Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-03-09 Park Board Minutes 1 EDINA PARK BOARD 7:00 P.M. BRAEMAR GOLF COURSE MARCH 9, 2004 _____________________________ MEMBERS PRESENT: Mike Damman, George Klus, Linda Presthus, Karla Sitek, Allyson Grande, Jeff Sorem, Alice Hulbert, Jeff Johnson, Andy Finsness, Floyd Grabiel, Mike Weiss STAFF PRESENT: John Keprios, Ed MacHolda, Janet Canton, Vince Cockriel, Tom Horwath, John Valliere OTHERS PRESENT: Dianne Plunkett Latham, Jack Keegan, Baba Honmyhr, Sue Simonton, Arden Aanestad, Tom Christiansen, Sue Christiansen, Barbara Nazarian, Jim Villas, Jane Moran, Marty Rice, Jean White, Marcia Akins, Ed Janiga, John Flynn, Jim Woodburn, Russell Darlene Kimmel , Idelle Longman ____________________________ I. APPROVAL OF THE TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2004 PARK BOARD MINUTES Jeff Johnson MOVED TO APPROVE THE JANUARY 13, 2004 PARK BOARD MINUTES. Andy Finsness SECONDED THE MOTION. MINUTES APPROVED. II. WELCOME NEW PARK BOARD MEMBERS, ALICE HULBERT AND JEFF SOREM Mr. Klus welcomed the new two Park Board members: Jeff Sorem and Alice Hulbert. Mr. Sorem informed the Park Board that he grew up in Edina and graduated from Edina High School in 1992. He noted that he went to college on the East coast and then went to Germany where he played hockey for a year. He also added that he has coached youth hockey in Edina. Mr. Sorem commented that on Thursday he and his wife had their first child, a baby boy. Ms. Hulbert indicated that she has lived in Edina for the past 22 years and noted that she has four children from ages 12 to 20. Ms. Hulbert commented that all of her children have been involved in the park and recreation programs and noted that she is very excited to be on the Park Board. III. AQUATIC CENTER/PARK MAINTENANCE POSITION – ED MACHOLDA Mr. MacHolda indicated that they interviewed approximately 10 candidates for the new position, which is a shared position between the Aquatic Center and park maintenance. 2 He noted that they offered the position to Justin Simonson who will begin on Monday, February 15th. He stated that Mr. Simonson will work approximately two to three weeks with the Park Maintenance Department and in early April will shift over to the Edina Aquatic Center. He noted that Mr. Simonson would return to the Park Maintenance Department the first week of September. IV. ELECTION OF OFFICERS Mr. Keprios opened up the floor for nominations for Chair of the Park Board. Floyd Grabiel MOVED TO NOMINATE GEORGE KLUS. Linda Presthus SECONDED THE MOTION. Jeff Johnson MOVED TO CLOSE NOMINATIONS. Karla Sitek SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO VOTE FOR GEORGE KLUS AS CHAIR OF THE PARK BOARD. Mr. Keprios opened up the floor for nominations for Vice Chair of the Park Board. Floyd Grabiel MOVED TO NOMINATE ANDY FINSNESS AS VICE-CHAIR OF THE PARK BOARD. Mike Damman SECONDED THE MOTION. Karla Sitek MOVED TO CLOSE NOMINATIONS. Linda Presthus SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO VOTE FOR ANDY FINSNESS AS VICE- CHAIR OF THE PARK BOARD. V. BUCKTHORN PRESENTATION – DIANE PLUNKETT LATHAM Mr. Klus introduced John Flynn and Jim Woodburn who are members of the Deephaven Park Board and noted that they are here tonight to observe the Edina Park Board meeting. Mr. Flynn commented that Edina always does things so well that they thought they would come and learn from Edina. Mr. Woodburn thanked the Park Board for their hospitality. Diane Plunkett Latham indicated that she would first like to recognize three individuals for their outstanding buckthorn abatement efforts. She noted that the first person she would like to recognize is John Plume who has donated 50 hours of labor removing buckthorn at Braemar Golf Course. Also by doing that Mr. Plume’s employer, State Farm, has donated a $500 grant to be used by Braemar Golf Course to purchase equipment used for removing Buckthorn. Ms. Latham also recognized Jim Villas, a senior citizen, for removing 500 buckthorn trees in his neighborhood’s open space along the Soo Line right-of-way. Ms. Latham then recognized Jean White for her efforts in removing extensive amounts of buckthorn from Braemar Golf Course adjacent to the 3 fairways. Ms. Latham commented that it’s due to dedicated residents like this that we are making headway and added that their efforts are very much appreciated. Ms. Latham indicated that this year they received $844.00 in contributions. She also noted that this year the Edina Garden Council and the Edina League of Women Voters worked together on educating people about buckthorn abatement and commented that together they distributed 1,200 door hangers. She explained that they mostly handed out door hangers in the southwest quadrant of the city where they seem to have a tremendous amount of buckthorn. Ms. Latham also commented that the city worked on various buckthorn abatement projects which was also very much appreciated. Ms. Latham informed the Park Board that Mr. Keprios was very successful this year in getting a $5,000 DNR Conservation Partners Grant. She explained that with that various parks would be assessed professionally to see what could be done with the buckthorn problem that Edina has. Ms. Latham pointed out that this year that the Edina Garden Council has affiliated with the Edina Community Foundation. She noted that the Garden Council is not a 501C3, however, the Edina Community Foundation is. Therefore, residents can now make a donation to the buckthorn