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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/23/1990 , , • • CITY OF APPLE VALLEY PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE October 23, 1990 Minutes of the Apple Valley Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee held October 23, 1990 at Valleywood Golf Course Club House. PRESENT: Chairperson Greg Kopischke; Committee Members David Gross, Charlie Maus, and Tina Rankin, Parks and Recreation Director Randy Johnson; City Administrator Tom Melena; City Councilmember Barbara Savanick; Park Maintenance Superintendent Tom Wahl; Recreation Supervisor Randy Quale; Valleywood Manager Rick Dodge; Valleywood staff Jim Zinck; Sports Arena Manager Gary Pietig; Associate City Planner Meg McMonigal; Men's Golf Club representatives John Heuckendorf and Larry Beckstrom; Mid-Winter Fest Cammittee Representative Charlie Jensen; 4th of July Committee Representatives Ron Ochs and Larry Paton; Valley Athletic Association Representatives Roger Tadsen, Lynda Holmen and Harald Eriksen; Gardenettes Club Representatives June Johnson and Renate SanAgustin. ABSENT: Russ DeFauw and John DiRico l. Chairman Kopischke called the meeting to order at 7:14pm. He welcomed everyone to the input meeting and asked them to participate in tonight's discussions. Everyone introduced themself and the organization they were representing. 2. Approval of the Agenda. MOTION: by David Gross, seconded by Tina Rankin to approve the agenda as presented. VOTE: Yes - 4, No - 0 3. Approval of September Minutes. MOTION: by Greg Kopischke, seconded by David Gross to accept the September minutes as written. VOTE: Yes - 4, No - 0 : 1 • • � , � , Item #4. A. Old Business - Soccer Filed Construction Update Randy Johnson gave a verbal report on the completion of the four soccer fields. The projects came in under budget with a few minor things to be done in the spring, i.e. plantings and fence. The department is happy with the end results, giving a compliment to Tom Wahl and his department for a job well done. As a result, there will be four new soccer fields in Appie Valley for games to begin May 1, 1991. Item #4. B. Old Business - Valleywood #15 Improvements Update Randy Johnson gave a verbal report on improvements done on #15 tee at , Valleywood. The earthmoving has been completed. The tee box is where is should be. Irrigation, final grade, dormant seed, building of the retaining wall and cart path have all been done. The modification of the cart path will be done in the spring. The tee should be back in play early in the 1991 season. $22,000 was expended for the entire project; $40,000 had been budgeted. By having Tom Wahl act as project coordinator, approximately $18,000 was saved. Item #4. C. Old Business - Recreation Survey Update Randy Quale gave a brief description of the recreation needs survey he is coordinating for the City of Apple Valley Parks and Recreation Department, and as part of his thesis to fulfill the requirements for his masters degree. Approximately 1,100 surveys were mailed to random homes in Apple Valley. Of these, approximately 500 were returned to the Parks and Recreation Department. A minimum of 375 had to be returned to make it a valid survey. The survey will be used to assess the awareness, usage and satisfaction of the recreation options available to the residents of Appie Valley. It will also be used for suggestions in planning future programs the public may want. Within the next couple months, preiiminary resulss should be available to determine where the public opinion stands . The ideal circumstances would involve doing the same survey in approximately ten years from now to compare the changes. Item #5. A. New Business - Increase in Park Dedication Benchmark Land Value Randy Johnson will be going to the City Council on Thursday, October 25, i990 to recommend an increase from $i5,�00 to $20,000 for the benchmark land value for computing the cash in lieu dedication, hopefuliy with the approvai of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee. The $15,000 benchmark was set in June 1986. 2 � • The $20,000 value wiil be used for commercial, residential and industrial land alike. Up until a year ago, there were no fees collected for commercial or industrial zoned land. Tom Melena stated that the City may not get a lot of industrial until it becomes more sophisticated. Right now the benchmark land value issue is being taken one step at a time. MOTION: by Tina Rankin, seconded by Charlie Maus that the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee support the Resolution Establishing a Uniform Land Valuation for Calculating Cash in Lieu of Land Contributions for Public Land Dedications. VOTE: Yes - 4, No - 0 Item #S. B. New Business - Community Group Presentation/Discussion Chairman Kopischke addressed the community group representatives and told them how important their input is to the committee and the work they do. He then turned the meeting over to Randy Johnson. Randy Johnson reminded the group that October is Consumer Awareness Month and the Parks and Recreation Department has adopted the same motto as Target Greatland, "The Customer is Always Right". Each group will have five minutes to make a presentation outlining their programs and any questions they may have. �V�) Roger Tadsen, president of the Valley Athletic Association (VAA) , began by giving a brief description of the youth athletic programs. The organization is operated by a volunteer staff and is available to any child residing in the School District #196 area. This year approximately 4,000 families participated in the sports programs and that translates into 5,000 children in eight sports. Facilities are provided both by the City of App1e Valley and the School District. Participants range in age from kindergarten to first year college. One of the main concerns of the Va11ey Athletic