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City of Hastings Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes Parks & Recreation Conference Room May 11, 2010 – 6:00 pm 1) Roll Call at 6 pm: Commissioners Flaten, Miller, Garrett, Vandehoef, Schommer, Rohloff, and Smith, Parks & Recreation Director Bernstein, Maintenance Supervisor Likes April Minutes: 2) A correction was made to the April minutes under item #17, Open Mike. Jim Olson from Raider Nation was in attendance, not Joe Larson. Motion to approve minutes with correction by Commissioner Miller. Seconded by Commissioner Smith. Passed unanimously. Setting Agenda: 3) Miller would like to move item #8 to top of the agenda. Commissioner Rohloff requested to add “Vets Baseball Complex” to Old Business and “Site of PRC Meeting” to New Business. Welcome New Commissioner: 4) The PRC welcomed a new commissioner, Jennifer Garrett, to her first meeting. Introductions were given around the table. HHB Training Center: 5) Staff had a brief meeting with the HHB about a training facility that is proposed to be housed on some property adjacent to the Civic Arena. Mark Chorney, Dustin Vogelgesang, and Russ Welch were present to make the presentation. Presentation was given on Hastings Hockey Boosters program and desire to construct a dryland training facility. Have seen a drop-off in performance in Hastings statewide. They feel one reason is that we are lacking a place for athletes to train off the ice. Director Bernstein mentioned that HHB had come to us a few years ago about a facility in the mezzanine of the Arena. Although helpful, the facility has proven to be too small. The number of participants in the program stays fairly steady at around 500-600 kids. Showed the PRC some preliminary drawings and ideas. The facility would be built and paid for by HHB and then City owned. Located behind East rink at the Arena. The Arena manager, Sliv McGree, has been involved in choosing the proposed site location. There would be some type of synthetic ice in the facility and it would be approximately 3,000-4,000 square feet. Anticipated budget is $400-500k, depending on how fundraising efforts go. HHB is requesting approval to construct facility from the City. All funding would be raised privately. High School ice time rental is slightly higher to cover maintenance of locker rooms. They would envision the maintenance to this facility being handled in a similar manner. Director Bernstein mentioned the energy efficiency at Arena with the current single door entry system. Wondering if there is any way to put this facility closer to the front entrance and then have a vestibule going into each facility. This was looked at, but would raise costs significantly (almost double.) Also, would lose some handicapped parking in the front. A desire to use the current outdoor rink could more in the summer for various activities was mentioned. The City had to put 2-3 inches of sand on the pavement in the rink in order to make good ice, due to epoxy surface for inline skating. The epoxy paint would have to be sandblasted in order to get it off. The proposed facility would be open year round. This facility could be rented out to other groups when not in use by Hastings Hockey. The facility would primarily impact the Parks & Recreation budget in capital expenditures when things start wearing out – plumbing, lighting, etc. There are facility costs like cleaning supplies, paper products, etc. The division of expenses would need more discussion. The HHB would prefer to be at the Arena as opposed to using another warehouse/facility in town. Bernstein mentioned the long-term capital costs are more of a concern to him than the day-to-day operating costs. Commissioner Rohloff questioned if there would be enough room to put the facility on the east side of the road/south end of rink and eventually add a new warming shack onto it. It might be a tight fit or have grading issues, but it is worth a look. If you put it on the south end of the rink, it would get hit with pucks. Would need to extend the fencing, etc. Commissioner Smith asked about the length of time for the fundraising campaign. HHB would like to have it up and ready to go by this winter. They are planning to speak with other communities to see if they would be interested in renting the facility during down time. Bernstein asked the HHB what the general feeling would be if the City raised the ice rental cost to cover maintenance. A small increase would be tolerable, but a larger increase would be difficult. Commissioner Smith asked how many comparable suburban communities around this area have a facility like this. There are comparable facilities, but not many are city owned. There are some private facilities and also some retrofit facilities in arenas. Probably the closest are Hudson, Burnsville, Apple Valley. HHB feels that eventually most