HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-04-13 Parks & Rec Comm MinutesDraft Minutes☐
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Approved Date: 6/8/2021
Minutes
City of Edina, Minnesota
Edina Parks & Recreation Commission
VIRTUAL MEETING
April 13, 2021
7 p.m.
I. Call to Order
Chair Ites called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m.
II. Roll Call
Answering roll call were Commissioners Doscotch, Good, Haas, Miller, Strother, Willette, McAwley,
Ites and Student Commissioner Nahlovsky
Absent: Student Commissioners Sorem and Mork
Commissioner Nelson arrived at 7:59 p.m.
Staff present: Staff Liaison Perry Vetter, Assistant Director Parks & Natural Resources Tom Swenson,
Assistant Director Recreation & Facilities Tracy Petersen, Administrative Coordinator Janet Canton,
General Manager Braemar Arena and Field Chad Eischens
III. Approval of Meeting Agenda
Motion made by McAwley to approve the meeting agenda. Motion seconded by Miller. Roll
call vote. Motion carried.
IV. Approval of Meeting Minutes
Motion made by Haas to approve the Feb. 9, 2021 minutes. Motion seconded by McAwley.
Roll call vote. Motion carried.
V. Reports/Recommendations
A. Braemar Arena and Sports Dome Update
Staff Liaison Vetter introduced General Manager Braemar Arena and Field Chad Eischens.
General Manager Eischens gave a brief presentation and recap on the activities and maintenance
projects that have occurred at Braemar arena and field during the shutdown and during the past
year. He also went over the upcoming projects that will be happening. He added that the demand
for ice time and field time remain very strong and despite struggles they are in a good position.
Commissioners asked questions and thanked General Manager Eischens for his hard work and
efforts.
B. 2021 Work Plan Update
Updates were given on the following initiatives.
Initiative #1 - Review and comment on proposed plan to identify barriers for participation and
reach communities of color through different modes and feedback. Staff Liaison Vetter indicated
the group is waiting for information from city staff and should have something soon. Commissioner
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Strother asked staff Liaison Vetter if there is any way for the group to be helpful during this time to let
them know.
Initiative #2 – Create presentation to share information about Parks & Recreation facilities,
services and systems with up to six community groups. Chair Ites informed the commission the
group recently met and are working on the content of the discussions they would like to take place in
the community. He indicated that Staff Liaison Vetter has furnished them with some very good material
to use. They are working on content, presentation, segments, time for Q&A and things like that. They
are in the process of setting up another meeting.
Initiative #3 – Report and provide recommendations on alternative funding sources for park
related improvements including parks, facilities and enterprise upgrades. Commissioner McAwley
indicated the group has met to work on a grid that Staff Liaison Vetter put together listing different
areas where they might be able to draw their funds from and which parks and facilities they would best
apply to. She indicated that the local option sales tax is working its way through the legislature. They
have at least 12 areas to look at as far as where they could look for alternative funding and which parks
they could refer to. They are hoping to have a meeting next week and decide which ones they want to
pursue and see what is really viable and where they will go from there. They will then match that up to
the CIP list and look at where they want to focus their efforts.
Initiative #4 – Study and report on options to categorize underutilized park amenities/areas
and identify park amenity needs. Commissioner Doscotch informed the commission the group met
and one of the discussion points that came out of it was to get some clarification on the objectives for
the initiative so that they understand where they are going to end up and what sort of deliverables they
might have so that it’s useful to the department and to help direct activities. He noted he was furnished
with some direction which is this initiative is tied to the Parks & Recreation and Trails Strategic Plan.
He noted Appendix A, item 2.21 is what sort of generated this initiative. The strategy overall is to
match development and the redevelopment of the park system and maintenance facilities to population
growth and demographic changes. He noted Item 2.21 is to transition underutilized amenities and
replace with more productive amenities that are tied to neighborhood needs. Also, there is the
parenthetical that reference Edina level of service standards file which relates to benchmarking and so
overall the performance measure related to updated and park master plans is to move outdated
amenities. He explained one of the things they identified separate from knowing this information
related to housing and where housing development projects were and how that would impact parks for
underutilization or utilization of those amenities. He noted they had already identified that and it seems
to already tie into the strategic plan as an overall measure. The group will meet again in two to three
weeks.
