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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/19/1991 � � wrTE nn � � 3 . CITY OF APPLE VALLEY PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE November 19, 1991 Minutes of the Apple Valley Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee held November 19, 1991 at the Apple Valley Community Center. PRESENT: Chairperson Greg Kopischke; Committee Members John DiRico, David Gross (teft at 8:3opm), Charlie Maus and Tina Rankin; Parks and Recreation Director Randy Johnson; Valley Athletic Association Representatives Roger Tadsen, Jeff Krause and John Hoagberg; Rosemount Area Athletic Association Representative Tom Neumann. ABSENT: Russ DeFauw and Connie Scheid Item #1. - Chairman Kopischke called the meeting to order at 7:34 pm. Item #2. - Approval of the Agenda. Randy Johnson requested that an addition be made to the agenda under Item #4 - New Business. Roger Tadsen requested the opportunity to make a formal presentation of the Valley Athletic Association President's Award. MOTION: by David Gross, seconded by Tina Rankin to approve the agenda with the noted addition. VOTE: Yes - 5, No - 0 Item #3, - Approval of September Minutes. Mr. Gross inquired as to the identity of the person winning the $50.00 cash award for the name-the-park contest. Mr. Johnson reported that the award has not been presented yet, but will be after the City Council accepts the recommendation of "Apple Grove Park" and "Dalmatian play area." MOTION: by Tina Rankin, seconded by John DiRico to approve the minutes for the September meeting as presented. VOTF.: Yes - 5, No - 0 1 � . • Chair Kopischite welcomed the visitors and asked them to introduce themselves: Tom Neumann of Rosemount Athletic Association (R.A.A.A. ) Roger Tadsen of Valley Athletic Association (V.A.A.) Jeff Krause of Valley Athletic Association (V.A.A.) John Hoagberg of Va11ey Athletic Association (V.A.A.) Item #4 - New Business. Roger Tadsen addressed the committee: At the Valley Athletic Association's annual meeting in November, the Parks and Recreation Department of Apple Valley was acknowledged for their continued support of the V.A.A. youth programs. Mr. Tadsen congratulated the department on the outstandi.ng efforts put forth to come up with gym time, have the fields lined and mowed for tournaments, Lhe repair of the fields and also the addition of the field facilities at Eastview. In recognition of this, the V.A.A. Presidents' Award was presented to Randy Johnson on behalf of the Parks and Recreation Department. The V.A.A. also donated a $500 check to be used for the City's holiday party. Mr. Tadsen feels that anything anyone can get to benefit the youth of this area is a feather in their hat. Chair Kopischke stated that the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee also takes pride in the Parks and Recreation staff. Randy Johnson thanked the V.A.A. for the award and acknowledgement of the staff. Mr. Tadsen then introduced Jeff Krause as the incoming V.A.A. president for 1992. Mr. Krause has been active with the V.A.A. as a softball league director and coach. Mr. Krause stated that he is looking forward to working with the City. Chair Kopischke invited Mr. Krause to continue to attend the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee meetings in the future. The Committee members then introduced themselves. Item #4. A. - R.A.A.A. Report from Tom Neumann, President Mr. Neumann introduced himself as the 1992 president for R.A.A.A. He then distributed an informational package with participant statistics listed. The R.A.A.A. 's philosophy is to promote and provide for the youth in the ISD #196 area. The purpose for his visit to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee meeting was to request more playing field space in the future. The City of Rosemount has no plans to build any new parks. R.A.A.A, is looking to share in the current space in Apple Valley. Of the Apple Valley youth that participate in the Rosemount program; they would like to have that same percentage of field space within Apple Valley. 2 � � � Randy Johnson stated that the City recognizes the need for more field space and has the support of City Council, but the problem is where does the money and land come from? David Gross suggested that the City of Lakeville has the land and Apple Valley may be able to work out a tri-coop with Rosemount and Lakeville. Tom Neumann stated that Lakeville did allocate some field space for the R.A.A.A. , but several of the fields were unusable because of unsafe conditions. Recreation Department staff has been encouraging the athletic associations to go to the other cities that they are drawing participants from and request field space. R.A.A.A. did make an agreement with the City of Rosemount and ISD #196 to each pay 1/3 of the cost to make the school district fields more playable. John DiRico questioned the reasoning for the athletic associations' use of the school district boundaries vs. the city boundaries. The city is required to come up with funds to provide for non-residents to participate in the program. Randy Johnson said he believes the idea goes back to the time when Dakota County was a rural community and the programs were searching for participants to fill the programs. Since then the internal school district boundaries have been continually changing. Mr. Gross questioned whether the V.A.A. statistics are similar to those presented by R.A.A.A. Mr. Tadsen answered that yes, they do draw from the surrounding communities. Since the Eagan high school was built, the Eagan Athletic Association (E.A.A.) has become stronger. The Parks and Recreation Director of Eagan has stated that only Eagan Athletic Association teams will be allocated field space within the city of Eagan. If an Eagan resident participates on an athletic association team outside of the city, that is their choice and they should not expect field space allocated to them for that reason. The Eagan Athletic Association focuses on city boundaries. The City of Lakeville has told V.A.A. that there are athletic fields within the city to be rented. Tom Neumann states that the R.A.A.A. wants more fields from Apple Valley. They have a high percentage of Apple Valley residents that participate in their program and they feel they should be allocated their fare percentage of field space, i.e. . . . if 40� of the total participants participate in Rosemount vs. 608 that participate in Apple Valley, then R.A.A.A. should be receiving 40$ of the available field space. 