Community Center Advisory Commission

Andover YMCA Community Center Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes Monday, April 9, 2018 In Attendance: Allison Boes, Frank Kellogg, Don Schmeichel, Tony Peterson, Tony Howard, Erick Sutherland, Ted Butler, Val Holthus Guest: Megan Conner, 292 Design Group Frank Kellogg called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm Agenda Approval Approved as written Approval of Minutes Motion by Ted Butler, seconded by Val Holthus to approve February 12, 2018 meeting minutes. Motion carried unanimously. Discussion Items Expansion Update – Erick introduced Megan Conner with the 292 Design group, commission members introduced themselves. Erick shared with the commission that city staff met with 292 Design Group and RJM Construction last Thursday and discussed the preliminary designs. The city staff were intrigued by the covered outdoor rink design and are interested in cost and thought that the remaining project could be done in phases. Perhaps this area could be used by Fun Fest, Farmers Market, etc. With these designs from 292 Group, RJM Construction can start putting construction prices together. With the utilization rate and our weather climate, Ted Butler is not in favor of the outdoor roofed rink option. Arena’s that have built similar outdoor roofed rinks already have two or more indoor ice spaces. Many of the commission members agreed that the teen center area needs to be located down by the YMCA (East end of bldg.). This designated teen space would be used by the senior citizens during the morning and early afternoon hours and teens late afternoon/evening hours. Tony Howard also indicated that he is not in favor of the outdoor rink with the covered roof, he would like to see a cost analysis done to see what it would cost to add permanent walls. Tony Howard stressed the need for a designated space for teens to keep them off the street. He feels teens need something to have ownership of. Don Schmeichel mentioned the new venues being built throughout the nation with video gaming technology and how cool it would be to have Andover host a video game tournament – it would be a way to add revenue. Val Holthus – Agreed that the teen space needs to be a dedicated space for the teens after school. She also liked the concept of having the multi-purpose sports arena locker room hallway located right inside the entrance on plan A2. Tony Howard asked what the seating capacity for the multi sports arena would be, Megan with 292 group indicated roughly 300. Tony also thought it would be a good idea to look at adding a mezzanine over the locker rooms, Megan stated that then you would need to add an additional elevator. Commission members asked what an additional elevator would cost, ballpark estimate is $150,000-$200,000. Andover YMCA Community Center Advisory Commission Minutes April 9, 2018 Allison, would also like the Teen Center/Senior Citizen area, closer to the YMCA side of the building. Commission members as if a splash pad was still an area of interest. Allison stated that splash pads are really limited to a specific age range, they are expensive and hard to maintain as well as weather dependent. A splashpad is not an immediate need. The Y would like to see expansion with keeping kid spaces on the lower level and adult activities on the 2nd level. With expanded spaces, the Y would also want to make sure that the kids stuff program area is expanded as well – as they are already at capacity. Val asked if the Andover Y had a therapeutic pool. Allison stated that they do not have a separate therapeutic pool however the warm water and depth of the pool here, does qualify it to be used for therapy. Allison shared that they currently have a partnership with Andover Physical Therapy to use the Y pool for therapy. Val had heard that the Emma B Howe Y had a dedicated therapeutic pool, Allison stated they do not. During expansion discussions, Don Schmeichel would like to see that an indoor track or designated space within the gym be considered for those wanting to run, jog or walk. Ted Butler was concerned about taking the purple park space and not having another location to replace it with. Erick indicated that the outdoor rinks would not be relocated to that area until they were moved from current location which, in reality, wouldn’t be for an estimated 10 years from now. Ted also likes the idea of the 2nd floor above the multipurpose arena for running and jogging. Mr. Butler again felt that an outdoor ice arena was not ideal and would limit Fall and Spring usage. Looking at current weather, he couldn’t imagine baseball, lacrosse or soccer wanting to reserve space in an outdoor covered ice arena when there is still snow in the ground and nothing protecting them from the wind. Tony Peterson asked what an outdoor roof life cycle cost would look like. He thought design with the multipurpose sports arena next to the current ice arena made the most sense that way it could share a Zamboni if needed. Commission asked what an additional Zamboni would cost, estimated around $125,000. He also felt that while having Fun Fest utilize an outdoor ice arena space that it is more beneficial to add a space that would be used more than one weekend out of the year. Cindy questioned the security and flow of the building with the proposed expansion areas and wondered how it would affect staffing costs. The parking lot was also a concern. Expanding the parking lot is an immediate need - without taking expansion into consideration. Ted also asked about traffic to the north end of the building – he thought the road was going to connect to Nightingale. Eventually the road would go North of the two proposed outdoor rinks and connect with Nightingale. Ted thought the current ice arena and the indoor multi-purpose arena would benefit