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Parks Commission MInutes 03-06-2008Park Commission Minutes: 3/G/08 MINUTES PARKS COMMISSION Thursday, March G, 2008 - 4:30 p.m. "To enhance community pride through developing maintaining City parks with a standard of quality." Members Present: Gene Emanuel, Larry Nolan, Rick Traver and Council Liaison, Brian Stumpf. Members Absent: Nancy McCaffrey Others Present: Tom Pawelk, Fark Superintendent and Mark Larson 1. Call to Order. Chair Larry Nolan called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. and declared a quorum present. 7. Consideration of advertisin~_on the Ballfield fencing. Because of a scheduling conflict the Forks Commission moved this item up to allow Michelle Hertwig an opportunity to address the Parks Commission about a proposal to sell advertising on banners placed on the ballfleld fences. Michelle Hertwig explained that the banners are 50% mesh so you can see through them. The size of the banner will be determined by the height of the fence. A 9' x 7' banner is $400/year for a three year contract period. There is a 10% discount if the full three year contract amount is paid up front. A 14' x 7' banner would be $600/year. Michelle Hertwig's charge for a 9' x 7' banner would be $349 which includes banner and design time. At the end of a three year contract the City would receive a net of $$50/per banner. Tarn Pawelk explained that the Community Center has established a Monticello Park and Recreation and they now handle the scheduling of the fields for softball and handle the concessions for all ballfield uses. At the present time all monies received are going into the MCC budget. Tom Pawelk indicated that the Parks Department will be tracking all hours spent on field preparation and cleaning/repair of concession areas in order to came up with a basis for claiming a portion of the revenue generated by the ballfields for the parks budget. Tom Pawelk also informed the Parks Commission that the Monticello baseball team will not be hosting the state tournament this year. In the past the tournament which runs over two weekends drew a good crowd and was a good revenue producer. Rick Traver asked how much of the revenue from the banners would actually go to the park fund. Tom. Pawelk felt that it should all go to the park fund. There was discussion on how the funds from the ballfield concessions were being handled. Larry Nolan stated there are two issues to be considered with this item. One is whether the City wants to go ahead with sell advertising on banners for the ballfields and secondly how to divide funds generated from the ballfield use. Park Commission Minutes: 3/b/0$ If the City decides to go with banners, they would only be used an fields #1 and #2. At this time it is not known haw many banners could be placed on a fence. Tom Pawelk will get the information on the ballfield dimensions to Michelle Hertwig. Torn Pawelk stated that the baseball association pays a flat fee for ballfield maintenance. When the softball association ran the concessions a portion of the revenue was suppose to be paid to the City for field maintenance. He added that there are four softball tournaments a year at the fields. The softball leagues use the fields Mondays and Tuesdays and the baseball league uses the fields on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Gene Emanuel felt the banner idea had merit and if Michelle Hertwig would be doing the soliciting for advertising the only question he would have is what funds are coming back to the parks. The Parks Commission felt this proposal should come before the City Council. Michelle Hertwig pointed out that this price is the same as the banners far the schools. At the school the funds from the banners were used for the facilities and nat programming costs. RICK TRAVER MOVED TO PROCEED FORWARD WITH THE SALE OF ADVERTISING ON BANNERS TO BE PLACED ON BALLFIELDS #1 AND #2 WITH THE AFPROVAL OF THE PROPOSAL AND PRICING BY THE CITY COUNCIL. Gene Emanuel stated he would like language added specifying how much of the funds from this proposal would go the park. RICK TRAVER AMENDED HIS MOTION ADDING THAT THE REVENUE SPLIT WOULD BE DETERMINED ONCE DATA IS OBTAINED. GENE EMANiJEL SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 3-0. 2. A rove minutes of Janua 24 X008 re ular Parks Commission meetin . RICK TRAVER MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF JANUARY 24, 2008 REGULAR PARKS COMMISSION MEETING. GENE EMANUEL SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 3-0. 