HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-06-08 Parks & Rec Comm MinutesDraft Minutes☐
Approved Minutes☒
Approved Date: 7/13/2021
Minutes
City of Edina, Minnesota
Edina Parks & Recreation Commission
VIRTUAL MEETING
June 8, 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 Nelson, Willette, McAwley, Good, Haas and Ites
Absent: Commissioners Doscotch, Strother, Student Commissioners Sorem, Mork and Nahlovsky
Commissioner Miller arrived at 7:10 p.m.
Staff present: Staff Liaison Perry Vetter, Assistant Director Recreation & Facilities Tracy Petersen and
Administrative Coordinator Janet Canton
III. Approval of Meeting Agenda
Motion made by Nelson to approve the meeting agenda. Motion seconded by Haas. Roll call
vote. Motion carried.
IV. Approval of Meeting Minutes
Motion made by McAwley to approve the April 13, 2021 and May 12, 2021 minutes. Motion
seconded by Nelson. Roll call vote. Motion carried.
V. Reports/Recommendations
A. 2021 Work Plan Discussion
Chair Ites debriefed the Commission on the joint work session with the City Council.
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 this remains at
the staff level. He noted on June 1 the Council authorized staff to join the Just Deeds program. He
indicated staff is working on identifying the racial covenants that are one City owned, primarily park
properties. The June 15 City Council meeting will have additional information on the removal and
process of those racial covenants. Regarding the first initiative, the City’s Race and Equity
Coordinator, Heid Lee and himself met with one of their peer cities and have received the
framework of the approach being used in that city.
Initiative #2 – Create presentation to share information about Parks & Recreation facilities, services, and
systems with up to six community groups. Commissioner Nelson indicated this was shared at the Joint
work session with the City Council. She noted there was not a lot of feedback but thought the
Draft Minutes☐
Approved Minutes☒
Approved Date: 7/13/2021
Council was onboard with the way proposed to share the information. The material needs to be
created still and will need to meet with the Communications Team for additional information.
Initiative #3 – Report and provide recommendations on alternative funding sources for park related
improvements including parks, facilities, and enterprise upgrades. Commissioner McAwley explained this
was updated with the City Council. She noted there was a menu of options that were looked at for
alternative funding. Everyone on this initiative have been assigned some research projects on three
or four of the menu items. Follow up will be done in September/October, in time for the budgeting
process. She thought there should be a group meeting twice a month between now and the
September/October timeframe.
Initiative #4 and Initiative #5 – Study and report on options to categorize underutilized park amenities/areas
and identify park amenity needs and Study and report evaluating options for determining benchmarks (park
amenities, operations, service areas) the commission started studying in 2020. Commissioner Good
recapped the two initiatives and noted there was no particular progress made on either initiative.
B. 2022 Work Plan Development Discussion
Director Vetter reviewed the 2022 Commission Work Plan Calendar.
Chair and Member Comments
Commissioner McAwley thought Items 2 and 3 from this year will probably be important to
remain on the workplan for 2022 and will be ongoing especially with the initiative coming up on
the sales tax.
Commissioner Haas indicated something he would like to discuss is accessing certain parks of
the City. The need for better access and accessibility to these community parks. There could
be discussions with the Planning and Transportation Committee about how to make it possible
to access some of these community parks besides by car. Better pedestrian and bike access via
pathways throughout the City. Identify some things to be included in future infrastructure
projects. He suggested better signage or way finding. Commissioner Good suggested a way to
use the Clover Ride to route through some of the parks.
Director Vetter reviewed the local option sales tax with the Commission.
Commissioner Good indicated one of his concerns is by the time they get to the Park Master
Plan; someone will say those are pretty stale plans and need to be redone. He hoped that can
be avoided.
Commissioner Good explained by tying both of the Park Master Plans to the local option sales
tax, the components in there that the Commission thought were valuable, like mountain biking
at Braemar are now tied to that plan and in essence pushed it out realistically three years. He
noted that was a concern of his.
Commissioner Good thought it might be good to spend some time looking at the
Comprehensive Plan and even all the way back to their Strategic Plan a few years before that
and see if there are any items that might be worthwhile to have as specific work items in the
2022 plan.
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VI. Chair and Member Comments
Chair Ites indicated in the Wall Street Journal there was a front-page article about communities
struggling with E-Bikes in some communities. He reviewed what the article talked about and
wondered if they have seen increased traffic on the City trails with E-bikes. He wondered what
the Commissions thought was on maintaining the flow between people that use the E-Bike as a
riding tool and those that are walking or riding bikes. Mr. Vetter explained the City has not had a
lot of feedback on E-bikes yet with the exception of the regional trail. He thought where issues
will occur are on multi-use trails where they are not dedicated for bikers and joggers. A lot of the
regional and distance trails are going to have that congestion and issue.
Chair Ites Indicated the golf club youth program started this week and there were 1,400 youth in
the program. He congratulated the director on one of the largest programs in the Midwest. The
director indicated there were still 900 kids still on the waiting list that concerned. He wanted to
give a shout out to the staff at the golf course.
Commissioner Nelson thought it was great about the youth golf program and she would like to
challenge the Commission on ways to expand the youth golf beyond summer. She brought this up
to Braemar Golf Course as well. She thought there was a big opportunity for activities to be
expanded for kids in golf.
VII. Staff Comments
Director Vetter updated the Commission on the following items:
City Council actions and activities.
Facilities Division is helping Braemar Arena on a new voice evacuation fire system.
Edina Aquatics Center will be opening on Friday, June 11.
Braemar Golf Course dome was reopened for several days to use the virtual golf simulator.
Summer programming has picked up in the City.
Centennial Lakes has summer concerts going on.
Farmers Market will begin on Thursday.
Sunday is the Annual Parade of Boats.
Art Center Camps and programming at the Senior Center are in full swing.
Tobacco Policy was included in the packet.
VIII. Adjournment
Motion made by Good to adjourn the June 8, 2021 meeting at 8:06 p.m. Motion seconded by
Nelson. Roll call vote. Motion carried.