abatement program and now receive a tax deduction for it. Ms. Latham indicated that this year “Top Notch Tree Service” gave them a special rate to remove buckthorn during the month of October. She noted that 34 households participated in the program; however, many more households removed buckthorn throughout the year so that doesn’t really tell the whole story. Ms. Latham explained that the reason they are so concerned about buckthorn is because their forests degrade and buckthorn fills up the under soil and when the older trees go down all you have left is buckthorn. She noted that is basically what is happening in various areas at Braemar Park right now. Ms. Latham pointed out that other problems with buckthorn is it offers no fall color, birds suffer because it is a starvation food which weakens them and it also allows cover for criminal activity. Ms. Latham explained some of the techniques that are used to get rid of buckthorn. She noted that the technique most frequently used is to cut the stump and then paint it with Round Up. She stated that this technique works fairly well, however, it doesn’t work during the spring when all of the sap is moving in the upper direction. Therefore, they are asking the Park Department to experiment with another chemical called Krenite because it can be used year round. Ms. Latham indicated that they have also tried the technique of selectively thinning the buckthorn. The theory in doing this is if you take it out with the exception of leaving some canopy the seeds will not be able to germinate. She noted that buckthorn has very low light requirements. Ms. Latham commented that they tried lopping the buckthorn with hand loppers and then painted the stumps. She noted that at first it looked like it was working because after the first winter they were pretty pleased, however, by the 4 following fall it started growing back. She explained that when you lop buckthorn it’s impossible to find all small cut ends and paint them so that does not work very well. Ms. Latham noted that another technique they use is the weed wrench. She stated that the weed wrenches can effectively remove trees up to 2.5” in diameter by their roots, therefore, resprouting is not possible. Ms. Latham pointed out that another technique that can be used is spraying the buckthorn in the fall and then hand pulling it the following spring. She commented that it didn’t take any longer to hand pull it than it did to lop it and noted that when it’s hand pulled it’s gone. Ms. Latham added that when buckthorn takes over you can’t see or walk through the woods and there is no chance for wild flowers and wild life. Ms. Latham indicated that they have also tried burning fires at Braemar which is a fairly good method of controlling buckthorn and thinks that maybe they should start that again. She added that mowing is also a very good way of controlling buckthorn. Ms. Latham explained that the reason it is so important to work on Braemar Park is because Braemar has the only remnant of Oak Savannahs left in Edina. She added that there are so many activities that are done at Braemar as well as it is especially important for the wildlife there because it is such a wonderful habitat. Ms. Latham stated what they have also found out is that buckthorn wood chips suppress noxious weed germination and using them for mulch is a low-cost method of disposal. She explained that it does this because the weeds can’t germinate because they are not receiving any sun and also the chemical reaches out of the buckthorn into the soil and stops the re-sprouting. She noted that at the Art Center they had extensive amounts of mulch brought in and volunteers spread it out. She indicated that no weed seeds were observed transmitted through the mulch. Ms. Latham commented that Mr. Cockriel has informed her that the city has an abundant supply of leaves in the fall. Ms. Latham pointed that the most expensive and labor extensive is spraying the buckthorn. She indicated that the City has a contract with AES to spray over a period of five years to see how that turns out. There is a small amount of time during the fall to which the spraying must be done and one also has to be careful that there aren’t native wild flowers that could get damaged. Ms. Latham noted that there is the question of whether these areas should be replanted because if they can possibly regenerate naturally they should be allowed to do that. She explained that at Creek Valley they had a remnant community so they did not have to replant. However, one native plant that came at Creek Valley was poison ivy and it came back in great profusion. She noted that poison ivy could only be treated during the spring. Ms. Latham stated that she would recommend extending the contract with AES to treat the poison ivy especially because it is right next to an elementary school. Ms. Latham explained that because the Art Center did not have a remnant community many volunteer groups got together and planted over 400 wild flowers. She noted that 5 the biggest threat they have at the Art Center is garlic mustard, which is another plant that is on the state’s prohibited list, which does need to be treated year round. She added that currently they are suppressing it with mulch in selected areas. Ms. Latham showed slides of what the areas they have worked on now look like and urged everyone to visit these areas: Creek Valley, the Art Center and Braemar to actually see what has been done. Ms. Latham commented that