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PRC 2009 11 24 CHANHASSEN PARK AND RECREATION COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING NOVEMBER 24, 2009 Chairman Daniel called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Jeff Daniel, Tom Kelly, Glenn Stolar, Steve Scharfenberg, Thor Smith, Scott Wendt and Elise Ryan STAFF PRESENT: Todd Hoffman, Park and Rec Director; Jerry Ruegemer, Recreation Superintendent; and Sue Bill, Senior Center Coordinator PUBLIC PRESENT: Jack & Marlyn Mauritz Martha Walker Curt Robinson Dave Headla Mike & Bill Wilson APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Daniel: Is there anything that any of the commissioners would like to add or delete at this time? Ryan: Unless you want an update on the meeting of. Daniel: The town ball meeting? Ryan: The town ball meeting. Daniel: We can do that at the end of the meeting here with the commissioners committee report, how’s that? Ryan: Perfect. Daniel: Okay, thanks Elise. Scharfenberg: Could we also request an update from staff on the, updates at Lake Ann with the canteen. Food area. Daniel: Oh yeah. You’re talking about the shelter? Scharfenberg: Shelter, yep. No, not the shelter but the. Hoffman: Concession stand. Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 Daniel: Concession stand at the ballfields. Scharfenberg: Right. Daniel: Okay. When do you want to do that Todd? Do you want to do that at the end as well? Hoffman: Yeah we can do it under, well we should add it under like 5. 6. 6, Administration Report. Daniel: Okay. So we’ll do it, that’ll be number 6 then under reports. Would that be fair? Okay. Alright, approval of agenda then. Unless there’s anything else anyone would like to add. Scharfenberg moved, Wendt seconded to approve the agenda, amended to include an update under Commission Member Committee Reports by Elise Ryan on the town ball meetings and an update on the Lake Ann Park ballfield concession stand under Administrative Presentations. All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 7 to 0. PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hoffman: I just want to note that you have your calendar for 2010. It was included under your cover sheet of your packet. There are really no, it’s always the fourth Tuesday in 2010 except for December so we don’t hit any major holidays so it’s a pretty clean schedule for 2010. Daniel: It shows that we have no meetings in December 2010. Stolar: No it’s the purple. Daniel: Oh purple. I thought the blue was. Oh, there we are. Gotch ya. Smith: Pink and blue make purple. th Daniel: Okay. 14 it is then. Alright. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS: None. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:Stolar moved, Wendt seconded to approve the verbatim and summary minutes of the Park and Recreation Commission meeting dated October 27, 2009 as presented. All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 7 to 0. FOCUS ON SENIOR CENTER. Daniel: We’re going to focus on the Senior Center. We have Sue Bill here to get a chance to talk to us about the activities with the senior commission, is that correct Sue? At the senior center. 2 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 Bill: Senior center, yep. Daniel: Alright. Bill: That is correct. Well first of all I want to thank you for the opportunity to enlighten you about all the activities that occur at the senior center. I’m going to try to make it quick, although that would be hard because we have numerous, numerous programs and activities. The senior center is not only a place for cards and games but a place for seniors to gather, share common interests, socialize with friends and most importantly meet new friends. The senior center offer residents a place to connect with other seniors, partake in educational program and activities, learn about services in Chanhassen and Carver County and explore the many landmarks through daily programs and activities as well as most importantly have fun. And as you can see from this slide it just depicts a variety of activities and probably on every one of those pictures there is a lot of smiles and a lot of fun being had at the senior center. The senior center has been providing services to seniors in Chanhassen since 1992. The senior commission was a driving force in the establishment of the senior center as well as with the current remodel of the new senior center which opened in 2005. The senior center has a rich history in Carver County as one of the oldest city, well the city that has provided services for seniors for the longest. In the past couple of years with the establishment of the office, the Carver County Office on Aging, there are five other cities or five other cities in Carver County which are establishing a senior commission or some form of and very often those senior commissioners or the cities will come to Chanhassen and ask for expertise and direction and guidance because we’ve been doing that for quite a while. So it’s really nice to be recognized and the city should be thanked as well as the Park and Rec Commission for being so dedicated to Chanhassen seniors for the past number of years. The senior center is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 to 4:30 with special programs on evenings and weekends. Primary service area is Chanhassen but we do welcome residents from all surrounding communities. We have a lot of people and a lot of activities. Bridge, bingo. Those are two groups where they know the days of the various activities and they go from community to community but we do welcome people from all communities. Senior center is staffed by part time coordinator, me. I work 28 hours a week and I have to say all 28 hours of those is a lot of fun. What other job could you have where you plan fun and activities all day long so I do enjoy it. To fill in the hours when I’m not working, we have volunteers that help supplement days when I’m off and they provide weekly office assistance. They also provide support of daily programming. All of our daily programs such as bridge and bingo, wood carving, Chan-O-Lairs, have program leaders that are responsible for the implementation of the daily programs. And we have numerous volunteers and people who help with our many special events throughout the year. So far in 2009 volunteers have provided 880 hours of service to the senior center. We also have a senior advisory board called the SAB which provides monthly, or we meet monthly and it makes programming recommendations to me for operation of the senior center. On a monthly basis we get together and I share ideas. Some of my ideas are way out there but they kind of bring me back so we meet first Monday of every month and talk about future programming ideas, educational topics and services that would be relevant to seniors. There’s no annual membership fee at the senior center. There’s a program or activity fee that is charged to cover all program costs and materials. Additional revenue is generated by daytime rentals. This time of the year we have numerous insurance companies renting space to talk about 3 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 their new supplement, Medicare supplement plans. We have networking groups that rent the senior center so a variety of different rentals occur and we do only rent the space during daytime. Monday through Friday. We also have a coffee fund. We have an excellent recycled greeting card program. We get revenue from memorial gifts and program sponsorships as well. As you’ve heard me talk in the past we have a variety of activities that occur on a weekly and monthly basis. We probably have the largest bridge group that plays every Monday afternoon from 12:30 to 3:30 and on any given Monday if you drive by the parking lot you probably won’t find a parking space, and we have anywhere from 40 to 54 people that play bridge every week. Wednesday afternoon is bingo. We have quite a good gathering of that. We have volunteer callers for bingo and one thing I’d like to highlight with bingo, for the past I think 3 years there’s a family in Chanhassen that has 4 teenage boys and twice a month 2 of those boys come every week to call bingo and it’s just a wonderful interaction between these boys and the bingo people. We also have a Chan-O-Lairs chorus that performs, or practices every Tuesday afternoon and they perform at various venues throughout the southwest metro. Thursday afternoon is cards. 