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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03.11.20 Parks and Rec MinutesFarmington Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes from the March 11, 2020 Regular Meeting Members Present: David McMillen, Laurie Suchanek, Elizabeth Koss, Ashley Crabtree and Brian Tennant Members Absent: None Other’s Present: Parks and Facilities Supervisor Jeremy Pire, Recreation Supervisor Missie Kohlbeck, Recreation Supervisor Ryan Hayes and Parks and Recreation Director Randy Distad I. Call Meeting To Order Chair McMillen called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Quorum was present. II. Approval of March 11, 2020 Meeting Agenda Moved by Suchanek and seconded by Crabtree to approve the amended meeting agenda. All persons in favor (APIF). Motion carried. III. Approval of February 12, 2020 Regular Meeting Minutes The meeting minutes were approved with the following revision identified by Chair McMillen: V. Business Item; Letter B Commission Bylaws; add the words “shared that” before Tennant’s name on the first line of the minutes. IV. Presentations A. 2019 Parks and Recreation Department’s Annual Report Parks and Facilities Supervisor Pire, Recreation Supervisor Hayes and Recreation Supervisor Kohlbeck provided a presentation of the 2019 parks and recreation department’s annual report. The presentation highlighted the following department achievements: • Personnel • Park development projects and maintenance activities • Trail projects and maintenance activities • Recreational programs and events • Schmitz Maki Arena projects, programs/events and operations/maintenance • Rambling River Center projects, programs/events and operations/maintenance • Rambling River Center Advisory Board accomplishments • Park and Recreation Commission accomplishments V. Business Items A. Rambling River Center Building Master Plan Director Distad informed Commission members that the Rambling River Center Advisory Board discussed the need to complete a building master plan in order to determine future building improvement projects that will improve circulation, provide a welcoming building and configure spaces so they are the most useful and efficient as possible. He shared the Advisory Board approved making a recommendation to the Park and Recreation Commission and City Council to provide funding in the 2021 budget to hire an architect to create a building master plan for the Rambling River Center (RRC). Commission members discussed this request and by consensus felt this was a good idea. Moved by Tennant and seconded by Koss to recommend to the City Council to include funding in the 2021 RRC budget to hire an architect to develop a building master plan. APIF. Motion carried. B. Presentation on City Communication Process Director Distad shared with the Commission that Communication Specialist Lauren Siebenaler will be attending the April Commission meeting to make a presentation about the process the city uses to communicate with the public. He asked if Commission members had any further ideas about new topics that should be covered during the presentation. There were none identified. There was general discussion about the present ation perhaps sparking some follow up questions from Commission members that could be asked. C. 2021 Community Survey Support Director Distad shared the Commission met with the City Council in February and there was general discussion about a possible parks and recreation referendum occurring in 2022. During the meeting there was also discussion about having a community survey completed in 2021 in order to gauge the public’s receptiveness to a parks and recreation referendum. He reminded Commission members that at the February meeting, there was discussion about the Commission going on record to support including funding in the 2021 budget to complete a community survey that could include questions about a possible referendum. Chair McMillen felt that if the Commission supports funding for a community survey in 2021, then the Commission should attend a city council meeting and publicly inform the city council it supports funding the community survey in the 2021 budget. There was some general discussion about what should be included in a letter that could be read at a future council meeting. Commission member Tennant volunteered to draft a letter that would be included in the April meeting packet so the Commission could review and finalize the letter to be read. It was also determined that Chair McMillen should read the letter and Commission members should attend the city council meeting to show support. Commission members felt that these details could be worked out at the April Commission meeting. By consensus, Commission members felt the letter should be read at the April 20 city council meeting. D. Commission Bylaws Director Distad shared that Commission member Tennant created the draft bylaws, so it would be good for him to review the draft bylaws with Commission members. Commission member Tennant reviewed each section and Commission members made comments about any revisions to be made in each section as they were reviewed. Commission member Tennant said he would revise the bylaws based on the input he received and would provide them to Director Distad so they can be included in the April meeting packet. Commission members by consensus felt the bylaws could be approved at the April meeting. E. Park and Facilities Tour with the Rambling River Center Advisory Board Director Distad shared that he spoke with the Rambling River Center Advisory Board during its March 9, 2020 meeting to inform them the proposed August 12 park and facilities tour date did not work for the Commission and the Commission proposed