from being placed next to each other to save on staff costs. Frank wants to make sure labor efficiency - soft cost vs hard cost is reviewed. Hard costs stop, soft costs are forever (staffing costs). Financial responsibility is critical. Ted assumes that RJM will be putting together numbers on each area. Andover YMCA Community Center Advisory Commission Minutes April 9, 2018 Allison also mentioned that if the outdoor pavilion area is removed, that it will need to be relocated to a different area and to ensure that there is an area for the playscape. Additional restrooms will also need to be added if an additional field house was to be added down the current YMCA admin hallway. Erick mentioned that RJM Construction also came up with a 3-million-dollar price list of updates that could be made to the current building. Something to also think about is that the EPA has ordered the refrigerant chemical R-22 to stop being manufactured after 2020. And R-22 is what is currently being used in the ice arena. If an additional area is to be added to the facility that included a seasonal ice arena – it would save on costs as eventually a new system would have to be replaced at the current location. RJM and 292 Design will refine the designs and get back to staff. Erick will forward any new sketches to the commission via email. Tony suggested that the existing meeting rooms A & B as well as the current YMCA admin area be used for a teen/senior citizen area. Mr. Kellogg thanked Megan Conner for attending. 4) AHYHA Update – Tony Peterson congratulated the AHYHA 12U Girls Team on their state championship. Another 14U Girls team from the area which included a few girls from Andover also recently won a National Championship out in Boston, MA. Tony also shared that approximately 1,500 people attended the parade for Olympic Gold Medalist, Maddie Rooney on Saturday, March 24th, with around 1,000 people attending the ceremony at the ice arena which included refreshments, photo opportunities and autographs. Tony also mentioned that there are a lot of good sophomore hockey players that will be trying out for the Andover High School Varsity and Jr. Varsity Hockey Teams this Fall. Many players will be left with nowhere to play hockey if they don’t make the team. With limited ice availability, there isn’t enough area to get a Jr. Gold Team in place. AHYHA needs more ice to make it work. AHYHA is also working on summer programs 5) YMCA Update – Weather has played a big role in attendance for March, membership attendance is up by 2,000 visits. March had approximately 61,000 visits. School release days are continuing to go well, the Andover YMCA sees about 25 - 40 kids all who participate in field trips, swim, etc. The Y is preparing for Summer programs with registration beginning towards the end of April. Summer childcare will also be provided this summer to students, K - Middle School by utilizing the Andover YMCA and the Y camp at Lake George. Allison stated their summer program is appealing to families as they offer a 3, 4 or 5-day child care flex plan for families. Frank Kellogg asked Allison if they had ever thought about all day children care. Allison stated they have, there are roughly 90 child care sites both on and off site that YMCA coordinate throughout the area. 6) ACC Update – Erick reviewed the ACC status report. The 4th Annual Pickleball Tournament will be held May 4 – 6, which is the largest indoor pickleball tournament in the State of Minnesota. Frank asked how many participants were expected. Cindy will reach out to Luke Jesso, the Tournament Director to find out what registration numbers are at. Erick also shared that there are approximately 75 skaters participating in Andover YMCA Community Center Advisory Commission Minutes April 9, 2018 the Spring ACC 3 v 3 Mite Hockey Program. Erick also mentioned the Maddie Rooney event and thanked AHYHA and the Mayor, everything went very well. 2017 Unaudited Budget – Erick reviewed the unaudited budget. He mentioned that the Ice Revenue was down in 2017 compared to 2016. Erick mentioned that a year ago, the high school started allowing senior citizens into high school hockey games at no charge, which ultimately affected the high school gate revenue by $7,000.00. In addition, revenue is affected when a holiday falls on a weekend. If you take away the 11-12 prime ice hours per day, at $205.00/hr, it can add up quickly (est $2,400/day). Commission Input Frank asked that a recap of the joint Parks and Recreation Meeting with the Advisory Commission be provided. Ted shared that the parks commission wanted to look at offering programs in the city parks during times when parks were not in use. Two ideas were identified: 1) Host a Movie in the Park event. QCTV may have a movie screen system that could be utilized for such event. Erick stated that community center staff could help promote the event and that it would be held sometime after Fun Fest, so that the event could be promoted during the city festival 2) The YMCA discussed possibly hosting fitness classes/yoga in the park. Ted also shared that the parks commission felt that the city could benefit in hiring a communications coordinator. Information about these upcoming events will be shared in the city newsletter, with the local cable stations, YMCA members, facebook and websites. Erick will forward information he receives from the 292 Design Group with the commission and then they can respond with comments back to Erick. Staff will share comments from this meeting with Jim. Erick thought it would be around April 23rd when a new design would go available. Next meeting will be held on Monday, May 14th at 6 pm at the Andover Community Center. Commission member Ted Butler indicated he will not be able to attend the meeting. Meeting Adjourned at 8:17 pm Submitted by, Cindy Ramseier