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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWK - January 22, 2009 AN I T Y O F p D0VE 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W. • ANDOVER, MINNESOTA 55304 (763) 755 -5100 FAX (763) 755 -8923 • WWW.CI.ANDOVER.MN.US City Council Workshop Thursday, January 22, 2009 Andover Public Works Building 1. Call to Order — 6:00 p.m. 2. Review of Park Personnel & General Park Operations 3. Proposed Park Operations Cost Savings 4. Discuss Proposed Future Park Reconstruction Projects & Park Improvement Projects © 5. Discuss Field Usage/Damage Deposit Escrow 6. Adjournment C I I T Y O r NDO ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP — JANUARY 22, 2009 MINUTES A workshop of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Gamache, January 22, 2009, 6:00 p.m., at Andover Public Works Division, 1785 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Councilmembers present: Mayor Mike Gamache, Don Jacobson, Julie Trude, Sheri Bukkila Councilmember absent: Mike Knight Also Present: Director of Public Works /City Engineer, David Berkowitz Assistant Public Works Director, Todd Haas Parks Maintenance Supervisor, Kevin Starr Eric Hagen -Anoka Union, Winslow Holasek, Tony Howard Mayor Gamache opened the meeting. Item 4 will follow item 2 on the agenda. Mr. Berkowitz welcomed the Mayor and Council members to Public Works. He stated the 0 Public Works plans are to have Council Workshops to highlight each department over the next six months. We will start with the Parks Maintenance Department, then the Utilities Department next sometime in March, and follow up with the Streets Department and Vehicle Maintenance. REVIEW OF PARK PERSONNEL /GENERAL PARK OPERATIONS Mr. Berkowitz introduced the Parks Maintenance personnel. At the present time, there are six full time employees. Kevin Starr is the Supervisor and started with the City in 1979 as a seasonal employee and became full time in 1980. Mr. Starr is extremely passionate about his work and takes great pride with the work done in the park and playground system. Tom Johnson started in 1993. His main focus is mowing and park/trail signing. He is also getting more involved with irrigation systems. Jeremy Johnson is leadperson and started in 1995. Jeremy has extraordinary talents when it comes to operating machinery and is very good at welding and fabrication, which enables us to that type of work in- house. We can build projects from start to finish because of the talent and knowledge these employees bring to the department. Terry Seeger started in 1996, coming from Mickman Brothers with an expertise in irrigation systems. Terry has been installing and maintaining all the irrigation systems in the park system, City Hall complex and the Community Center/YMCA. Andover City Council Workshop Minutes —January 22, 2009 Page 2 © Jerry Schander started in 1999 and has a two -year degree in Horticulture and Landscaping. Jerry also brings knowledge of concrete work and is a state certified playground inspector. Steve Thran is the newest staff member starting in 2005. Steve owned a playground installation company, so he is very involved with all new playground installs. Steve is also the main person to plow the trail system. The department in the past has had approximately 7 -8 seasonal staff, which this year may be reduced to 4 -5 staff to achieve the 2009 cost savings set for each department. A discussion followed regarding seasonal pay and the number hired. Mr. Berkowitz reviewed current pay levels for seasonal staff. Concern is for the amount an employee is paid versus knowledge or type of work being done. If a seasonal employee hired holds a CDL (commercial drivers license), or is required to perform certain duties based on knowledge or talent, then the request is to hire less people, but pay more for that expertise. The Council members recommend discussing this with the City Administrator and Human Resource Manager to determine if it is an option. Mayor Gamache stated if reducing the number of seasonal staff, but paying more fits in the 5% budget reduction goal for 2009 then it should be looked at. GENERAL PARK OPERATIONS Councilmember Jacobson questioned the number of parks currently being maintained and if some of the small tot lot parks should be maintained due to costs. Mr. Starr stated 47 parks are currently maintained and discussed the number of tot lots included in that maintenance. Councilmember Jacobson suggested neighborhoods could volunteer or be paid to maintain neighborhood parks, but not sure if that could be done. It was discussed to mow parks