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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/06/1979 . �_, � • • � CITY OF APPLE VALLEY ' SPECIAL PARK COMMITTEE MINUTES JAI�UARY 6, 1979 PRESENT: Vice Chairman Ginny Sterling, Park Committee Members Naegeli, Bell, Miller, Hollenbeck & Milos; Mayor Garrison and Councilmembers Holton, Savanick and Kelly, and Mike Bassett. ABSENT: None. 1. Vice Chairman Sterling called the mee�ing to order. 2. Discuss Bond Issue Format. Park & Recreation Director Mike Bassett gave the background on the proposed park bond issue. He stated that since the 1977 park bond failed the Park Committee has gone back and reconstructed and updated the Five Year Park System Plan. He stated that he spoke to Apple Valley's financial consultant and he has stated that the top €igure for the proposed bond issue should be $1,5 million. This is somewhat less than would be ideally needed to complete the Five Year Systems Plan and the athletic complex. Mr. Bassett reviewed the attached memo. � Mike asked the Council to react to the proposed three questions. Mike also stated that at this point they do not have firm dollar amounts needed for the development of the athletic complex. Both Mayor Garrison and Councilman Holton stated that they are concerned about not having sufficient funds for the development of the athletic complex. Mayor Garrison stated that he feels that the proposal needs to have a "giece of the pie" for everyone and he is very much against any other land acquisition with the exception of the land needed for the athletic complex. He suggested that the order of the questions be changed with questions` 2 and 3 being flipped. Bill Holton suggested puting questions 1 and 3 in the one question, and the upgrading of the existing parks as the second question. Ginny Sterling stated that she is con- cerned about people voting only for the smaller amount. Mike Bassett stated that the dollars in. question ��2 are primarily for the upgrading of Westview and Valley Middle. He stated that those funds could be in�luded in question 3 with the athletic complex. Mayor Garrison questioned how well the Park Committee has worked with the VAA on the proposal. He referred to the SOS Committeeti�at worked on the School Bond Issue. Joe Bell stated that the Park Committee has had several discussions with the VAA. I Bob Naegeli stated that the VAA doesn't know what they need; they average about one �, person per family participating in their activities and they have 1 ,200 family units:- �, in there membership. Apple Valley has 5,000 families. The Park Committee tried to ' find out the VAA projections and they didn't have the information. The Park Committee I, needs their backing for the bond issue - we didn't have it last time either. Mike Bassett stated that it is difficult to get that kind of information from a volunteer , organization - he has talked to some of the new Board Members and the VAA is interested in working with the City on the bond issue. Mayor Garrison stated that the VAA provides a service for the City that Apple Valley could not afford to provide for our youth. � Bob Naegli stated that the VAA power base could pass the athletic complex portion of the bond issue, but who is going to pass the first question. Dianne Kelly stated that the bond issue has to be sold to the young people with children and to the people on the east side. She stated that she disagrees with putting questions one and three together. Bob Naegli questioned if they were going to pass a bond issue for the VAA or to improve the undeveloped parks for the good of the entire City. • Page �62 Special Park Committee �ing • 1/6/78 � Mayor Garrison stated that the proposal must be saleable; there are a number of diverse interests in the Gity now and we must be able to sell the proposal to both the older and the newer areas. Barb Savanick stated that she is concerned about funds for the development of the parks because of the inflation situation; we may not be able to pass a bond issue in the future. She feels that it is important that this bond issue pass to develop the bulk of the undeveloped parks. Bill Holton stated that in the future we may have to get funds from someplace else for park development. Barb S. stated that she feels it is important to do a good job on the east side of tl�City. Joe Bell made several comments on the way the park bond question should go to the residents. He stated the Park Committee feels that the three questions will provide a choice for the voters. Mayor Garrison stated that the citizens of AV take pride in the joint effort of the City and School District; he recommended that in the question for the athletic complex that a phrase be added saying - "in joint cooperation with School District 196." Bob Naegeli stated that he would like to see the athletic vote used to pass the portion of funds for the undeveloped parks; he is concerned about an athletic complex being developed and nothing in the undeveloped parks. There was considerable discussion about puting questions 1 and 3 together and having question 2 as a second question. Joe Bell stated that he feels each should stand alon�--- he referred