nice Okay it's 6:30 so we are going to call the meeting to order Welcome everyone Sarah if you wouldn't mind can you do roll call for us please sure Laura Greenley Karp here Sarah Zeratka here Lloyd Grachek here David Andren here Ben
Hansen is not here Ingred Kohler here Rachel Lucas is not here and Cassidy Schwar Rachel is walking in right now She is perfect Oh okay Okay perfect Wonderful Sorry I'm just making a note
Full house Full house Full house Okay Can I have a motion to adopt the agenda so moved I'll second Wonderful Uh do we have to do the voting on that one okay Um all those in favor of adopting the
agenda say I I All those opposed Wonderful Can I please have a motion to adopt the approval of the minutes i make a motion A second Any discussion all those in favor i All
those opposed Great Uh meeting open to the public No visitors Okay So that means that we can move right into commission business Um the first
thing that we have on this is the recap and goals which is a portion that we talked about adding at the last meeting Um Lloyd you weren't there for that but basically it's just like a we're going to be really explicit about overviewing what we talked about in the last meeting
and then also um making sure that we have any upcoming events for the next two months listed so that we're aware of them and the sorry there's one more thing Um and then having the 1 3 5-year
plan that's in our park improvement plan kind of front and center so we can reference that as we're talking to you Good idea So with that in mind um for the recap uh I just want to highlight that the
upcoming events um for April and May just kind of like the first few The on 417 there's a guided art night which I believe is in partnership with the arts commission Correct Um on April 22nd that is the park
cleanup day and we're going to talk more about that later in the meeting May 1st is the citywide garage sale May 10th is citywide cleanup and May 17th is parks cleanup So I just want to give you all props for
being so strategic about how you're how you planned all of those events in May because they just build off of each other and people can slowly but surely get rid of their unwanted things as the month goes on So any questions on
upcoming events would you mind just repeating those dates one yes I will go slower It's okay Okay So April 17th okay is a guided art night I'm not sure specifically what the activity is They're painting terracotta pots Yes
they are Terracotta pot painting Love that Okay April 22nd is parks cleanup Oh why did I say May that's wrong Yeah sorry That's That's wrong Okay Disregard Okay let me pull up the events You were
right about the other ones though Okay I was moving I was working off of an old document Sorry Okay so May 1st is the citywide garage sale Okay got it May 10th is the citywide cleanup Is that
What's that that's the uh the car everybody cleans up Like you bring all your stuff down to public works Oh it's amazing Save the date Yes And prepare to wait in line for two hours but be grateful you're getting rid of stuff for free I got in line an hour
before it opened and I was like the 50th car in line Yeah Yeah Be prepared I was not prepared I thought I just could roll up and I was sorely mistaken There are folks that'll go at like 8:00 a.m Huh there are people that'll go at 8:00 a.m Yeah And people rent like U-Hauls and
stuff Yeah It's like it I was the first Doing that this year I'm going to do that too This was the last year was the first time I went and I had no idea what I was getting into but it's so strategically planned out Like you pull into the lot it's all divided in a bunch of different sections They've they've
got it figured out Yep That's good Um and then May 17th is going to be the parks cleanup which is what we're going to talk about later in this meeting So April 22nd was just a date that I was working off of the I was working off of Ava's document from January and she had
changed um some stuff to do it in April Yeah Okay So that is it's not April 22nd It's May 17th Correct Okay Okay Yep Correspond with the Earth Day Earth Day Yeah Yes Um and I will send out the
updated event sheet that or have Sarah send it out in our next thing that Ava sent to me because there's um there's a couple more things that are added on there too Um as we're highlighting these events uh I just want to remind us all
that Ava has asked us to volunteer for one to two events So um once that sheet comes out or if any of these items are speaking to you directly send her an email um so that you can participate in
that Will that list of um updated events show who's volunteered for it currently no And we can see if there's any gaps No but that's good feedback And I did ask her today who she has volunteered for
parks cleanup And right now she has Dave Rachel Ingred and Ben Um and then she originally had an idea for a spring 5K that she presented to us in January That has since um been
