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5.9. SR 04-21-1997'ty of iver ITEM 5.9. MEMORANDUM FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: Mayor and City Council Adml ' ato Patrick Klaers, City ~,,~]~ April 15, 1997 Community Recreation Board Update Councilmember Roger Holmgren is the city representative on the Community Recreation Board. At this April 21, 1997, City Council meeting, Roger is scheduled to provide the Council with an update on March and April Community Recreation activities. Attached for your review is the agenda and background material from the April 14, 1997, Community Recreation Board meeting. s:XcouncilXcomrecud.doc 13065 Orono Parkway · P.O. Box 490 · Elk River, MN 55330 · (612) 441-7420 · Fax: (612) 441-7425 Community Recreation Board Notice of Meeting Monday April 14, 1997 - 11:45 am LaRose's Pizza - Elk River * Your attendance is always important! If you cannot make the meeting please arrange to send an alternate or notify me at 241-3523 that you will not be in attendance. Thank you! AGENDA A. Routine Matters: 1.) Approval of past minutes 2.) Changes or additions to agenda 3.) Staff reports & updates: 3.A) Youth Initiatives 3.B) Special Olympic & Other Inclusive Program Development 3.C) Skatepark Development 3.D) 1997 Summer Program Update B. Items of Information / Discussion: 1 .) Reschedule Work Session and Determine Topics 2.) Livonia Program Withdrawal Please see the reverse side for explanation of the Agenda items. Agenda Item Detail B.1 Reschedule Worksession: The original worksession that was to take place on March 18th had to be post-poned. The Board should plan to reschedule this meeting to take place soon. I'm recommending the following as items for discussion at our work-session meeting. Please comment on any necessary changes or additions. General considerations / direction for the 1998 budget committee: Such as; non-resident fees, accurate population determinations, other - Fiscal Agency / Employment policy and wage matters - Regional recreational shared facility planning - Concepts for increased awareness of our program 2. Livonia Withdrawal and Related Considerations: Enclosed you will find a copy of the letter from Livonia Township. The board will need to consider the following: - Staff assume that we will not be providing any local programming in the Livonia / Zimmerman area this summer. The Board should officially address this in your formal response. Our contract with Livonia requires 6 months notification. We could consider them partners through September. However, the following questions / considerations have an impact on our administration beginning this summer. We go to print with the summer brochure this week. Summer mass registration begins May 17th. The Board should decide today how to handle this matter so that we can properly communicate our policy within the summer brochure. - Will we still consider Livonia residents as" residents" in relation to our program fee charges? Zimmerman is also technically eligible as a resident through June. In actuality the program they would be part of will likely take place starting mid June and running through July and August. - Will we honor fee assistance requests from Zimmerman and Livonia residents? The following are options for consideration: - Require assessment obligations of each through May only, and consider any registrants for summer programs as non- residents. Total loss to Board with six month requirement of each = $ 6264.48 Total loss if let each out after May. $10,348.31 - Consider Zimmerman and Livonia registrants as "residents" and hold them to their 6 month assessment obligation. I would like the Board to also consider our responsibility to coordinating the "outdoor biffs" and other related facility use matters at Zimmerman ES for the youth athletic associations. 4/8/97 Community Recreation Board J. Asfahl - Staff Report for 4/14/97 Programming: - Current / Recent Activities: The following Spring opportunities are: 3vs 3 basket ball, gymnastics, skating club and various other opportunities at the arena. Easter egg hunts and basket making class at Rogers and Otsego, Bike roadeo and family bike ride, Youth baseball, girls softball, and youth soccer, have been recently conducting their program registration. Our office assists this process in various ways; from flyer distribution, to facility arrangements, and handling a significant amount of phone calls about their programs. Youth soccer is up approx. 200 registrations over last year, while baseball and girls softball are at comparable levels to last season. April is a busy month working with these groups getting organized for their season to begin. Miscellaneous Updates: - Planning for this summer. WE are working hard at increasing opportunities for the junior high age. - Youth Initiatives: The "Youth Initiatives" process continues. We continue to meet and have good meeting attendance. We have been meeting regularly since July of 1996. A web site for youth info. has been designed and is ready for use. - Mayor Duitsman and I met with the Sherburne County Fair Board to explore our use of their buildings and property. They understood our need, but did not have any facilities available. - Along with CE staff, we have again met with advocates of persons with disabilities to determine any program services that we could help to provide. Several of our existing offerings can serve this population and there are several other programs that could be developed with them. We