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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/16/1993 . t � �' ITE1��:�3 : . CITY OF APPLE VALLEY PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COtgiITTEE February 16, 1993 Minutes of the Apple Va11ey Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee held February 16, 1993 at the Apple Valley Community C�nter. PRESENT: Chairman Greg Kopischke ttett at 7:45pa); Committee Members John DiRico, Charlie Maus, Russ DeFauw <teft at 7:25pa), Connie Scheid and Tina Rankin terrived at 6:4opm; City Council Members Giz�ny Sterling cteft ac 6:SOpa�� and To�a Goodwin t�efc et 6:5opn); Parks and Recreation Director Randy Johnson; Park Maintenance Superintendent Tom Adamini; Arena Manager Gary Pietig. Visitors: Project '92 Representatives Bernie Dusich, Clyde Rhodes, Brad Lemberg, Ken Jarr and Brad Johnson. ABSENT: David Gross. Item #1.- Chairman Greg Kopischke called the meeting to order at 6:lOpm. I�em #2, - Approval of Age�da. MOTION: by Russ DeFauw, secoaded by Charlie Maus to apprave the agenda as presented. V�TE: Yes • 5, No - 0 ITEM #3. - Approval of Dacember 1992 Minutes. MOTI�N: by Connie Scheid, seconded by Charlie Maus to approve the December 1992 minufies as presented. VOTE: Yes - 5, No - 0 ITEM #4.A. - New Busine�s - Presentation from Project '92 Committee Representatives on Proposed indoor Skating Rink. Randy Johnson introduced Bernie Dusich as a member of the former Youth Athletic Needs Study Gammittee and now working on the Arena Pro�ject '92 Committee. Todate the Arena Project '92 program has raised roughly $36,500 through their fund raising efforts since March 1992. The project is proposed not exclusively as an ice arena, but as a multi-purpose building. The ice program would run approximately September 1 through March. Primary location site proposed is west of the Apple Valley Community Center in the Hayes Park. 1 � . � • The Project '92 Committee feels that the trend will be towards olympic size rinks and is proposing an olympic size be constructed at this time. Eden Prairie, Marrucci Arena, St. Cloud and Bloomington all have, or will have, olympic size ice. The Committee predicts multi-users for ice hours such as - open skating, men's hockey, clinics, fall leagues, and Apple Valley Hockey Association as prime anchor tenants. The five months of non-ice time could be used for various prograats such as concerts, seminars, etc. The Committee believes that it would be a fairly reasonable trade-off if they pay for the debt service and the cost of the building and the City picks up the operating costs, similar to the city streets, etc. Brad Lemberg of Independent Consulting Engineers, Inc. of St. Paul is working with the Project '92 Committee in keeping the project design simple, cost economical and easy to maintain. He proposes a precast concrete structure, possibly built in phases. He also suggested an ice cover similar to carpet for approximately $50,000 that would allow for indoor soccer programs. 800 hours of ice time are already committed from the hockey association. Those hours are in addition to those already scheduled at the current sports arena. Arena Manager Gary Pietig believes that new ice hours could be sold to surrounding communities. However, as those communities construct their own arenas, it may become difficult to sell hours at the Apple Valley arena. The prime time hours at the arena will almost always sell; it's the late night hours after 10:00pm that can make or break an arena financially. Parking for a new arena in Hayes Park would utilize the current parking lots and possibly the Westview School lot in addition to a new lot of 20 to 30 stalls at a cost of approximately $15,000 to $20,000 without losing any field space from the park. Mr. Johnson walked through the staff comments report. He stated that the staff would be glad to have another arena in the city. However, with the limited funds available, we need to prioritize the pro,jects. The debt service estimation is $150,OOQ and the operational costs for a new arena would be approximately $150,000. Revenue and profit are two different words when working with an arena. If you need to make a profit, you'd have to sell the ice time for $200 to $300 per hour. The existing arena bonds will be paid off in 1995. City Finance Department pro�ections for a bond issue estimate that the average house ($100,000) in Apple Valley would pay an additional tax each year of $14.00 for a new arena. The Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee suggested that the Arena Project '92 Committee get additional promotional backing from other community groups for the project. The Arena Project '92 Committee representatives will be presenting their proposal to the City Council on Thursday, February 18 at City Hall. All 2 , � � � interested parties are invited and encouraged to attend. Gommittee comments on the proposal were: Gonnie Scheid: Request further thought, not completely sold on the idea because of the other priorities. John DiRico: View it not as a necessity. As a member of a men's team that sicates weekly in Burnsville, the prime interest is the time available and then the cost. Olympic size may not have anything to do with it (demand) . Suggested getting the Booster Club to help with the costs. Would like to have more of a co�itment froa4 the Boaster Club or Pro�ect '92 Committee. Want some assurance that they could come up with some help to pay for the cost of this project. Reply - Bernie Dusich: IL's a lot to ask. . .we're an anchor tenant and paying a iot for the ice and then to pay additional money to help cover the other costs, There is a committed eare out there that is really interested. If that's what it takes, that's what we'll do. Reply - Randy Johnson: City Council has taken a hard line on not raising t�es over the last four years. We'd have to rob some other programs to cover the new costs. Tina Rankin: Have mixed feelings, need more time to study it and how existing programs might get strained. Not comfortable with it yet. The number of peopl� served is one of the things we have to balance together with the limited resources, etc. Charlie Maus: Feel the same as the rest of the committee; there's a 1ot of work that's gone into the project. Challenge the Project '92 group to get tagether with the soccer program for another source of revenue. Greg Kopischke: This is probably the best proposal we've seen for an ice arena. Still uncomfortable with the information presented. As a group, the Advisory Committe� would like to see a second arena. There's definitely some support there. It's not necessarily a "no", but we need to check the priorities for the city. Reply - Randy Johnson: We feel comfortable with what we've done; we aren't behind anyone yet, we're just not as far ahead as Burnville. Apple Valley has 23 outdoor rinks/11 hockey rinks. John DiRico: If Arena Project '92 Committee can get the revenue and the cosr a little closer together, it would help the reluctance. 