3. Consideration of adding items to the agenda. Larry Nolan added an update on the YMCA park. 4. Citizens comments and. requests. There was no one who spoke under citizens comments or requests. Tom Pawelk submitted a letter he had sent to the VFW regarding the flagpole at Hillside Cemetery which resulted in a donation of $500 from the VFW. Any additional funds to replace the flagpole will need to come from the park budget. Gene Emanuel suggested contacting the auxiliary to see if they could provide any assistance. The Parks Commission commended Tom Pawelk an his efforts to obtain the funding. 2 Park Commission Minutes: 3/6/0$ 5. Tree Re lacement Pro ram. Tom Pawelk explained this program is for City residents only and submitted a copy of the information that will be going out in the newsletter. As in the past the City will be picking up '/2 the cost of the tree. The staff will be doing some boulevard tree planting along 7t" Street and the planting proposed for the Chelsea Road boulevard will be delayed until the street lighting is installed. The City will pay for the boulevard trees. Gene Emanuel asked about planting boulevard trees along School Boulevard. The Parks Commission felt the handout information looked good. Tom Pawelk noted that there was no tree planting seminar that would be conducted but planting information will be distributed with the trees. b. Consideration of ballfield Agreement. The ballfield agreement was being brought up because staff is considering an increase in price from $1,500 to $1,750. Tom Pawelk stated there is a special charge for tournaments which is $110 per field. Other than the price increase the agreement is similar to that of other years. The agreement needs to be signed by March 15`". Gene Emanuel asked if the hockey association had signed the agreement with the City on the use of the rinks. Tom Pawelk reported. that the hockey association which uses the rinks on Tuesday and Thursday nights has not signed the agreement. S. Landscaping for the roundabout area. Tam Pawelk submitted a landscape plan that was prepared by the engineer showing proposed plantings far the roundabout located at CSAH 18 and Meadow Oak Avenue. The landscaping will be a joint project between the Forks Department and the Lions Club. The project is proposed to be completed by Memorial Day with the Lions Club handling maintenance of the plantings. Tom Pawelk felt a skyline locust would be a better choice far the trees rather than the burr oak proposed. Gene Emanuel felt there were pros and cans to be considered in landscaping the roundabout. Tom Pawelk felt the landscaping would result in more drifting of snow in the winter and trash and debris would get caught in the landscaped area. Rick Traver suggested that perhaps the number of plantings proposed. could be thinned out. The initial expense of the landscaping would be covered by funds from the project but thereafter the City would have to annually budget for maintenance cost. Tom Pawelk will work with the Lions Club on the maintenance of the area. 9. Consideration of a shelter/storage shed for East Bridge Park. When the East Bridge Park gardeners started working in East Bridge Park they stored their tools and supplies in Fran Fair's garage. Later another resident in the area allowed the tools to be stored in his garage. Last year the resident indicated his garage would no longer be available for that use so the tools and supplies were stored in one of the gardeners car. The gardeners would like to have some kind of shelter provided far their tools, fertilizer and other supplies. Larry Nolan thought an 8' x 8' shed would be sufficient to house their 6' x 4' cart and their other supplies. A possible location far the structure would be in the area of the Link property. Tarn Fawelk informed the Parks Commission that $3,000 was budgeted for East Bridge Park and he 3 Park Commission Minutes: 3/6/08 felt supplies to construct the storage shed could be taken from there. Parks Department staff would be constructing the storage shed. l0. Consideration of a ointin are resentative from the Parks Commission to serve on an ad hoc committee to review the res oases to the RFP's far a Natural Resources Invento Brian Stumpf stated he was serving as Council representative nn that committee. It was proposed that the committee would be meeting 3-4 times to review the proposals that are submitted by firms proposing to do the Natural Resources Inventory for the City. Rick Traver volunteered to be the Parks Commission representative with Larry Nolan serving as the backup. 