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Park & Rec Board - MINUTES - 1/14/2008 City of Muskego PARKS & RECREATION BOARD Monday, January 14, 2008 Approved 2/11/08 Board President Whipple called the monthly meeting of the Parks and Recreation Board (Board), City of Muskego, to order at 6:01 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Those present recited the Pledge of Allegiance. The meeting notice was posted in accordance with the Open Meeting Law on Friday, January 11. 2008. Present: Mr. Gary Boisits, Mr. Jerald Hulbert, Mr. Brett Hyde, Mrs. Kelly Koble, Mr. Toby Whipple and Director Craig Anderson Absent: Mr. Eric Hetzel (excused), Ald. Tracy Snead (excused) GUESTS: Mayor John Johnson, Ald. Borgman, Ald. Werner, Intern Mark Genac, Citizens Al & Sharon Lancour, Dennis & Linda Villwock, John & Lucy Murphy, Nicki & Dan Verhalen, Scott Holbrook, Pat Krupinski, Tina Robbins, Mark Stoiber, Gerald & Rita Doerke, Paula Michlig, Phil Jens, John Huebner, Norman Frahm, Jay Bullis, Dona Kehring, Aaron Robertson, Cindy & Bob Bridgford, Clark Fischer, Rick & Sandy Henrichs, Michael Axtmann, John Themmes, Patrick Allenstein, Dan Wendorf APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Informational Public Hearing and Board Minutes Mr. Jerald Hulbert moved to approve the minutes of the December 10, 2007 hearing and meeting, seconded by Mr. Brett Hyde. Upon a voice vote, the motion to approve the minutes carried unanimously. PERSONAL APPEARANCES: None WRITTEN CORRESPONDENCE: Dog Park Memorandum Director Anderson shared with the Board members the anonymous letter received which stated “I can’t believe that you and Alderwoman Tina Schaefer don’t realize that Muskego already has an unofficial dog leash-free area on City property.” The writer did not indicate the location of the area. Mr. Hulbert informed the Board members that Waukesha County does provide a park for that purpose within easy driving distances. NEW BUSINESS: None UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Park Arthur Master Plan Director Anderson reported that after the December 10 informational public hearing, additional letters had been sent to other residences on Martin, Hardtke and Lentini Drives. Some residents had expressed at the Minutes, Parks & Recreation Board, January 14, 2008, page 2 hearing that some had not received notification of the hearing or couldn’t attend due to the time of the meeting. Director Anderson advised that the targeted timeline for the park would be  February, 2008 approval of the park master plan;  then forwarded to Plan Commission for that approval process;  2008 would be for permitting and engineering;  2009 dirt moving;  for funding purposes, development would be over eight years;  completion around 2016; sooner, if WDNR grant money or money from user groups was received. For those in attendance for this issue, Board President Whipple open the meeting to hear comments on Park Arthur. Comments/concerns from them included:  Due to traffic impact, Mayor Johnson stated that they should provide an entrance/exit on College Avenue.  When they do the dirt moving, will there be trucking in and out on College like when they did the sledding hill?  Why is the only entrance/exit on Martin Drive?  What would it cost to widen Martin Drive; a residential area that goes from 35 to 25; why are you going to bring all that traffic into a residential area? It’s not a practical place to put an entrance at the bottom of the hill.  Was the fill brought in tested at all? It came from sewer excavation, brand new sewer excavation? What is the total cost of the project? Is it going to be a staged project?  The size of the project is beyond the Muskego area. Most of the people that will be using this will be from outside Muskego. In his opinion, it was not a Muskego project. He alluded to the five soccer fields.  Is this going to be a permit only thing or for individual use? Are people from other communities going to use these fields because they don’t have any?  Gentleman needed clarification on which one of the plans displayed was being considered.  You can’t really consider this a park because it is going to be mainly for sports.  Who is going to maintain all of this? Who is going to patrol all of this? She thought it would be a good draw for drugs and everything else; drug deals going down and garbage and everything else, pollution.  They are using the entrance right now for four-wheel truck driving on Sunday afternoon. Pictures of the ruts were shown to the Board members.  Commented on current parking problem and congestion on the lake. Suggested the park should be over by Moorland near the skateboard park. The roads aren’t big enough for the volume of traffic. You can’t widen Martin as it is wide enough. Smelling of the weeds behind his house.  