500 and Hand and Foot. Third Friday of the month is cribbage. Last, we just started that last week. We had 22 people playing cribbage. Really nice activity. We have defensive driving every month. First Tuesday of the month we have foot care. First and third Friday of the month we have cards and games. The first Tuesday of the month we have health insurance counseling. Thursday morning is Nintendo. Wii bowling. Wednesday and Friday morning is wood carving and Monday is Women’s Club. And now I’d like to introduce Martha Walker who is going to talk about some of the activities that she’s involved in at the senior center. Martha Walker: Thank you Sue for asking me to do this. I feel very privileged. To our wonderful senior center. Seniors are so very fortunate to have all of these wonderful trips available and all the fantastic events to choose from. Of course the ones that make all these events, trips, great lunches and parties is our amazing and energy Sue Bill. Everyone who comes to the Chanhassen Senior Center feels so welcomed. Such a friendly and caring atmosphere. I live up the hill here and it’s meant a lot to me. In fact our whole Chanhassen community is quite a gift. Thanks to the young and retiring citizens. I have a little story to tell ya if you bear with me. We lived in Minnetonka for 27 years back of K-Mart. Clear Springs. So my brother and sister-in-law came up to see us the first time from Comanche, Texas. So they missed the turn there at 101 and Excelsior and my brother calls me and he says I’m here in Chanhassee. Where do I go? So little did I know I’d be saying, so people say where do you live and I have to kind of Chanhassen. Not Chanhassee. Thank you for having me. Daniel: Thank you Martha. Bill: Martha brings a lot of enthusiasm and fun with every activity that she’s involved in. Martha Walker: Thank you. Bill: The senior center also offers a variety of leisure and educational programs. We have the AARP Defensive Driving program. We have 18 of those a year. We have a monthly 4 hour refresher program and we have 6 first time 8 hour programs. We also have the Augsburg College of the Third Age, the lifelong learning programs. We have 6 of those per year. And for the last 4 years KleinBank has been the financial sponsor of those programs. A program that I 4 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 think started in 2008 is Donuts with the Deputies. Last Monday we had a record number, 28 people. Lieutenant Olson came and talked about the Carver County SWAT team, but he had another name for it. People were fascinated. The interaction between he and the participants is wonderful and I, as well as everybody is amazed at the numerous services that the Carver County sheriffs do. He talked about not only the SWAT team. About the drive and rescue team. The posse. I mean it goes on and on so it’s just a wonderful, wonderful addition and that occurs 6 times per year. Couple times a year I like to offer technology programs. A lot of older adults hear about all of this new technology but don’t quite know what it’s about. Last May I had a program on Facebook and My Space. We had, my daughter did it. We had to invite her back more or less I said Amy, you’re going to come back and teach Round 2. And the purpose of this is really to just provide the information so people are knowledgeable about the constant changing technology that’s going on. Other classes we have people doing writing. Personal history. John Ander from Edward Jones did, sponsored a class on financial fraud. Every year we have Carver County Services for Seniors come and talk about the various financial and other programs available. Every year we have Minnesota Area Agency on Aging come to talk about Medicare update. This is a busy time of the year where all insurance companies plans, Medicare, Part D as well as supplemental plans, the rates go up so everybody is wanting to find out the other options available. Last month we had someone from the Ridgeview Sleep Center talk about seasonal affect disorder and other sleep disorders. I really try to utilize local resources for educational opportunities and we’re pretty fortunate that we have a lot available. Next, in December Nikki from Chanhassen Floral’s going to do a floral design class. There again I try to use local resources for education and probably one of the programs that really has taken off is our one on one computer instruction and that basically is where people want to learn how to use the internet. How to use email. How to use laptops. Various things and we have volunteers. Two of them are in the room. Dave Headla and Curt Robinson and they work one on one with people and try to teach them how to use the computer. And so with that I’m going to introduce Dave Headla who does a lot of our computer instruction and I have to say that Dave has the patience of a saint. I sat in with him when he was working with one or two people and like boy Dave, I owe you a lot. So he does an excellent, excellent job. Dave is also going to talk about the one on one computer instruction as well as Dave is part of our wood carving group. Chanhassen has had a wood carving group way back since probably ’92, ’94. Dave is responsible for the wonderful display you see out in the hall. He changes it every couple months and he’s also involved as well as some of the other wood carvers in a variety of other projects so Dave. Dave Headla: Good evening. Daniel: Good evening. Dave Headla: I’m really sold on the computer instruction program that the senior center puts out. It’s helped an awful lot of people and some, it helped them out in other ways too. But the, let me start out by Sue has prepared a, like an application that people fill out if they want computer instruction. And she has some, what are you interested in? What do you really want to get out of this? And do you have email now? Are you getting email? Do you have an address? When she gives us that piece of paper and we look at it, so when we first talk to people we want to instruct, we know where we’re coming from. And I’d like to tell you about two cases why I’m so sold on this program. The first, let me say do you know how many people want to talk to 5 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 their kids. They want email. That’s the first thing they say. They want email. And well, email is pretty complicated if you’ve never seen a computer before or know what it is. So what I do is try to work around so I ask them well where were you born? The first one I did that with was with a lady from Columbia. I said where were you born? She told me a town in Columbia. I said well, was there a river or city or lake by there? And she gave me that. I said okay, we’ll go to Google and see what we can find out. The mouse is a very difficult machine to operate if you haven’t done it before. And I lose two students, they just gave up on it. Anyway this lady was able to pick up the mouse and with a little effort she clicked on Google. Typed in her city and then the river and it’s, you know if you’ve been on Google you know you get gobs of information. She just couldn’t believe it and I had her hooked. She wanted to know how to use the computer. The other one that I wanted to talk about is a fella. Older than me. Believe it, he’s older than me. Not many but anyway he got a computer. Didn’t know a thing about it and after he had it he realized he needed some help so he talked to Sue and filled out the application and since I knew the fella I said okay, I’ll take him. And my first instruction he, well he really wasn’t interested in the computer such and so would you like, shall we play some music. I knew he loved music. No, didn’t like music. I sold all my instruments. Okay. Well we went on for, I don’t know maybe 6 weeks and he said well, I’ll call you now when I want more help. Well after a while I got a call from him and he said will you come over. I want to hook up my computer. Alright…so you really want to do it? Yes. So I went over there and hooked up the computer and we talked a little bit. Well it turned out his wife had died probably, maybe 6-8 weeks before we got together and that hit him pretty hard so. So hard he sold his instruments. Well he got working on this computer and it kind of distracted him and after a while, well I unhooked the computer. A little while later he asked me to come on over. He said hey, I got a new TV set and help me hook it up to cable. I can’t get it going. I went over there and gee the guy was lively. I was talking to him. Yeah, he got in on a saxophone. I’m going to buy some more and he’s doing volunteer work. Going in to Minneapolis. Somebody drives in there and I think that exposure to the computer for that time, it’s my opinion. I’ve got nothing to prove it but I think that really pulled him through a very difficult time. I talk to him now and the guy is really up. Any questions on the computer at all? Daniel: Any questions of the commission at all? Dave Headla: Pardon? Daniel: I was just asking if they have any questions at all? Dave Headla: Okay. Then I’d like to talk about our wood carving committee, or group. The fella behind you, Jack is one of the fellas I first met when I came into the wood carving group about 2004 and I soon found out Jack was the man to go to if you want to find out about birds or feathers and you want wood carving, you talk to Jack. Anyway the wood carving group started, I thought it was around 2000, I’m not sure but 2004 I came in and I knew nothing about carving and fellows like Jack, they helped me quite a bit but as you go along the carving group carved a totem pole which is in the old senior center and it has the, well like our state bird. State flower. And then the next project we did was the covered wagon. We asked who wants to make a covered wagon? Well we got some volunteers and there were 6 of us that worked on this covered wagon and after it was done we donated it to the library. Little time went on and then 6 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 we wanted another project. So we got 4 fellas and their capability and we made a stagecoach. Now one fella did the horses. He just loves carving horses. Another fella did the leather work. A couple of them that aren’t carving anymore, they did some things that we needed to be done. So it was a good cooperation all along and that’s already over at the library. Then finally trying to get an effort going now to make what you call the eagle cane project. It’s our vets, you’ve got the Vet hospital, they need something to get from a chair to wheelchair or a walker and there’s some of us that are, I’ve given one cane away and this cane is in process. It’s an eagle and it’s pretty handy. First of all we gave it to…the finished product will be something like this. We have the time to whittle and then we wood burn in whatever they want. Now the fella that I talked to, called me from the Vet hospital, he started telling me the name and he wants some personal information on it. Military. That we’ll do all that. Trouble, Kate gave me a phone number. I can’t get back to him. I called somebody for help. Any questions on that? Scharfenberg: How many carvers do you have total? Dave Headla: You mean on a daily basis? Overall we have about 20. But I think 12 to 15 is what we normally get. And we