3 � . , . Reply - Randy Johnson: It's not just the operational cost, but also the debt service. We need to be aware of both parts. Bernie Dusich: We can cover the debt service, but not the operational costs. e�yae Rhodes: The hockey association has pretty much paid their own way for quite a long time. Basketball, soccer, etc, have paid very little user fees. Maybe the (hockey) users are iimited because the facilities are limited. What's the total cost of maintaining the fields in Apple Va11ey? Hockey gets very little subsidy. Reply - Randy Johnson: The City of Apple Valley picks up approximately $100 per hour for ice time used by the Apple Valley Hockey Association at the arena. If the association were to pay the whole cost, it would be about $200 per hour. �ields cost about $1,000 per field over the course of a year. Tina Rankin: Project '92 has made some good points as to the figures. Perception within the community is that it's a sma.11 number of people playing hockey. One field can be used for two or three different sports during the year. Very professionai report. If there ever would be a time £or a another arena, this would be the best yet. Charlie Maus: President Clinton is asking for new taxes - if the arena would go to a referendum, it would be a hard sell. Randy Johnson: It's all up to the policy makers. If you don't want to raise taxes and you don't have more revenue coming in, it becomes a priority issue. Thanks to the Arena Project '92 group for attending the meeting. Reply - Bernie Dusich: Comments are somewhat disappointing tempered with reality from the Advisory Committee's point of view. Appreciate the Committee's time and comments and suggestions. Will see them on Thursday night at the Gity Council meeting. Charlie Maus took control of the meeting for Chairman Greg Kopischke at 7:45pm. ITEM #4.B. - New Business - Youth Athletic Facilities Report Mr. Johnson asked for Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee recommendations on the Staff Priority Recommendation list that can ba taken to the City Council at the Thursday, February 18 meeting. MOTION: by John DiRico, seconded by Tina Rankin, that the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee's prime recommendation is that approximately 60 acres of land be purchased in seareh of outdoor fieid space as soon as possible. VOTE: Yes - 4, No - 0 4 . , � • MOTION: by Tina Rankin, seconded by Connie Scheid, that gym and ice be addressed at the appropriate time. The Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee supports the need for addiCional gym space, but as there doesn't seem to be any immediate proposals available, and because the arena proposal is here, it should be investigated by the City Council. VOTE: Yes - 4, No - 0 ITEM #4.C. - New Business - Maintenance Report Park Maintenance Superintendent Tom Adamini presented to the Advisory Cominittee copies of the Year-End Park Maintenance Report for 1992. Mr. Johnson stated that tihis is another example of how the Park Department tracks these things. Mr. Adamini has really brought a touch of organization to th� operation. ITEM #4.D. - New Business - Park Dedication Expenditure Request Mr. Johnson reviewed the proposed 1993 expenditures. The estimated funds do not include interest fees. The staff prioritized the top 18 items from a possible 40 items. Valley Middle field #2 lies on the boundary between the Schaol District #196 property and City of Apple Valley p�:rk property. Therefore, th� two groups will split the $24,00� necessary to renovate the field. With the expenditures requested, there will remain in the fund a balance in excess of the $500,000 minimum. Mr. Johnson would eventually iike to see a minimwn of $1 miilion in the Park Dedication Fund to perpetuate tfiat fund to pay for those parks in the future. Mr. Johnson will put together some proposed plans for the Schult2 property park for review by the Committee in the near future. The Advisory Com�nittee made a commitment to the neighbors in that area to involve them in the planning for that park. Items for consideration would include = parking within the park vs, on street parking. MOTION: by Tina Rankin, seconded by John DiRico, that the Advisory Committee look into park plans for the Schultz property and go through th� usual input process with neighbors from that area. VOTE: Yes - 4, No - 0 MOTION: by John DiRico, seconded by Tina Rankin, that the Advisory Cocomittee endorse the requested park dedication expenditures for 1993 as presented. VOTE: Yes - 4, No - 0 5 • • ITEM #4.E. - New Business - Reappointment to Advisory Committae There has been some discussion by the City Council to expand the prssent number of Park Advisory Committee members. All members present at the meeting signed their reappointment forms. ITEM #4.F. - New Business - Summer Jobs Parks and Recreation Department has availabie fliers listing the summer seasonal jobs available through the city. ITEM #5. - O1d Business - The Park Department received only one letter in response to the articles placed in the city brochure and news releases requesting public input . regarding the Americans With Disabilities Act. Presently, the public needs seem to be met by other groups. ITEM #6. - Other City Council has invited the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee to a joint work session on March 18, 1993 at City Hall. By Committee consent, the March Parks and Recreation Advisory Cammittee meeting will return to the reguiar 7:30pm start time. ITEM #7. - Adj ourn There being no further business on the agenda, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee meeting was ad�ourned. MOTION: by John DiRico, seconded by Tina Rankin, to adjourn the meeting at 9:20pm. VOTE: Yes - 4, No - 0 6