Lives on the corner of Martin/Lentini and still did not receive a letter. Further commented that though the speed limit is 25 mph, it’s not obeyed. Also, better to have three small parks than one big one. Right now, there is a line up when people are returning home and could see it getting worse with the park development. She was concerned about the safety of the children in the neighborhood.  What are you expecting to use for soundproofing as my backyard abuts the park? Are you expected to have lights on the fields? What about animal control, people bringing dogs? What can we as homeowners do when people trespass on our yards, getting their Frisbees, their soccer balls? Being on the west side of the park, what about litter control?  Were there other lands, or was this the only one you looked at? Is it just now that the community has been let known about the development?  What other sites were considered? Minutes, Parks & Recreation Board, January 14, 2008, page 3  With it being an 8-year project, do you have a phasing plan, what you are planning on adding every year?  With all the open land in Muskego, this is the only place that you can build it? You bought this land why can’t you buy somewhere else? Muskego is a big area, there is allot of land out there.  Commented on parking 150 boats/trailers in the parking lots. Will there be policing?  With all the fields, it is a sports complex, not a park. This is ridiculous. Can’t there be something else for the residents in the neighborhood, basketball hoop, tennis court. The people in the neighborhood have to put up with all the noise, the garbage. It’s way too big of an area.  Anyway that they can get the weeds out of the area. He lived across from it. The smell is terrible.  Can they cover the weeds so the smell isn’t there? You drive by it, you smell it, you take a walk, you smell it.  What can be put around his property that is surrounded by the park, a barrier of some type? Can there be more meetings to find solutions to some of these concerns?  Didn’t get notices, how can they get notices? How many within the 300 feet received notices? How do we know about the meetings?  How close are the fields, the football field, going to be to our lot line? Do we have our choice of natural barrier versus fencing? What about the lighting that is going to be on the baseball fields?  What about the lights on the soccer field and have you changed the buffer zone? What is it now? Are you moving the little guys fields over? The expense of maintaining these fields is quite large, $10,000- $20,000. Who is paying to maintain the soccer fields? Are you draining the fields, seeding them?  What about field drainage tile?  How much money do you get from the clubs to maintain the fields? Will city residents be able to use the fields without getting kicked off? Is there a reason why you can’t put the lights down at Denoon?  Don’t have a problem with the park per se and the NRPA is an organization that anyone can join , but there is no standard national. They may recommend a standard but there is no standard nationally.  Is this the Muskego kickers? Weren’t they disbanded?  As far as the field itself goes, it seems like the Kickers, the baseball tournament teams, all the separate entities of recreational sports in Muskego. When these fields are not being used, are they accessible for others to get on these fields? What is the scheduling of these fields? Are they used every weekend in the summer? With 6,7 or 8 tournaments, what is the accessibility of a guy that lives in Muskego? There is going to be more volume of people using the park coming from Wind Lake, Waterford, you name it.  Let’s go back to the 2001 plan and not make this an over-sized park.  Could you tell me what the operation of hours is for the baseball fields?  You have five soccer fields. If the big soccer field is being moved to the east, are you getting rid of some of the soccer fields? How many feet now from the lot line, the back of my property?  Is this a done deal? Board members and Director Anderson responded to each comment and to each inquiry as it was presented. Director Anderson will be forwarding these concerns on to Dave Burch of Bonestroo. At the end of the open period, Mr. Hulbert spoke to the group that the park would not go away and gave some historical information on its acquisition and also that a plan for the park development had been approved in 2001. He also mentioned the parks master plan for the City of Muskego and how it addresses the needs of the city and how the needs have changed since 2001. We Energies Light/Racine Entrance to Lower Level of Old Town Hall Director Anderson reported the light being requested would be $10.28 per month or $124.00 annually. This light will light up the entrance, but not the back porch. Mr. Hulbert clarified that the historical society only Minutes, Parks & Recreation Board, January 14, 2008, page 4 offered to pay the first year and then it would be through the budget process. He will bring it before the Muskego Historical