that are currently vacant. Councilmember Trude stated if the City enforces developers to follow the ordinance for mowing lots, then City owned parks and lots would also have to be maintained according to the ordinance. Mr. Starr discussed for tot lots and other parks that it is not only the cost of mowing the grass, but keeping up with play structure replacements and repair costs. Hidden costs are in repairs, replacement parts to play structures, fall zones, park rebuilds, surveying, etc. In 2008, $8,000.00 in wood chips alone was spent for fall zones. Councilmember Bukkila asked if park dedication funds are meant to stay in a neighborhood park. As long as the park serves all the community, it can be used within the entire park system. © Councilmember Bukkila expressed concerns in the Hidden Creek Park East neighborhood regarding park maintenance in general and the lack of irrigation. Also there is a concern regarding the lack of communication between the neighborhood and City. Andover City Council Workshop Minutes — January 22, 2009 Page 3 © Staff recommends eliminating the platting and construction of so many tot lots. It was suggested larger city parks be built in various locations and cut back the neighborhood tot lots. Areas Mr. Starr recommends cutting costs are mowing, trail plowing and tot lot maintenance. Mowing for example is done twice a week at Sunshine Park and Andover Station North and takes 3 hour in a large mower. Then the trimming and cut in mowing has to be done, which takes another 4 hours. Tony Howard questioned the electric fees shown on the 2008 cost sheet. He mentioned the $25,000.00 costs for electricity used for lighting in parks and questioned how much of that is used by athletic groups. Mr. Howard suggested athletic associations should be charged fees for lighting fields and/or ice rinks and that would cover some of these costs. He stated it's a cost being paid by the City to the athletic associations benefit, and the city funds saved could go towards irrigation or other park projects. Mayor Gamache questioned the problem of lights also being left on when fields are not in use. It may be a problem since they depend on lighting to go off based on timers and not enough people have keys to turn them off when not in use. DISCUSS PROPOSED FUTURE PARK RECONSTR UCTION PROJECTS & PARK © IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS Mr. Haas stated the Park Commission has discussed various park ideas over the years for possible changes. The first park discussed was Hawkridge Park, which has a soccer field, ball field and hockey rink. Water for the ice rink is hauled from Public Works to the park, which is costly for the amount of trips required and distance. Mr. Haas stated the Hockey Association would like to move the hockey rink from the northern side of the city to a more central location. Staff suggests the possibility of turning Hawkridge Park into a soccer facility and moving the hockey rink to a more central location. Tony Howard was present at the meeting to represent the Hockey Association also requesting this move. The other rink they are looking at moving in the future is Crooked Lake School rink to Rose Park. Concern was mentioned for lights and noise being a problem for the neighbors at that location. The warming house wouldn't be able to move, so something new would have to be built or rent a portable unit. Mr. Haas showed on a map the suggested location for the ice/hockey rinks at the City Hall complex if moved from Hawkridge. One option staff looked at is field 7 on the north side of City Hall. The fences are short on this field, but could be used for the younger aged players. It is an irrigated field, but not used much last year. The Baseball Association has © stated they still want the use of this field. Andover City Council Workshop Minutes — dlanuary 22, 2009 Page 4 © The second option is to put two rinks in, west of the Water Treatment Plant off Crosstown. The City owns this lot and is not being utilized at the current time. Mr. Berkowitz stated they discussed this option with Tony Howard as a temporary location, which could be 10- 15 years. The City would do the labor for the grading and stake it. The parking lot and rinks would be gravel, which could be recycled from the 157 reconstruction project. The Hockey Association would contribute the boards, lighting and warming house. The Hockey Association would have to agree to this location replacing the Hawkridge rink. Mr. Berkowitz feels if the Hockey Association and Soccer Association agree to these plans we would have win -win situation. Councilmember Trude