meet on Wednesday mornings and Friday mornings. Bill: I just want to reiterate a couple things also. As you can see on this slide, in the middle right-of-way on the right, my right hand side is a quilt. A wooded quilt that the wood carvers, yeah. That the wood carvers carved. That is hanging over the fireplace in the library. I forget the name of the room. And every square of that quilt was carved and it depicts, it’s a history of Chanhassen. It shows the original bank. What else is on that? I mean it’s a beautiful, beautiful piece. Hoffman: The churches. The old houses. Bill: Okay, churches. It’s beautiful and the wood carving group of men and women were asked by the City of Norwood. Audience: Carver. Bill: Carver. If they would carve a quilt for the new city hall in Carver so they have a couple years ago they did that and they were all invited to the dedication of the new Carver City Hall where the quilt was mounted. There are master carvers in that group. Every week they work individually but then they get together. Somebody has an idea. They get together and do community projects and kind of like the senior center, our group of wood carvers are known for the quality of their work. They also invite young children in. They teach children and I’ll talk a little bit more about that later but thank you. They’re really a talented group of men and women. Hoffman: And their carving room is just at the end of the hall. So you go out past the senior center, down to the end of the hall and it’s part of a store room that they’ve adopted as their carving room. Right in the lower level of city hall. Bill: They doctored that one up pretty good. Every time you come in there’s a new lamp hanging or a light and I don’t know, you’ve got rotors and all this equipment and the most 7 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 amazing thing, when I first started here there was a woman who now passed away who was involved. A lifelong Chanhassen resident. She had Parkinson’s and she was an excellent carver. You know so I barely knew her and I go back on Wednesday morning to say hi to wood carvers and she’s shaking like crazy. I’m like by gosh Sherol, haven’t you ever cut your hand or anything? I mean it’s amazing to see the different abilities of the people and what they can create so it’s just a wonderful opportunity, like Dave said. A lot of people, a lot of them never carved and some of the other master carvers will teach them. So if you’re ever here on a Wednesday or Friday, go back in the wood carving workshop. Bring band-aids. The senior center also has numerous special events. One of the favorite ones is Breakfast with the Mayor. Every May during Senior Awareness Month Mayor Furlong comes and has breakfast with about 50 plus people and gives an update on what’s new in Chanhassen. People love the interaction. They love to hear from the mayor on things not specific to the city as well as specific to them so that’s a favorite of their’s. We also have an annual holiday party. For the past 2 years, I hate to say it but we’ve outgrown the senior center. We now have it at the rec center where we have about 110 people. And that again is a wonderful event. You’ve got, in the past 4 years Community Bank of Chanhassen has helped co-sponsor that program so I can help offset the cost of the food and entertainment. We also have Lake Ann picnic which is sponsored, co-sponsored by, or sponsored by the Lions and Curt will talk about that later. We have a Ladies Tea Luncheon in August with about 60 plus women for the past 3 years. Roseanne Gregory for hair for Guys and Dolls sponsors our style show. That’s a tea lunch and style show. Annually we have a dinner before one of the concerts in the park. Last year we had an ice cream social, but anyway it’s an event before one of the concerts. Chanhassen celebration of history and the arts. Two years ago I was at Feb Fest with Paula Atkins and we were there on a very cold day trying to stay warm and we got this idea about why not have a celebration to celebrate the arts in our community. So that, two years ago it was at St. Hubert’s Church where we wanted to showcase the church so she and I were the ones that got that going and now the Historical Society, as I’m sure a lot of you are aware, is very instrumental in trying to preserve that church. Lastly, our monthly special events, I have what’s called a luncheon counter program where we have entertainment and lunch and part of that program where you’ve heard me talk about it in the past is the Passport to the World program. That started, is it this year or last year? 2008. Last year and that has really, really been well received. We have education, entertainment and ethic food and people just love it. Everybody gets a passport that’s stamped and I guess at the end of this year, I did say I was going to give some type of prize for people who attended the most events, but that’s really been a wonderful addition and people love the education and learning that they get from that. Health and wellness that we have a lot of diet and nutrition programs. We do an annual flu shot clinic. We have fitness programs. Jodi, I don’t know if it was last month or two months ago talked about enhanced fitness. Tai Chi. Line dancing. Jodi has now taken over running of those programs and she and I brainstorm a lot as far as if there are any other fitness and wellness programs that would be pertinent. Mention we have a foot care clinic every Tuesday, first Tuesday of the month. We have two nurses that come in that do foot care for older adults. We have one on one insurance counseling where state certified insurance counselors come and meet with people individually to provide Medicare support. Busy time of the year. Usually we do it one time a month. I’ve got 14 days with 3 to 4 people schedule per th day from November 15 through the end of the year. We do various health screenings. Health and wellness seminars and we do monthly blood pressure checks. And now it’s my pleasure to 8 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 introduce Marlyn who is the President of our Senior Advisory Board and she’ll share some of the activities and interests that she’s involved in. Marlyn Mauritz: I didn’t get this at the senior center. Good. You’re all laughing. That means you’re awake. I brought this along because I thought it was apropos that for the winter edition you had this on the cover. Add 40 years or 50 years and you’ve got senior center. You guys haven’t got that long. There you go. Can you tell that I was a classroom teacher at a high school? I want your attention and I want it all together. I’m Marlyn Mauritz. I’m Jack’s wife. Recently he has been my cane. My chauffer. My closet. My chef. My consigner so I appreciate his work and I do like his wood carving but that’s what we’re all about. I’m Marlyn Mauritz. I’m one of 8 members on the Senior Advisory Board. I’m President by acclamation I guess and nobody else wanted the job and I seem to have a mouth big enough to stand with you guys so we assist Sue with program ideas. We promote participation and try to make people feel welcome, and sometimes we bug the staff upstairs for certain items that we want. Because many seniors live alone with a TV and a phone that may or may not ring, they have a need to be able to get out and have a contact with others. Our senior center provides on average 23 to 50 different activities per month that they have a choice to take. That’s a lot for somebody that’s part time with volunteers. I myself evaluate the success of an activity by the sound level. There’s an intense silence in the room full of bridge players. Sometimes you hear the cards shuffle. Or lay down on the table. Or it’s a burst of laughter when Sue announces the door prize winning number. It’s always her’s. And you know that audience, that group anticipates the joke every time. It’s just like Jack Benny’s, well. The sing along with the Chan-o-Lairs is a high point with great gusto for each performance. There’s a hoot and a holler on every roll at the Wii bowling games. But on the other hand guest speakers get full attention, followed by a bevy of questions. All you have to do is ask Lieutenant Olson how easy it is to get out of that room because of the questions. They love it and they get involved. There’s a chattering and a ribbing and laughter as the wood carvers chip away or they quietly talk about new project with a mentor, and there’s a lively discussion and a sharing of experiences by the members of the book club. And at our age we have a lot of experience when we’re reading some of these books. There’s a huff and a puff and a patter of feet during exercise class or a splash in the pool. Or there’s a quiet one on one talk with the foot care nurse. Sort of like going to your barber or your hair dresser. That one on one in a personal situation brings out the best and it’s a communication that every senior really needs and doesn’t get very often. Yes, even the snoring on the bus trip home from a delightful trip is indication of having had a ball at the outing. All of these sounds, or lack thereof indicate a connection made and that’s what we’re all about. I’d like to make a personal comment as well. When I retired in 2000 I had spent the last 8 years of my working time working at the Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging. My job was to monitor federal and state funds for congregate and home delivered meal programs for seniors. In a 7 county metropolitan area I had over 150 sites and I had to visit at least 20 of them each year to assess their, that they were following the regulations and working a good program. Believe I got around the metropolitan area from Belle Plain to Stillwater to Forest Lake, to Ham Lake to Hastings. To Dayton, Brooklyn Center, to Columbia Heights. Downtown Minneapolis. Warren Towers, Cedar Riverside, University area. Martin