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DEFINING GOALS FOR VICTORIA'S PARKS
PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT TO COME FIRST
At a council workshop on January 13th, Parks & Rec Director Tammy Abrahamson highlighted four goals identified by the Parks & Rec Committee last fall and presented product and cost information to city councilmembers.
The intention is to purchase and install two play structures this spring - one for Lions Park, one for Diethelm Park. The other goals - field lighting at Diethelm Park, a Master Plan for the city's parks, and repair and maintenance of existing items - do not have deadlines at this time.
Playground Equipment.
Planning Consultant Mark Kaltsas presented maps of Diethelm Park and identified the proposed playground area in back of the Victoria Field House, central-ly located among the ballfields. He placed a future shelter with bathrooms and concession stand in that location as well as playground equipment that can accom-modate up to 72 children.
Mark said that playground equipment is designed today for two age groups, toddlers ages 2 to 5 and kids ages 5 to 12. The equipment gives the two groups some separation and some interaction. A wood carpet mulch is one of the options being considered beneath the fall area of the equipment.
As time goes on, Mark said the Diet-helm Park playground area could include a drinking fountain and decorative light-ing. He also spoke of plant materials, hardscape such as park benches, and two trail connections, one south to 86th Street and the other east.
He suggested that more general equipment with some of the same compo-nents be installed at Lions Park. Also at Lions Park he proposed relocating the playground area, which has water issues, to the current volleyball space which could be relocated to the basketball court space, and possibly repairing the tennis courts.
According to Mark, the total estimat-ed cost of playground equipment for Diet-helm Park is $134,000. Total estimated cost of playground equipment for Lions Park is $60,000. Estimated cost of install-ation for one of the playsets is $10,000.
Councilmember Mary Thun proposed memorial park benches and the involve-ment of stakeholders and parents. She said she'd like to see the playground equipment "ready to go in nice weather."
Field Lighting.
Tammy researched prices and report-ed it would cost approximately $80,000 to light one softball field, $200,000 to light a baseball field, and $75,000 to light a soccer field. Total number of ballfields under consideration for lighting are two softball fields, one baseball field, and three soccer fields. Cost to light those ballfields could reach $700,000.
Financing options include a purchase lease program or city equipment certifi-cates and funding from the city's parkland dedication fund.
It was pointed out that summer day-light hours are pretty long in Minnesota, and most ballfields are only used over two to three months.
Currently there is one lighted baseball field and two lighted softball fields in Lions Park, and the hockey rink at Lions Park is also lighted. There are no lighted fields currently at Diethelm Park.
No decision on lighting or a lighting schedule was made at this time.
Maintenance Projects.
Several existing park and recreation areas in the City of Victoria are in need of repair, removal, or replacement. Some of the areas mentioned included the Deer Run Tennis Courts, South Lake Virginia Shore Tennis Courts, Kirke Lachen Ten-nis Courts, Lions Park Warming House, and Lions Park Basketball Court.
Also, a park area at Swiss Mountain is needed; there are ADA issues at the Holy Family Catholic High School Tennis Courts, which are "co-owned" by the City of Victoria; a timer is needed for field lights at Lions Park.
No decisions on maintenance were made at this time.
Parks Master Plan
Stated Tammy Abrahamson on behalf of the Victoria Parks & Rec Committee, "We are looking for clear direction and guidance on the Master Plan." She said there was $7,500 budgeted to create the Plan, that Planning Consultant Mark Kaltsas could do the Plan for around $10,000, and that to hire someone else to do the Plan would cost up to $40,000.
Mark Kaltsas, formerly on staff as the Victoria City Planner, said he could do it for less because he's familiar with the city and its goals and objectives. But he questioned how the additional hours re-quired for such a project would fit in with the maximum 20 hours/week that he was hired to work as a consultant to the city.
Replied Councilmember Mary Thun, "Would it be possible for Mark to give us a proposal and define some time sched-ules?" She also added, "We do have some pretty good citizens on that Parks and Rec Board" who could be involved on the Plan.
Mark said he would bring a cost pro-posal for creation of a Victoria Parks Master Plan to the Victoria council-members.
Hiring MK Land Corporation
On January 27th the Victoria council-members voted 4-1 to accept a proposal presented to them by Mark Kaltsas of MK Land Corporation, to develop a Master Plan for Victoria Parks at a cost not to exceed $14,044. Councilmember Mary Thun cast the nay vote.
Said Mary, "I have some questions and concerns. We've got $7,500 in the budget for this. I've got concerns about not putting this out for bid. We did inter-views for other people and services for things less than $14,000. Also, the trails need to be in here as well as the Park Plan. It's not that I'm questioning Mark. I just don't know. I specifically recall that $7,500 was set in the budget to supple-ment Mark's 20 hours per week as a con-sultant. When I saw it was double that, it made me step back."
Mark said that his proposal went be-fore the Parks Committee. "It's based on the hours it will take to do it. I applied a favorable rate, regardless the hours it takes. The trail plan for the city is fairly well developed already. I don't know how much additional work would be needed for trails."
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