[Music] good afternoon everyone i call to order the regular meeting April 14th 2025 the city of New Park and Recck Commission meeting let's start with a roll call if all commissioners and staff could introduce themselves Cheryl we'll start
with you this time cheryl Corman staff jensen commissioner kurt Johnson commissioner johnson Commissioner Carissa Bucler Commissioner Dave Christian Lunberg Commissioner Jeff Golden Commissioner Joey Schugle staff
excellent welcome everyone appreciate you being here today let's move on to agenda item number three approval of the agenda looking to approve or amend and approve the agenda for the regular park and rec commission meeting on today April 14th 2025 do I have a motion so
moved second i have a motion and a second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor please say I i i oppos same sign motion has carried approval of the minutes moving on to agenda item number four the minutes were included in your packet
from our last meeting on March 10th 2025 looking for a motion to approve so move orman second we have a motion and a second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor of the minutes for March 10th please say I i i
oppose same sign motion has carried moving on to agenda item number five the city council meeting recap director Schugall thank you Chair Bugler commissioners a few items to uh re uh to go over that in March uh March 18th at
our regular meeting we um the city council accepted the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Grant and that again was for concerts in the park at that same March 18th meeting the city council uh authorized staff to execute the contract
for uh the master plan who again was ISG and then at the April 1st meeting the only park and wreck related business was surplus items uh on the consent agenda okay very good any questions for Director Schugall on the city council
recap if none I'll look for a motion to receive an order filed the city council past action report so move second we have a motion and a second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor please say I i oppos same sign
motion has carried moving on to agenda item number six old business the comprehensive master plan update director Schugall thank you Chair Bugler commissioners uh going forward we'll see master plan updates now on old
business at our meetings uh excited to say we have a kickoff meeting with ISG uh with staff scheduled for April 15th at that meeting that will include ISG uh meeting with with staff to go over our park and wreck overall system and then
do multiple site visits as long as they're here they'll have numerous staff down uh that's going to be a two-day process for them one day for staff um with that though uh we will then narrow down more of a schedule that we'll provide with all of you i anticipate in
March of what the schedule for the next year with that master plan project looks like and then outlining those opportunities for participation so uh if you remember from uh the original selection process and the proposal there are two meetings that uh the consultant
will be uh with this commission on and then multiple opportunities to uh again to participate if there is a desire from this commission whether on your own or as a representative of the commission as a community member or not so uh a lot
more to come over the next few months with with our master plan project exciting progress any questions for Director Schugall otherwise I would look for a motion to receive an order filed the park and wreck master plan update so
move in motion second second we have motions and seconded lots of support for that we have a motion and a second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor please say I i i same sign motion
has carried moving on to agenda item number seven new business 7.1 park and wreck donations several um generous donations there chair Bugler commissioners yes uh multiple donations this month uh the first one being for
80% of the Wreck on the Go program from New Public Schools through the community education uh department in the amount of $6,400 the Wreck on the Go program is the free program that goes throughout the community especially in the summer months uh we do have a new schedule out
this summer with some updated times and locations uh so a lot of um advertising will be uh going out on on that program as we lead into summer uh we have a donation from Dan Bernick for the Friends of German Park in memory of
Joanie Schug for $25 uh the Isaac Walton League has two donations one for the poll pollinator park for $2,000 for educational supplies and plantings and materials for the pollinator park and the archery range out on the south end of town near Craft
Foods uh for new archery bales targets um so wanted to thank all of those um donors for that and the amount of $11,425 very generous nice to see a mix of helping us expand our programming in the
community but also improving the the facilities or the services that we offer as well so nice mix any questions for Director Schugle on those donations if none we'll um looking for a motion
then director Schugle a motion to recommend to the city council that they offer a resolution and wave the reading to accept the donations that Director Schugle just um shared that are offered to the city of New through park and wreck for those identified purposes do we have a motion
make a motion i'll second it we have a motion and a second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor please say I i oppose same sign motion has carried moving on to agenda item 7.2 the BMX request for temporary
camping yes Chair Bugler commissioners this request usually comes once or twice a year uh for those of you who've who've been on this commission uh and it's for temporary camping and a reason this this request comes before you is due to
within the city ordinance there is no camping in parks unless they receive approval from this commission and the city council ultimately uh so this request is for their state qualifier uh the River Valley BMX Club does uh host a
state qualifier every year this year it's a little bit earlier than normal uh so that's going to happen on Thursday March 29th Friday March 30th Saturday March 31st and then into Sunday June 1st and the BMX Club is asking to authorize
for temporary camping in the South German Park area uh traditionally known as kind of the snow dump area um but has provided a nice option for uh those families traveling from far who potentially want to um have have an
option to camp there there is water provided at at the BMX track and they would have to follow any rules or regulations around recreational fires at that time and uh the police department is always notified of these requests as