Luther King Center. The Jewish service centers everywhere. It may have been a good job but there were 150 of them in senior centers, churches, adult daycares and senior housing, both market rate and subsidized like Warren Towers is down along 35 by Lake Street. In the 7 county metro region, I went to lunch, quote unquote, at 20 sites a 9 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 year to check the staff and the program that it was operating copacetically. I always checked the procedures, the food quality and the customer satisfaction and when you sit down with a table of seniors, where they allow you to sit, not where you choose to sit. They may not want you at their table. You get a big interest as to what they like and what they don’t like. I also took an interest in the activities and services available at those sites because it made a difference in their lives and in my estimation, just out of my experience, our center for it’s size and population served and the hours of operation ranks very high in this metro area. The 7 counties. And that is a direct result of Sue and the willing staff from upstairs and support of you the commissioners. For that we thank you. Do you have any questions? Daniel: Boy I think you summed it all up Marlyn. Thank you. Bill: I truly didn’t pay these people… We’re going a little long so I’m going to go a little quicker. I know we all want to get out of here. One other, another aspect of programs are day trips. We do monthly day trips. Our monthly day trips are done conjointly with the Chaska Lodge and occasionally with the Eden Prairie Senior Center. Last week, just an example, last week our day trip we went to the State Capitol for a guided tour of the capitol and then we went to Tavern on Grand for walleye in St. Paul and then we did a tour of the Alexander Ramsey house. In December we’re going to Mystic Lake for the Cirque du Soleil show and Plymouth for Church Basement Ladies. We do train rides. We boat rides. We do museums. We do theaters. We occasionally do casinos. So anyway we have it all covered. We also have extended trips. I mentioned that Joan and I from Chaska, for the past 2 years have planned an overnight mystery trip. We saw a need for a shorter, more reasonable trip so we were able to do, like I say an overnight mystery trip. We went to Duluth one year. Brainerd another year. We were able to do it for under $200. That included everything and we get different people that go on those short trips than go on extended trips. We book in, I book with 4 different, or 3 different travel agencies for extended trips and we get a 5 to 10 percent commission for each traveler. I guess that’s another revenue source that I didn’t mention. As Marlyn mentioned we are a site for a nutrition programs. The CAP Agency is the responsible agency for our congregate dining program. 2008, 398 meals were served. So far in 2009, 428 meals. We also are a Meals for Wheels site and that basically delivers meals to homebound or recovering, people recovering from surgery. 2008, 5,047 meals were delivered. 2009 through October, about 3,400. All those meals are delivered by 17 volunteer drivers. Senior center partnerships. I, and we couldn’t do everything that the senior center does without some excellent friends in the community and partners. I mentioned KleinBank for the last 4 years has donated anywhere from $700 to $1,100 for sponsorship of our Augsburg College program. Community Bank co-sponsors our holiday party. They also sponsor our magazines that we have in the senior center and one of our bestest friends is the Chanhassen Lions Club, and I’d like to introduce Curt Robinson to talk about the Lions and the support that they give us throughout the year. Curt Robinson: Thank you. We’re very fortunate to have Sue Bill and the facilities we have for seniors here in Chanhassen. Very fortunate. I’m on the senior commission. I use the senior center a lot to play cards. I’ve done congregate dining there. We’re just very fortunate and seniors you know are downright frugal or really cheap and all of this is free. It’s free. Free for us and thank you for the good job you do Sue. The Lions Club. I’m also a member of the Lions 10 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 Club and I would like to recruit tonight but I just want to talk about the senior picnic. The Lions sponsor the senior picnic at Lake Ann Park. This, we’ve done that for what? Bill: Five. Curt Robinson: Five years. We started out with about 50 people and I think last year we had over 100. Bill: I think about 140. Curt Robinson: 140. And we’re thinking we’re going to have to limit that now probably next year but the Lions Club really enjoys the seniors. Working with the seniors and for the seniors because they’re so appreciative of everything we do so. Thank you Sue. Bill: When he says sponsor it, they not only financially sponsor it but they cook all the food. They clean up. They set up. It’s just a wonderful, wonderful event. Last year, first time we had it in the new shelter at Lake Ann. Big hit so we’ll be back. We already have it booked. Other programming partnerships. AARP. Minnesota Area Agency on Aging. Minnesota Valley, or Minnesota Visiting Nurses does a flu shot clinic. Carver County Public Health. Chanhassen Library and we’re doing more and more with the library. I spoke with them last week. We’re going to do some joint computer programs. They now have a portable computer lab which will open a lot of doors for us and a lot of things with Carver County Historic Society. We do events with the Friends of the Library. Carver County Library Assistance. They offer annual tax assistance. District 112 Community Education will be a site occasionally for some of their classes. Goddard School. Other schools. AmericInn has a swim program. Chanhassen, or Summerwood of Chanhassen and Minnesota Operation Nice, we make greeting cards and seniors donate various items and on a monthly basis we send packages to service people, men and women, over seas. Senior center program collaborations. I work with Jodi and John to do some intergenerational things. We, Jodi and I plan some events for craft events, for grandparents and children. John and I, I think have put together 3 wood carving for youth classes. We’ve got one coming up in December. Wonderful opportunity where our carvers help teach children how to carve. They do chip carving and relief and other type of carving I don’t know about so anyway that’s been a great program. Communication and marketing. We market, I market the senior center a variety of different ways. Chanhassen Connection as you know comes out on a month, 4 times a year. Quarterly newsletter that goes out to about 600 plus people. Have a weekly column in the newspaper called the Senior News and that has gotten just wonderful recognition and I get a lot of people that come to programs where they’ve read about that. Some of our programs are published in the, I think now it’s called the Schools of Eastern Carver County. It used to be Community Ed. Our programs are in there. We’re also on the local cable television channel. Flyers and program activities go out to the senior housing buildings and churches and then of course word of mouth is probably one of our best resources. And lastly, just wanted to share through 2009 there have been 8,279 visits to the senior center for activities and programs. As I think every one of the people talked about, it’s a place for people to gather. Place for laughter. For fun. Education. To meet other people and like I said before it just is a wonderful place to work and I want to thank you and the City and Todd for his support for providing such a wonderful opportunity for seniors in Chanhassen so thank you. 11 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 Daniel: Thank you very much Sue. Certainly, does anyone within the commission have questions or comments? To Sue with regards to the senior center. Stolar: Just you know generally what we’ve said before when you’ve spoken. The programs you do, obviously from our guests here, just you’re fantastic. I like the way you get creative and think of new ideas and thank the senior advisory board. I’m sure a lot of them generate from you also and so just keep up the great work and this is wonderful. Bill: Thank you. I do apologize for going a little long. Daniel: Oh don’t worry about that Sue. Scharfenberg: Sue I have a question. Can you speak to the difference between the Senior Advisory Board and the Senior Commission? Bill: I can. Senior Advisory Board advises me on the day to day programming at the senior center. The Senior Commission is a nominated commission and they look at issues facing seniors in this city on a whole. They don’t have anything to do with the implementation or programming at the senior center. They’ve been instrumental in a lot of the housing issues. Parking issues. Transportation. Volunteerism so they look at the community. Senior Advisory Board looks at the senior center issues. Daniel: Great, and Sue certainly again all the effort and work that you have done to promote the commission as well as the center is fantastic and the compliments obviously got paid off very well. But more importantly we want to thank all the guests who had an opportunity to take time out of their schedule today and stop by and really make your opinions and voice to the commission here about certainly Sue’s help but all the activities that go on with the senior center so we again, certainly do appreciate taking time out of your schedule to stop by and we really do appreciate it so thank you. Hoffman: I’ve been known to sneak downstairs to get a sweet treat for the seniors but it’s really for the fellowship and the companionship that I share with that group just to go down during the day. They keep this building alive 8:00 to 4:30 and it’s great to have them in the building