hosted a meeting on Jan. 21 to begin considering and building a support network for possible development of a Special Olympics program. This meeting was well attended and good support was indicated. We are now looking to develop a local management team that would be responsible. Our programs will play a role, but we will not be totally responsible, we are seeking to develop a strong broad based management team. Several individuals have stepped forward to serve on the management team. We will be offering softball, track & field, and tennis opportunities. - Working closely with youth advocates and the city of Elk River on development considerations of a permanent skatepark. WE will be presenting a proposal at the April 16th Elk River Park commission meeting. - Working with the Otsego Park Commission on adopting field use policy and procedures for proper management of the ball fields. - Working with the city of Rogers on implementing a maintenance program to better serve youth baseball, soccer and youth softball programs. We have been successful in Elk River with a good system and it is replicable for any community. - Served on the Rogers Junior High community planning committee. I have also along with several of the youth associations forwarded suggestions on the Zimmerman site plan. - Working closely with the Arena Manager on a variety of program developments Staff Report April 97 Michele Bergh Summer Planning *Coming along nicely - lots of returning strong programs and some new ones as well (new programs are in italics) Baseball Camps Summer Strength and Conditioning T-Ball Adult & Youth Tennis (Play Tennis America) Girls Summer Basketball League Track & Field Open Gyms Funtastics Fridays Sand Volleyball League Cross Country Running Roving Playground Supersized Tuesdays 3 on 3 Tournaments Rollerblade/Rollerskate instruction Lions Den (extended dates) Gymnastics Classes and Clinics Soccer Camps (more offerings) Basketball Camps Volleyball Camps Football Camp Youth Golf Sport Craft Time in the Park Entertainment in the Park Open Rollerblading Ride the Rec Special Olympics Helping Various Community Festivals 4,5,6 Grade Dances Special Events for Youth Initiatives in the Park and at the Arena *Staffing is still being worked on - many returning staff so we don't need to hire too many new ones *Working with Rich at the Arena to creatively use the old rink and generate some revenue - rollerblading is going well and we'll be working with an outfit this summer that rents skates to you at the cost of 50% of your admission fee. We believe this will encourage some additional people who don't have blades or skates to come out. *Continue to work with local "skaters" to provide opportunities for them and fundraisers for a possible skate park We have had several special events in the past few weeks (Basket Classes, Egg Hunt, Rollerblading, Skateboarding/Concert, etc) that, along with summer planning have kept me very busy. Spring classes have begun and are running smoothly. March 30th, 1997 Community Recreation % Mr. ,Jeff Asfah! 1230 School Street NW Elk River, Mn 55330 Dear Mr. Asfah!, The board does not want to see two programs being run than pretty much provide the same activities in the summer there is the highest activity volume. And where it is needed the most w~th school out and k~ds needing activities to keep them busy. Which is why a letter was sent to the Mayor the C~.ty o~ Z~mmerman requesting that they get together with both Mr. Asfahl and the township to discuss the issues and attempt to resolve them. Nothing came out o~ that request. This was a decision that was made after hearing the issues and benefits from both the ?28 Rec program and the City Zi~erman. The majority o~ the board supervisors ~elt that it would be in the best interest of the community to jo~n the City o~ Zimmerman and concentrate on providing one and only one program to support the City o~ Zimmerman and L~vonia Township. That to have two programs running at the same time would only con,use people and possible cause both programs ~rom being a success due to split participation in programs. there were other concern ~reas such as host site, ~nsurznce. otc. The Livon~a Township townboard would like to Thank both your staf~ and v~,~ ~ pro,r~d~ng the township w~ ~ '~'~= yc.u have over the past years. Would you contact Roy Johnson and discuss how our departure ~rom the program should be handled beth from a financial and scheduling stand point. Being the City of Zimmerman will be providing a program for this area and there is no longer a host site for the ?28 program ~n this area the ~inancial support ~rom the township should be reduced considerably. Enclosed is a check for $ 868.50 paying the township up thru L~oy · ' - Livonia Township Clerk 81 Elk River Star News / Wednesday, April 9, 1997 I¥outh , Skateboarders search for At a Glance: a Teens fought."successfully last fall for a skate park. The Issue Teens want a skate park. The dilemma It's relatively expensive, because of insurance com- pany demands. How to ~et involved · Call eom- inanity Recre- ation at 241- 3523. · Attend the Elk River Park and Recreation Conunission meeting. It will be held at 7 p.m., April 16, at Elk River City Hall. Fast Facts: Types of skate board ramps · haif-l~ipes · 1/4-ptpes · pyramids · fun boxes · s_pines · fiat banks Types of skateboard moves · kick flips · heel flips · shuv-its · fifty-fi ftie.