well so they're prepared in case of any issues overnight um I see they requested just five or is that what you suggested yes that's that's the max they can request for that and and generally they they do see this this option used by
some families it's not the park is not filled up with campers there are other options for accommodations in the community flander State Park our hotels and motel and um so this is just an additional option for uh that the BMX club would is requesting is there are
there fire I mean is there like a fire rings or something for so they would they would have to provide their own for that yes and if if we're on a no burn um time of year then then they are not allowed to do that so and our our uh BMX
club is really good at um providing them with the information they need and they've been doing this for years there's been no issues with with um camping in the past in South German Park one question BMX track related do you know if they're going to have the
renovations done or not by Great question so my goal is for them to come and talk about that process in the next month or two uh we're shooting for a fall the So they're going to do race season this year um with the track yes so the project was always slated for the
fall just so they can get their their normal racing season in thank you yes i'll motion to forward to council for approval i'll second we have a motion and a second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor please say I i oppos same sign motion has
carried moving on to agenda item number eight reports from commissioner and staff 8.1 commissioner reports are there any commissioner reports to share today all right hearing none we'll move on to agenda item 8.2 department
activity report director Schugall Chair Bugler commissioners I I do want to highlight a variety of things that went on in March uh our our maintenance staff approved a variety of contracts uh for the upcoming uh summer season uh those
contracts included engineer wood fiber for our playgrounds ball field materials supplies picnic tables to continue to upgrade to aluminum throughout the season and phase out our wood um picnic tables and then resurfacing of Washington tennis courts and doing a
hybrid tennis and pickle ball option with pickleball stripes within those two tennis courts additionally the civic center was a very busy place in March really great to have a facility like that in the community um highlighted by the state banham hockey tournament that
had rave reviews from the participants there and uh uh Minnesota hockey which is had the best 13 and 14-year-old hockey players in the state at that event and really good economic impact on our community hosting that tournament additionally the the Newm Figure Skating
Club presented their spring show and then it was show season where we had the farm show uh camper show and home show and the career expo in there so really busy times um since then we do have ice on the north side now uh at the civic
center uh additionally program related so staff is busy getting ready for summer programming so that entails summer hiring uh so uh been busy interviewing staff and had really good um amount of applicants and really a lot
of returning staff too so it was a really competitive process and uh happy to say we also certified six new lifeguards which is very important as well so that's great any questions on the report in March hear no question i'll look for a motion
to accept and file the park and wreck department activity report for March of 2025 move second we have a motion and a second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor please say I i same sign motion has carried moving on
to agenda item 8.3 the staff report director Schugle chair Bugler commissioners a few items to to um present to you today uh spring season is here so high school and middle school softball and baseball uh seasons are underway using our city facilities at
both Harmon Park North Park and Johnson and Miller parks uh to host those uh teams this spring uh park facilities restrooms we always put a May 1st opening date on on restrooms uh
depending it's weather dependent so there you know if weather if temps continue to be in a good um forecast we potentially will open those earlier but that's when our portables come into parks as well and then our fixed facilities are open daily for for use
we've been seeing a lot of use uh especially like this last weekend um so just uh uh at those times people have to be prepared without restrooms at the time with our fluctuating temps most of our fixed facilities are not heated so
that's why we we wait on that uh spring tree order uh is in process and we should see over 30 plantings put in the ground in the next two weeks so focusing on the areas that saw a lot of re removal so Washington Park Nells Park uh
has saw the most removal so there'll be a lot of plantings in those areas and additional areas supplemented with that and uh summer program registration did open on April 9th so that has been busy uh some new programming this summer as
well as a lot of the old favorites uh so excited to get that underway and then this coming weekend if you're anyone out there's watching this before April 18th and 19th there are two large Easter events that our department has traditionally put on one being on Friday
uh April 18th is the Easter egg hunt in the pool and then on Saturday April 19th is the Easter egg p uh Easter egg hunt in the park weather permitting and this year a new location Harmon Park will be used so Harmon Park has not been used
before but that is a good location with our those uh bathrooms are heated there so one of the reasons and a lot of open space for for kids to roam so looking forward to those i have a question are you are you making uh provisions to
water the trees at some point yes uh great great question Commissioner Johnson so anytime we do have plantings our crews do water throughout the whole season yes so um you'll see at times some trees will have bags on uh that watering some will not have bags on that
doesn't mean those that don't have bags aren't watered as well so thank you any other questions for Director Schug hear no questions i'll look for a motion to accept and file the park and recre department staff report
i'll second have a motion and a second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor please say I i i same sign motion has carried the date of our next meeting will be Monday May 12th of 2025
at 400 p.m in this room is there any further business hearing none I'll declare the meeting adjourned thanks everyone thank you thank you Carissa