to the public meeting where people stated that they would like to have imporvements in the developed parks. He stated that each question has �ts own merits; the three questions will give the people a choic�. Dave Miller referred to the meetings with the VAA and stated that at times he felt that it was VAA vs. the passive parks. He stated that he feels the three questions cover everyones interests in Apple Valley and we need the VAA. Joanne Hollenbeck made several comments on the VAA/Park Committee situation; the VAA is a volunte�r organization and the Park Committee � can't tell them what to do. There was considera�le discussion on the VAA needs; the lighting of the fields we now have and the cost of lights. Mike Garrison stated that soccer does not need the intensity of lighting that some sports need. He questioned what has happened to the "mercury vapor lights" that were previously used for street lights. There might be a stockpile of those at some place and they could be purchased for use for lighting some of the fields. Councilmember Savanick asked what the Park Committee did with the comments from the "Input Meeting". Joanne Hollenbeck stated that alot of the suggestions are in question ��2; alot of the people that attended the meeting were from the older areas �f the City. Joe Bell stated that many of the things that the Park Committee had been dis- cussing were what the people said at the meeting. The motocross track and the jogging tracks were new ideas. He questioned providing lighting for VAA activities because of the ages of the children. The adults could use the lights so they could play later at night. The idea of inetered 7ighting was discussed, Mike Bassett pointed out that the money collected provides for maintenance of the lights, however, the initial cost is still there for installation. Councilman Holton asked if the Park Committee was unanimous in their recommendation for three questions; he also questioned how it would work. Joe Bell stated that it was a majority vote and he feels all three questions w�1.1 go -� the people on the east side will go for question ��1 and the athletic complex; the VAA will support all three; the west side will go for question ��3. If you look at each section of the City and the different areas of interest each question will pass. He feels that people want a choice and that each question stands alone -- the voters will tell us what they want. � Ellen Milos stated that the voters might pass all three questions -- she feels they must have a choice and you cannot "read" the voters. �I I I f Page ��3 4 Special Park Committee l�ing • 1/6/78 � Bob Naegeli stated that he feels it should be one question or question B contingent on question A passing, etc. The undeveloped parks should be included with the athletic complex if the questions are not contingent. The priority for the City should be the undeveloped parks. He stated that one of the reasons the last bond issue lost was because of Alimanget acquisition; it didn't lose by that much, but the east side didn't come out. Joe Bell stated that he feels that the people on the east side are more interested this time. Mike Bassett stated that the school bond issue coming up may have lost some votes; Bob Naegeli also stated that he feels that the bond issue should have gone to thepublic in the spring and not in the Fall. Bill HOlton stated that he can see where the voter wants a choice; he is still concerned about the dollar amounts for the athletic complex. Mayor Garrison asked about the number of acres they plan to acquire. Mike Bassett stated that it will be 15 or 20 acres. Mayor Garrison refered to a situation where the City purchases a certain number of acres and the owner of the property dedicates additional acrea�e and this dedication can be taken as a tax advantage. Mayor Garrison stated that he recently had lunch in Alaska with the Mayor of Fairbanks and he had explained a similar situation that they had there. Councilman Holton asked if the Park Committee feels that the additional development in the already developed parks is necessary. Joann� Hollenbeck stated that she feels that if they are short funds for the athletic complex then Question 1 should be cut. Dianne Kelly stated that things should be cut out of Question ��1; she sees some things that are not needed in that figure. Councilmember Savanick suggested puting the dollar figures in Questions 1 , Z, and 3 into one question and have an � additional question with the things that have already been cut. Ginny Sterling reviewed her thoughts on the three parts and each question being contingent on the other passing. Joe Bell referred to the study on bond issues stating that the dollar amounts don't make the big difference; he feels they need to talk about the merits of the program and the needs of each section of the City. He stated that the Park Committee has cut down the dollars to a minimum. Barb Savanick again suggested the two parts and the second part including the things that were cut. Joe Bell stated that the bonding limitations are only $1.5 million -- what happens if the second part passes? Joe Bell stated that he felt people might have a problem voting on a