Society this week. Mrs. Koble moved to approve the light contingent upon the Muskego Historical Society paying for the light costs through the end of 2008. Mr. Gerald Boisits seconded. Upon a voice vote, the motion carried with Mr. Hulbert abstaining. Dog Park Director Anderson advised that Ald. Schaefer wanted this item deferred until the group has background and research information to bring before the Board. Horn Field Improvements In their packet, Board members had received a summary sheet on quotes submitted for the Horn Field improvements. Director Anderson said they had budgeted $18,000 in park dedication for improvements. Director Anderson and Parks Supervisor Theis had met with these two vendors at Horn Park and reviewed what improvement were wanted. To see if they can get the costs lower, they will put together very specific criteria for the field for the vendors. Some of these items were requested from the baseball leagues and they will be contacted on these costs to see if they want to move forward and have these amenities done and pay for them. The items that the department would look at doing was rebuild existing baseball infield, hitting area behind home plate and install new steel post and brace for the first base netting. Recently, with the heavy, wet snow, Parks Supervisor Theis, in clearing the netting of snow, discovered that the concrete where the post was anchored, having been buried only 18 inches into the ground, heaved due to the frost. He advised Director Anderson that before the ball fields were let in the spring, a new post would need to be installed. It’s a safety issue. A quote for this work came to $4,396; however, if the work is done with the others, the vendor will reduce it by $960. He said the $3,436 could be out of the operating budget for maintenance of buildings and grounds and the expense for the post $5,436 out of park dedication which was originally included in the Horn Field improvements. Mr. Hulbert moved to approve funds for the correction of the concrete slab along with that post and to put the post in where the telephone pole is as part of the Horn Field improvements; $5,436 would come out of park dedication and $3,436 out of operating. Mr. Boisits seconded. Upon a voice vote, the motion carried unanimously. ALDERMAN'S REPORT: None STATUS OF PROJECTS: Hwy 36 Trail Director Anderson spoke with Tom Blotz to see if there is funding available for the project. After explaining the project, Mr. Blotz said it would be very competitive with other projects they have because it defines that link from Franklin and they gave money to Franklin to put theirs in. The problem is the department would not be able to do anything until after July 1. The Board would have to decide if they wanted to do the project in full or gamble on getting funding from the WDNR. Board members will think on this and make a decision in February. DIRECTOR’S REPORT AB341 Impact Fee Trailer Bill Director Anderson reported that AB341 was signed on January 4 so park dedication fees are back. It restores the ability of municipalities to charge fees for park land and certain park improvements as a condition of approving new subdivisions. He needs to find out what certain park improvements are. He will review the verbiage of the law and then have the city attorney see if the city’s ordinance language is accurate. Minutes, Parks & Recreation Board, January 14, 2008, page 5 Baseball Group Discussion Director Anderson would like to set up a quasi-committee of Mr. Hulbert, Ald. Snead, Parks Supervisor Theis and himself to meet with the ball league representatives. He would like the leagues to know that what they are expecting from the city is becoming too much both with development of baseball fields, paying for the creation of those fields, paying for their restoration and for the prepping of the fields. What are the leagues willing to do, what can they do, what do they expect of the city, what are the limitations on the city’s part, what are the limitations on their part and try to work as a group and foster that relationship. Mr. Hulbert could see the value in having this type of discussion. Lake Accesses As no one from the lake district was present, this will be on next month’s agenda. OTHER BUSINESS Subdivision Plans—none. COMMUNICATIONS AND MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS AS AUTHORIZED BY LAW Mr. Hulbert shared that City Attorney Molter is a resident of the city, living in the Bay Breeze area. Director Anderson informed the Board members that Mark Genac, the department’s intern, was in the meeting earlier and today was his first day. ADJOURNMENT - There being no further business, Mr. Hulbert moved for adjournment at 7:35 p.m. Seconded by Mrs. Koble. Upon a voice vote, the motion carried. Stella Dunahee, CPS Recording Secretary pc: Board Members, Craig Anderson email: Mayor, Alderpersons, Department Heads, Peter Theis, Tammy Dunn,