cancelled with the hopes of doing it next year and that event had pivoted to a September community cornhole tournament and soup giveaway I know So Seems like the same Yeah Instead of running 5K you eat you eat
soup What if the 5k has soup stations along the way you just pour it on you as you drive as you run by Okay You don't want to lose time and then you end it with getting some soup if you'd like And all the proceeds go to the food shelf Ah got it
You're still keeping that part but had to keep it on the activity There's ones where you get beer Oh okay Okay So if you feel passionately about soup and cornhole save your volunteer assignment for September
What's the date on that one you know let me just pull that up for you I got it September 27th Okay And when we do send out this event schedule there are some on here that say parks like Jazzer size in the park um or other fitness things in the park she does not need volunteers
for that So um I'll have Ava um put together something where she still needs volunteers so so we can actually visualize it Yep And she does have the commission that each one of the events is assigned to on the document too So
you can look at that as well Okay Um any questions about that right now great The other item that we wanted to have front and center was the park improvement plan short-term and midterm
goals And I will own that I did not get that to Sarah in time for it to be a part of the agenda Um it will be a part of the agenda going forward Uh so I can just highlight briefly what we have already This is
your book Do you want to talk about what we've done and haven't done no Okay great Um so when did we make this plan 2022 2022 we made a plan and our short-term priorities were park signs
signage at Rotary Park Howy Park tennis court trails and ballfield Polar playground and trails downtown park master plan Mcnite master plan Casey Lake master plan east side of the park Northwood Park master plan and Casey
Lake hockey ring improvements So we have implemented park signs at both at Rotary and all of our other parks We've done the tennis court trails and ball field at Howy We've done master planning for downtown Park Mcnite And so that's going to leave us
with Polar Playground and Trails Casey Lake master plan for the east side of the park Northwood master plan and then Casey Lake hockey rink improvements We made all of those decisions three years ago So um one I wanted to bring this up
because we are doing things I know sometimes it feels like we've stalled out and we aren't actually doing them but we are in fact moving forward on this plan Um and then also to remind us that as we continue these discussions we were hoping to
um do some improvement at Polar figure out the east side of Casey Lake and master plan for Northwood and hockey rink improvements So that's just front and center of our minds Any questions on that
great Yes Oh you know what Cassidy i'm curious How long does the HGA consultation uh improvements go to where we would have to rehab somebody come in because I know it's going to take if we ever did
uh Mcnite it would be take several years to even get $15 million How long do you think they're that's going to be in effect well they drew up the plan for us They didn't give us pricing This was all just okay quote unquote this is what
they were um thinking that it would cost It was all a projection So what they drew up for us is what the plan looks like These weren't full costs It was projected costs Thank you
I have a question So um how does it work so you're saying we need to talk about Northwood Polar and Casey Mhm How does that work like how do we talk about it or how do we make decisions yeah So like in a future meeting do we make an agenda where we're like we're going to talk
about the improvement for this and then Yeah We were originally going to do some talking about that today but uh Sarah shared that both the city manager and the finance director are coming to our next meeting Okay So it would probably make more sense for us to
talk well we're going to talk a little bit about it today but like as far as decisions being made it'll be next um next meeting And sometimes it's on the agenda but other times it just kind of comes up preform and you say "I I I'm
ready and I feel passionately about talking about the hockey rink improvements at Casey I'd like to bring to the commission like that We make a motion to spend money on improving those Okay And then we would all we would talk about it We would vote and then that
motion would be given to city council to ultimate right to ultimately say yes Overall decision would be brought to city council Trust and a lot I mean really comes with questions on the city council end Okay Um but as all commissions we trust that you're making the proper decisions and we then come
back with questions and bring it back to you guys and once it's been established then we vote on it as a council Okay So that's kind of the process We the board says we think we should focus on this and we advise city council and then city council proceeds from there Yeah Okay We
