HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-11-12 Parks & Rec Comm MinutesDraft Minutes☐
Approved Minutes☒
Approved Date: 12/10/2019
Minutes
City Of Edina, Minnesota
Edina Parks & Recreation Commission
City Hall, Council Chambers
Tues., Nov. 12, 2019
7 p.m.
I. Call to Order
Vice Chair Dahlien called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m.
II. Roll Call
Answering roll call were Commissioners Dahlien, Ites, McCormick, Miller, Strother,
Williette and Student Commissioners Lelas and Osborne
Absent: Commissioners Good and McAwley
Late arrivals: Commissioner Nelson arrived at 7:04 p.m.
Staff present: City Manager Scott Neal, Staff Liaison Perry Vetter, General Manager Braemar
Golf Course/Dome Joe Abood, General Manager Braemar Arena/Field Chad Eischens and
Administrative Coordinator Janet Canton
III. Approval of Meeting Agenda
Motion made by Strother to approve the meeting agenda. Motion seconded by
Willette. Motion carried.
IV. Approval of Meeting Minutes
Motion made by Miller to approve the Oct. 7, 2019 minutes. Motion seconded by
McCormick. Motion carried.
V. Community Comment
None
VI. Reports/Recommendations
A. City Manager Update
City Manager Neal gave a power point presentation on capital budgeting and spending.
Commissioners asked questions.
B. Proposed Parks & Recreation Fees for 2020
Staff Liaison Vetter went over the proposed fees for 2020. He explained the fee
philosophy and noted how the majority of the program fees fall into one of three
categories: essential programs, important programs and value-added programs. He also
went over factors impacting costs as well as cost recovery calculations.
Commissioners asked questions.
Draft Minutes☐
Approved Minutes☒
Approved Date: 12/10/2019
There was a lengthy discussion on the Aquatic Center season passes, daily admissions
and the concept of a partial season pass.
Motion made by Nelson to approve the proposed 2020 fees as presented with the
caveat that staff looks into adding a half-season pool pass as well as make sure
the daily admission fee is in line and competitive with surrounding communities
and present their findings to the City Council. Motion seconded by Strother.
During discussion on the motion, commissioners noted that even though some
communities subsidize operational budgets, from a consumer standpoint they do not
factor that into spending decisions and view only published costs at the various
providers.
Motion carried.
C. Park Assignments
Vice Chair Dahlien informed the commission there are still a few commissioners that
need to select preferred park locations for their park assignments. Commissioners were
asked to let Staff Liaison Vetter know their preferred parks as soon as possible. Staff
Liaison Vetter will send out the list of park assignments each time it is updated.
Staff Liaison Vetter indicated that staff will be working on developing a feedback tool for
the park assignments.
D. Parks & Recreation Commission Work Plan
An update was given on the current 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 informed the
commission there have not been any updates. They are waiting on a recommendation from the
HRRC. He noted from a Parks & Recreation Commission standpoint he thinks they can close
this initiative.
Initiative 2 – Serve on a cross-commission committee in partnership with communities of color to
identify barriers for participation in programming. Staff Liaison Vetter informed the commission the
HRRC will be reaching back out to the committee because they have developed some ideas on
what the engagement could look like. He thinks the HRRC’s task is to look at what’s the
skeleton of the process like, where could it be, how to reach out to groups and what should
they ask once they get people there. Then they will re-engage and that is the partnership piece.
Draft Minutes☐
Approved Minutes☒
Approved Date: 12/10/2019
Hopefully what it looks like will be completed for the 2019 Work Plan and carrying it forward
and doing it will be done in the 2020 Work Plan.
Initiative 3 – Chair-co-chair a cross-commission committee to develop a draft plan on Edina Grand
Rounds, including wayfinding. Nothing to report as this item has been completed.
Initiative 4 – Complete a study and report for fields, courts and rinks capacity and utilization from
the data provided by staff. Commissioner Dahlien informed the commission he reached out to
Troy Stein, Athletic Director at Edina High School and is working on putting together a meeting
so they can formalize a working agreement between the school and the Parks & Recreation
Department regarding field usage. He noted that he thinks a lot of it has to deal more with
perception and they will be able to document that and communicate it to the associations. In
reality, in some instances, they are not out of field space they just don’t want to use the field
space that was assigned to them.
