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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1979 03-20 PRMMINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE PARK AND RECREATION COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER IN THE COUNTY OF HENNEPIN AND THE STATE OF MINNESOTA - REGULAR SESSION MARCH 20, 1979 CITY HALL CALL TO ORDER The Brooklyn Center Park and Recreation Commission met in regular session and was called to order by Chairman Johnson at 7:38 p.m. ROLL CALL Chairman Johnson, Commissioners Velasco, Kiefer and Hickman. Also present were Councilmember Tony Kuefler, Park and Recreation Director Gene Hagel, Landscape Architect Judy Johnson and Administrative Assistant Brad Hoffman. Chairman Johnson noted that Commissioner Skomra had been excused. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - 2-20-79 Motion by Commissioner Hickman and seconded by Commissioner Velasco to approve the minutes of the February 20, 1979, Park and Recreation Commission meeting. The motion passed unanimously. 4 KALEIDOSCOPE Chairman Johnson reminded the Commissioners that Kaleidoscope would be held on April 22. He indicated that he desired to set up a schedule for the Commission- ers to be present at the Park and Recreation Commission booth, however, because a number of Commissioners were absent that evening, he would contact each of the Commissioners to set up the schedule. FUTURE GOALS AND PROJECTS Chairman Johnson introduced the next agenda item by stating that he had asked the Commissioners at the February meeting to review City Council Resolution No. 73-25 for discussion purposes at the March meeting. He indicated that he felt the Commission needed to address subdivision 4, line 8, "encourage dissemination of information to, and in coordination with, Brooklyn Center organizations inter- ested in the Park and Recreation function such as garden clubs, athletic groups, youth groups, civic organizations and the like". He added that he felt that the Commission has minimal contact with groups of this nature and that the Commission should consider cultivating such contacts as a future project. Commissioner Kiefer in reference to subdivision 4, line 8, "frequently visit the City parks and recreation center and keep informed of current recreation programs in order to continually review and evaluate the park system development and recreation programing" stated that she felt the Commission should visit each of the parks within each district. A discussion then ensued and Chairman Johnson indicated that the Commission could visit two (2) parks per evening during Commission meet- ings. Commissioner Kiefer suggested that by routinely visiting the parks she felt the Commission could develop and recommend methods to stimulate positive public interest in the park and recreation function as called for in Resolution No. 73-25. Commissioner Velasco expressed some concern about requesting the park service area committees to meet twice a year. He noted that subdivision 4, line 11, "to moni- tor and reflect attitudes and concerns of citizens relative to the park system and recreation programs through informal contacts and structured semi-annual 3-20-79 -1- meetings with park service area committees" was not working in his area. A brief discussion then ensued and other Commissioners agreed that park service area committees did not function well excpet when given specific tasks to perform. Commissioner Hickman suggested that the bond issue would be a good focal point to organize neighborhood committee around, but added that most of the service area committee members did not even read the minutes from the Park and Recreation Com- mission meetings. Park and Recreation Director Hagel suggested that the Commis- sioners be present at park functions, especially when awards are being presented. He suggested that their presence would be good exposure for the Commissioners and the park programs. He suggested that the Commissioners consider the Early Bird program coming up in early June. A brief discussion then ensued relative to the operations of other Park-and Rec- reation Commission meetings. Councilmember Kuefler suggested that Director Hagel review the City's relationship with other agencies. Chairman Johnson indicated that he would like to have Chief of Police Lindsay talk to the Commission about vandalism in the parks. Administrative Assistant Brad Hoffman indicated that he would talk to Chief Lindsay and see if he would be available for the April meeting. Commissioner Velasco indicated he liked the idea because the Commission was sup- posed to be dealing with vandalism in the parks. He also indicated he would like more information about the recreation programs offered by the City. Director Hagel indicated that he would have staff members give reports on the various programs that they administer to the Commission at upcoming meetings. He added that May would be a good time to start reviewing the programs. Councilmember Kuefler sug- gested that in reference to item 10 of subdivision 4, which called for coordination between the Conservation Commission and the Park and Recreation Commission regard- ing the conservation and naturalistic aspects of the parks, that the two Commissions h,--'--4 joint meeting to t ":.c o t{~oir mut?.'al_ intpreo - in t-'hp. Palmpr T,nkp Arpa, Councilmember Kuefler also suggesLeu~LhaL Lhe iulluIIi6slua ask %ia Council tc, recon`"~ sider Resolution No. 73-25 requiring neighborhood advisory committees to meet twice a year. He suggested that the Resolution be changed to require meetings of the neighborhood advisory committees when deemed appropriate by the Commissioners. Commissioner Velasco moved that the Commission present a resolution to the City Council requesting the amendment of Resolution No. 73-25, item 11, that would allow the Park and Recreation Commission to determine appropriate times for the neighborhood park service areas to meet. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Hickman. The motion was passed unanimously. Director Hagel added that the City, through himself, meets regularly with a com- mittee of the community education directors in the area and they together discuss and coordinate programs of mutual interest. He also noted that they need to coor- dinate programs with the school district to assure a minimal amount of conflicts. Commissioner Kiefer inquired if the City would be using summer youth crews again in the parks. Director Hagel indicated that we would be and more specifically, we would be using summer youth crews in the Palmer, Lake area. RECESS The Park and Recreation Commission recessed at 8:39 p.m. and reconvened at 9:05 p.m. OTHER BUSINESS The next agenda item was a staff presentation of their financing plan for the park development program. Director Hagel reviewed the staff recommendations noting that low priority, high maintenance items such as the hockey rink at West Palmer, lighting for six neighborhood tennis courts,',and lighting for the walk and apparatus areas in all the parks had been eliminated from the staff park 3-20-79 -2- s development financing plan. He reviewed the community development funds that the City anticipated and the grants that the City has received and anticipates receiving for the development of the park system. He state that dependent upon the monies that we receive from community development, the City could finance the park development plan as outlined by the staff for a minimum of $668,000 to a maximum of $853,000. Chairman Johnson inquired as to why lighting for the tennis courts had been removed from the staff recommendation. Director Hagel indicated that he had reviewed the Commission's priority list and removed those items with a low pri- ority and high maintenance cost. Councilmember Kuefler inquired as to the hockey rink for West Palmer. Director Hagel indicated there has been a decreasing use of hockey rinks and that the demand for a hockey rink in West Palmer was just not there. Commissioner Velasco noted that at the time the proposal was submitted to the Council, the Commission had literally asked for everything knowing that it would come back to them with certain items deleted. Chairman Johnson added that his concern was that the Commission understand what items were recommended by the staff for elimination and the staff reasoning for their recommendation. Commissioner Hickman felt that the items eliminated from the proposal under the staff recommendations were reasonable. Park Director Hagel then reviewed other items in the park development plan that he felt the Commission would like to consider. He noted the shelter buildings at Freeway, Riverdale and Brooklane. He indicated that he felt that the buildings at Freeway and Riverdale were sub- stantially sound buildings and were in need of slight modifications. He also noted that the wading pools at Northport and Garden City parks had not been used for many years because they failed to meet current health laws. He noted that the $6,000 proposed for each of the pools was to provide filtering equipment.. Chairman Johnson inquired how often the wading pools had been used in the past. Director Hagel indicated they were frequently used: Commissioner Kiefer noted that we have an aging population and that we will have fewer users of the wading _ ii%1'.aL'iis..>.i vi«.t ;.~..uv..v ..A `'k-. L.., .F...9a -l, s. ,-i U- 4- P CA 5 . V ities already there we should maintain them. Chairman Johnson inquired if they were structurally sound. A discussion then ensued relative to converting the pools to sandboxes. Discussion then turned to the development of Central Park and items that should be considered by the Commission there. Director Hagel noted that the Commission should consider the installation of fountains within the plaza at a cost of $55,000. There was a lengthy discussion also relative to the main building pro- posed for Central Park. It was noted that the senior citizens had requested a room for themselves within that building. Councilmember Kuefler noted the senior citizen room in Brooklyn Park and stated he felt that the senior citizen room would be a good idea and perhaps the Commission should review Brooklyn Park's. A lengthy discussion then ensued relative to the use of a senior citizens room in that building. Director Hagel then discussed considerations within Palmer Lake. It was his sug- gestion that the building be reduced from $90,000 to $70,000. He also recommended the elimination of plant materials, blinds and observation decks for a total of $20,000 off the total. A brief discussion then ensued relative to the Palmer Lake area. Following that discussion, the Commissioners agreed to review the recommendations of the staff and be prepared to discuss them at the next Commis- sion meeting. s 3-20-79 -3- ADJOURNMENT Motion by Commissioner Velasco and seconded by Commissioner Hickman to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed unanimously and the meeting was adjourned at 10:01 P.M. Chairman • • I, 3-20-79 -4-