expressed concern for neighboring houses for noise and lights at the new rink location. Councilmember Jacobson asked Mr. Howard about the timeframe and lighting. The master plan for Hawkridge Park is. to remove the hockey rink and baseball field and turn the park over for Soccer. The association would have to put in a well to irrigate the fields. Mr. Howard left the meeting. So Phase 1 would be to move Hawkridge rink to City Hall complex location and Phase 2 would be move Crooked Lake rink to Rose Park 5 -6 years possibly. Mr. Berkowitz and Council suggested Tony Howard bring specs and a plan for rink layout, boards and lighting to another workshop. Staff would also start discussions with the © Soccer Association for changes to Hawkridge Park. Mayor Gamache expressed a concern with the Baseball Association scheduling Timber Trails ball fields and then not using them, so they sit empty. Councilmember Bukkila asked if irrigating less would help with less mowing which would save costs. Mr. Starr stated they are shutting more zones down, but not eliminating irrigating. Staff also recommends more areas in the parks go to natural landscape and not irrigate or mow those areas. Mr. Starr showed pictures of a berm being built up and shrubs and trees going in behind Public Works by the Purple Park. Councilmember Jacobson questioned if test wells could be capped and then used for irrigation systems if locations are right. Mr. Berkowitz stated the test well at Shadowbrook Park East could be used for irrigation. Discussion followed on future water sources and cutting back on watering systems. Mr. Berkowitz discussed the new well installed in Sunshine Park for irrigation. Mr. Starr mentioned two corrections to his cost sheets. Total acreage for mowing is 222 and there are 12 sheets of ice. © Mr. Berkowitz discussed a grant Kameron Kytonen is applying for to be used towards dead and diseased tree replacement in Fox Meadows. The process would require removing Andover City Council Workshop Minutes — January 22, 2009 Page 5 © diseased trees and replacing them with native trees. Kameron will also be doing a fly over with the DNR to identify tree stands that have been damaged from hailstorms. PROPOSED PARK OPERATIONS COST SAVINGS Discussed where the Parks Maintenance Department can cut expenses by 5 -10% in 2009. Mr. Starr stated they are focusing on less mowing, possible association fees for lighting, cut back on the number of seasonal staff and removing the ice rink from Hawkridge Park. Discussed the problem of lights on fields staying on when not in use and potentially giving out more keys to the associations so the lights can be turned off when done with a field. Also having the concession staff assist with turning off lights on fields not in use. Weed and seed applications are done commercially, but staff will do more applications in- house to cut costs. Staff recommends plowing less in areas possible such as parking lots and/or trails not in use. Mr. Starr questioned if the trail along Round Lake Blvd, north of South Coon Creek could be left unplowed. Mayor Gamache suggested any trail near commercial areas or schools would have to be plowed, but areas further out in more unpopulated areas could be left. Sidewalks have to be plowed, but trails do not. © A question came up if parking lots need to be plowed such as Sunshine Park parking lots. Sunshine Park and the west parking lot are plowed due to school parking, parents picking up children and overflow parking for Community Center for hockey games, so that was questioned if it needs to be plowed by City staff or school. Mr. Berkowitz said before 2009 plowing next winter a list will be brought back to Council for approval of parking lots and trails not to plow. Mayor Gamache asked if additional shelter rebuilds are planned for 2009. Mr. Starr said the two shelters were completed last year, so nothing is scheduled this year. Questioned if the City or associations pay for outdoor bathrooms. The associations pay for 10 bathrooms, set up an escrow account with Finance and the city covers the rest. Mr. Starr recognized the volunteer programs and how valuable they are to the Parks Department. Programs such as Adopt -A -Park, Eagle Scout projects and school groups (Oak View Middle School) volunteer to help clean parks, trails, build birdhouses and weed various areas. Mayor Gamache asked Kevin if he felt the Parks Department could meet the 5% additional budget reduction for 2009. Mr. Starr stated it was possible with cut backs in certain items such as the mowing and plowing. Mr. Starr stated areas around the City Hall complex and