so thanks again for your time. Daniel: Thank you. Curt Robinson: I’m not a wood carver but I would encourage you, if you haven’t seen it, to go back and see the wood carving shop. That’s a neat place. Daniel: Thank you Curt. Hoffman: Good night everyone. Happy Holidays. ESTABLISH 2010 PICNIC RESERVATION FEES. 12 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 Ruegemer: Thanks Chair Daniels. We had a chance and opportunity to look at the overall picnic evaluation at the October meeting. Kind of had a chance to kind of focus on the overall you know kind of the categories that we have established and kind of our patterns and that sort of thing as we kind of take a look at that program as a whole so. Today’s an opportunity for tonight to kind of look at the 2010 piece. We take a look at those every November to kind of see where we need to be at for the upcoming year. It’s staff’s recommendation that we do take a look at those tonight and recommend the same fees that we had in 2009 to move forward with 2010. There is a listing of the fees with the sites and amenities on the back side with that. We haven’t changed the fees very often. We did go through probably a couple years ago and, or was it last year even, simplified the whole process and from staff’s perspective that’s helped out tremendously versus having you know, you know 6 to 8 different categories. We just really simplified that and have really 4 categories now with the resident, non-resident, and resident school, non-resident school so that really has helped out tremendously. It’s helped out I think our customers when they’re looking online or making a phone call to staff, that really has helped out so staff’s recommendation that we adopt the same fees from 2009 for the 2010 picnic season. Hoffman: So we’re not missing a page here. We used to have another page of categories. Ruegemer: Yes. Daniel: I think we’re down to 4. Hoffman: That’s good. Ruegemer: Simple is good. Daniel: Alright, any questions for Jerry. Stolar: Do you get much push back on the price? From people. Ruegemer: You know some on the higher, the higher. Not so much necessarily from businesses. Non-resident businesses coming to town but some non-resident you know graduation parties or family events, that sort of thing. There’s a little bit of that but you know I think the fees that we have, have been established now for a number of years and you know I think people pay because we do have nice facilities. Hoffman: And these fees have been flat for 3 or 4 years. Ruegemer: Probably been 4. Stolar: Well I was going to say the question I had was whether or not we think we could get additional. We’re remembering on the volumes. During the week we have quite a bit lower volume than, do you feel a decrease would incent people to use it any more? 13 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 Ruegemer: It’s always certainly a viable option to do it that way. You know is it, you know the weekday reservations have been picking up within the last year or two. Cheaper price, you know obviously we do have a cheaper price from weekdays to weekends. That certainly is an option staff could explore. Hoffman: Also some crossover in groups that decide not to reserve and just go it alone. There are groups that do that as well so it, even though you might lower it, you may not gain any additional. Daniel: And I would say I have a tendency to say that maybe not necessarily the case though but I would, a large number of weekday reservations coincide with businesses. Where I suppose the fees are not nearly as scrutinized as would be the, on the private side. Ruegemer: There is a number of businesses during the course of the week, certainly you know different other organizations out there. You know school groups like Honor Societies may have their annual meeting out there, kind of late summer. There’s other types of groups that are out there. You know neighborhood groups that may want to get together. Baseball groups or softball, soccer, that sort of thing. Daniel: Excellent. You know if the fees have really remained the same and that was the only question I had Glenn as far as if there’s been any loss of business or push back from customers on the fees. Really if there’s not been any significant, if there hasn’t been significant issues on this, then I wouldn’t see any need for us to make a change, unless staff certainly is starting to see a much higher rate. If not. Ruegemer: You know certainly throughout the course of some of the evaluations that we get back, fees are certainly mentioned as to be high but I can’t give a percent on that as to how much that is but it is mentioned but I wouldn’t say it’s you know overwhelming. Kelly: I would say if it’s not mentioned then they’re too low. If you don’t have anyone complaining about high fees then we’re probably priced too low so if you’re getting some complaints that probably is an indication that you’re priced competitively. Stolar: There you go. Daniel: And that was the one thing I was going to ask, how do we compare to reservations where people may go to Starring Lake or Roundhouse in Eden Prairie or Chaska. Ruegemer: We’re on the high side. Daniel: Okay. Steve, you have any questions? Scharfenberg: Nope. Daniel: Scott? 14 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 Wendt: No. Daniel: Alright. Well should we make a motion to approve the fees staying flat for 2010? Stolar: So moved. Scharfenberg: Second. Stolar moved, Scharfenberg seconded that the Park and Recreation Commission recommend that the City Council adopt the 2010 group picnic reservation fees at the same level as 2009. All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 7 to 0. REVIEW NOMINEES FOR PARK AND RECREATION SERVICE AWARDS AND MAKE RECOMMENDATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL. Ruegemer: Thanks again Chair Daniels. This is the first opportunity for the commission to take a look at the new program that we did implement last December as you all probably remember in our Park and Rec Commission meeting. This is our first year of going through the volunteer, park and rec volunteer service award program. For this year we did try to advertise it a lot of different places. Through the Chanhassen Connection, our web site, press releases, the th electronic menu board down on the corner of 78 and Kerber Boulevard so we really tried to get the information out there. It’s been on the city web page for oh probably 6-7 months, that sort of thing here trying to get that word out. We did break the service awards down into 4 different categories. The category A is the resident group. B is business. C is community groups and organizations and D is the groups representing schools in Districts 276 and 112. So the, we did have a total this year of 4 applications that were received. What we had one in the resident group area. One in the business. We did not have any in the community groups and organizations and then two in the groups representing School Districts 276 and 112. Briefly going through the resident group we did have the Juggbros, Brett and Blake Szalapski. They are really nice pair of young men. Obviously they are brothers. They have volunteered at a number of different events and programs that we’ve had throughout the city in 2009. The Summer Discovery Playground program, Penny Carnival, the Fourth of July. They were an entertainment out at Sue’s senior center picnic at Lake Ann Park so they really participated in a, kind of a number of different programs that we have throughout Chanhassen in 2009 so staff appreciates having them. They always do it for free and volunteer their time to kind of give back to the community so really a pair of nice young men. Briefly with the business group nominee. That is the Mustard Seed Landscaping and Garden Center. They’ve been a gold sponsor of our’s for our annual sponsorship program for the last 4 years. They donate annually $1,000 for their annual sponsorship. This year Mark did bump it up to $1,200 for their sponsorship for 2010. Mark has been involved in a number of different areas with the city, and not only volunteering their time but, in financial contributions. As a lot of you have been to the tree lighting ceremony coming up here next week, week and a half, Mark is the elf. Mark coordinates the Santa Claus is one of Mark’s employees. Cory is Santa Claus. He dresses up every night. Or every year. Mark is in the elf suit and he brings up the live reindeer so Mark does all that. Donates all that. You know the talent and the reindeer and all that sort of stuff to that event so it’s a real nice thing that the city doesn’t have to pay for any of that stuff. Just kind of add to the overall event itself. Mark’s 15 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 also involved with the Southwest Area Chamber. You know kind of separate from the City. Been past president. Been very involved with that. With the Fourth of July trade, business trade and expo. The Home and Garden Expo as well as coming up next year at the rec center. He’s also done you know a number of other different community types of events and projects within Carver County or with the school district so. The other two, the category D we had two individuals, two students from, they’re both from Chaska High School last year but now they kind of separated out with the new split. Greg Drewiske now is at the new Chanhassen High School and Danny Hatton is at, he continued to stay at the Chaska High School. During the spring of 2009 when they both were students at Chaska High School they performed and volunteered time for a youth football program that we had out at the Chanhassen Recreation Center so they volunteered their time to help kind of coordinate or provide supervision for the football program. That certainly benefitted our department having another set of hands so to speak to help out with the coordination of that. You know kind of bring our staff ratios down and with volunteering of their time we didn’t have to pay out any money for additional staff. So they were really a pleasure to work with and certainly benefitted our department as well. So at this point staff’s going to recommend that the commission review the applications, which I’m sure you have already. Make a recommendation to the City Council as to who should receive the park and rec service awards. And just a reminder, going forward tonight I think we’re going to, I know we don’t have that many nominations here but, and applications but we’re going to try to have one award per category. Daniel: Moving forward beyond this year? Hoffman: Yep. Daniel: So this year we’re just going to choose one? Hoffman: No. You can choose all three I would recommend. One in each category but in the future when it’s multiple nominations. Daniel: Per category. Hoffman: One per category. Daniel: Okay, gotch ya. Kelly: So those two high school kids are a single nomination? Ruegemer: Yes. Kelly: Okay. Daniel: So we’re not going to vote against each other. 