Association is the lack of available field space for the youth teams. Mr. Tadsen also stated that the VAA is always interested in public input for their programs. $ 3 • � � � � . (Reply to VAA) Randy Johnson explained that there are two volunteer youth athletic programs that the Parks and Recreation Department services. In addition to Valley Athletic Association, there is also the Rosemount Area Athletic Association (RAAA) that serves the eastern portion of Apple Valley. Approximately 70� of VAA's participants are Apple Valley residents, whereas 25 to 30� of the RAAA participants are Apple Valley residents. The Parks and Recreation maintenance personnel maintain the city fields in addition to the striping and mowing of school district fields used by the youth athletic programs. The VAA is responsible for the chalking of the school district fields. Because of the large number of participants in the baseball program, VAA added two of the small neighborhood parks this year for their games. For traffic control reasons they placed a time limit on the games to allow one group to leave before the next group arrived. David Gross addressed the issue of a user fee to help cover the cost of maintaining the fields. Roger Tadsen responded that he feels the 4,000 participating families in the VAA program are also tax payers in this city. If the VAA did not exist, the financial drain on the city funds to run such a program would more than outweigh the cost now incurred by the city. Lynda Holmen explained the VAA donated grass seed and black dirt for the maintenance of the playing fields at Greenleaf school; volunteers are utilized to help paint goals, etc. Mr. Gross stated that the parks are a key element of Apple Valley and there is a cost involved to maintain them, but no one is asking for a punitive amount for the user fees. Mr. Tadsen stated that from the baseball tournament the VAA sponsored this summer, a scoreboard was purchased and any extra money was donated for netting to go around the fields. The VAA budget exceeds $250,000 just for equipment and uniforms. It does not allow for administrative fees. Chairman Kopischke mentioned that the user fee is just one of the options being investigated by the Advisory Committee. Time and pocketbook will determine the outcome. VAA is one of the larger groups using the facilities, but other groups will also be looked at, i.e. adult leagues, etc. Randy Johnson explained that there is a small profit realized from the adult athletic leagues sponsored by the City. The profits are used mainly to cover the costs involved with working with the youth organizations. . In conclusion, Mr. Johnson then asked Roger Tadsen what one thing could the Parks and Recreation Department do to help the Valley Athletic Association program in the next year? 4 � • Mr. Tadsen answered that there is a serious need for additional field space for the youth organizations. He forecasts a continued growth in the number of participants for programs provided through VAA. (4th of July Committee) Ron Ochs addressed the Committee as the representative for the Apple Valley 4th of July Committee. Mr. Ochs has been with the volunteer organization for five years. He feels that the support from the Parks and Recreation Department has been great. The volunteers begin meeting in March of each year to start pianning the various events for the celebration. They start by meeting once a month. Meetings become more frequent as the date gets closer. On the actual date (July 4) , the Cotnmittee usually works from 7:OOam to about 11:30pm. The largest problem for 1990 was the lack of or loss of funding. The 4th of July Committee needs the support of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee to obtain the necessary funding to continually produce the high standard of quality expected each year. The fireworks display is the biggest draw event, costing approximately $10,200. Business donations have been decreasing over the last few years. However, the Committee is hoping for support from the Target Greatland store in 1991. Civic organizations usually handle the food concession stands. Out of their profits, they pay a percentage back to the 4th of July Committee. This year it was 20�. The new parade chairperson wants to add more bands to the parade for 1991. The Committee pays between $400 and $600 to help cover the costs of each band's transportation to and from the parade route. Tom Melena brought up the idea of moving the parade and fireworks to downtown locations. There should be more than adequate parking available with capacity of about 45,000 cars between the Target Greatland store and the new shopping mall nearby. In conclusion, Mr. Johnson then asked Ron Ochs what one thing could the Parks and Recreation Department do to help the 4th of July Committee in the next year? Mr. Ochs feels that the City is doing a very good job of supporting the 4th of July Committee. However, he would like to see more volunteer committee members to assist with the planning and involved with �all the work it takes to do the 4th of July celebration. S • • � � • , (Apple Valley Gardenettes Club) June Johnson representing the Gardenettes Club gave an overview of their organization. The Club has grown up with the city of Apple Valley over the past 25 years. It started as a service club donating back into the community. The members of the club maintain the four flower beds at Redwood Park north and south locations. They furnish all the plants and care for them throughout the year. The City Forestry Department supplies woodchips for use around the flower beds. The Parks and Recreation Department provides a room each month for the Club to meet. There are usually 20 to 25 members in the Club. Each year, the Thursday before Mother's Day, the Gardenettes hold a plant sale to help cover the cost of the plantings. They usually net about $500, Some of the local