Board of Public Safety

Owners’ Team Meeting Minutes Friday, November 23, 2021 7:30 a.m. Maple Grove Community Center Present: Mayor, Mark Steffenson; Council Member Phil Leith, Park Board Member, Ken Helvey; City Administrator, Heidi Nelson; City Finance Director, Greg Sticha; Parks and Recreation Director, Chuck Stifter; Superintendent of Parks and Planning, Ben Jaszewski; Superintendent of Recreation, Aimee Peterson; and Community Center Manager, Lisa Jost. 1. Gleason Fields Athletic Complex Chuck Stifter, Director of Parks and Recreation reviewed the Gleason Fields Athletic Complex project history, noting early in 2021 the Board approved a design estimate of $12.3 million. The low bid received came in at 30% over budget, and the Board consequently rejected all bids. Consultant, RJM was then brought in to support a value engineering and design modification process to identify cost savings opportunities. Director Stifter noted the athletic associations and neighborhood residents have identified elements of the project that are important to them and staff is trying to respect the needs of all stakeholders with the ballfield and neighborhood components. He stated design updates have included subgrade revisions, reduction of paved surfaces, conversion of surfaces to bituminous, retaining wall redesign, various building materials changes, and reduction of site amenities resulting in more than $2,500,000 in cost reduction and an estimated budget of $14.4M; which still leaves a $2 million-dollar gap. Director Stifter noted the additional funding sources that would bring us within $400,000 of the projected $14.4M design estimate are: $8.7M Park Dedication Funds (an increase of $1.0M) $0.3M Hennepin County Youth Sports grant $4.5M City LTD funds (including fronting OMGAA repayment for this project) $.5M City General Fund 2021 Surplus (added to support current cost projection) Director Stifter stated he would recommend the project proceed to bid in January and see where the bids land with the understanding if it’s over $14M, the overage would need to be resolved either from elimination of additional park amenities, further design modifications, or finding other funding sources. He added the Park Dedication Fund is an option to fill any gap in funding. Parks Superintendent Ben Jaszewski reviewed the latest site plan draft, and pointed out the cost saving design reductions. He noted field two will be lower than the surrounding landscape, but will be done via berming as opposed to field one that is actually built into the earth. He noted field two will have a set of bleachers, but no grandstand. Shade structures have gone from steel to fabric, but are still four-season sturdy. Ben stated two batting cages have been removed and the lights on the lacrosse field will not be replaced with LED. Mr. Owners Team Meeting November 32, 2021 Page Two Jaszewski noted the pickleball courts will remain on the plan; however, the picnic pavilion is quite costly and will most likely have to be pushed out to a future date. He stated the playground is a bit smaller, but the south berms and sliding hill remain. Chair Lewis asked if the new format of field two will result in enough excavated soil to create the south border berm/sliding hill. Mr. Jaszewski replied yes, the neighborhood screening berm remains essentially the same as the original site plan. He noted that one light pole on the sliding hill has been eliminated but additional lighting options on the ballfield poles will be pursued. Mayor Steffenson stated the light on the sledding hill should not be eliminated, as there will be children using the hill in the evening. Director Stifter noted that the building architecture will be more affordable, but he is confident we can still provide a marque facility. Council Member Leith asked if the existing warming house will have any improvements done. Director Stifter replied no; there was talk of re-doing the roof with steel, but that proved to be too costly. We will continue with our normal building maintenance plan to ensure the building meets our standards. Chair Lewis asked if parking was adjusted. Director Stifter replied, not much; the number of stalls stayed the same but the drop-off area was modified. City Administrator Nelson stated she is comfortable with the numbers from park dedication and the year-end transfer. She noted that she feels staff has done a good job of keeping the costs down and still providing an outstanding project. Greg Sticha, Finance Director noted he’s comfortable with $500,000 from the 2021 city surplus funds, but there probably isn’t an option to increase that amount without taking resources away from other capital needs of the city. He added that his preference would be to have OMGAA pay with cash up-front as opposed to floating them a loan and them paying it back. Director Stifter asked what the timing should be for requesting additional funds from the Council. Mr. Sticha replied that the year-end transfer is done in March after all 2021 expenses and revenue have been reconciled. Mayor Steffenson added that the request should be made at least after the bids come in. Owners Team members were in concurrence to proceed with rebidding the project in accordance with the latest amended site plan and schedule. 2. Community Center Proposed 2022 Budget Community Center Manager) Lisa Jost noted the Community Center enterprise is anticipating a shortfall in 2021 due to the pandemic restrictions put in place during the early Owners Team Meeting November 23, 2021 Page Three months of the year, but the last five-month revenues are on track to be in line with 2019 totals. She stated the projected 76% net recovery is in line with 2019. Ms. Jost noted that aging mechanical equipment has become more challenging to keep systems running, but staff is being mindful of what could possibly wait until the renovation. Ms. Jost noted that part- time salaries are proposed to increase by $40,000 over the 2021 budget, a standard small adjustment per hour to get wages closer to market rates. Mayor Steffenson asked why full-time salaries went from $808,000 to $910,000. Ms. Jost replied the Operations Supervisor was vacant last year and will be filled in 2022, the Food Services Coordinator came on-board in 2020, two positions were adjusted and finally, annual raises. Ms. Jost reviewed the Building/Equipment Reserve Capital Outlay schedule and noted the top five priority items in 2022 are replace boiler #1 controller, replace ice machine and microwave in arena concessions, chair replacement in the senior center, security camera replacement and the sound system in the Premier Banks rink. City Administrator Nelson cautioned that some things on the capital list should be weighed against remodel/renovation replacements. Director Stifter noted that staff is studying what can get pushed off, noting that some of the equipment can be purchased and put in now and will be still reusable. All large expenditures will be evaluated for the urgency before any purchases are made. Staff remains cost conscious in their proposal of any replacement related expenses. 3. Sports Dome Proposed 2022 Budget Parks Superintendent Ben Jaszewski stated that 2021 year-to-date is tracking right on target, noting that electric and gas utilities are displaying a 60-70% savings from energy saving improvements that were made; however, those savings will be used to pay back the Apex Energy Project. Mr. Jaszewski explained the increase in Repair/Maintenance Equipment is due to a considerable increase in labor costs to tear down and install the dome fabric. He stated we used the State Correctional crews before the pandemic, which was less expensive. Now they are looking at nearly $50,000 to install and $50,000 to tear-down. He noted he is looking at ways to hopefully reduce those costs. Mr. Jaszewski advised team members that the dome fabric is scheduled for replacement in 2022 which will come from the CIP fund. He added that better storage will also need to be pursued to reduce weather related damage which is detrimental to the life cycle of the fabric. Director Stifter noted that Mr. Jaszewski is looking at possibly keeping the dome inflated year-around and what that would entail, such as adding air conditioning and a fire suppression system. He said that in view of the tear down/install costs, that could have a good pay-back outcome. Owners Team Meeting November 23, 2021 Page Four City Administrator Nelson stated she thought Public Works was helping with the dome fabric install/take down. Mr. Jaszewski replied they have in the past, but the State crew cancelled at the last minute and Public Works crews were not available. Director Stifter noted the hope is that the State crew will again be available after COVID settles down. Respectfully Submitted, Jan Clark, Recording Secretary and Chuck Stifter, Director Parks and Recreation City of Maple Grove