single question for $1.5 million. He feels all three questions will pass. Dianne Kelly stated that she can see where the east side could pass the first question and the west side the question 2 and a athletic vote for question 3; the different questions can be passed by different groups of people. If you put everything in one question you are going to have people that won't ^�ote for it because they don't feel there should be additional development in the existing parks. Councilman Holton stated that he feels that each question can stand by itself. He expressed concern over the amount for the athletic complex and recommended eliminating the number of parks for development in the first two questions. Barb Savanick recommended puting more even dollar amounts in each question. She is concerned about being able to use the monies from question 1 for question 3 if they are short in question 3. Ellen Milos agreed with the elimination of the numbers of the parks and acres. Barb Savanick stated that she feels there needs to be a third question to Vote NO on; people need to be able to vote no on the luxury items. Sill Holton stated that he feels the people can be told that this is what we need; there are no extras. � Joanne Hollenbeck mentioned that the City is going to have to open up some of the other parks for practice use; some people will question additional parks when the ones we have already aren't being used. There was considerable discussion regarding the VAA and athletics. 'Page ��4 , SPecial Park Committee �ing • 1/6/79 � MOTION: of Milos, seconded by Hollenbeck to recommend to the City C�uncil that the Park Bond Issue be presented to the voters in three questions as follows: 1. $815,000 for development of park sites that are currently undeveloped. 2. $300,000 for acquisition of land and development in cooperation with School District 196 of an athletic complex on the east side of the City. 3. $370,000 for additional development of existing parks. YES - 6 - Idb - O Councilmember Savanick recommended that the Park Committee prepare statistics as to how many fiel�s are available if the bond issue passes and how many fields are available if it doesn't pass; prepare statistics to show that the bond issue passage is needed. Mayor Garrison stated that the Park Committee should prepare information showing the existing facilities and what we will have if the bond issue is passed. 2.0 -- BOND_ISSUE TIriETABLE The Park Committee recommended that the vote for the bond issue be held on March 20, 1979. � Ma.yor Garrison questioned the Saturday election and the reason the school had their , bond election on Saturday. Councilmember Kelly stated that school elections open the polls at noon and that is the reason they decided to have the election on Saturday. The City el:ections are held on Tuesdays usually and the polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Bassett revie�aed the facts from the survey. Councilmember Savanick questioned when the City tax statements are mailed to the residents. She reeommended timing the election so they come out after the election. There was considerable discussion regarding the pros and cons of a Saturday or Tuesday election. Joe Bell xecommended letting the Council decide when day would be better; the Park Committee has recommended Tuesday. He also stated that you need to consider the weekend state tournaments in the different sports in March. 3. MOTION: of Bell, seconded by Hollenbeck to table item 4�3 on the agenda until the next meeting. YES - 6 - NO - 0. Councilmember Savanick suggested the Park Committee consider using the Council Table for promotion along with the brachure. It can come out to coincide with the Park Bond Issue. Bob Naegeli would like the question of taking funds from question l to use in the athletic complex clarified. Mike Bassett stated that he understands that as long as the bond issue passes the Council can approve the change. 'There was further discussion on the three questions. � Vice Chairman Sterling thanked the Mayor_and Councilmembers for their attendance at the meeting and their input. Page 4�5 � Special Park Committee �ing � 1/6/79 � 4. NOMINATIONS AND ELECTION OF CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON FOR 1979. CHAIRPERSON: Bob Naegeli nominated Ginny Sterling; Ellen Milos nominated Joe Bell. Ginny Sterling asked to have her name removed from the ballot. MOTION: of Milos, seconded by Hollenbeck to close nominatit�ns for Chairperson. YES - 6 - NO - 0. MOTION: of Milos, seconded by Hollenbeck to cast a unanimous ballot for Joe Bell as Chairperson of the Park Committee for 1979. YE� - 6 - NO - 0. VICE CHAIRPERSON: Ellen Milos nominated Ginny Sterling. MOTION: of Miller, seconded by Milos to close nominations for Vice Chairperson. YES - 6 - NO - 0. MOTION: of Bell, seconded by Naegeli to cast a unanimous ballot for Ginny Sterling as Vice Chairperson of the Park Committee for 1979. YES - 6 - NO - 0. 5. OTHER ITEMS. � Newly elected Chairman Bell suggested that as many members of the Park Committee as possible attend the January ll, 1979 Council meeting. MOTION: of Bell, seconded by Hollenbeck that the meeting be adjourned. YES - 6 - NO - 0. �