16 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 Stolar: For community groups and organizations, there were no nominees. Like tonight we just heard about what the Lions Club does for the senior center. Do we have choices to add or would you rather not do that in this process? Ruegemer: You know in reviewing, staff certainly had conversation of that. We really wanted to get the program to, out into the community and really have kind of a community based nomination process. More so than staff kind of going out and hand. Hoffman: That doesn’t preclude them from nominating. Ruegemer: Yeah but. Stolar: I was out, when did we go to the senior thing? We went to the senior thing once about 4 years ago we want to it as a commission, or you promoted it here and I know I went to that and they do do a lot of work out there for that. They used to do the event as they have this year, the last couple years but they’ve done quite a bit… But I don’t want to rush into anything but it does seem like. Hoffman: I don’t think you’re rushing in. Smith: I think it’s a good idea. I would, I mean I would make a motion that we would accept staff’s recommendation, or that we would nominate the three entries here as well as add an entry in the group as far as the Lions as pertaining to their involvement with the senior center. Wendt: I’ll second that. Smith moved, Wendt seconded that the Park and Recreation Commission recommend the City Council award the Park and Recreation Service Awards to the following nominees: Resident Group: Juggbros – Brett and Blake Szalapski Business Group: The Mustard Seed Landscaping and Garden Center Community Groups and Organizations: Chanhassen Lions Club Groups Representing Schools in Districts 276 and 112: Greg Drewiske and Danny Hatton All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 7 to 0. Daniel: We’ll just say that certainly we include this for the meeting. I mean it’s really amazing what some of these young kids are doing. Hoffman: We heard of a couple more tonight. The bingo callers. Daniel: Absolutely. Hoffman: For years. 17 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 Daniel: It really is. I mean they’re just unique. It’s a different way to draw and contribute to the community and certainly they’re all well deserving of an acknowledge of their efforts and service. Hoffman: December the council will review the nominees and then in January they’ll make their awards and we’ll let you know when that’s going on at the council meeting. Daniel: Is that something that the Park and Rec Commission should be, as well as the staff, be present for? Hoffman: Sure. Not, you don’t all have to be there but if you’re represented as some of your members, that would be great. Daniel: Okay, great and you’ll let us know when that will be. Hoffman: I will. Daniel: Great, thanks Todd. RECREATION PROGRAM REPORTS: 2009 HALLOWEEN PARTY EVALUATION. Ruegemer: I know we had a chance to discuss the Halloween Party kind of at our October meeting here but didn’t have the evaluation prepared yet at that point. It seems like that was quite a while ago at this point but thanks again for everybody for being there. We did have approximately 500 people with children, parents and family members out there for that. We had a pretty nice night. It was a little bit wet out in the area but we had to make some adjustments with the hay rides and that sort of thing which worked out just fine with that. We had a number of different groups in the gym areas and with different games and face painters and that sort of thing, that worked out really good. Got some new entertainment this year. The Mixed Nuts. They were kind of a comedy duo that kind of went through their skits and their performances within the gym area so that, by the looks of it the kids were enjoying it with the laughter that was going on inside the gym so that was a nice event. Kept the refreshments to the rooms 3 and 4. Fred and Judy Prince have been volunteering for that for a number of years as well so they’re kind of our official cookie ambassadors on the Halloween night so we certainly appreciate all their efforts for that so. I think they enjoy seeing all the kids in their costumes as well and it kind of, watching that area within those rooms so we had a great volunteers again from Holy Family High School, Chanhassen High School Key Club as well as the park and rec commissioners, city staff and that sort of thing too so we had a great, just after the event, this was probably the quickest that we ever you know disassembled everything and had everything boxed up in less than an hour after the event was over with so we were out of there by 8:30 which is an all time record. So we had great help. Great students. Great staff that was there and we organized everything and put it down and swept everything out and shut the doors by 8:30 so thanks again for all you that helped out with that so. Just a number of different general comments. You know we’re going to certainly try to keep the entertainment fresh and rotate that on an annual basis or 18 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 certainly as much as we can to kind of keep that fresh. Get volunteers there a little bit earlier, starting around 4:30 so they can kind of get you know dressed and organized and kind of ready to go. We certainly give them different jobs of hanging up different sponsorship fliers and helping out with kind of last minute type of details so we’re certainly going to try to use our volunteers even more so it helps that we have the rooms reserved right away Friday morning so we can bring all the, all the set up equipment and supplies and that sort of thing up so we start right away Friday morning. Kind of getting Rooms 1 and 2 kind of set up so then it’s a very stress free Saturday as far as kind of some final touches on getting that kind of put together so. We certainly are very lucky to have the Chanhassen Recreation Center as the host site and venue for that event. When we first started here the Halloween Party was at the, when I first started here, it was at the Chan Elementary School and we had essentially from 3:20-3:30 after when school got out to about 5:30. About 2 hours to set up everything and cram everything together and make it happen so we have a lot of luxury these days as far as having that much time to get it done so we’re very lucky to have the recreation center for our recreation programs and events so. Just other different things that we certainly can improve and communicate people for the Wicked Witch that’s in the gym. I think people are still confused on that on an annual basis so that, certainly take a look at that again for next year. See if we can kind of make some improvements on how people should kind of stand for the picture and that sort of thing but. That’s kind of a breakdown on the revenue and expenditures on the back with that so, part of this certainly is expenditures are certainly covered by donations through the sponsorship program that we truly appreciate all the help that we get from our area businesses and residents in this case. Daniel: Excellent, thanks Jerry. One question, quick question I have is, with $1,693 difference in the revenues and expenditures. How did that compare to last year? Ruegemer: You know up slightly a little bit with that. I think last year we were around 14ish so probably within $200 or $300 of last year. We certainly returned a lot of candy as well this year so whatever we don’t use, and we really try to, you know kind of be smart about not opening up candy and that sort of thing and get it returned then before Halloween, that sort of thing yet to Target so it helps out tremendously. Daniel: Great. Any questions for Jerry? Kelly: I have a quick one, and I know you said you got $30,000 in contributions for all the programs but since you got over 500 people attending and 217 people paid, do you think everyone should pay something? Do you think adults should pay a couple bucks? I mean they are eating cookies. They’re drinking cider probably more than the kids are. I don’t which, if you’ve thought about that. Ruegemer: I really kind of think, I guess kind of our criteria of kind of what we thought, if you’re treat or treating then you certainly can pay. You know we certainly have some events that the parents pay if they’re really participating more in the event. I don’t really look at, in this particular event as parents you know really participating in the event more so than you know bringing the kids and kind of walking around and that sort of thing and socializing and I’m okay with the parents not paying. 