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07-28-14 GOLDEN VALLEY OPEN SPACE& RECREATION COMMISSION Regular Meeting at Brookview Community Center Minutes July 28, 203.4 1. Call to Order Mattison called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. 2. Roll Call: Present: Commissioners Roger Bergman,John Cornelius, Kelly Kuebelbeck, Bob Mattison, Jerry Sandler, Dawn Speltz and Dan Steinberg. Rick Birno, Director of Parks and Recreation; Al Lundstrom, Park Maintenance Supervisor; Brian Erickson, Recreation Supervisor and Sheila Van Sloun,Administrative Assistant. Council Members Joanie Clausen and Larry Fonnest. Keith Hiljus, Golden Valley Girls Softball and Andy Bukowski, Golden Valley Girls Softball. Golden Valley Lions Park residents Riva and Craig Kupritz, Eve Miller, Craig and Carol Paschke, Perry Thom, Steve and Nora Tycast and Laura, Larry and Jaclyn Kueny. Absent: Commissioners Gillian Rosenquist and Anne Saffert. 3. Approval of Minutes—June 30, 2014 MOTION: Moved by Sandler and seconded by Cornelius to approve the June 30, 2014 meeting minutes. Motion carried unanimously. 4. Lions Park Field Allocation History—Bob Mattison Mattison gave a history of the field layout and use. He also shared the history of Golden Valley Girls Softball and their use of Lions Park. Sandler added the use history for Golden Valley Little League. Sandler said the object at the time was to get more kids using the fields and move adults to another location. 5. Lions Park Field Use Kueny and other residents expressed admiration for the Golden Valley Girls Softball program. Kueny added he also enjoys all the activity at Lions Park. Residents then expressed concerns with: - Illegal parking, parking in front of driveways and fire hydrants - Not receiving mail due to cars parked in front of mailboxes - Safety issues with the amount of traffic in the area - Too many people in area at once - Property damage - Littering and loitering on resident property - Lack of Police response - Emergency access to area - Not enough parking - Not enough time between games Hiljis and Mattison added that the association works hard to communicate with softball families on being responsible and respectful at the parks and with parking. Minutes of the Open Space and Recreation Commission July 28,zoic, Page z Commissioners and residents were in agreement that there is a problem that needs addressing. Discussion then focused on ways to improve the situation based on the volume of people and traffic. Speltz suggested inviting Golden Valley Police to a future meeting to discuss the concerns and get their feedback. It was also suggested to invite the city engineering staff to discuss the traffic and parking history for that area. 6. Lions Park Tennis Windscreen Resident Thom thanked the City for all the improvements to Lions Park. Thom expressed his concern with the new windscreens on the tennis courts a Lions Park. He would like them removed. He said there was no communication with residents before they were installed. Birno explained that Twin City Tennis Camps paid forthem fortheirtennis program and the Golden Valley tennis community. Thom asked if raising and lowering them was an option since they cannot see through the screen. Lundstrom said installation is very labor intensive. He said to have them raised and lowered on a regular basis would require significant staff time and resources. Discussion focused on moving the tennis program to another location. Sandler said they should also find out if there is a city policy regarding windscreens. Commission members said they would like to hear about the benefits from Twin City Tennis Camp before they can recommend any kind of action.A representative from TCTC will be invited to a future meeting for discussion. 7. Winter Ice Rinks update—Brian Erickson Erickson distributed seasonal rink numbers and discussed briefly. He expressed concern with the ongoing low attendance at Lakeview Park. Discussion focused on Lakeview Park.The cost for keeping it open and the maintenance required. MOTION: Moved by Sandler and seconded by Bergman to close Lakeview and not maintain as a city ice rink and reevaluate in the future if necessary. Motion carried unanimously. Speltz expressed concern with the city charging hockey association's a maintenance fee of s3 per registered player. She said the association has taken their practices to surrounding city's that do not charge the association a fee. She would like to see the fee removed to help increase use in Golden Valley. MOTION: Moved by Kuebelbeck and seconded by Cornelius to no longer charge recognized youth hockey associations to use ice in Golden Valley. Motion carried unanimously. Erickson asked for feedback regarding Sunday and winter break hours.After discussion with the Commission, Lundstrom and Erickson agreed to evaluate the hours and make changes as necessary for next winter. Minutes of the Open Space and Recreation Commission July 28,zoic, Page 3 8. Mowing in the Parks—AI Lundstrom Lundstrom explained since the proposal in 2012, Park Maintenance has been keeping some portions of parks more natural by reducing mowing. He said the goal is to maintain grass in certain areas at knee height. He said they recently expanded the process to other areas in the city and said it's going well. Lundstrom said he understands that not everyone is going to like the new look, but explained that he was asked to save time and money and this is one wayto do so. Plus, it's more natural. Speltz inquired about how often the city uses Sentence to Service to mow the parks. Lundstrom said they use them for maintenance purposes in the parks on a regular basis. g. Community Center Update—John Cornelius and Kelly Kuebelbeck Kuebelbeck said at the last meeting they toured four different community centers. She said to help define the vision and scope of the project, more meetings with the consultant have been added. Birno added that the consultants will be using a real time tool for seeing a real picture of the facility with costs at the next meeting. Clausen expressed appreciation for all the time and work from the committee members. 10. Bottineau Update—Gillian Rosenquist and Dan Steinberg Steinberg said at their last meeting on July 16 they discussed station planning. He distributed document with ideas for the station planning. He said the county will host open houses in September, December and February. 11. Open Spaces and Rights of Ways Birno distributed a map of all open spaces and rights of way in Golden Valley. Mattison asked the Commissioners to look at the map so it can be discussed at a future meeting and a recommendation can be made to the Council. 12. Updates Birno announced the Lawn Bowling VIP Event on Thursday,August 14, a soft opening weekend is Friday,August 15 thru Sunday,August 17 with free lawn bowling all weekend, and the official opening day on Monday,August 18. He added there are already twelve corporate events planned and all three leagues are full. 13. Adjournment MOTION: MOVED by Bergman and seconded by Sandlerto adjourn at 9:50 PM. Motion carried unanimously. Bob Mattison, Chair ATTEST: Sheila Van Sloun,Administrative Assistant