a new date for the tour of July 8. He informed Commission members the Advisory Board approved the new tour date, so the tour will occur on July 8, 2020 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. He asked if Commission members would like to begin discussing possible tour locations. By consensus, Commission members felt that because the meeting was running long, they would like to move the discussion about the tour locations to the April meeting. VI. Discussion Items A. Volunteerism in the Parks and Recreation Department Director Distad reminded Commission members the annual report presentation made tonight by staff highlighted the volunteer opportunities that exist in the department. He asked if Commission members had any questions about the current volunteer opportunities and if they had ideas about ways to recruit volunteers. Commission members felt that a good place would be to work through Communication Specialist Lauren Siebenaler to see if she has some ideas about how the city can make the public more aware of the need for additional volunteers. It was also suggested to bring this up during Communication Specialist Siebenaler’s presentation to see if she has some thoughts about how this might be accomplished. A second idea was to create a brochure with possible city volunteer opportunities and provide it to the public during community wide events. B. Inclusive Playground Information Chair McMillen called on Commission member Suchanek to provide an update about any information she received from groups in neighboring communities who are undertaking a fundraising effort to build an inclusive playground. Commission member Suchanek reported that she had contacted them, but has not heard anything back from them yet. She shared she would try to work through their Facebook page to contact them for information. Commission member Koss said she could also help contact them because she knows one of the people who is on the committee. Commission member Suchanek would share at the next meeting any information she receives. There was also consensus to have a presentation made to the Commission if the group was receptive to coming to a Commission meeting to make a presentation. C. 2020 Work Plan Review Chair McMillen reviewed the work plan and he identified items that were completed since the last work plan review. Director Distad shared he would update the work plan based on the objectives that were identified as being completed. He stated he would provide an updated work plan in the April meeting packet for Commission members to review in order to identify progress being made. VII. Commission Roundtable Koss: Didn’t have anything to share. Suchanek: Didn’t have anything to share. Crabtree: Didn’t have anything to share. Tennant: Didn’t have anything to share. McMillen: Reminded everyone about the Rambling River Center Arts and Crafts sale fundraiser that will be occurring on Saturday, April 18 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and asked Commission members to support this event. He also asked about the graffiti and damage to the slide that was identified on the Farmington Facebook page. Director Distad shared he was aware of the graffiti and staff went to the park and removed it. He said he would check on the slide damage and let the Commission members know if this occurred and if park maintenance staff repaired it. VIII. Staff Report Director Distad provided the following information on the following topics: A. Summer Seasonal Staff Recruitment • Reminded Commission members that the city is recruiting for summer seasonal positions with the Parks and Recreation Department and asked that they spread the word about this, so there is a good pool of applicants for the open positions. B. Arena • Made Commission aware that the project bids were opened earlier today and the lowest bid was quite a bit higher than the budgeted amount. Staff are currently determine where additional funds could be used to cover the amount not covered by the budget. This will be on the City Council’s March 16 agenda to consider awarding the contract for the project. C. Dew Days Reminded Commission members of the following items related to the 2020 Dew Days • will be held on the fourth weekend of June instead of the usual third weekend in June • the city’s Dew Run will be held on the weekend before Dew Days because it is part of a series of running events called the ground pounders and the Dew Run date cannot be changed • The Parks and Recreation Department and Dakota County Farmington Library Branch are co-sponsoring a kid’s concert downtown by a group called Koo Koo Kangaroo, which is a national entertainment act D. Regional Solicitation Grant for North Creek Regional Greenway Informed Commission members about the city submitting a federal grant with Dakota County’s support to receive funding in 2024 or 2025 to construct approximately a 1.5 mile North Creek Regional Greenway trail that would provide a connection from the Mystic Meadows development to downtown Farmington. A map was provided to Commission members showing the location of the trail. IX. April 8, 2020 Meeting Agenda Items The following items were identified by Commission members for its March 11, 2020 meeting agenda: 1. 2020 work plan review 2. Commission by-laws review and approval 3. RRCAB park and facilities tour locations and schedule 4. City communication presentation discussion 5. Volunteerism in Parks and Recreation Department 6. Review letter of support for community survey 7. Inclusive playground information X. Adjournment Moved by Crabtree and seconded by Koss to adjourn the meeting. APIF. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Randy Distad Parks and Recreation Director and Recording Secretary