10-27-99 PRCITY OF OTSEGO
PARK & RECREATION COMMISSION
MEETING MINUTES
OCTOBER 27, 1999 - 7:00 PM
1. Call to order.
Chair Jeff Bartheld called the October 27, 1999 Park & Recreation Commission Meeting
to order at 7:00 PM.
2. Roll Call_
Commissioners: Jeff Bartheld, Nicole Martin, Tom Constant, Sue Kroll, & Mike Day.
Absent: Tom Baillargeon and Tony Faust (excused).
o mc'lm mh rs: Council Representative Mark Berning, Mayor Fournier,
Councilmembers Suzanne Ackerman and Vern Heidner.
City S aff: City Administrator Mike Robertson.
3. Additions or changes to the agenda_
There were no additions or changes to the agenda.
4. Consideration of 12ast meeting minutes.
Chair Bartheld noted that secretary Baillargeon had not attended a meeting since May due
to a busy schedule and the commission had no minutes to be approved. He asked
Administrator Robertson what the costs would be if a City staff member could attend
meetings, take notes, and type up minutes. Robertson noted that it would be overtime
costs to have a staff member there and suggested that a Park Board member take notes
and give them to staff to be typed up. Commissioners agreed to try that.
5. Open Forum -
5.A. Jay Swenson - Otsego River Riders
5.B. Ben Hoffineister - Potential member candidate
Chair Bartheld noted that both of these individuals were unable to attend due to conflicts.
Michelle Berg of Community Recreation was present. Commissioners discussed a variety
of concerns with Community Recreation personnel's performance at the recent Haunted
House. Everyone agreed that the Haunted House had gone very well but that there some
concerns about the coordination of efforts between Community Recreation and the Park &
Recreation Commission. Commissioners Kroll & Day asked for more information on the
budget of Community Recreation and how services were provided to the communities.
Councilmember Berning explained the Community Recreation budget and funding
formula.
Park & Recreation Meeting October 27, 1999. Page 2.
Commissioner Martin said that Otsego's payment to Community Recreation was to run all
of the athletic programs, not to pay for their assistance to the Park & Recreation
Commission for their events. She suggested that Community Recreation was
understaffed, and that Otsego Park & Recreation Commission should seek out volunteers
to do the jobs that Community Recreation had been doing. Administrator Robertson
agreed. He indicated that the Park & Recreation Commission had come a long way since
the Haunted House had been started and no longer needed the assistance of Community
Recreation to run the event. He suggested that Community Recreation's role should be to
advertise the Otsego events in their bulletin.
Commissioner Day, seconded by Constant, moved to receive copies of the
Community Recreation budget and a description of the services they can provide to
the Otsego Park & Recreation Commission. His motion also included the
requirement that future requests from the Park & Recreation Commission to the
Community Recreation staff be in writing. Motion carried 5-0.
7. Mike Robertson City Administrator,
Administrator Robertson discussed the ice rink. Michelle Berg noted that she makes up
the schedule for rink attendants about December 10. Robertson stated he would call
about then if weather forced a cancellation of the rink this year. Michelle Berg said that
with one day's warning she could cancel the rink attendants if warm weather later forced
the rink to close.
Robertson indicated that the Council had not finalized the 2000 budget yet but that they
had discussed providing some planning staff to the Commission to assist in the
development of future park plans.
Commissioner Kroll left about 8:00 p.m.
8. Nicole Martin,Budget Advisor.
Nicole noted that at this point it looked like the Haunted -House had made a profit. There
were no other budget items to discuss.
9. Mark Berning. Council Re or
Councilmember Berning said that the Council had approved a concept plan for a
residential development just west of the sewer plant.
10. Park Shelter Report.
Administrator Robertson said that no work will be done on the park shelter this fall due to
the busy schedule caused by all of the City's construction projects. He said he intended to
have the park shelter bid over the winter and constructed in the spring. Commissioners
urged sticking to that schedule.
Park & Recreation Meeting October 27, 1999. Page 3.
11. Park & Recreation Events.
A. Haunted House 1999 recap. Everyone was in agreement the event had gone
well. The consensus was that the 666 people who attended on Saturday were the
maximum that could be handled on one night. The food sales were disappointing, and
consensus was to promote the food more in the advertising next year. Administrator
Robertson said that the money generated had reached the point where he wanted to hire
security next year to prevent any robberies. Commissioners asked that some fire
extinguishers be provided for the building, and that the broken windows be fixed.
B. Haunted House 2000. Commissioners agreed to go to a second weekend in
2000. The main weekend will be October 27 & 28 with all of the current events. A
second date will be added on Saturday, October 21, but it will just be the Haunted House
that day without any kiddie events in the building because it is rented for a wedding
reception. Commissioners will use remote parking on the other side of City Hall to reduce
conflicts with the wedding reception. Security will be hired to protect the money and to
prevent any conflicts between haunted house attendees and the wedding reception.
C. Winterfest 2000. This is set for January 15, 2000.
12, Newsworthy items -
Commissioners
.msCommissioners will contact the Elk River Star News reporter to promote the Winterfest
and recap the Haunted House.
13. Other Business_
Commissioner Martin regretfully announced her resignation from the Commission
effective November 1, 1999 due to escalating demands on her time. Commissioner Day
moved, seconded by Constant, to accept the resignation and to thank Commissioner
Martin for all of her hard work. Carried 3-0, Commissioner Martin abstaining.
Commissioner Bartheld stepped down and turned the meeting over to Vice -Chair
Constant at 9:02 p.m. Commissioner Bartheld, seconded by Day, moved to appoint
Nicole Martin Chair of the "Friends of the Park" committee. Carried 3-0,
Commissioner Martin abstaining. Commissioner Constant turned the meeting back
over to Chair Bartheld at 9:03 p.m. Commissioners asked that the City fix the cracked
elbow on the well in Prairie Park.
Commissioner Constant, seconded by Day, motioned to adjourn at 9:12 p.m.
Motion carried 4-0.
M ael Robertson
City Administrator