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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-07-09 Parks & Rec Comm MinutesDraft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 8/13/2019 Minutes City Of Edina, Minnesota Edina Parks & Recreation Commission City Hall, Council Chambers Tuesday, July 9, 2019 7 p.m. I. Call To Order Chair Good called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. II. Roll Call Answering roll call were Commissioners Strother, Willette, Miller, Dahlien, Good, Nelson, Ites and Student Commissioner Osborne. Absent: Commissioners McAwley and Student Commissioner Anderson Late arrivals: Commissioner McCormick arrived at 7:04 p.m. Staff present: Staff Liaison Perry Vetter, Assistant Director Parks & Natural Resources Tom Swenson and Administrative Coordinator Janet Canton III. Approval Of Meeting Agenda Motion made by Nelson to approve the meeting agenda. Motion seconded by Willette. Motion carried. IV. Approval Of Meeting Minutes Chair Good asked to amend the minutes and change the number of commissioners who golfed at the tournament on May 15 from four to five. Motion made by Miller to approve the June 11, 2019 amended minutes. Motion seconded by Nelson. Motion carried. V. Community Comment None VI. Reports/Recommendations A. Lake Cornelia Vegetated Buffer Project Assistant Director Parks & Natural Resources Swenson introduced and gave a presentation on the Lake Cornelia Vegetated Buffer Project. He indicated with this project they would hire a consultant that would plan and build out the prairie area. It would then fall under Parks & Recreation Maintenance so they wouldn’t allow buckthorn and invasive species to come back. Assistant Director Parks & Natural Resources Swenson went over what some of the challenges are in this area. He discussed funding for the program and added there will be no park funding or assessments to any homeowners with this project. He also went over the benefits of this buffer project as well as what the next steps are in the process. Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 8/13/2019 Commissioners asked questions and made comments on the project. B. Arden Park Construction Update Assistant Director Parks & Natural Resources Swenson gave a quick update on the progress of the Arden Park construction. He then showed pictures recently taken of the park to show the progress being made. Commissioners asked questions and made comments. C. Fred Richards Park Playground Project Update Staff Liaison Vetter informed the commission they received some excellent bid results for the Fred Richards Park Renovation Phase I project. The bid will go to the City Council for approval at their July 16 meeting. Their hope is to have the project completed by the fall so it can get used before the seasons change. D. Parks & Recreation Commission Work Plan – The following updates were given on the Work Plan Initiatives: Initiative 1 – Chair/co-chair a cross-commission committee to review the naming of a public facility in the Grandview area after the BC and Ellen Yancey. Commissioner Dahlien indicated he reached out to the Human Rights and Relations Commission (HRRC) committee to let them know what they learned from the City Council. The HRRC committee is going to think about what would be a representative recommendation from their perspective and then bring it back to the PARC committee where the two committees will work together based on that information. They will then put together a formal proposal to have ready for the City Council. Initiative 2 – Serve on a cross-commission committee in partnership with communities of color to identify barriers for participation in programming. Commissioner Strother informed the commission she has connected with the Human Rights and Relations Committee. She is still waiting to hear back from one person and is hopeful they will have a meeting set up next week. Initiative 3 – Chair-co-chair a cross-commission committee to develop a draft plan on Edina Grand Rounds, including wayfinding. Commissioner Nelson informed the commission she is currently waiting to hear back from the Transportation Commission’s committee so they can set up a meeting and get started. Initiative 4 – Complete a study and report for fields, courts and rinks capacity and utilization from the data provided by staff. Chair Good informed the commission the committee has updated the data on field and rink use since this initiative is a continuation from last year’s Work Plan. They are still working to access court information. Their intent now is Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 8/13/2019 to consider how well they integrate new sports into the fields, courts and rinks where there are new or underutilized assets they could be bringing in. Also, how can they improve on the current system to utilize space? Their challenge is the city owns some of the assets and the school district own some of the assets. Initiative 5 – Investigate possible alternative funding options to support future growth and development of Edina’s parks, programs and green spaces. Commissioner Miller informed the commission their shortfalls in funding could be filled one or two ways. First, there would be an outside philanthropic organization like Friends of the Park. The second is internally leveraging the assets they have to create more revenue to invest back into the parks which is what they are now looking at. A few weeks ago they met with an outside group that does this type of thing for organizations, cities, parks, etc., all around the country and they were very helpful. What it came down to is they don’t know what their assets are, they don’t know what they are worth and they don’t know if they are leveraging them correctly, which they are not. They need to get that defined and they are probably not going to be able to do that as a group running around. They are going to need some kind of professional help to understand it and that will determine what their next steps are as far as any kind of internal leveraging. We don’t know everything that is going on and we need to get that defined. He noted he has also talked to City Manager Scott Neal to understand what would be the process as well as what the regulations and rules are behind it. Their next step is to engage with the city and get defined what it is they actually have. Initiative 6 – Review and comment on the Race and Equity policy statement developed by city staff. Commissioner McCormick informed the commission they are waiting for the policy that staff is creating. Staff Liaison Vetter informed the commission Edina’s Race & Equity Coordinator Heidi Lee will be attending the August Parks & Recreation Commission meeting to give a history on how the policy was created as well as share the policy and thoughts behind it. Initiative 7 – Serve on a cross-commission committee to complete requirements for Edina to receive the AARP City Designation. Commissioner McCormick informed the commission the cross-commission committees met a couple of months ago and they were supposed to do their walkabout sometime in July. However, they are still waiting to hear back from the person on the Community Health Committee to let them know when that will happen. They should have an update soon. VII. Chair and Member Comments • Commissioner Nelson informed the commission she read the correspondence they received in their packet and it does make sense there should be a water spigot of Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 8/13/2019 some sort at the dog park. Chair Good indicated he thinks it’s a possibility that should at least be considered. • Chair Good thinks the pickleball courts are something they should have on an upcoming agenda. His wife and he play pickleball quite a bit and they have been getting asked if the Parks & Recreation Commission is considering guidelines for the current courts because they are so heavily utilized. They have also been asked when there are going to be plans for future courts. • Chair Good informed the commission a couple of residents have been asking him about mountain biking and when are we going to get mountain biking and walking trails that were prioritized on the Braemar Master Plan. He noted as soon as they can find a funding source they will be moving forward. • Commissioner Nelson informed the commission she would like to see something that would show which playgrounds are going to be updated, maintained, etc. She stated that in 1996 a lot of the playgrounds were redone and now a lot of them need to be redone again and they are not going to all be redone at the same time. Therefore, she would like to see a maintenance schedule of which playgrounds will be redone next. She wants to make sure they are giving the residents the confidence that the playgrounds are safe and maintained. Chair Good added they need to continue to let the residents know what is happening. There are a lot of good things going on with the enterprise and park facilities. Unfortunately, the downside is they have a que with very good ideas just waiting to get the appropriate funding. VIII. Staff Comments Staff Liaison Vetter gave the following update: • The 2019-2020 Student Commission appointments were recently conducted and Bryn Osborne has been reappointed for another one year term and Zoe Lelas will be joining the commission starting Sept. 1 for a one-year appointment. Chair Good pointed out to the commission that their August meeting will take place at Centennial Lakes Park where they will gather for a little social activity and dinner before the meeting starts at 7 p.m. IX. Adjournment Motion made by Dahlien to adjourn the July 9, 2019 meeting at 8:09 p.m. Motion seconded by Nelson. Motion carried.