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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Ames Park and Recreation Commission Meeting 05/15/2014AMES PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES DATE: Thursday, May 15, 2014 COMMISSION PRESENT: Melissa Rowan, Ed Moran, Julie Johnston, and Vikki Feilmeyer, ABSENT: Jason Schaben, Alisa Frandsen, Leo Milleman STAFF: Keith Abraham, Joshua Thompson, Kellee Omlid CALL TO ORDER: 4:20 PM Abraham explained that the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson were both absent and that a nomination was needed for someone to chair the meeting. Moved by Johnston, second by Rowan that Vicki Feilmeyer acts as chair for this meeting. No Discussion, Motion Approved. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Moran, seconded by Rowan to approve the minutes from the April 17, 2014, meeting. Motion Approved PUBLIC FORUM Feilmeyer explained that the public forum is an opportunity for people to discuss items that are not on the meeting agenda. No Comment. DIRECTOR’S REPORT a) Commission Action Form: Main Street Cultural Request for use of Bandshell Park Abraham said that we had received an initial request from the Main Street Cultural District (MSCD) to use Tom Evans Plaza for this event. Once staff met with representatives from the MSCD it was determined the Tom Evans was not the place to have this event. The Parks and Recreation Commission has been in favor of doing these kinds of events at Bandshell Park. This would be a new event held on Friday, August 15. The proposal is to use the park from 3:00 to10:30 PM with a live band from 6:00 to 8:30 PM. Food items would be from Ames vendors and beer from Iowa breweries. MSCD would sell event tickets and not charge for individual items. They would like to serve alcohol from 5:00 to 8:30 PM with no consumption after 9:00 PM. The MSCD is requesting that all fees (approximately $475.00) and the 10% commission be waived. Typically we do not waive the rental fees for these events. The Jaycees do pay rental on the Bandshell but the 10% commission is waived for their events. Part of the MSCD request is that the Park and Recreation Commission recommend to the City Council to waive the alcohol restriction in Bandshell Park. Part of this agreement and recommendation would be that MSCD abide by permits, policies, laws etc. Alternative #1 - Approve the use of the Bandshell Park with a recommendation to the City Council to waive the ordinance restricting alcohol in Bandshell Park for this event waiving 10% commission but require rental fee. Alternative #2 - Approve the use of the Bandshell Park with a recommendation to the City Council to waive the ordinance restricting alcohol in Bandshell Park for this event, waiving both the 10% commission on sales and the rental fee. Alternative #3 – Deny the request for this event to be held in Bandshell Park. Staff recommends Alternative #1. The park is set up for this type of events and similar events have been successfully held there. We see it as a good event. We do not have criteria in place for waiving rental fees at this park and if they are waived for this event, there will be other events asking for waiver of rental fees. We would need to put something in place to handle those requests. Emily Miller, Event Coordinator for the Main Street Cultural District. This is a new event for our community after the success of Oktoberfest last fall. This will be a fundraiser to strengthen Main Street and our community. Moving to the Bandshell is very exciting for us. Our target market is young professionals, and adults in Ames who are interested in craft beers and not college kids. Feilmeyer, “The rental fee of $475, will that be prohibitive to your event. Will you be able to hold the event without it?” Miller, “There will be a lot more work to find sponsors and we may have to rearrange some parts of the event, but we would still hold it.” The Commission members discussed the decision whether or not to waive the rental fees is no way an indication of anything negative about the event. “We don’t want to set precedent or waiving the fees with no criteria in place.” Motion by Rowan, second by Moran to approve Alternative #1. No Discussion, Motion Approved b) Commission Action Form: Jax Request to Rent Canoes/Kayaks at Ada Hayden Heritage Park This is a renewal of agreement that has been going since 2005. Good partnership with Jax Outdoor Gear. They provide all equipment, haul it and staff it. They do charge the public rental fees. This year they have dropped Friday evenings and have shortened their hours. They did think about not continuing this program due to staff costs and time. They participate in the Story County Verb Program and they do require life jackets from all renters. Staff recommends Alternative #1, continue with the agreement for Jax to provide rental equipment at Ada Hayden Heritage Park and waive the 10% fee. Motion: Johnston moved, Rowan second to approve alternative #1. No Discussion, Motion Approved. c) Commission Action Form: Mobile Concession Units in the Park System Application and vending policy was sent out to past vendors. 