nurseries offer wholesale prices on items sold to the Gardenettes to help hold down the costs. {Apple Valley Gardenettes Club Reply) Randy Johnson thanked the ladies for the efforts they put forth toward the community and offered to include an announcement in the Parks and Recreation Spring Brochure to help advertise the plant sale for the Gardenettes. (Mid-Winter Fest Committee) Charles Jensen representing the Mid-Winter Fest Committee gave an overview of the organization. It's basically the same people working on the Mid-Winter Fest Committee that work on the 4th of July Committee. The Committee works closely with the Parks and Recreation Department to put together the weekend celebration in February each year. The next meeting in scheduled for November 5, 1990 and an open invitation was issued for interested parties to attend. Like the 4th of July Committee, this committee is also in need of additional volunteers. (Valleywood Men's Club) John Heuckendorf and Larry Beckstrom were in attendance for the Valieywood Men's Club. They listed some concerns in the location of certain fences and cart paths. Mr. Heuckendorf and Mr. Beckstrom both felt that increased communication between the golf club and the golf management would be beneficial to all interested parties. They expres�ed a concern that the golf fees charged at Valleywood are not being placed back into the course itself. Tom Melena clarified this by detailing the background of Valleywood. The golf fees go into paying salaries and equipment necessary to operate the course. Any extra money 6 � • . � • • is used to pay the debt services due on the course. Randy Johnson suggested maybe organizing a monthly meeting with the Men's Club to help with the communications. Currently the group meets with Rick Dodge about three times a year. They also met with the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee about tee #15 prior to its reconstruction. Rick Dodge stressed that he is confident that Valleywood staff and management wili continue to do as much as they can for the money. They will always try to improve the standards. Tina Rankin stated that about ten years ago no one wanted to be eonnected with Valleywood. It's now a community resource. It's an excellent cross-country ski location. From a community standpoint, she feels it is a unique facility for the community. Tom Melena raised the question of possibly looking for a mini-Redwood community building at the club house for golf banquets, civic events, etc. Mr. Dodge said he turns away 30 to 50 people each year looking for a reception area large enough for 200 to 300 people. Rick also pointed out that there is always a price tag associated with new ideas. He feels the Men's Club has some very good ideas, but he must work within a budget set by the City Council each year. Roger Tadsen (VAA) noted that he is always interested in new locations for new fields to be used by his organization. He was wondering about the park designed with the firestation #1 facility. Mr. Melena stated that the park was designed by Eldon Hugeland about five years ago as an open play field. A place for passive recreation rather than an active recreation location as Meg McMonigal put it. The land was purchased at about $2.00 per square foot. It came down to how much can the City afford and how many hocnesites were available to aliow for the armory site. There was further discussion of the possibility of the southern athletic complex for the future. Tina Rankin stated that she felt the four new soccer fields built this year are just a band-aid for the current situation. In the past there has been an ever increasing tax base to cover the costs involved with buying land, equipment, maintenance and staff. The money is drying up because of the changes in federal/state funding and the loss of any additional open space to build. . Roger Tadsen stated that the VAA is ready to go 100� in support of the bond issue necessary to build the athletic complex. He also beiieves that if the bond issue election takes place on a non-traditional voting date. . .and there is enough apathy on the other side of the question. . .it will pass. 7 • • � : - � Lynda Holmen asked if there would be a user fee on all sports? She does not want a program were some children cannot play because of the cost. The VAA already has a scholarship program in place. Tina Rankin answered that the user fee is just one option that is being considered, the Committee is open to suggestions. Some discussion was held as to the timing for a bond issue's successful vote. Ron Ochs brought up the possibility of a private sponsorship for a child to play sports. It may be an idea the VAA might want to explore further. Most VAA sports registration fees cost around $20 right now. Mr. Ochs also suggested taking one day a month and promoting a specific park, showing off the parks amenities, etc. This would make the public in general aware of the different assets available to them through the many various parks. Barbara Savanick asked how the school district boundary changes will affect the VAA/RAAA boundaries? Roger Tadsen answered that the Metro Basketball League is the only youth sport that is dictated by the city boundaries. All other VAA sports follow the Independent School District #196 boundaries. Item #6 Other Randy Johnson did a short promotion of the Halloween Spook Trails being coordinated between the Parks and Recreation Department and the Minnehaha Nursery on October 31. Item #7 Adjourn Chairman Kopischke thanked everyone for their time and commitment towards their organizations. Reminding them that the Parks and Recreation staff and Advisory Committee members are open to input along the way. He invited them or a representative of their organization to attend the input meeting next year. MOTION: by David Gross, seconded by Tina Rankin to adjourn the meeting at 9:06pm. VOTE: Yes - 4, No - 0 8