Initiative #5 – Study and report evaluating options for determining benchmarks (park
amenities, operations, service areas) the commission started studying in 2020. Commissioner
Good informed the commission there has been no significant progress this past month. The group will
be meeting again before their May report to the City Council.
Chair and Member Comments
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Commissioner Strother asked if the city has been given any guidance from the state about
what they expect the requirements to be around for the aquatic center and summer
programming. Staff Liaison Vetter replied no, they have not received new guidance; however,
staff would approach guidance as it has by following the State Department of Health and
current Executive Orders, in addition Assistant Director Petersen and her staff are very well
connected within their professional organizations to apply best practices.
Commissioner Good indicated he would like to give some recognition and congratulations to
the Edina High School Girls Hockey team claiming the state AA championship on Saturday,
April 3 and completed an undefeated season. He noted this marks the 4th state title in the
past five years under Coach Reber.
Commissioner Good informed the commission there have been two instances over the past
ten days brought up to him on mounting biking and he would like to raise the discussion
again. He explained the comment to him was from a community member who had heard
about the lost funding and is concerned that the Braemar project is going to get tied to the
Local Options Sales Tax (LOST) funding which could then push this back at least a couple of
years or more. They now have to tie their hopes to getting a state approved tax increase.
He indicated it made him think about Initiative #3 and the work they are doing on alternative
funding, similar to what we did at the playground at Fred Richards, are there opportunities to
carve out pieces of some of our master plans so if they really wanted to build some
momentum around funding mountain biking trails at Braemar that fits the master plan and is
it something that might fit as an alternative funding idea. Staff Liaison Vetter replied that the
current proposal for the LOST funding does include the mountain biking trails as part of the
Braemar master plan. For now the best approach is to leave the master plan together until an
alternate strategy is determined or the LOST opportunity is unsuccessful.
Commissioner Good informed the commission there were some discussions on some social
media regarding Bredesen Park. There were some complaints around a small little “mini
mountain bike trail” at Bredesen Park that had been altered and they were being discouraged
from using it because of a trail for younger riders. He asked if he could learn a little bit more
about what may have happened at Bredesen Park and what the plans and intentions were
behind it. Assistant Director Swenson indicated that parks staff flattened out the raised trails
to return the site to the natural elevations. Bredesen Park is a designated natural area with
dedicated walking and biking trails and active stewardship by the Edina Garden Council.
VI. Staff Comments
A. Informational Items
Staff Liaison Vetter gave the following updates:
Braemar Golf Course opened on March 30 to which they beat last year’s opening by
approximately two weeks.
Braemar Golf Course launched a new website to pay online at braemargolf.com. You can now
pay online for items, reserve tee times, purchase driving range, buckets, etc. He noted If you
look at the fee schedule there is a break on pricing for booking online.
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Edinborough Park has reopened on a limited basis; you can book multiple sessions that are
contained in occupancy as well as there are some semi-private reservations that are an option
as well.
With regards to the local options sales tax staff was notified that the Edina request had been
included in the house on the tax bill. They were also recently notified that State Senator
Franzen has introduced it in the senate. A lot of work will be required to get that to the state
legislature and ultimately a signature by Governor Walz.
Staff appreciates the support that the commission has given over the past year on the creativity
from the park programming staff. The Edina Parks & Recreation Department was recognized by
the Minnesota Parks & Recreation Association with several awards of excellence with their
programming. He added that park maintenance staff also had a lot to do with the behind-the-
scenes getting things prepped and ready to go.
The Senior center has opened again for limited in-person programming. They are also
continuing to do drive-thru events as well.
Several of their facilities have done a remarkable job of getting part-time staff for the summer;
however, the number one need they have right now is hiring more lifeguards.
B. Upcoming Meetings and Events
Staff Liaison Vetter reminded the commission that their May meeting has been moved to
Wednesday, May 12 to comply with the Edina school levy election that is being held on May 11.
He also reminded the commission of the joint meeting session with the City Council on May 18.
He noted that both meetings will be virtual.
VII. Adjournment
Motion made by McAwley to adjourn the April 13, 2021 meeting at 8:02 p.m. Motion
seconded by Strother. Roll call vote. Motion carried.