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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-24 CITY OF LAKEVILLE PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES NOVEMBER 24, 1992 ITEM 1. -Call to order. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Chairman Illa. ITEM 2. -Roll call. Present were L. Lulf J. Larson, K. Illa, A. Raymond and G. Grenz. Committee member 1V~essinger had a conflict and was not able to attend. Lovelace was absent. Also present were Park Director Steve Michaud, Finance Director Dennis Feller, Recreation Supervisor Renee Brekken and Recording Secretary Judi Ryan. ITEM 3. -Minutes of November 4,1992. The minutes of the November 4, 1992 Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee meeting were discussed. There were no additions or corrections. The minutes were approved as printed. ITEM 4. -Citizen comments. There were no citizens present at the meeting. ITEM 5. -Staff reports. Staff reports will be taken up later in the meeting. • ITEM 6. -Finance Director Dennis Feller addressed the committee regarding a potential 1993 park bond referendum. Moody's Investor Service has given the City of Lakeville an "A" credit rating. Mr. Feller stated, however that it is unlikely the City will receive a higher credit rating in the near future because of extent of overlapping debt from the school districts. He also noted that School District 194 is plannin several bond issues for new elementary schools and an operating levy referendum. The City has three bond issues currently outstandingg ~which were approved by voter referendum (1983 Police Station - $475,0()(), 1986 Fire Station - $655,000 and 1986 Park Bonds - $1,480,000). The average annual tax levy for these three issues total $376,000. The City Council has a long standing ppolicy of controlling .the level of taxation by maintaining a constant tax revy of $196 per capita. Of that amount $13 er cappita is for debt payments on voter referendum approved bonds. The ~rowth Task Force reviewed and encouraged the City Council to continue this policy. The Committee reviewed debt schedules prepared by Springsted. Mr. Feller stated that the new debt approved by voter referendum will result in tax levies based on market value rather than tax capacity value. This means the heaviest burden will be placed on residential property • rather than commercial industrial property. For school districts, . a voter approved referendum for new schools is based on tax capacity values and a voter approved operating levy is based on market value. Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee Minutes November 24, 1992 Page -2- Mr. Feller explained that debt with long maturity schedules is more exppensive for taxpayers, especially when taking into consideration todays steep yield curve. Mr. Feller explained that referendums should be timed in such a manner so as to coincide with final bond payments and call provisions on existing debt. The strategy should take into consideration that new issue can be marketed to the public in such a manner that it will show no significant increase in taxes. The Police and Fire bonds mature in 1998 and 2006 respectively. These also can be viewed as windows of opportunity for structuring new bond issues. Committee member Illa asked if economic impact studies had ever been completed on how parks benefit a community. Staff said quality of life issues are definitely improved by parks/recreation and trails as they are sought out. by home buyers and business. Athletic facilities and larger community parks have definite economic impact due to the large number of events and non-resident visitations. Eden Prairie has completed studies portraying direct economic benefit from park and recreation activities. More discussions about specific potential bond referendum projects will be done later in the meeting under Item 7. • ITEM 8. -Review of Tournament Reservation Policy. . Recreation Supervisor Renee Brekken was present to review with committee the proposed Tournament Reservation Policy. The proposed written policy is being considered as a fair way to establish procedures for prioritizing the scheduling of tournaments at Lakeville facilities. Priorities would be as follows: 1 In-house leagues. 2 A tournament from last year that is requesting the same date. 3 A group who had a tournament last year who want a different date. 4 A Lakeville team who wishes to sponsor a tournament. 5 A group which will have at least two Lakeville teams participating. It is proposed to request all applications and security deposits be submitted by February 1st, after which staff would prioritize the tournament requests and schedule as many as possible. There may be exceptions such as a tournament sponsor needing to advertise their event in a publication which would be printed before the February 1st due date. In these cases .staff would have the flexibility to put it on the schedule as long as it was not the weekend of a traditional tournament. Depposit requirements were discussed. Currently all adult groups pay the $1t)().00 damage deposit and youth grou s are generally exempt since they are usually associated with the LBA, ~ H, Girls Fastpitch, etc. It was suggested the terminology could be changed to, maintenance deposit or security deposit rather than damage deposit. Time line .for deposit and fee payments were also discussed. It was decided that the application • and $100.00 deposit should be collected by February 1st with final fees due two weeks prior to the event. Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee Minutes November 24, 1992 • Page -3- Specific responsibilities of both the tournament host and the City of Lakeville were reviewed. Insurance requirements need to be reviewed .by the Finance Director, City Administrator and City Attorney. Neighboring cities also encourage sponsors to purchase liability insurance but do not require it. In the. past an admission fee was allowed to be charged for district and state tournament spectators. The sponsors know that people who are not associated with the tournament and are at the park to use other facilities such as the playground, must not be required to pay an entrance fee.. This has occasionally been a source of frustration for some Lakeville residents. Aronson Park is not set up to limit access for tournaments as people can walk in or bike in from several points. Because it was felt that charging an entrance fee could be detrimental and inconvenient to the citizens who are usin other facilities, it was decided to add to the policy that no admission ~ees could be charged to any tournament spectators at the entrance or at any other place m the park. Approval of the proposed Tournament Reservation Policy will be put on the next Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee agenda. • ITEM 5. -Staff reports. As of this meetin ,Berg Electric will be moving into Aronson Park to install the light f~xtures on the poles. Staff is pleased with how well this project moved along this fall. Cleanup is underway on the piece of roperty in Hypointe Crossing which is owned by the City of Lakeville. ~wo park maintenance employees are trying the get the barbed wire taken off the property before it gets covered with snow. The park maintenance crews have been taking advantage of the good weather. All trees are planted and transplanted and the end boards are being put up on all the rinks. The plumbing and heating projects are done at Ritter Farm Park and the electrician has picked up a key so he will be starting soon. Staff has been busy with ongoing planning projects with the Community and Economic Development Dept. Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee Minutes November 24, 1992 Page -4- ITEM 7. -Review of park system acquisition and development priorities and preliminary cost estimates. Committee members received information prepared by Barry Warner which addresses six of the top projects for potential bond referendum funding. These projects are: 1 ~uigley-Sime property development 2 Webber fro~~perty development (school/park complex) 3 Brackett s Townhome Park 4 H pointe Crossing Park 5 Myeadow Brook East (school/park complex) 6 Valley Lake Park hese projects were each discussed to some extent. There had also been discussion of having a multipurpose building . at Parkview similar to the one at Foxborough, but it was not felt to be justified at this time. Timing, of the bond referendum was discussed with respect to earlier discussions with Dennis Feller. The major issue of this bond referendum will be the shortage of f elds and the need to .develop more and more facilities as the population continues to increase. The schools are planning ,more elementary schools to be built in the future and each of these facilities should also contribute toward meeting the needs. It was decided that the December 16th meeting should be a planning meeting for youth athletics with commissioners and other sports leaders being invited to discuss projected registrations and needs. A survey will be conducted by Terry Hintz of the residents who live in the Farmington school district area of Lakeville. Demographic information is being gathered to assist with the Farmington school district planning for a potential school/park facility. People will be polled to get m ut on what amenities they ,would like to see m a neighborhood park. Staff will keep committee informed as to the results of this survey. ITEM 9. -Unfinished business. Many compliments had been received by Steve Michaud, MRPA President, from those who had attended the State Conference in Rochester. Committee members Ilia, Lulf and Larson had attended and had some good comments about the content and value of the conference. ITEM 10. -New business. Three committee members' terms are expiring and they were asked to prepare letters to the Council if they wish to continue on the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee. Gerry Grenz also mentioned that his ppersonal and work time commitments have grown and he would be resigning. He would like to continue on the committee until after the referendum. Committee members Raymond and Illa expressed an interest in being reappointed and will submit letters. Committee member Lovelace was not present. Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee Minutes November 24, 1992 • Page -5- ITEM 11. -Announcements. The next meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee is scheduled for Wednesday, December 2, 1992, 7:00 PM at the Lakeville City Hall Council Chambers. ITEM 12. -Adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 9:25 PM. Respectfully submitted, J i yan, Recor g Secretary ~ Kevin Illa, Chair jr • •