3 ^ � � � Randy Johnson reports that ISD #196 will no longer be allocating money to the individual school principals for athletic fields. The Central District operating funds sup$rvisor will be handling the program. They have been in contact with the Parks and Recreation Department for various areas of expertise. Chair Kopischke thanked the V.A.A, and R.A.A.A. representatives for attending the Advisory Comrnittee's meeting. Mr. Neumann invited the Committee and staff inembers to attend the R.A.A.A. monthly meetings at Scott Highlands School on the second Monday of each month. Item #4. B. - For Profit Youth Athletic Tournaments. With there being no budget increase since 1989 and with the fixed costs such as fuel, wages, etc. escalating, the Parks and Recreation Department is looking at some cutbacks and penny pinching for the future. Some of the parks that have been on a five day rotating schedule for mowing will be moved to a seven day schedule. By the same token, the number of youth athletic tournaments has increased over the course of the year. The Parks and Recreation Department is questioning an appropriate way to pay for the added costs associated with the tournaments such as extra field layouts and striping, relocation of the goals, additional mowing, temporary fencing, bleachers and other crowd control measures, and overtime. There are also other disadvantages created by hosting the tournaments such as extremely heavy wear and tear of the turf, elimination of local residents from using the fields during the tournament timeframe, extra maintenance staff required to monitor the fields, renovation work and ' disruption of regular league play. The staff recognizes that hosting some tournaments should be a part of the service offered by Parks and Recreation. Some ideas they have come up with to help cover the costs involved are: 1. ) Permitting each group (sport) one free weekend (2 days) per season, then charging for additional dates. 2.) Charging a fee for all tournaments - $35.00 to $50.00 per field per day. 3. ) Some combination of #1 & #2. 4. ) Continue the current policy of not charging any fees for field use or the special maintenance required by these events. Roger Tadsen stated that the V.A.A. is opposed to the user fee concept.. They are trying to kick back money from their organizatian to the City Parks a�d Recreation Department to help offset .the costs. The soccer program will be donating $2,500 to the department in the near future. Charlie Maus stated that out of all the tournaments, some are large and some are small, how do you divide the cost fairly? 4 . , � � � Randy Johnson stated that the soccer tournament is the largest event of the year covering two weekends. He sees the tournament becoming the "thing to do." It's a way to raise money� promote the city, and it brings people in from outside of the city. Mr. Tadsen stated that the V.A.A. soccer tournament for spring has already been publicized and therefore would be almost impossible to change the fees at this late date. Chair Kopischke stated that the donations from V.A.A. are greatly appreciated, but he believes the department is looking for an income that can be counted on from year to year. Mr. Johnson also stated that the Park Maintenance Department has been doing some budgetary stretching with the replacement schedule for the maintenance vehicles to permit the extra money to be allocated towards field maintenance. The City's budget hearing is scheduled for Thursday, November 21, 1991 at 8:OOpm at city hall. It is open to the public and the youth athletic organizations are is encouraged to attend. Mr. Johnson will meet with the V.A.A. and R.A.A.A. to discuss further details of the tournament fees in the future. The information tonight is to get everyone thinking about it. He will also pursue the idea of getting the Dakota County Parks system involved with the possibility of coordinating a joint effort between the cities of Apple Valley, Rosemount, Lakeville, etc. Item #4. C. - Outdoor Skating Schedule to Start December 21. The park department maintains 23 sheets of ice within the City of Apple Valley. The warminghouses are scheduled to open December 21 with the weather permitting. Item #5. A. - Park Dedication Fund Accomplishments for 1991. Randy Johnson reviewed the list of accomplishments that was included with the Committee packets. The scoreboard at Eastview was not included on the list because is was donated by Coca Cola Company at no cost to the dedication fund. The purchase of the Schultz property was not included on the list because it was purchased with capital improvement funds. If property is purchased with park dedication money, it becomes legally difficult to subdivide it and offer it for resale. At some point in the future the park area of the Schultz property will be assessed against the Park Dedication Fund. 5 , r � � � Item #5. B. - Park Dedication Fund Balance Report. By City Council direction the park dedication fund balance should remain at $500,000. With the current balance of $495,000 there will be no new projects started in the next year or so. Meg McMonigal, Associate Planner for the City, is working on a report for building permit projections for 1992. Mr. Johnson anticipates that the number of permits purchased will decline from 1992. The Apple Ponds development is approximately 60 - 70$ completed. It is a relatively inexpensive housing development with many first time home buyers. $50,000 to $80,000 could conceivably be spent for basic amenities in this proposed park area. Play equipment and landscaping will probably be the first priorities. Item #5. C. - Huntington Shelter Building Update. The Huntington shelter building is almost completed. This is a joint venture between the City of Apple Valley and Vista Telephone Company. Vista will provide approximately 90� of the building construction costs in exchange for a small area of the building for their switching equipment. The building will not be equipped with lights or restroom facilities this year; but will be staffed during the weekend daylight hours by an attendant. Estimated cost for a two pole hockey light system is approximately $15,000. Item #6. A. - Other. The newest edition of the Parks and Recreation Brochure and City Newsletter will be coming out about December 4. Patty Fowler did a fantastic job of editing it. Charlie Maus thanked the Valley Athletic Association representatives for their participation during the evening's meeting. The next Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee meeting is scheduled for January 21, 1992. Charlie Maus will be out of town at that time. Item #7. - Adjourn. There being no further business for discussion, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee meeting was adjourned. MOTION: by Tina Rankin, seconded by John DiRico to adjourn the meeting at 9:04pm. VOTE: Yes - 4, No - 0 6