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PRSR MEMORANDUM 06-07-1988 ... i TO: RECREATION BOARD MEMBERS Memorandum City of : FROM: PAT KLAERS, CITY ADMINISTRATOR •Elk River DATE: JUNE 2, 1988 6)P%-' SUBJECT: JUNE 7 , 1988 RECREATION BOARD MEETING The next City Recreation Board meeting is scheduled for 7: 00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 7 , 1988, at the Elk River City Hall conference room. Attached for your information is a suggested agenda for this Recreation Board meeting. Also attached for your information and review are the draft 5/10/88 Recreation Board Meeting minutes (agenda item #3) , some examples of park and recreation ordinances (agenda item #5 .4) , some financial park and recreation information from 1987 and 1988 (agenda item 5 .5) , and the softball lights information that Mr. Dave Anderson distributed at the previous Recreation Board meeting (agenda item #6) . Comments on agenda items are as follows: 5 .1 - RECENT CITY COUNCIL ACTION At the 5/16/88 City Council meeting, I provided the City Council with some Recreation Board recommendations that were made at its - ""*5/10/88 meeting . The City Council concurred with the Recreation Board recommendation on the water skiing course on Lake Orono 0 north of Highway 10 and on the installation of a public pay phone in Orono Park . The City Council also concurred that the need for a lifeguard at Orono Park needs to be closely evaluated before such action is taken and agreed to have the capital outlay items installed in Orono Park and Lions Park . The City Council was "luke warm" on having Phil Hals getting involved in the Handke pit warming house as this facility is on school property. However, they had no problems with Phil simply investigating the need and cost for such a shelter. The City Council was very enthusiastic about the "name that park" contest as suggested by the Recreation Board. Item 5 .2. - "NAME THAT PARK" CONTEST I am pleased to inform the Recreation Board that the City has officially purchased the Wilderness Park (Lamm Property) as of 6/1/88. Accordingly, the City can move forward with its plans to have a contest to rename the so called Wilderness Park and the old City dump site. I believe the best time frame to conduct this contest would be for information to be distributed in the early part of June, and especially, at the City Council booth during the Community Festival on June 11 . It would be nice if the 720 Dodge Avenue N.W., Elk River, Minnesota 55330 (612) 441-7420 Page 2 Recreation Board Agenda Memo June 2 , 1988 winning names could be announced during the 4th of July celebration, but this may necessitate a special City Council and Recreation Board meeting to evaluate the names. The last scheduled City Council meeting to approve a Recreation Board recommendation on park names is June 27 , 1988. Therefore, it may be more appropriate to have July 4, 1988, as the last day for park names to be submitted. In this regard, the "name that park" contest may get some extra print in the Elk River Star News and not get lost in the shuffle of reporting on the 4th of July event. I am open to suggestions from the Recreation Board on their preferred time frame for this contest. It would be ironic if the winning name for the Wilderness Park turned out to be the Wilderness Park . LP i,! Item 5 .3 - GROWTH MANAGEMENT PLAN UPDATE jY Wish to inform the Recreation Board that°ttie Planning Commission recommended approval of the Growth Management Plan to the City Council following its public hearing on this document on 5/31/88. The only amendment to this document relating to parks was the addition of a generalized statement about park areas being needed in the northern part of the community (10 acre zone) . It was also acknowledged that the open space designated on the future • parks map in the northeastern part of the community would have to be adjusted as there are currently homes within this vicinity. These two comments were included within the recommendation from the Planning Commission to the City Council . Item 5 .4 . - PARK AND RECREATION ORDINANCE EXAMPLES In my search for appropriate parks and recreation ordinances to review, and to be used, in helping the City put together an appropriate Parks and Recreation Ordinance, I have contacted the Minnesota Recreation and Park Association, the League of Minnesota Cities, and the cities of Buffalo and Chaska. The Minnesota Recreation and Park Association did not have any ordinances available but referred me to the City of Edina if I was looking for an advisory Park and Recreation ordinance versus an independent Park and Recreation Ordinance. After review of the material that I have received from the League of Minnesota Cities, it may not be necessary to receive this additional document. The ordinances from the cities of Buffalo and Chaska are anticipated within the next day or so. The individual I talked to from this Association also indicated that a joint City/School venture on providing recreation opportunities is the best set-up for cities if a good working relationship has been established. This was nice to hear, as our City has a good relationship with the School District and I believe that the recreation programs have been functioning very well . Page 3 Recreation Board Agenda Memo June 2 , 1988 Regarding an advisory versus an independent Park and Recreation Commission, I believe that our ordinance has been set up for the establishment of an independent commission, but the City Council now desires an advisory commission. In this regard, the Park and Recreation Commission would function in an identical manner as the Planning Commission, whereas they have no authority to make final decisions, but are strictly a recommending agency. Attached for your information are the Park and Recreation Commission ordinances from the City of Brooklyn Park, the City of Lake Elmo, the City of Rockford, the City of Excelsior, the City of Fosston, the City of North St. Paul , the City of Shoreview, the City of Princeton, and the City of Woodbury. I don't think that the Recreation Board has to review in detail every one of these ordinances, but I believe the attachments should provide the