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May 12, 2010 Parks & Rec Minutes

Parks & Recreation Committee
May 12, 2010


The City of Owen Parks & Recreation Committee met on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. at Mill Pond Park. Chairperson Dennis Lulloff presided and Deputy Clerk Cindy Cardinal served as secretary. Committee Members Present: Nelson, Renderman, Lulloff, and Kiviko. Absent were Kroeplin, Tolzmann, and Shelton. A quorum being present, the meeting was called to order. Others present: Cindy Cardinal, Phil Greschner, Penny Funk, Brad Troiber, and Rocky Lehr. Pedro Montes arrived at 7:25 pm.

Plan for Mill Pond Park Design
Chairperson Lulloff began by giving the background of why the Committee is looking at redesigning the park. The roofs on the buildings are in bad shape and the current layout does not allow for expansion. The Samuels Group from Wausau has been hired by the City to do a conceptual drawing of what the Park could look like.
There was a lot of discussion. Much of it centered on the idea of having one building, with different layouts discussed. Parks and Recreation can look in to grant possibilities. The application for the Local Park Improvement Grant is due on May 1 of each year.
Building ideas: We should have one building as long as it would need to be and twice as wide as the current concession stand. Could it be heated to make it accessible for winter use? The food stand and beer stand could be back to back with the pavilion off the end of the two. If we did this, could we put serving windows across the front and also a serving window facing the pavilion area? Would a pavilion twice the size of the band pavilion be big enough? Could we possibly salvage part of the bandstand and the current concession building and put an additional V shaped pavilion between the two? The front of the food stand between the counter and the serving area could be about half the size it is. Could windows be put across the side facing the pond, for aesthetics, ventilation when it’s hot and to provide an enclosed area when it is cooler? Can we make room for selling the beer tickets somewhere inside the building? What about doing a larger overhang off of each portion of the building so people could be out of the weather? The building needs a decent storage area for fair supplies. What about building in a T shape with the food and beer stands on the side arms and the pavilion area running down the middle? The design needs to be useful so that other events could be held during the year in addition to the Owen Fair, the Lions Ice Fishing Contest, and Holy Rosary Summerfest. Pavilions in other places have some kind of heat, whether it be in-floor heat, or some kind of space heater. The cooler needs to be larger. It was suggested that a unisex bathroom should be put in the new building for those working the food/beer stands. Could it be designed with extra compartments so that the 4-H could sell from inside the building during the fair, or for serving the pie and ice cream, etc? We need to design a condiment area separate from, but near the food stand area. We need to have stainless steel counters in the building.
What about building on the vacant lot, but that would lose us the space where the carnival sets up. What about vacating Madsen St. from 3rd St. to 5th St.? This would gain a few more feet of space. The Fair Committee was asked to try and assess fair attendance numbers during this year’s fair as that is probably the largest number of people in the park over the course of a year. We would need state approved plans and the building would have to be handicap accessible.
Playground area: The playground is currently restrained from adding new equipment because of clearances that are needed between swings etc. The current play set with the slide was meant to be done in three phases. The other two phases were never completed because there was no room. It was suggested that if the playground is redone that we should look at a different surface for under the equipment. Any new equipment needs to be handicap accessible. Playground equipment could be scattered throughout the park rather than centralized in one area. Some thought that might create issues if you bring multiple children to the park and they are running in different directions.
Horseshoes/Volleyball: There was a question of whether or not the horseshoe pits could be made permanent. The current location is ok for them. Brad Troiber said that they need to be near the bathrooms wherever they are located. They also need better lighting. Volleyball has moved to Withee because of the goose droppings. There is also an issue with the volleyball ending up in the pond sometimes. Penny said that the Jaycees had bought some netting for the playground equipment by the Withee Ball Park to prevent children from getting hit by softballs. It hasn’t been used there and could maybe be used in the volleyball area in Owen if they weren’t going to use it. If a fence were to be put up to deter the geese, it would have to follow the water line so that they couldn’t set foot on solid ground. This would be difficult due to the fact that the water depth changes with rain and evaporation.
Trees/Christmas Decorations: The Tree Board would like to be part of the discussion as the design takes place to help decide which trees stay and which trees would be removed. They would also make suggestions for placement of new trees and the species to be planted. It was suggested that a few shade trees throughout the park would be nice. As part of the Christmas Decorating, the Downtown Revitalization Committee would like to see light poles along the walking trail between 3rd St. and the railroad bridge. They need to have electrical outlets so lights could be plugged in and strung the full length of the park.
Ice Skating Rink: A question was asked as to how much use it gets. There are kids that do skate there in the winter. There are also people that come there and play broom hockey.
Other Possible events in the Park: With the right structures, we could have Art in the Park. If we built a band shell like some other parks, we could do Concerts in the Park. The band shell could either be separate, but visible from the pavilion or it could be built off the end of the pavilion.
It ended with the 3 big priorities being:
1. Visibility of the pond from the building
2. Ability to completely enclose the building when necessary due to weather conditions
3. The building needs to be designed for more events.
Parks and Recreation will meet with the Samuels Group, share our ideas, have them do some drawings, and then meet with the organizations again to discuss them.

Approve Minutes
A motion was made by Nelson, seconded by Renderman to approve the 4/7/10 minutes. Motion passed on a voice vote.

Sign for Crowley Park
The message board in Crowley Park is up. Andy Smith has volunteered to make a new sign for the entrance to the park. Dennis Lulloff will pick up some cedar boards for him to work with. A motion was made by Renderman, seconded by Nelson to have Andy make the sign. Motion passed on a voice vote. Nelson asked if the sign inside the message board listing camping prices could be made larger. Deputy Clerk Cardinal will try. Nelson also said that the wood ducks that were living in the tree that was removed for the message board are still in the park. The possibility of working with a class at school to make some wood duck houses will be put on the next agenda.

Park Pavilion Rental
The possibility of charging a nominal fee for reserving the open pavilion and the band pavilion was discussed. If someone pays the fee, they would be put on the calendars on the city website and in the park message board guaranteeing their use of the pavilion. The Committee felt that non-profits should not be charged. The Committee would also like to see a list of rental usage for the Concession Stand. Deputy Clerk Cardinal will prepare this for them as well as preparing a park pavilion rental form modeled on the form for reserving the Concession Stand. Motion by Renderman, seconded by Nelson to recommend that the City Council charge a $10 fee to reserve a pavilion with the charge waived for non-profits. Motion passed on a voice vote. The Parks and Recreation Committee would create a list of non-profits for which the fee would be waived.

Adjourn
A motion was made by Renderman, seconded by Nelson to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 8:29 p.m.

Archive:

August 18, 2010 Community Development Authority Minutes
August 11, 2010 Parks & Rec Committee Minutes
July 21, 2010 Community Development Authority
July 14, 2010 Parks & Rec Minutes-Corrected
July 14, 2010 Ordinance Committee
July 14, 2010 Parks & Rec Committee Minutes
July 1, 2010 Owen Fair Committee
June 29, 2010 Licenses & Permits Committee
June 28, 2010 Ordinance Committee
June 24, 2010 Owen Fair Committee

View all from: 2010