Sunshine Park near the road, would be left with a more natural landscape and not mowed. © Councilmember Trude suggested in some of the smaller parks or tot lots could go with just swing sets and not such large expensive play sets. Mr. Starr explained even with the Andover City Council Workshop Minutes — dlanuary 22, 2009 Page 6 smallest play set, fall zones and concrete edging for play equipment are still needed, which leads to a large expense. Mr. Starr showed a map of all the park changes in the last 10 years. He discussed what some of the parks have to offer as far as fields or play equipment. Councilmember Trude suggested we put a better map on the web site to display park addresses and items in each park. Mr. Starr showed the type of dogi pot used on some of the trails and how well they work. He mentioned the amount of dogs being brought to run in Sunshine Park is increasing and becoming a problem. DISCUSS FIELD USAGEIDAMAGE DEPOSIT ESCROW Mr. Haas discussed the possibility of charging a damage deposit escrow for parks or fields being damaged. He stated this suggestion was brought to Council last year and it was decided to give it a year and see how the associations did. So it was monitored again this year and damages are still happening to park buildings, benches, fences, etc. Players hit balls against fencing and have been told to stop doing this. Andover Station North fields were brand new and the fence was already damaged going into the player's benches. © Mayor Gamache stated the ball associations have been told to control this and tell players not to hit balls into fencing. Council suggested to hang "no peppering" signs on the fences. Mr. Haas stated they brought the problem to the Park Commission, who then discussed this with the ball associations. The new director stated he is committed to enforcing the rules and controlling damages to fences and fields. Mr. Berkowitz stated last year, Mr. Starr and Mr. Haas met with the directors of each athletic association to discuss rules, field usage issues and costs. The communication worked well and will be done again this year, but if improvements are not made, the issue will be brought again to charge a damage deposit. Mr. Starr showed pictures of the Sunshine Park building upstairs and the storage problems with equipment and food taking over the entire area. The Baseball Association has a lease agreement to use the upstairs for meetings and general storage, but not for food. They feel the same problem may happen in the new Andover Station North building. It can also be a fire hazard and against fire codes. Mayor Gamache recommends having the association remove all the food and equipment from Sunshine Park building and bring it to Andover Station North building. Mr. Berkowitz suggested changes be made to the lease agreement to include a deposit escrow and bring it to Council for approval. It is also suggested at the same time change the wording in the key deposit agreement for Council to approve. Andover City Council Workshop Minutes — January 22, 2009 Page 7 The Park Commission recommends going one more year before adding the damage deposit escrow. Councilmember Trude suggested a complaint list with the City Hall receptionist be established to track some of the problems. Mr. Berkowitz will look at rewording the lease agreement for both buildings and bring it back for Council approval. DISCUSSIONITEMS Mr. Starr reviewed a report and pictures of vandalism throughout the parks (not just athletic) and stated what a problem it has become. Any items left in the open, unprotected or unlocked are damaged. Mayor Gamache suggest an article should go in the newsletter from himself or a Councilmember letting parents know what children are doing in the park system and the costs of repairing or replacing items and how it affects each resident. Mr. Haas stated how an incident in the skateboard park took place, and the participants in the park took care of reporting it and the parent had the kids repair items at Public Works with staff. OTHER BUSINESS Mr. Berkowitz stated staff continues to pursue changes at Crosstown Drive and Crosstown Boulevard intersection with Anoka County. The County is not willing to contribute funding. Mr. Berkowitz updated the Council on the status of the Speed Limit Task Force. MnDot is pursuing a resolution of support from the City Engineers Association of Minnesota (CEAM) regarding the final report. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Gamache adjourned the Andover City Council Workshop at 8:33 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Barb Wells, Recording Secretary