2013 we had approved 3 vendors. Most sell at Municipal Band concerts. Christopher Drinnin of C & K Sweets and Treats and Carlos Lopez of el Mexicano are the two that applied for 2014. Both vendors have provided insurance and met all requirements. Other requests, C & K did request to do the Roosevelt concert series. However, the Roosevelt group did say that they did not want to do a food vendor at the concert series this year. El Mexicano, has also requested to use Tom Evans over noon hours and maybe other events. Mike King will make contact with the vendors and will work it what activities and what events and what dates they actually do. Alternative #1 - Approve these 2 vendors to provide mobile concessions and require they submit 10% commission to the city. Alternative #2 - Deny these applicators. Rowan, “We haven’t had any problems with it?” Abraham, “No.” Abraham, “Neither of them had requested bookends and Bandshell. So that is something that Mike will try to work with other to try and make that happen if we can.” Moran moved to approve Alternative #1, Rowan second. No Discussion, Motion Approved. f) Discussion: Proposed Sand Volleyball Courts at Emma McCarthy Lee Park (Out of order) Review of the project. Moran and Feilmeyer would have been in on this since the beginning in 2011, Johnston in 2012 and Rowan will have more limited knowledge of this project. In 2011, a group of sand volleyball players met with Nancy Carroll, who was the Parks and Recreation Director at that time, regarding the sand volleyball courts in Ames. The orientation and location of the courts were not real conducive to play and that Ames residents were traveling to other communities to play sand volleyball. In the fall of 2011 it was brought before the Parks and Recreation Commissions to build 4 courts with lights in Emma McCarthy Lee Park for the purpose of sand volleyball. At that time the Commission recommended to the Council the CIP (Capital Improvement Plan) that included that amenity for year two of the CIP which was 2013/14. Each year the City Council will approve the CIP (5 yr plan) but only appropriate money for the first year of the plan. So in the fall of 2012 the Commission again recommended that facility remain in the CIP now in year one of the plan which the City Council again approved the plan and at this time appropriated the money for this project at the beginning of fiscal year 2013/14. We have held CIP input sessions at times, sometimes we have one or 2 people. Council has CIP input sessions as well. Initial estimate came in at $143,000 when the appropriation was $100,000. We reworked the project doing some of the work ourselves we can get the cost down to $100,000. Our past practice has to let the neighborhood know before we finalize a project. We sent out letters to the adjacent property owners know and asked for any questions or comments they had about the project. We had 9 responses. One phone call on voice mail stating the project was great but could we put in some more trees as a buffer, one call for a person representing someone else who had questions, (caller did not live in the neighborhood) and 7 people who are very adamant in their concerns for this project. One of the things that we need to go through is that really tonight is to inform the Commission, bringing them up to speed with the history of it and that there are concerns. To put the project on hold until we can get more information. At our June meeting we are going out to tour the site and potentially other sites as well and in July, set a date for public input on just this topic. Because right now we have only heard from neighbors, we would put out some press releases, maybe here from some sand volleyball players, whatever it may be. Abraham listed the types of parks we have and what category Emma McCarthy Lee falls under. Community Parks: Parks located to serve a population within a one to two mile radius, although the facilities often serve the needs of the entire community. The size of the park will vary from 30 to100 acres. Community parks generally contain sports fields for organized leagues, swimming pools, unique natural elements (forests, hills, ponds, streams, etc.) and any other facilities designed for community-wide use. Amenities include large shelter houses, restrooms, playground structures, slides, swings, tennis courts, and hard-surfaced parking lots. Abraham also stated that the park has been used by the community in the past for soccer and baseball. NEWBROUGH, DONNA L (3122 Ross Road) has sent a letter that Abraham sent to the commission for review. This letter was e-mailed to the commission members this afternoon. Abraham listed the concerns that he has heard from the park neighbors and the main thing is the