Initiative 5 – Investigate possible alternative funding options to support future growth and
development of Edina’s parks, programs and green spaces. Commissioner Ites informed the
commission he had a lengthy meeting with Jay Halverson, an Edina resident who is on the board
and the treasurer of Minneapolis People for Parks. He noted they discussed how they do their
funding and how they market it. He explained they have a relationship with the Park Board in
Minneapolis and they have a foundation to which the foundation does the big things. He noted
he is somewhat intrigued by what they do as a possibility; they’ve been doing this for 43 years.
Mr. Halverson is very happy to give them some insight about how they do alternative funding.
Initiative 6 – Review and comment on the Race and Equity policy statement developed by city staff.
Commissioner McCormick asked Staff Liaison Vetter if he received her race & equity
comments to which he replied he did. Commissioner Strother noted she will forward her
comments to Staff Liaison Vetter so they can move that forward. Staff Liaison Vetter indicated
part of his initial thought is instead of individual agreements they have one general agreement
with our expectations and then the appendix would be unique per association so it’s more
universal.
Initiative 7 – Serve on a cross-commission committee to complete requirements for Edina to receive
the AARP City Designation. Commissioner McCormick informed the commission she saw an email
on the AARP designation and it looks like they are extending it into next year as well as they
are looking at a July date to do a survey. Commissioner Nelson indicated after last month’s
meeting it was decided they would have to hire an extra staff member to help do everything
and so they need to look into what is the real advantage of being an AARP city. Staff Liaison
Vetter asked for the information to be forwarded on to him.
VII. Chair and Member Comments
Draft Minutes☐
Approved Minutes☒
Approved Date: 12/10/2019
Commissioner Ites informed the commission on Oct. 14 he was asked to speak to a group
of people at 7500 York about Edina’s parks. He noted most of the people have lived in the
community 30 to 40 years and their knowledge is limited. He noted he also talked about
the different master plans and added that it was a good experience.
Commissioner Nelson informed the commission she has seen several signs in yards saying
“Save Valley View Park” but there is no park in Edina with that name. After a discussion
the commission thought maybe the signs are referring to Valley View Park in Bloomington
because there currently is a project before the Bloomington City Council regarding that
park.
Commissioner Dahlien informed the commission he was happy to see this year, as
opposed to last year, the detail that was done in preparation for the dome opening. His
initial reaction was it looked great and added there were approximately 30 walkers there
as well as both fields were being used for soccer.
VIII. Staff Comments
Staff Liaison Vetter gave the following updates:
Arden Park is really starting to take shape; city staff has constructed the rink and today the
cabinetry went into the building. He also pointed out they had a Walk with the Mayor in
October at Arden Park.
The golf dome is up and running and they are having good success. Also, KSTP recently
did a live feature on the golf dome.
The sports dome is up and running and it went very well; he was very proud of the
cooperative work between staff from the arena, park maintenance and public works.
The temporary rink at Todd Park has been installed.
At Centennial Lakes the railings on the bridges and the lighting have now been installed.
Edinborough Park held their No So Scary Halloween Party on Oct. 30 and they had really
good attendance.
There were a lot of neighborhood kids and good interaction with the families at the ribbon
cutting at Fred Richards Park playground. Kids would play until they got cold, cut the
ribbon with the Mayor and then go home and then the next group of kids came and they
would do it all over again. They did it at least four times where they had four different
ribbon cuttings for the grand opening of the site.
Staff Liaison Vetter will be giving a presentation tomorrow on the park system to realtors
who are buying and selling properties in Edina. It’s a group effort and every department in
the city will be giving a presentation; it’s for continuing education that the realtors are
required to do.
IX. Adjournment
Motion made by Miller to adjourn the Nov. 12, 2019 meeting at 8:37 p.m. Motion
seconded by Willette. Motion carried.