now what they need to have is a line item in the city’s capital improvement plan for Woodland Restoration and Management. She added that if the city values their woodlands they will want to save them for future generations and they are going to have to work on that. Ms. Kimmel, resident, indicated that she lives at Nine Mile Village where there is a lot of buckthorn that they will be working on and added that she did help out one day at Braemar with the buckthorn. She also noted that she would like to make a couple of comments with the first being there is a lot of buckthorn at Bredesen Park and she is very concerned about the birds carrying the seeds and was wondering if it would be possible for eradication to take place in Bredesen Park. Ms. Kimmel informed the Park Board that before she lived in Edina she lived in Minnetonka where she was involved in a 15 million dollar bond proposal for parks and open spaces, which did pass. She explained that since that passed the impact on Minnetonka has been enormous and suggested the idea of perhaps networking with people who are involved. Ms. Kimmel pointed out that the City of Eden Prairie also had a bond proposal that passed, however, it was a different concept in which they preserved a chunk of land as prairie. She indicated that something serious like a bond proposal would really bring in money that could address these programs appropriately because there is a lot of time, energy and money required. Ms. Kimmel stressed that if you don’t do it right it’s back again and if you do it here and not there it’s still back again. Mr. Klus asked Ms. Latham if he understands correctly that it is her hope that somewhere along the line that the city will put a line item in their budget for buckthorn abatement. Mr. Klus indicated that there are other proposals in the report and commented that his recommendation to the Park Board would be that they take a look at those proposals during the next few Park Board meetings. He noted that Mr. Keprios would make sure Ms. Latham is informed as to when those discussions would take place. Mr. Klus stated that he would like staff to come up with recommendations for the Park Board to look at and discuss and possibly pass on to the City Council. He noted that he feels the first place the proposals need to go to is to the staff and therefore would defer it to Mr. Keprios to bring back by the May Park Board meeting so that they have enough time to discuss it before the budgeting process begins in the early fall. The Park Board was in agreement with Mr. Klus’ suggestions. Mr. Grabiel commented that he appreciates the efforts of Ms. Latham and her group in raising an awareness of this issue because it is important and they are doing a very good job with it. 6 Ms. Hulbert asked Ms. Latham how many years are they going to have to keep mulching to keep the buckthorn out to which Ms. Latham replied that the seed bank lasts for six years and each year more of the seeds die off. However, if you could plant something in its place, for e.g. grasses like you see at Braemar, they grow real fast and shade it out and then mow it once a year is another alternative. Ms. Latham stated that it’s the combination of planting plus mulching that should be used for most of these areas. Ed Janiga indicated that his company provides a service of removing buckthorn and has found that a lot of people would be willing to do it themselves but they sense that not enough is being done by the city. Therefore they feel that nobody else is taking it seriously so if they are the only ones removing the buckthorn it’s not going to solve anything. He noted that it seems to him that if the city were a little more proactive in taking care of their part that the citizens would be more receptive to working on their own piece of property. Sue Simonton, resident, stated that she would like to second what Mr. Janiga said because until the city makes it clear through education and whatever else they can do people aren’t going to take it seriously. Everyone needs to work together on this. Ms. Presthus asked what is the state doing because buckthorn is not just an Edina problem. Ms. Latham replied that it was recently proposed to the legislature to add a check-off box for noxious weed control in order for them to receive more funding for it. She indicated that she is also going for some LCMR money for it as well. Therefore, the legislature is looking into more money for it, however, as we all know the states funds aren’t too good either. Ms. Presthus pointed out that it’s a similar problem because if Edina’s neighbors don’t do anything, but the city does, then it’s the same situation in reverse. Ms. Latham commented that all of the neighboring cities are working on this to some extent in Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, Plymouth and Minneapolis. They all have citizen groups and park departments who are grappling with this and working on it together. She noted that metro wide they are trying to work on this together. Mr. Klus commented that Mr. Keprios has done a very good job this last year in bringing in speakers and continuing to educate the Park Board on buckthorn. They have heard both the pros and the cons on how to work with it in the community. Mr. Klus thanked everyone for their time and for the opportunity to further educate the Park Board. VI. GYMNASIUM FACILITIES STUDY COMMITTEE REPORT Mr. Keprios explained that the City Council recently asked staff to have the Park