to pay for a portion of this program.
Committee Member Petersons concerns were as follows:
The typical "can trailer" would be an unsightly and ugly addition to our park. The trailer would be
expensive and take a good deal of time to recoup the cost. Trailers are not cheap and add to that the cost
of some custom welding to build a cage and now it is likely very expensive. Committee Member
Peterson suggested the committee build or have built for us, a large wooden box to hold the cans which
could be painted and look a lot nicer than a wire frame trailer. The cost would also be significantly less
money. The suggestion is based on the assumption that Public Works could use their equipment to lift
this box full of cans onto a trailer for transfer to the recycler.
Committee Member Amundsen is going to do some research on whether National Recycling Inc. supplies
the trailer for these types of fund raisers and report back to the committee.
Signage for Trails
This item will remain on the agenda while the committee continues to do research. Committee Member
Seeley reported Anoka County signs have a graffiti repellant of some sort and she will check with the
company to see what it is they use.
Concession Stand at Laurie LaMotte Memorial Park
There was surplus inventory from the concession stand which will be donated to the Parks & Recreation
Committee for their use. The supplies are mostly soda and water which Chairperson Branch felt could be
used for the 8K Run or Music in the Park.
Financial reporting from Mr. Mike Jeziorski, Finance Director regarding the Concession Stand was
included in the packet for the committee’s review. In its first year the concession stand was really close
to breaking even.
Trail Project
Mr. Greg Burmeister, Trail Project Manager reports: Veit has again started work on the trail with the
clean-up following the state shut down. They are working to complete the storm sewer construction on
CASH 54 and adjacent areas; also they have started on construction of the retaining walls. We have our
first weekly meeting Tuesday, July 27th and I should have a better idea of schedules.
Skate Park Usage/Security Cameras
Mr. Paul Palzer, Public Works Director had asked the committee to consider the following:
Just an update and question for Parks & Recreation. We have noticed about an 80% drop in use of the
skate park during the day since we installed the surveillance cameras at the park. Has anyone else
noticed less activity there during the evening hours?
5 of 6
Parks & Recreation Committee
Meeting Minutes
08-03-11
Vice-Chairperson Grahek who is often at the park at night stated he has noticed no difference in the usage
of the skate park. The other committee members are not at the park often enough to note a difference.
Future Eagle Scout Projects
Chairperson Branch contacted Ms. Mary Capra, due to her involvement in past Eagle Scout Projects and
her affiliation with the Scouts, with the following list of potential Eagle Scout Projects:
1) Park and trail signs similar to those used by the County. We have a couple of proposed sign designs
that keep the budget reasonable. Still this may exceed the funds the Scout has available. If that is the
case, Chairperson Branch felt the committee could find a way to share the cost between the Scout and the
City.
2) For Trailside Park (where the Bald Eagle Water Ski Show performs) all we really want there is one or
two benches that can be accessed from the existing county trail. Because of the hill this could be a little
complex and the two benches could become two projects
3) We need an irrigation system in Cornerstone Park. The Public Works Director says if a Scout puts the
system in place he will connect it to a water source. The value of this project is to protect the value of the
landscaping that will be going into that new park without placing an undue burden on the City staff.
4) The committee does not have a specific plan, but we need to place some form of historic marker in
our parks that acknowledges the history of the Native Americans and the early settlers in our town.
VII. ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made by Committee Member Peterson, seconded by Vice-Chairperson Grahek, to
adjourn the August 3, 2011 Parks & Recreation Committee meeting at 8:20 p.m. All in favor.
Motion carried unanimously.
Transcribed by Kim Stephan
6 of 6