effect on their quality of life if people are using the park. The number of people and the noise level is going to move up. Is it going effect wildlife? Is there enough parking? Traffic is also a concern. We usually play up until about dark, the resident’s perspective is that going until 10:00 is too late - they will be in bed before 10:00 PM and are concerned that the noise will be an issue. Also a concern is an increase in vandalism, trespassing and theft. Are people using the sand volleyball courts going to cut through our property, vandalize and steal things? Alcohol is another concern, however this is a Community Park and alcohol is already allowed. Do the volleyball players, have beer, yes, have we ever had any complaints about things being out of control, no, we have not had that. These are the neighbor’s concerns. There are also concerns about more trash and the lights, though we picked McCarthy Lee because there are already lights there at the tennis courts. Will the lights at sand volleyball be used more than the tennis courts? Probably. The neighbors are also questioning the need for sand volleyball courts and Emma McCarthy Lee in particular. We do have some sand volleyball courts in the parks now. Can we bring them up to a higher level? We are not putting new amenities in the flood plain. This is a quick summary. We will inform the Commission and tour the location and hold a public input session. PUBLIC COMMENTS: NEWBROUGH, DONNA L (3122 Ross Road) Representing the neighbors who are in opposition to the project. Newbrough wanted to express the deep feelings that the people in the community have. “We were absolutely shocked that this has been in the process, evidently since 2011 and we were shocked at the timing that we got the notice of this and a short time to get together and get our suggestions and comments in.” The neighbors probably think the most serious thing is the impact that is will have on the neighbors. Keith explained many of our concerns. “We are not against volleyball kind of court that you are thinking about if there is that need. What we really believe is there probably has to be another place in, a, Ames that that could be, a, put.” “We very much, a, request that you look into other kinds of options for this.” She wanted to let the commission know this is going to impact more than 70 households with generally 2 -5 persons each. They would like to know more and if there are any opportunities to find a venue where this would be appreciated. She wanted to know how many people initially came to Nancy Carroll about this request. Abraham “Well there were three people came representing a larger group of people, what that number, the amount of the larger group is, I don’t know.” Donna also asked a question about what kind of research had been done at the time on the venues where this could be put? Abraham explained that the intention is to keep new community amenities out of the flood plain, which eliminates some parks right away. Also, how will it impact other activities? There is some space at Inis Grove that could house a complex or 4 courts, however, there you don’t have the trees to buffer the lights at all which was another reason that McCarthy Lee was looked at, and also if we put it in Inis Grove we need to find another location for Adult Soccer and McCarthy Lee is not suitable for Adult Soccer because it does not enough space. We did not look at any of our neighborhood parks, because we don’t put wide reaching facilities that are to serve the whole community in neighborhood parks. The terrain of Moore Memorial is not a fit - there is really no flat space. So of the 5 community parks we thought McCarthy Lee was the best fit. We can relook at that, but that is an overview the thinking at that time. Newbrough stated that they are also upset about the intensity of this, bringing in a league, a group kind of sport, and the intensity of it and the hours just don’t seem to fit with the park idea. She would like to introduce the neighbors she is representing. KLIEMANN, WOLFGANG H (3300 Ross Road) COADY, SHEILA K (3004 Ross Road) MARTENS, STEVEN (3218 Ross Road) STRASSER, HERBERT D (3319 Ross Road) wanted to express concerns over traffic at Ross Road and Michigan, stating how bad it was when the soccer moms used the park one day a week and acknowledged that those concerns had already been expressed by Newbrough’s comments representing of the group. ROVER, JAMES WILLIAM (3425 Ross Road) “It’s a lot of traffic, every day now with everybody just going down there using the park as a park”. ROYER, MARK (2935 Ross Road) said that they can hear sound emanating from the ‘bowl” and that when he was a soccer coach cheering his wife could hear him at home. ZAFFARANO, SUZANNE K (3108 Ross Road) stated that she does not sleep well and is very aware of the joyful sound of tennis players at night. After hours there are people down there partying and the trees don’t buffer the noise. She