19 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 Kelly: Okay. Daniel: Scott, anything? Wendt: No. Daniel: Steve? Scharfenberg: No. Daniel: Elise? Ryan: No. Daniel: Alright, Glenn? Alright. Jerry, thank you very much. 2009/10 WINTER PROGRAMMING. Ruegemer: Just a list of the different programs that are happening this winter. Have been advertised in the Chan Connection so a lot of different preschool programs. Different programs at the Rec Center with the kind of the preschool basketball and the floor hockey programs that we took in-house this year. Rec center sports. Youth programs. Daddy-Daughter Date Night is certainly filling up already. That’s one of our popular programs here coming up in February. Different family programs. Jodi at the rec center over the first part of November had the artisan fair out there which is by all means a success for that. People are certainly looking for information on that for next year already so John added the Gingerbread House contest for the tree lighting ceremony this year so just trying to add, you know kind of new different twists to programs and that sort of thing and certainly have the adult programs as well so just kind of a laundry list of different things that we have going on this winter for the commission to see kind of what we’re doing so. Ryan: Did you have a large attendance for the artisan fair? I saw Jodi the day before and she said that she was anticipating a pretty good crowd. Ruegemer: Yeah I think as far as you know the number of vendors and that sort of thing, I know that she certainly had to turn people away just for kind of what she had figured for room sizes and that sort of thing so yeah, I mean I think she should definitely increase the number of vendors next year. It seems to be a good weekend. It’s on deer hunting opener, opening weekend so there’s a lot of. Hoffman: Non deer hunters. Ryan: Say it, women. That are around. Ruegemer: So it’s a great weekend for that. 20 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 Hoffman: Looking for payback on your husband’s expenses. Ruegemer: He pays dearly every year. Hoffman: She came with some earrings. Daniel: Any questions for Jerry? Well plenty of activity this upcoming winter Jerry so it’s going to be filled. Keep the staff busy so fantastic. Alright then tree lighting ceremony coming up here next weekend. 2009 TREE LIGHTING CEREMONY. th Ruegemer: Yeah, just an update for the commission. It is coming up Saturday, December 5. 5:00 at City Center Park. I know the park maintenance staff have been extremely busy and enjoying the nice, warm weather to get up all the lights and kind of get ready for that event. They’ve been pretty lucky so far with, having some warm weather to get that done so they’ve been busy with that the last couple weeks. The extra kind of lighting of the park and the tree will take place around 5:15 with that so again the Chanhassen Business Council’s involved with that. City of Chan. Nancy Lipinski who’s been involved with that for a number of years now. Quite a few, and then of course the Mustard Seed will provide Santa, the main elf and the reindeer for that event as well so. We’ll be having refreshments and bonfire and carolers and the gingerbread displays will be on display at the senior center that evening. Santa Claus will of course be riding in on the fire truck again so it’s always kind of fun with that so if everybody’s available that night, please feel free to come out and enjoy the kind of the kick off of the holiday season. Ryan: Jerry do you do any like have an area for donating gifts or food or anything? You know when people come to this, it’s a great event and possible opportunity for them to make some sort of a donation as well. Ruegemer: We haven’t in the past but we certainly could take a look at that for the future. Maybe not for this year but certainly for the future. Ryan: Okay. Daniel: Food shelf or possibly Toys for Tots. You know a larger collection that can be donated. Ryan: By the tree or you know put a present under the tree. Daniel: Absolutely. Well looks like based off of temperature, and Steve I think you made it the last two or you’ve had icicles forming off the eyebrows, it might be actually pretty warm for once. Hoffman: We’ll see. Daniel: We’ve got 10 days so. A lot can change. 21 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 Hoffman: How long can it last? Daniel: So, we’ll just keep our fingers crossed. This will be interesting. So no, this will be exciting and it’s one of the things I look forward to every December when you come down that, th come down West 78 Street and all the lights are on. It’s fantastic. When you get a chance at City Center here. It’s great so. Ruegemer: Coming up the next day too is the Breakfast with Santa out at the Chan Rec Center sponsored by the Chanhassen Rotary so that’s always a big event out there as well so. You don’t see that on this slide but we kind of, in cooperation with each other we kind of advertise together. We had our information on one side of the flyer. Breakfast with Santa on the other side of the flyer and an insert in the Villager so we kind of helped each other out with the advertising on that so. Daniel: Yeah, and that was one of the things I was going to mention as well. Thanks Jerry for covering that. th Hoffman: That’s coming up on it’s 20 year as well. Daniel: Excellent. Anybody have any questions? If not we can get a chance to move on to, looks like the ballfield concession stand progress. Looks like there’s some movement going on. UPDATE ON LAKE ANN PARK BALLFIELD CONCESSION STAND. Hoffman: Be glad to provide an update for the commission. The CAA Little League has expressed interest in serving concessions during ballgames and then tournaments especially and they are looking to bring a tournament, State tournament to Lake Ann in 2010. Staff facilitated a meeting between the CAA and Hansen Hometech, a local home remodeler to look at the project that could be put on the ground. The City also pledged $5,000 back to the project so if you recall the Athletic Association contributed $5,000 to the City for Field #3 for fencing. We pledged that we would contribute that back to the concession stand project. Hit a major roadblock with health codes so to be able to serve food you need to have sewer, water, stainless steel sinks and stainless steel counters for washing dishes at that location. There are a bunch of different permits you can look at but since it’s a permanent structure, a temporary permit will not be approved by the Department of Health. We went ahead, today we received an estimate to run a sewer line from the building down to the grinder station which is at the sewage grinder station which is down near the beach turn around. That serves the existing building. That project would be between $20,000 and $30,000 by the time you underground bore a 6 inch sewer line from the top of the concession stand so. The original plan that we had put together for a long term capital project was in the $250,000 range for bathrooms, sewer, water, concessions so this was an interim measure to try to get something off the ground but not we’re back to the, at least $30,000 for a sewer line before we even get started. And then plumbing improvements and those type of things so you easily, quickly get to the $50,000 range to serve hotdogs and hamburgers at a baseball tournament so. Daniel: Let me ask you this though Todd. How is park in Mound able to do it with… 22 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 Hoffman: They do it without a permit. Without a permit. Daniel: And what’s the, is there something the City requires that they have to have a permit? Hoffman: Well, we’re not going to advocate that they serve food. Prepare and serve food without a Department of Health permit. For the safety of our citizens. Stolar: But that’s if they serve it from in there. What if they do like what others do where they just have packaged foods served there. Is it true for packaged food too or is it only prepared? Hoffman: No, packaged food. They could serve packaged foods under the Department of Agriculture permit but it’s just not the same feel as. Stolar: But then what about like the grills because we talked about that. I thought that if they served grilled food with outdoor grills, not from inside the building. Hoffman: It doesn’t, not permit. Raw meat. Preparation of raw meat. You have to have it. Kelly: They’ve done that before though. Hoffman: Yes they have. Without licensing and without permitting. Once we go into a formal type of building project, preparation, it was the first thing we informed them is that you’d better start checking into your Department of Ag and Department of Health codes. Daniel: But how does that differ for example, the Fourth of July celebration with food services. Hoffman: Here? This is temporary so it’s a temporary licensing underneath the Department of Ag. Ruegemer: The Rotary does go through the steps and procedures to make sure that there’s applications are sent out to the State review. Everybody has insurance. Everybody has a hand washing stations within each taste area. Hoffman: Ironically if we tore the building down and disposed of it, then you could apply for a temporary permit and pitch up a tent and cook hotdogs. Daniel: Really? Hoffman: Sure. Stolar: Don’t give the association ideas. Hoffman: So we’re not done yet. It may be something, a sewer line’s going to be needed anyway in the future so it’s not like you, you make that investment and then some commission or 23 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 council in the future builds a larger structure there, the sewer line’s going to be able to service that as well. Daniel: What about and I’m sure I know the answer to this but what about the septic system then? Mound system or. Hoffman: No, this would be, that’d be more. We’ve got the infrastructure right there. You just run the line. Directionally bore it right underneath the parking lot. Straight down. Daniel: I know you’ve got gravity working for you pretty well on that point. Hoffman: Yeah. We would, there wouldn’t be any location for a mound system. We wouldn’t be interested in putting a. Daniel: Okay, just from a cost standpoint. I know they can run anywhere from 7 to 10. I suppose we don’t have any issues like they do with the. Stolar: Carver. Daniel: Carver, yeah. So alright. Well I mean at some point then are we going to have to have discussions or make approval or roll into CIP plans for that sewer line extension or will that come out of a different fund? Hoffman: Just exploring that. Numbers came in just today. Daniel: So we have to talk really nice to Mr. Gerhardt then. Hoffman: And Mr. Oehme. Sewer and water department. Daniel: Fantastic. Start lobbying. Save that CIP dollars. Alright. Well certainly I know we’ve had a lot of discussion and we all recognize that Lake Ann at some point has to be upgraded there. How it’s going to be done will be interesting. I mean in hindsight we could have mixed and matched things. Shelter dollars, whatever it may be, you know to facilitate use but. Hoffman: We need a sewer line. We’ve got water. We just need a sewer line. Daniel: Exactly and it’s just, and it’s infrastructure. Stolar: There’s water already up there. Daniel: Oh there is? Hoffman: Yeah, the water line goes right adjacent to the building. Stolar: So are you still, you’re saying then you’re still exploring what would be the cost to even put in, not the end state building but this interim? 