Board re-visit where they are at with the gymnasium issue now that the School District has passed their referendum. Therefore, Mr. MacHolda and he took it upon themselves to visit several surrounding community gymnasium sites. The City Council wants a refresher to see what other alternatives are still out there for them to consider. Mr. Keprios gave a presentation on the six different gym projects that they looked at. He noted that Eden Prairie has six gyms, Minnetonka has one, St. Louis Park has two, 7 Jefferson Activity Center has five, Kennedy has five and the Eagan Community Center has three. He then went through what amenities each facility had. Mr. Keprios stated that what they found was that all of these gyms were funded by referendums and that none of them could provide accurate operating expense reports. Mr. Keprios pointed out that the Facility Study Committee, if you recall, made a recommendation to the Park Board that these facilities should be built next to existing schools. In addition, funding needs to be in place for operating expenses before the buildings can be built as well as user groups should be required to raise some funding to cover these anticipated operational expenses. Mr. Keprios indicated that the Park Board’s recommendation to the City Council was that they fully concur with the Facility Study Committee’s conclusions and recommendations. Also, the Park Board encourages the city to continue a dialog with the school district about the possibility of adding some gyms on to the school properties. Mr. Keprios indicated that some of the challenges they are still faced with is they have to remember that in 2001 the voters turned down a referendum that included all of the things they’ve talked about. Also, both the city and school district learned through the 2001 referendum process that taxing boundaries did become a big issue. However, now with the school district’s successful referendum they are now building one additional gym at South View Middle School as well as another gym may be put in at the Community Center. Mr. Keprios stated that it’s great that the school district added an extra gym at South View Middle School; however, the Facilities Study Committee found that there is still a need for even more gyms. Mr. Keprios noted that the Facilities Study Committee made a recommendation to the City Council that these facilities should be located on city property only as a last resort. He stated that funding the operational expenses really has been and continues to be the number one most challenging and significant issue. Mr. Klus asked Mr. Keprios to remind the Park Board how much it would cost to operate this to which Mr. Keprios replied over $1,000 a day for a five-gym complex. Mr. Keprios explained that the problem the city has if we were to build a stand alone facility not adjunct to a school is we don’t have other gyms that those user groups are paying for that we can leverage fees and charges against whereas the school district has that ability. He pointed out that the additional operating expenses for the school district would be incremental compared to the city having to operate a stand-alone facility. The school district already has staffing in place that could possibly manage additional facilities without having to add significantly more staff to their labor force. Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that the old Midwest Health Club site, 7300 Bush Lake Road, has recently been sold to a church. He indicated that the city had looked at that site in the past but because of a deed restriction were unable to purchase it for the purpose of building gymnasiums. However, there is a private developer working with the church with a proposal to build two or three gyms at the site. It is their intention then to lease it on a for-profit basis to the city, athletic associations, etc. Mr. Keprios indicated that the developer has indicated that they have somehow found a way to get around the 8 deed restriction. Mr. Keprios commented that it is still a possibility that is being negotiated. Mr. Keprios indicated that the Southdale YMCA is considering building three gyms on the east side of their current building. He added that they are very interested in building an elevated running track because that is one thing they lack. Mr. Keprios explained that he has been asked to meet with the YMCA staff and talk about operational issues, fees/charges, who would operate it and how it would fit into the mix. He noted that they would also need to talk about what kind of agreements they could get in place on commitments to rent these facilities. Mr. Keprios commented that this is still a possibility because the YMCA is currently thinking about a fairly large expansion in their capital improvement plan and this would fit right in. Mr. Keprios stated that the City Council and School District do plan to meet in the fairly new future to talk about a variety of issues, one of which will be gymnasiums. Mr. Keprios noted that the Facilities Study Committee might want to meet once again in order to receive a little more direction and information regarding the 7300 Bush Lake Road site and the YMCA opportunities. At that point then have the committee come back to the Park Board with a recommendation. Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that a gentleman who is offering a significant amount of money to help build a bubble in Edina recently approached him. He noted that this person feels he and his partners can raise 1.5 million dollars for this project. Mr. Klus indicated that he was recently appointed to the Edina Community Foundation Board, which is a group that looks at ways to try and enhance things in Edina. He noted that the Edina Community Foundation has been around the community for a very long time. Mr. Klus stated that his own personal feeling is this group really hasn’t gone out to the community and looked at large projects. He commented that there are a lot of great people on the Edina Community Foundation Board. Mr. Klus pointed out that he thinks the Edina Community Foundation needs to look at ways to raise big money for the community to build things like domes, etc. He indicated that he would like to bring a copy of the Park and Recreation Capital budget to the next Edina Community Foundation meeting so that they can really get excited about looking at the big projects. Mr. Klus noted that they need to have a reason to go out and look for ways to ask for those big dollars to make things happen in this community. He added that he still sees this weighing a lot on the city and is hoping that through the Edina Community Foundation they can get excited to do some of this stuff in the future. Ms. Presthus indicated that they have looked at the same need for the past four years, which is that we still need an additional four to five gyms. She asked if those numbers have changed at all to which Mr. Keprios replied that due to the new additional gym at South View Middle School that three more gyms should really sufficiently meet the need. 9 VII. REGRESS BACK TO BUCKTHORN PRESENTATION Mr. Keprios indicated that he had asked Vince Cockriel, Park Superintendent and Tom Horwath, City Forester to be present at the Park Board meeting tonight. He asked both gentlemen if they would like to add anything to what was said earlier during the buckthorn presentation. Mr. Cockriel commented that the contractor, Ed Janiga, noted that he feels not enough is being done by the city. Mr. Cockriel indicated that he thinks Mr. Keprios has the right approach in that they hire someone to go out and assess what we have, come with a plan and stick to the plan. He noted that for example, if a resident over on Valley View has hired Mr. Janiga, the maintenance staff is not supposed to stop what they are doing to run over and help this resident get rid of his buckthorn. Mr. Cockriel pointed out that the education process should also be coming from the contractor because if he teaches the homeowner how to maintain their yard in the manner it’s supposed to be done the buckthorn will be completely gone. He stated that if the resident is mulching correctly, chemical treating correctly and hand-pulling correctly it doesn’t matter what the rest of the city does. Mr. Cockriel again stressed that the education should not only be coming from the city but from the contractors as well. Mr. Horwath indicated that he would like to stress that areas that have been talked about to start managing and controlling are very sensitive areas. He noted that the oak trees hate disturbances and therefore they really do need to watch their management plans very carefully because there are a lot of very fine oaks at Braemar, Bredesen and Van Valkenburg that have been there for hundreds of years. Therefore any management plans that they do come up with they really need to keep that in mind. He stated that they need to keep in mind that they are making a transition from basically doing nothing and letting nature operate within its own laws, guidelines and functions to spraying with chemicals, bringing in mulch as well as other things. Mr. Horwath stated that his basic point is that these areas deserve caution and protection. Mr. Keprios indicated that he feels Eric Zenner, speaker from the January 13th Park Board meeting; response hit it on the head when he was asked, “What’s the long-term plan for buckthorn”. His response was “What do you want your parks to look like”. Mr. Zenner explained that they will never be able to get rid of all of the buckthorn but it can be managed in a way so parks can look the way people want. Mr. Keprios pointed out that leads them to priorities. What areas do they really need to take care of if they want to realistically apply their resources? Mr. Keprios commented that he is very pleased that the DNR is giving the City of Edina this $5,000 grant to which the study will help them prioritize the areas where they have buckthorn. They will be able to identify areas that they will literally have to go after as well as identify areas that would be considered fairly low priority. Mr. Keprios explained that they are going to continue doing their part in educating the public which will include getting information up and running on their website. He also pointed out that they are also going to do something they haven’t done before which is come up with a mission statement for the forestry program, in their minds they know what it is but they want to get it in writing. 