11. Introduction of Mark Larson. At this time the Parks Commission took some time to talk with Mark Larson, who has expressed interest in serving on the Parks Commission and would fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Ben Hitter. The Parks Commission explained the role of the Parks Commission and the type of activities they were involved in. Mr. Larson has been in the construction business for 25 years and he would like to get involved with things for the family such as parks and recreation. RICK TRAVER MOVED TO RECOMMEND THE APPOINTMENT OF MARK CARSON TO THE PARKS COMMISSION TO FILL THE VACANCY CREATED BY THE RESIGNATION OF BEN HITTER. GENE EMANUEL SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 3-0. 12. Consideration of notes for the la structure at Sunset Ponds. Tom Pawelk reported he had received quotes from five vendors for the playground equipment at Sunset Ponds and these proposals had been reviewed by the entire Parks Department staff. With a budget of $52,000 as a parameter, Park Department staff felt two of the five vendors truly met the budget requirement. The five vendors were: Flanagan Sales; Clearwater Recreation; Midwest Playscapes, Webber Recreation and Landscape Structures. Amain consideration for the Parks Department is whether the vendor would allow a supervised installation. The Parks Department had done a supervised installation at Hillcrest Park where a community group such as the scouts would do the work under the supervision of the vendor's representative. The Parks Department felt strongly this was the way to go for two reasons: 1) Community involvement and 2) Saving of installation costs could be applied towards additional equipment. Midwest Playscapes and Webber Recreation were the vendors that provide supervised installation. Midwest Playscapes was the firm that did the supervised installation at the Hillcrest Park. The Parks Department felt this was a very reputable firm that had good quality playground equipment. Webber Recreation who handles the Miracle Recreation Equipment was the other firm who did supervised installation. Although the City has not had any experience with this firm as far as the supervised installation, the Miracle Recreation Equipment was installed in Ellison Park almost ten years ago and is still in excellent condition. Torn Pawelk indicated that the scouts would be available to work on this project. The Parks Commission reviewed the play structure layouts from the various vendors and agreed with the Parks Department that it made sense to ga with a firm that provided a supervised 4 Park Commission Minutes: 3/6/08 installation. Larry Nolan and Rick Traver favored Webber Recreation based on the quality of their product. Tam Pawelk pointed out that both Midwest Playscapes and Webber Recreation had their equipment in Monticello parks but the only supervised installation experience the City had was with Midwest Playscapes. Gene Emanuel suggested getting same references from other communities as far as their experience with the supervised installation done by Webber Recreation. The consensus of the Parks Commission was to go with the proposal from Webber Recreation. The Forks Commission then discussed scheduling the meeting with the Sunset Ponds residents to let them review the park development plan and provide comment on it. It is proposed to have this part of the next regular Parks Commission meeting on March 27, 2008. Tom Pawelk informed the Parks Commission that he had applied for a grant on another piece of park equipment but has not yet heard back on it. 13. Park Maintenance. The park maintenance information was submitted in a new format which provided a daily list of what was worked. on. Tom Pawelk stated that he is requesting the Council. at their March l0i" meeting to consider the purchase of a used 1999 MT S Trackless which will be used. for removing snow on the sidewalks and pathways. The 1985 MT 3 Trackless is in poor condition and to bring up to operating condition would cast over $21,000. The used 1999 MT 5 Trackless would cast $30,000 not including sales tax. Tom Pawelk explained how the equipment was used and the number of hours used. This was a good year for the skating facilities since the weather was more conducive far it. Tarn Pawelk stated that he will probably be changing the hours somewhat for next year with the hours the attendants are on duty starting a little later since skaters were not coming until later. Update: Larry Nolan reported that bonding bill which includes the $8,000,000 far the YMCA purchase is in committee and is being moved through the legislative process. Brian Stumpf indicated that he contacted his uncle who is a representative to let him know the significance of this bill far the City of Monticello. Tom Pawelk and Marc Mattice, Wright County Park Superintendent testified before an Environmental Committee and a majority of the committee members had actually visited the YMCA site. l4. Adionrn. RICK TRAVER MOVED TO ADJOURN AT 6 F.M. LARRY NOLAN SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 3-0. Recording Secretary 5