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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977 12-20 PRMMINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE PARK AND RECREATION COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER IN THE STATE OF MINNESOTA AND THE COUNTY r OF HENNEPIN REGULAR SESSION DECEMBER 20, 1977 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 7:16 p.m. Roll Call Chairman Johnson, Commissioners Hickman, Nyquist, Schroeder and Velasco. Also present were Councilman. Kuefler, Park and Recreation Director Hagel and Admin- istrative Assistant Hoffman. Chairman Johnson noted that Commissioners Kiefer and Bogle had been excused. Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Velasco and seconded by Com- October 31, 1977 missioner Hickman to accept the corrected minutes of the October 31, 1977 meeting. The motion passed unanimously. Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Hickman and seconded by Com- • November 115, 1977 missioner Velas o tp,,apProve the minutes of the NoVem- ber.15, 1977 Park and Recreation. Commission meeting. The motion passed unanimously. Park Bonding Report The first staff item reported on was the park bonding issue. The Secretary reported that the final staff report would not be available to the Commission until the March 21, 1978 meeting. The Secretary explained that this was a particularly busy time of the year in the Finance Department and that because of the many time constraints placed on the staff.it has not been possible to provide the Commission with a11 the infgM- afion they seek. The Secretary reviewed some of ilib consideration. that should be dealt with prior to any bonding recommen- dation bit the Commission. It was noted that the earlier' possible:: time for a bond election would be in July and more probably some time in August or later on. It was further stated that serious consideration should be giver to the selection of a date for the bond election. as part.c. the overall strategy of the Commission. The Secretary also indicated that the use of grants_ with the :exception of the two grants that the City has applied for should no". be used as an inducement for passing a bond issue, He indicated that such grants were competed for and that thi City could not provide any type of g-uaranEe~v for any gran in. the future. He did indicate. that the City staff, zva. optimistic about the City's ability to obtain grants for -1- 12-20-77 the park development projects. The Secretary then reviewed the mill rates required to retire projected bond issues. Ile distributed information showing the size of a bond issue, the total debt ser- vice, the total interest cost, the legal debt service annual payment, the annual mill rate re4uired for the debt service and the cost both monthly and annually to a $35,000 homestead. Following a brief discussion of the bond issue and its strategy, the Secretary sug- gested that the Commissioners try to establish priorities for each' bonding level as noted on the information distributed, on the assumption that that level would be the one recommended by the staff. The next staff item was a discussion of ice arenas. Park and Recreation Director Hagel distributed a memorandum from himself to the Commissioners. He stated that there had been a significant decline in the use of ice arenas in the area and that it was the consensus of ice arena operators in the metro- politan area that the area had-been saturated with ice arenas. He noted that all the ice arenas in the metropolitan area are operating at a loss at the present time. Commissioner Schroeder inquired as to the apparent decline in interest. Director Hagel replied that in our area he felt that the de- cline in interest could be accounted for by the decline in the numbers of youths in the age group that are the principal users of such facilities. Chairman ,ohnson inquired as to the Com- mission's feelings about ice arenas. Commissioner Velasco indicated that-it was obvious there was no need for one in Broo: lyn'Center and that it shout ld be assigned the lowest priority. That feeling was the concensus of the Commission as a whole. Park and Recreation Director Hagel then reported on the use of tennis bubbles in the metropolitan area. He stated that he and Arnie Mavis of his staff visited two (2) such structures in Minneapolis. One by Parade Stadium and the other at Martin Luther King Park. The Commission then briefly discussed the application of such bubbles in Brooklyn Center. Next, Director Hagel updated the Commission on the progress of acquiring the rights to use highway department land for recreational use near Twin Beach Park. He stated that he had a letter from the Minnesota Department of Transportation re- fusing the City's request to allow such recreational uses stating that it was inconsistent with their policies. The last item reported on by Director Hagel was his discussion with Mr. Norsted, the Principal of-Carden City School, relative to the inclusion of school property in park development plans for Brooklane Park. While Mr. Norstect liked the plan, he in- dicated that he would not be able to participate in the develop- ment of that plan. He further indicated that if the City desired to proceed on their own, he could support it but that the school property in its present condition suited their needs and that he would not be able to request any monies from the school board under those conditions. Director Hagel t°her,in- • Ice Arena • Tennis Bubbles Twin Beach 40 12-20-77 -2- quired of him if the school would consider deeding the property to the City and the City would develop the property and maintain it thus eliminating the maintenance costs to the school district, but still allowing the school its continued use of the park. Mr. Norsted did not give a reply to that thought but said he would con- sider it. Commissioner's Committee Chairman Johnson requested each of the Commissioner's Reports to give their committee reports, starting with Commis- sioner Vern Vela sco. Commissioner Vela sco indicated that he had only three neighborhood committee members two of which wanted to resign. They were Al Magnuson and Gerry Olejar. He further indicated that they had not been able to meet. Commissioner Schroeder reported that he had not had •a meeting with his neighborhood advisory group, and further he had four members, a fifth one was moving out of town. Commissioner Nyquist reported that she had not met with her group and she further indicated that Jeanette Baker wanted to resign but her husband would like to replace her. She indicated that she had four members on her committee. Commissioner Hickman indicated that she had a meeting on November 28th. At the meeting there were two mem- bers of neighborhood advisory committee present plus one individual who is interested in joining the group. The group discussed skating rinks and indicated that they felt the thermostats if they are to be turned down should be locked. They also discussed the Palmer Lake trail system and their concern with the bike trail between east and west Palmer, A brief discussion en- sued relative to the sidewalk and the reasons for its ending at Xerxes. Chairman Johnson discussed the ineffectiveness of the neighborhood advisory committees. He suggested that neighborhood advisory committee meetings be held the same night as the Commission meeting. He indicated that he felt that this would be a good way to stimulate interest in the neighborhood advisory committees. Councilman Kuefler indicated that if holding the meetings on the Commission night would stimulate their interest . ` he would support it. Chairman Johnson indicated that he would.like to try the concept for six months starting at the January meeting and holding it at 6:30 p.m. Councilman Kuefler indicated that he felt 6:30 p.m. was too early. Commissioner Schroeder also indicated that -3- 12-20-77 6:30 p.m. was too early and felt that they should have the neighborhood advisory meeting at 7;00 p.m. a d end at 7:30 p.n. There was a concer<sus amongst the Commissioners to -implement this concept. Chairman Johnson requested the Secretary to put a special notice in the minutes for the next meeting. Motion by Commissioner Hickman and seconded by Com- missioner Schroeder to adjourn the meeting. The motion was passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:56 p.m. C ha Erma n Neighborhood Advisory Committees will meet on January 17, 1978 a4 7:00 p.m. at the Brooklyn Center City Hail. Adjournment *NOTICE • • s 12-20-77 -4-