10 Mr. Keprios handed out Mr. Horwath’s forestry report and noted that he refers to what they have done with Dutch Elm this year. He encouraged the Park Board to read over the report when they had some time. Mr. Horwath indicated that when people say that the City is not doing its share regarding buckthorn he takes it a little personally because as he pointed out he has been expanding the buckthorn activity quite a bit. He noted that he has been concentrating on certain areas and commented that over at Highlands Park he has already removed approximately 500 buckthorn plants just there. Mr. Horwath stated that he thinks buckthorn education is out there. If you talk about buckthorn he has found that most people do know what he is talking about. VIII. UPDATES A. Adventure Peak, Edinborough Park - Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that Adventure Peak is a great success story. He noted that we again need to thank Linda Presthus, Mike Damman and Dave Fredlund who served on the Selection Committee to help get this done as well as staff members Tom Shirley, Ann Kattreh and Jeff Freud. Mr. Keprios pointed out that since they opened on September 3rd they have taken in over $248,000 and they only paid $230,000 for the structure. It’s already paid for itself and it’s not even April, however the winter months are their busiest months. He noted that their attendance has been in excess of 45,000. Mr. Keprios indicated that because Adventure Peak has been so successful there are a few things they might want to think about. He pointed out that Edinborough Park is a very popular place to rent, especially in the winter, and asked the Park Board to give it some thought as to whether or not they want to continue to do that being how popular Adventure Peak and the Great Hall have become. He asked do we want them to be kept open and continue to sell passes to Adventure Peak or do we want to continue to serve the private rentals. Mr. Keprios noted that he is not asking for any action tonight, however, staff will study it and come up with some numbers and bring forward some recommendations for the Park Board to look at. He added that because it has been such a phenomenal success it makes you wonder if we should stay in the business of renting it out during the winter months. Mr. Keprios stated that he definitely feels they should continue to rent it out during the summer months. Mr. Keprios applauded the Park Board and his staff for the vision and for getting them to where they are today because it’s a great success story to be proud of. Ms. Presthus asked if cleaning has been a problem because that was a concern of theirs. Mr. Keprios replied that it really hasn’t been a problem. He noted that it is labor intensive and does take four hours, however, they literally disinfect every piece of the structure every single day. Ms. Presthus asked about the operating costs to which Mr. Keprios replied that it’s significantly less compared to what they used to pay for the little skating rink. 11 B. Smoking in the Parks – Mr. Keprios informed the Park Board that he thinks the smoking in the parks issue is going to come back before the Park Board. He explained that he has been contacted by a group of folks who would like to organize and take some kind of a proactive approach to have a no smoking policy at the parks. He noted that advocates of smoke-free parks would like the Park Board to support a policy that encourages adults to serve as a role model to kids not to smoke. Mr. Keprios commented that one approach they were thinking about is instead of having more government intervention in people’s lives is to approach the athletic associations. He suggested asking the athletic associations to adopt their own policy that calls for all adults to remain tobacco free while their youth athletic association events are taking place at the parks. Mr. Klus pointed out that obviously wouldn’t take care of all of the problems because the city would have to deal with the arena, the golf courses and Centennial Lakes. Mr. Klus commented that he asked Mr. Keprios to talk with the athletic association presidents because he’s not so sure that the Park Board needs to try and pass another policy. If the athletic associations are concerned about this let them talk about it. He noted that again it doesn’t handle all of the issues but at least the associations can set up their rules and regulations and they can try and enforce them. He stated that he doesn’t know how this could be enforceable by the Park Department. Mr. Johnson asked if the City can enforce a no drinking policy why can’t they enforce a no smoking policy he doesn’t see what the difference is. Mr. Klus replied that he’s not so sure that the no drinking policy is enforced. Mr. Keprios explained that a lot of communities have a no smoking policy that relies on voluntary enforcement or voluntary compliance so that it doesn’t fall on the shoulders of the city and police. Mr. Johnson commented that perhaps by just putting up a sign might deter ten people from doing it. Mr. Klus stated that would not stop the smokers who want to smoke. He added that it’s a tough issue and it’s not going to go away. Mr. Keprios asked the Park Board how they would feel if he brought it before the Athletic Associations and asked them if they would take a proactive role in this with voluntary self-enforcement. Mr. Grabiel pointed out that they would need to watch how they phrase it because it is a public park and people have the right to be there. He recommended that perhaps they phrase it by saying something like “we recommend that you not smoke in front of the kids”. Mr. Grabiel commented that non-smokers do not like to be around those who are smoking. Mr. Klus indicated that this issue would be brought back to another Park Board meeting. VIII. ADJOURNMENT Linda Presthus MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 8:35 PM. Jeff Johnson SECONDED THE MOTION. MEETING ADJOURNED.