~ The solution, however, was only temporary. Efforts for a permanent skate park are underway, but the costs of insuring such a park has slowed the process down. by Jim Boyle Staff writer , The night time skies of Elk River will soon be filled with the crack of aluminum hats a ainst laced leather baseballs and the thump of checkered soccer balls bouncin~ of. of athletic shoes not to mention the chatter of the young boys and girls playing these games. What YOu won't Jeff Asfahi hear anytime soon, · however, is the whir of skateboard wheels on asphalt at an Elk River skate park. Skateboarders are once /igain without a place to call their own, and their hopes of the city jening a permanent skate park at e start of the 1997 skate season were dashed this winter by a bit of lawyerly advice. "A lot of people are starting to get frnstrated," said 17-year-old Lance Cunningham of Zimmerman. "It's tough not having a place to skate." City officials were advised over the winter that a skate park better be insured to limit the city's liabili- Dy. Insurance for a 8,400 square foot skate park costs about $6,000 . per year. What's mo~'e0 the only way an insurance company will insure such a park is if it's fenced . supervised and has ramps that meet certain codes. Current estiinates indicate· a skate park could cost $75,000 or more. "I'm still optimistic we can get one established tiffs year, but we may hn,,c, t,. ~,-ttl. f'm, thr~ C,r,~ .,-iota model rather than a Cadillac," said Community Recreation Director JeffAsfahl, who has been intimate- ly involved with efforts to establish a skate park and the "Youth Initia- tires" process that has been work- lng on a wide Variety of youth ini- tiatives. "I think with some com- ttPhrOmise on skaters, we will have a place which lne e ts insurers' expec- tations with solid partner- ships with the city, the com- munity recre- ation office and the com- munity. I would encour- age the youth to hang in there, be patient and get involved." The Elk River Parks and Recreation board has been supportive of the project all along, but it wants to know how the project can be done. Options being considered to make the project more financially feasi- ble include: · staffing the site with volunteers · limiting the number of ramps in the begim~ing new home from the community · finding a site that already meets some of the req~iremente . · holding student-led fund fund- raisers Cunningham and his cronies already plan to wage a fund-raising campaign. They held a fund-miser a couple weeks ago at the Elk River ice arena. While more than 200 kids turned out for open skate boarding and concerts, 400-500 were needed to turn a significant profit. Cunningham remains optimistic, however, and he has been pleased with the ~ity's efforts. ~Phey have been try- \ lng their best," he said. Cunningh~am led the · charge last year when area skateboarders worked t~ get a park. The city 'bf Elk River, with the help of local teens, established a tom- · porary skate park last fall on a vacant perking lot used for parking during tile spring and summer months. It satisfied skateboard- ers, local buainessmen who had shooed the kids away fi.om the~ places of business and 1°~ al police who were caught in the middle. Police c/ills about skateboarders t, also dropped from 10 to 15 pe.r week down to zero. e skateboarder~ even put on an exhibition for the community that attracted hundreds of people. "We need to keep going," Cnn- ninghain says. "I lmow I'~n going to stick with it. I'm definitely not gnin~ to giw~, up now." TOWN OF HASSAN 25000 HASSAN PARKWAY, HASSAN TOWNSHIP, MN 55374 PHONE: (612) 428-4100 FAX: (612) 428-2102 DATE: TO: FROM: RE: MEMORANDUM April 7, 1997 Community Recreation Joint Powers Board Douglas C. Thompson, Town Board Supervisor Hassan Township's concerns regarding the operation of the Joint Powers Community Recreation program. Recently you saw a letter from Hassan Township regarding our intent to withdraw our membership from the Joint Powers Board at the end of the 1997 season. I asked each of the members of the Hassan Town Board to give me their individual concerns regarding the program, and I've attached a summary of this list for your review. I believe that if we can address each of these items in a satisfactory manner, the Township would more than likely continue their participation. Please give these concerns your consideration. - THE ONLY TOWN IN HENNEPIN COUNTY - Concerns of the Hassan Board of Supe~/isors regarding the operation of the Joint Powers Community Recreation program: o 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Salary structure. It appears the position is overpaid by 25%. Insurance coverage for general liability & workmans comp. claims. Who carries the coverage, we need documentation to all of this. Better documentation of participants as to their home community. estimates of non-registered people at programs. Consideration and identification of overlapping programs in the area. Identification of short and long term goals of the program. Who are we trying to attract to this program. How is this program marketed? Does Elk River get an unfair advantage of the program? Is Community Recreation in need of buying a building for their own office? Shouldn't this organization be supervised by District 728? Feeling that private individuals (users) should pay for the programs. Monthly accounting of cash flow - both joint powers funding and participation fees. We see only a report of the annual budget based on the fees paid by member communities. We have seen nothing regarding the intake and spending of user fees. Better