24 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 Hoffman: Correct. Stolar: So you are looking at that. Hoffman: Yep. Run the sewer line. Put in the sink and the stainless steel counter. Run water up into the building. Sewer up into the building. Stolar: And just leave it at that without the full design that we had before. Okay. Hoffman: And then wait for future development of a larger building with bathrooms. A lot of money to serve hamburgers and hotdogs but that’s what it takes. Stolar: But really the thing we’re trying to do is, quite honestly I think is we put all the lights on there. We did all these field improvements. Let’s bring a tournament there. Hoffman: Correct. Stolar: And unfortunately you need the hamburgers and hotdogs to bring the tournament there. Hoffman: Yeah. Stolar: Because that’d be very nice facility to have a tournament. Hoffman: Absolutely. So we’re still working on it. That’s where it’s at. Daniel: Good. Excellent, thank you Todd. COMMISSION MEMBER COMMITTEE REPORTS. Daniel: Actually there is one thing that certainly Elise and I would like to get a chance to talk about and we attended over the last 2 weeks now, I attended one meeting. Elise attended last week’s meeting and about the expansion of town ball now here in the city of Chanhassen based off of the new ballpark at the Chanhassen High School. It appears now that we’re headed in a direction of returning the Red Birds. We have been approved, is that correct? Ryan: Yes. Daniel: To play in the, which league? Ryan: River Valley League C Division. Daniel: C Division, correct. So if there’s anything more Elise you’d like to add. 25 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 Ryan: The biggest thing that came out of this past meeting is their priorities to try to get a game, th well you saw the email but on the 4 of July in conjunction with all the festivities of Chanhassen. So you get an evening ballgame after the parade so are they working with you? Hoffman: (yes). Ryan: So that’s kind of their focus right now and then in the next meeting that we have next week we’re going to review uniforms, designs. I guess somebody’s coming in to show us uniforms. And then we’re working on designing a web site as well as a logo and then in the next couple weeks I pulled together a media list and we’re going to put together a press release to get out there to let people know that we’re, you know we’re looking to hire a manager. People need to try out for the team and then also touch on sponsorship opportunities and availabilities and that’s something that still needs to be solidified within our group as to what the sponsorship is and what it looks like and what the different levels are so we’re moving full speed ahead but there’s a lot of hurdles that we have to jump over to get it accomplished but you know the enthusiasm is definitely there. Daniel: Yeah, and there were a number of people that did show up who want to contribute and help out with this. First meeting that they did have was the simple things. You know determining the name. If they want to go back to history, which I’m glad they did. It’s important to have you know a sense of history with this city so going back to the Red Birds I think was a, the right decision. But now obviously you’re right Elise, it’s finding a manager. It’s you know this is. Hoffman: Players. Daniel: Finding players and the irony with this is, you know this is a heavily Chanhassen Storm centric committee and when you bring up the idea that they’ve got to consider that 40% of the student population is from Minnetonka within the city limits, then they’re going to go well, I don’t think they’ll have a problem trying to field a team, especially given that Minnetonka has the Millers and there’s a number of quality baseball players between East and South Tonka that reside in the city limits here so fielding a team probably won’t be an issue. Especially given the opportunity to advertise within the community. Let alone drawing from Minnetonka school district, Eden Prairie school district, Chanhassen, Holy Field, or Holy Family, excuse me. They’ll get plenty of players. So it’s just finding the right, the right people in place to really manage it and I guess the other issue’s going to coming down to scheduling and coordinating with the school district and how they’re going to work that. You know coordinate concession stands and so it’s exciting. It’s, you know some of the discussions that came up 5 years ago, or 4 years ago when we first proposed the idea of looking at other fields in Chanhassen, the idea of having town ball come back to this city is going to be real so you know it’s going to give an opportunity for people to go back to, go to the high school. See an absolutely beautiful stadium. Watch quality baseball and we’ll see what happens from there then. Ryan: Can you clarify then, I think we got the email that night of the meeting about who maintains the field. 26 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 Daniel: Yes. Hoffman: School district. Ryan: School district. Daniel: School district does. Ryan: They were disappointed. Hoping for the city. Hoffman: The school district. Daniel: So, and I think they’re going to try to coordinate with the booster club as well so, with the storm booster club and utilizing some of the, I guess maintenance equipment and stuff like that that they could use. Hoffman: And as long as we’re discussing concession stands, there’s a whole other concession stand to be built adjacent to the baseball field so there’s another concession stand project up and coming. Daniel: And right now you’ve only got to walk the 300 and, 100 yards to go get your food but it will work for now, absolutely. Hoffman: And the thought on the new concession stand is it’s fairly elongated and you take one corner and you turn that into the beer stand, and then the beer stand is open only for town team games and it’s closed up the rest of the time and then town team comes to town and you open up that part of concession stand. And the school board at least voiced their willingness to consider that type of arrangement for the future of town ball in the community. Daniel: Excellent. Hoffman: We’d have very strong doors on that. Daniel: Well if it’s anything like the doors at Freeman Field, I’m very confident. It’s a steel slider gate or like a garage door gate with two steel doors behind that. Let alone a steel door that you walk through. Stolar: And they don’t serve beer. Daniel: No, they don’t serve beer. Hoffman: Protecting the candy. Daniel: Yeah, it’s protecting the candy and the Adele’s ice cream. So that’s the main thing but anyways it’s going to, you know it’s going to happen. It’s coming to fruition. I think that’s 27 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 exciting and you know again, give another event for the community to rally around. I think that’s about it. Anything else you want to add Elise? Ryan: No. Daniel: Well is there anything else that any other committee members would like to discuss? If there’s nothing, let us know. If not we can move on to the, is there anything Todd you want to highlight from the administration packet? ADMINISTRATIVE PACKET. Hoffman: The permit for the Minnesota River Valley LRT from Three Rivers so annually we have to renew our permit for winter use on the LRT. Daniel: Winter use being? Hoffman: Right now it’s no snowmobiles. It’s cross country skiing. Snow-shoeing. Walking. Biking. Daniel: Ability for us to maintain it? We let our plows go down there as well? Hoffman: We do not maintain it. Daniel: Oh we don’t? Oh I thought at some point we did. Did we used to? Kelly: Never. Hoffman: No. Kelly: Sorry. Daniel: I know you’d know Tom. Kelly: It stops at Pioneer so this is Pioneer south. Hoffman: Yeah. We could add it. We would just have to amend our maintenance practices and amend our permitting. Kelly: I’m hoping when the, when the Bluff Drive trail, Bluff Creek Drive trail is complete to the LRT you will reconsider plowing that in the winter. Hoffman: Make that loop. Kelly: Since they’ll be connected, yep. 28 Park and Rec Commission Meeting – November 24, 2009 Scharfenberg moved, Kelly seconded to adjourn the meeting. All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 7 to 0. The Park and Recreation Commission meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Submitted by Todd Hoffman Park and Rec Director Prepared by Nann Opheim 29