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1998-01 CSCRICHFIELD COMMUNITY SERVICES ADVISORY COMMISSION Tuesday, January 13, 1998 MEMBERS PRESENT: Auchstetter, Erlander, Gilhousen, Krohn, Loweth, Scaglia, Ulmer OTHERS PRESENT: Council Member Rosenberg, Administrative Services Director Devich, School Liaison Walker, Ice Arena Manager Al Payne, staff member Hjortaas MEMBERS ABSENT: Dietl, Schaefer MINUTES The meeting was called to order by Chair Gilhousen at 7 p.m. in the Conference Center of the Water Plant. Motion by Auchstetter to approve the minutes of December 4, 1997. Second by Ulmer. Motion Carried. Gilhousen invited Dan Scott, the new Public Safety Director, to meet with the Commission. After a brief introduction to everyone around the table, Scott expressed a desire to work as a team to keep Richfield safe and healthy. He was asked to have a squad drive through the parks from time to time to not only observe anything unusual but also to improve perception of park users. Scott asked for continued input and looks forward to working with the Commission. Discussion Items Steve Quam, coordinator for a hockey group in support of a second ice sheet including the head coach of the Richfield High School Hockey Team, Holy Angels Hockey Team, Youth Hockey Team, Richfield Hockey Boosters and others spoke with the City Council on this subject. Council referred this group to the Community Services Commission for a recommendation. Quam spoke of the City’s use and other ice users of the arena. He talked about serving groups, how programs work and a concern for ice shortage. This group wants to identify what the needs are for Richfield and sees the opportunity to market a second sheet. It is the hockey group’s feeling that the children of Richfield and the City need to be competitive with other communities. The arena is presently being used by Richfield High School (two boys teams, one girls team), the Academy of Holy Angels (two boys teams, one girls team) and the Richfield Hockey Association (18 teams). Each of these schools/organizations would like to add two or more teams. Community Services Advisory Commission January 13, 1998 Page 2 David Buzicky, from the hockey group, distributed a form indicating ice usage for 1997-1998 and projections for 1998. He then gave two work sheets to be studied. The first indicates how the ice is typically used, the second shows how it is used during tournament time and when the high school team needs the ice. He mentioned the Academy of Holy Angels now practices in Edina. He said as the year goes by, things change when games begin and the cost of shortage of time will be felt by youth hockey. The youth teams now have 24 hours on the ice per week with two teams on the ice at a time. When indoor ice is unavailable, youth hockey practices outside. The hockey group said, if Richfield had a second sheet of ice they could host more tournaments as fund-raisers that could produce around $18,000 each. Richfield presently hosts only four per year because of demand on the arena. The hockey group added, Richfield is an attractive site since it is centrally located and close to the Mall of America. Skating lessons at Richfield have been discontinued and open skating is available for children that are not in skating Wednesday nights and Sunday afternoons only. If ice is not available for younger teams, they must buy ice elsewhere which means taking kids to other arenas. The hockey group feels, future demands will be high when Richfield schools add the additional teams. Richfield would like to add a Junior Varsity team next year and the Minnesota State High School League will add three games per team per year for both boys and girls. These organizations would like to expand and get more kids involved but cannot without affecting someone. Some feelings of the hockey group are that hockey teams build community pride. It is difficult to tell kids they have to practice/play at Minnehaha Academy, the St. Paul Coliseum, Augsburg College Parade Stadium or other facilities. Families of five to eight year olds feel a real hardship having to travel for practice. The Richfield teams cannot be competitive if they do not have practice. Often, there is no ice all week. The hockey committee reports the number of children from fourth to 12th grade is 2,920. There are 40 hockey players from 10-12th grade from the High School. There are 28 girls on the High School team between grades seven through 12. Holy Angels has 36 players on the boys’ team and 16 on the girls. The estimate from the hockey group for the additional ice sheet is between $2,400,000 to $2,600,000 and this figure is thought to be conservative. The lowest price to rent ice is approximately $100 per hour and go to $140 in this area. Richfield youth pays $125 per hour. Community Services Advisory Commission January 13, 1998 Page 3 A concern of the Commission is the arena is presently losing $36,000 per year. The Hockey supporters feel with the additional ice sheet, it can be turned to profit if marketed. If figures do not prove to be what is anticipated, the City would ultimately pay the loss. Another concern was the possibility of another Mighty Ducks grant. Other communities would have the money to add more ice and not have a need to rent from Richfield. The hockey committee would use the second sheet year round. It is estimated 3,000 hours of time from outside Richfield could be sold. Many schools like Edison, Roosevelt, Southwest, Washburn, Benilde and St. Louis Park need 2090 hours outside their areas. The hockey group said, if another sheet were added it would be impossible to sign a contract with anyone to insure ice time was purchased. The hockey group sent a survey to schools/organizations in the metro area and their response indicated they would be very interested. Some of the Commission feel the timing is not good now since the community is unsettled about the recent taking of trees in Veterans Memorial for the Maintenance Facility. The hockey people spoke of the issue of the City supporting the parks and programs being necessary to the community and not a revenue source. They feel an additional ice sheet would improve the quality of life in Richfield. Members of the Community Services Commission concur there probably is a need for additional ice but the cost is the bottom line. What consideration should be made to utilize a second sheet in the off season. The Administrative Services Director and the City Council would decide how to pay for it. Motion by Ulmer to recommend to the City Council, that staff go ahead with a feasibility study including results from the DNR, approximate costs and other information pertinent to the construction of a second sheet of ice. Second by Loweth. Motion carried. Bill Morris from Decision Resources was unavailable for this meeting, however, a copy of the City-wide survey regarding park and recreation opportunities was distributed. Committee Reports MRPA: No Report. Community Services Advisory Commission January 13, 1998 Page 4 Planning Commission: Discussions center around airport noise and low frequency noise. FOWL: The Annual Spring Dinner/Show is scheduled for April 24 at the Decathlon in Bloomington. Master Park Plan Sub Committee: This group is waiting to hear the results from the City wide Survey for information on how to best serve the entire community. Staff Reports Devich reported the Golf Course finished the year well. The Pool sunk below the past few years numbers. Mini Golf did very well but did not make enough to pay the $25,000 debt service. The Ice Arena dasher boards are built and nearly all the glass has been installed. Hat Trick is doing very well with December being their best month ever. They carry many new items. The temporary sign will be down the end of January and a new one will be assembled that conforms with the sign ordinance. Blank was not in attendance but had information prepared for the Commission on the Community Survey and a copy of a letter to the DNR requesting the permissibility of the additional ice sheet. Other The proposed maintenance facility site has been discarded and other locations are being considered. A purchase agreement has been created for the Lampert site to build a Candlewood Hotel that caters to the business person. It is designed to accommodate people attending conferences with a business setting (computers and fax machines available in the rooms). Gilhousen announced the Friends Of Veterans Memorial Park have had one meeting and urged the Commission to keep in touch with this group as well as others in the Community. Adjournment Motion by Auchstetter to adjourn the meeting. Second by Loweth. Motion carried.