Recreation Board with an idea on the variety and types of Ordinances that exist. I believe that an Elk River Ordinance can be relatively brief and to the point, but should include the standard major components of all of the ordinances. These major components include a statement of purpose; membership; meeting dates; powers and duties; effective date; terms and compensation; vacancies; etc. Prior to the Staff working on such an ordinance, I would like to receive some input from the Recreation Board on . any particular sections they feel are especially relevant or examples from the attachments that are especially appropriate to be used in a City of Elk River Park and Recreation Commission Ordinance. Item 5 .5 - PARK AND RECREATION FINANCIAL UPDATE Attached for your information are the Recreation and Parks Departmental Budgets from the 1988 City General Fund Budget and the Parks , Recreation, and Park Dedication Audit pages from the 1987 City Audit. The Parks Budget is relatively straight forward and easy to compare to the audit. The 1987 adopted Parks Budget called for expenditures in the amount of $42,200. According to the Audit, the actual amount spent was $36 ,144 . The 1987 audited figures are somewhat deceiving as a large part of the Street Crew's time that was devoted to the parks (approximately $12 ,000 worth of salaries) was allocated against the LAWCON grant for the Lions Park . That is why, despite only $8,650 showing up in the audit as actual salary expenditures for parks, that in the 1988 City Budget, we increased the Street Crew time dedicated toward parks from 11% to 15% . You should also note that the $13,500 Capital Outlay expense was a "paper shuffle" and was an Electric Utility donation to the parks. The comparison of the City General Fund Recreation Budget to the Audit figures is more difficult to explain, therefore, I have asked the Finance 0 Director, Lori Johnson, to provide some comments on the 1987 audited park dedication and recreation figures. Page 4 Recreation Board Agenda Memo June 2 , 1988 Finance Director, Lori Johnson, offers the following comments. . . There are four funds that park and recreation expenditures are charged to. The General Fund Parks Operation and Maintenance budget covers all of the non-capital outlay expenditures for maintaining city parks . The Park Dedication fund, which receives its revenues from park dedication fees through the platting process , pays for park capital outlay expenditures for items like shelters, playground equipment, and land. There is also a LAWCON fund specifically for development of the Lions Park . This fund will be closed in 1988 as all grant monies have been spent. The Recreation fund which receives revenues through fees and tax dollars covers all softball, senior citizen, and community education program expenses. Below is some additional information on the revenue and expenditure breakdown of three of these funds which is not available in the audit. This shows a breakdown of how much was spent on each park and the actual cost of City funded recreation programs. PARKS OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE PARK EXPENDITURES Orono $4,500 Downtown 503 Ridgewood East 143 Lions 5 ,580 General Park Maintenance 11,992 Capital Outlay (Municipal Utilities Contribution) 13 ,523 . R Page 5 Recreation Board Agenda Memo June 2, 1988 PARK DEDICATION 1987 EXPENDITURES PARK IMPROVEMENTS AMOUNT Orono Shelters, Blacktop, & Plaground Equipment $ 87 ,100 Ridgewood East Playground Equipment 5 ,500 5th Street & Baldwin Ave. Land Purchase 14 ,700 Wilderness Land Payment 2 ,000 Lions Access Road Land 8,300 RECREATION FUND 1987 PROGRAM REVENUE EXPENDITURE BALANCE Budgeted Transfer In Community Ed $24 ,000 $24,000* • Miscellaneous 4,500 5 ,926 $12 ,757 4,500 Softball (6,831) Community Ed 14,281 43 ,115 (28,834) * Interest Income 732 732 BALANCE (6,433) January 1, 1987 Fund Balance $17 ,610 Excess Expenditures (6 ,433) Transfer Out (14 ,000) December 31, 1987 Fund Balance ($2,823) *These two figures should net to zero if actual Community Ed revenues and expense meet budget figures. Item 5 .6 - AGENDA PREPARATION I have been putting together the Recreation meeting agendas on a somewhat hit and miss basis. I would like to receive input from the Recreation Board members on what they desire on certain agendas, and yet I do not want to be receiving seven individual phone calls and adjusting the preliminary agenda three or four times. In this regard, I am requesting that Chairman, Mike O'Brien, receives all the phone calls from the Recreation Board members on their desires for agenda items. Then, in this manner, Mike can give me a call one week before the scheduled Recreation Page 6 Recreation Board Agenda Memo June 2 , 1988 meeting and the agenda and back up material can be put together in a timely fashion. Item #6 - DISCUSSION ON SOFTBALL COMPLEX LIGHTS Attached for your information is the material Vice Chair, Dave Anderson, distributed at the last Recreation Board meeting. This material relates to some cost estimates for the purchasing of softball poles and lights for the lighting of the softball complex. Since the last Recreation Board meeting, there has not been a great deal of staff work done on this project. If lights are to happen, they would take place in the fall of 1988 or the spring of 1989. The key issue in this proposal is, "who is going to finance what part of the project." Parks Superintendent, Phil Hals, will be attending this Recreation Board meeting to prticipate in this discussion. Item #7 - COMPREHENSIVE PARK AND RECREATION WISH LIST In terms of long range planning, the City Council felt it was appropriate for the Recreation Board to put together a comprehensive wish list on what they would like to see happen in • the future for the City's Park and Recreation systems. This so called wish list can be the starting point on looking towards the future in terms of what is realistic and what is feasible and what is really needed. The wish list can be just a long list of items to be looked at or can be organized under specific topics such as neighborhood parks, community parks; or under recreation catagories such as softball needs, soccer needs, etc.