has had to call the police and she knows because of the laughter, a lot of alcohol is being used. BURCHINAL, LEE (3112 Ross Road) He feels this development would seriously degrade the quality of life that he enjoys. “Our particular property, Donna’s property, slopes down into the park there is a bowl coming down on both sides and that noise is going to come right up and is going to be intense.” The lighting will shine right up into our windows. Those trees are very thin down there, um dying and very thin, and, of course, a, we’re going to have the traffic as well as everyone else. So I think this development can only degrade our quality of life.” He also stated that he felt they would not be able to use their picnic table 5 nights a week. NEWBROUGH, DONNA L (3122 Ross Road) States that they already have trespassing and a lot of theft. MAYBERRY, STEVEN W (1103 Scott Ave) Wanted to share his volleyball experience with the group. He states that sand volleyball players have a good time, they like to dress up in costumes, they have multiple tournament themes, they are loud, and consume lots of alcohol. (His experience with this is not in Ames) He also stated that he feels that the original intent for the area was to stay wild and that this does not fit that purpose. He would like us to share the volleyball courts with Iowa State. Also, what is a flood plain? Can you say it isn’t in the flood plain? Also, he has seen people breaking into what is now Sheila’s house. This is just a neat area down there and sand volley doesn’t fit. Also, about the sound, “I can hear people in campus town if it is right” . Feilmeyer, says that we have to stop the meeting at about 5:15 so if we have any comments that are not duplicative, we would like to hear them but we do have one other item we have to vote on. KLIEMANN, WOLFGANG H (3300 Ross Road) Has some numbers to share. 4 courts, 50 players and the cheerleaders and such, he estimates that the traffic will quadruple on Ross Road compared to what we have now which is about 200 cars per day. He estimates that there will be 800 cars per day. Difficult to get there, you really need to think about the worse place for traffic accidents. Parking, there is not enough parking; there is parking for about 80 cars. It’s not enough. He thinks you will clog up an entire neighborhood with traffic noise and lights. “If you really want this project, and I think it is a good project, you need to go someplace where there is enough parking and open space.” You are taking away all of the grass. Work with the university… Feilmeyer, “I really don’t mean to interrupt you sir but we really do need to move on and some of these comments are duplicates.” Kleimann continues speaking over Feilmeyer indicating that he has other thoughts he wants to share. He thinks we need to think about if we really want this project and if you want it, it should be in a place that it can actually happen. Feilmeyer, “Okay.” Kleimann continues to state that if you put it in a small park, it’s not going to fit. He feels that you’re putting something there that is not going to fit. It’s not gonna work. Feilmeyer, “Okay” Kleimann, “Thanks for listening” Feilmeyer asks Abraham if there is any action that needs to be taken. Abraham explained that there is no action. That today, is for informing, and obviously the neighbors have some concern, June is touring the facilities and we will hold public input session in July. Feilmeyer, “So the next time the public will have an opportunity to speak to us about it will be in July, is what we anticipate?” Abraham, “July, yes.” d) Discussion: Jax Kid’s Outdoor Day (out of order) With this one, Jack Kids outdoor games has been done for several years, usually on the day of free fishing. They have fishing, HyVee comes and has hotdogs, and Story County Conservation comes and has archery in the park. There are rules that no bow and arrows are allowed in any of the parks. They have been doing with without approval since we really didn’t know it was happening. Now that we know we want to take the correct action. If the Commission is in favor of this, you need to make a motion allowing it. Rowan, “Does staff have any objection to it?” Abraham, “We do not.” Abraham explained that we have worked with Jax on other activities. Very safety minded, they are really trying to promote outdoors and we are also in contact with Story County Conservation about doing some cooperative programming in the future. Johnston, “What kind of population, how many kids are we talking about? I have a little bit of concern, you know, about 50 to 100 kids with bows and arrows.” Abraham usually at these kinds of activities, 6 to 8 kids at a time. Johnston moved, Rowan second to approve the bow and arrow segment of Jax outdoor day. No Discussion, Motion Approved ADJOURNMENT Moved by Moran, second by Rowan to adjourn due to lack of quorum. The meeting concluded at 5:23 PM. Next Meeting: June 19, Facility Tour