don't have to actually like have all the plans and like No Okay That's what I was thinking of like that's a lot of No Um and only you only you have to We started all the first year So once we once we make that decision and city council says yes then Sarah and the
community development team I assume Sarah the the team um they put out like the the process for bidding where that's comp there's rules around that The city is the content experts in that They'll
handle all of that and then they'll bring it back to us that information Okay I will say too we do plan quite a bit ahead So we have a CIP um a capital improvement plan um which I will say like Polar Park playground improvement in this last CIP is actually on it for
next year Doesn't mean we can't like push for it any time and it also doesn't hurt shouldn't mean that we can't like start planning for it if we wanted to do it in 2026 So always keep and kind of piggyback off that this year we also had was it $500,000 set aside for Mcnite
parking we didn't use that So the CIP fluctuates what that spending looks like and council helps determine do we want to put this off another year knowing that we were doing the HGA plan We put off doing the Mcnite the dollars for the
Mcnite uh parking So with that said are we also putting off uh doing the dugouts in the fencing i didn't see that on the CIP is well in
our our u plans Mcnite Fields is scheduled for $60,000 to have the fencing redone Of course there was uh the sports complex redesign We have money set aside for that The parking lot
and the soft ball fields dugout replacements Yep So all of that would be put off All put on hold right now that would be discussed with the commission if that's something that we're moving forward obviously right now because we're looking at Mcnite uh as a master
plan right we would put that off and Sarah really Sarah and Brian would look at each other and talk about that and then determine all right we see that this is supposed to be done but is this logical um and then we would put set aside the money right which would be my
recommendation is to hold off until all construction's done do it at the same time So it's you know once it's completed it's completed So in in in our new CIP too they did push those projects up till 2027 So they did push them off Yep What plan are you looking at what
document and you can get the cap the capital improvement plan is on um it's I'm trying to think of was it the last council yeah page 74 of the capital improvement plan You should be able to find the whole capital
improvement plan um in the agenda meetings and notes if you guys want to see it all I got it from the first planning commission this year Okay perfect So it's easy to find Yep But I can also send it out too if that be helpful Yep Yeah I was just wondering
being we don't know exactly what the price tag is for that development for that particular area Um I think a lot of that stuff should be maybe we can get a lot of stuff more bang for the buck if it was if it was all incorporated at the
same time Well and that's something that the commission's going to have to determine is when do you want this to start what does it look like in our budget and those are great conversations with Dan coming in the next meeting and having Brian here Um the what HGA did
for us we definitely don't want to put off We want to start somewhere um whether it's the downtown park it's the um the five corners park or Mcnite I think we should start moving somewhere because we have the money So let's start spending that money because otherwise
it's not it sits there So And I think that's some of the conversation that we'll have today and we can bring an informed like informed questions or ideas to um the next meeting where we can actually make decisions Right
Okay thank you Okay any other questions or follow-up items that people want to touch on from our recap and our goals no Okay great Uh Sarah are you going to spearhead the conversation about park cleanup i will but since we
have a guest that joined us can we reopen the meeting yeah Yep Did you want to speak okay perfect Um so we are just going to have It's David Nelson correct
we're going to have David Nelson talk to us I'm I'm sorry for being late I just happened to find out tonight on my phone that meeting was otherwise I'd been here earlier Life happens It's okay Um I I appreciate you having you know uh
like Howy Park a lot of people are using a lot Mhm Two Sundays ago the traffic was so parked on both sides I come through if I met another car I couldn't back up I was 12 in my mirror I was
watching my mirror on my truck and these trucks that are on there mutter trucks their mirrors sticking way out I'm 12 in here I'm 17 in from here A fire truck or an ambulance will not go through there if there's a fire there right at the
corner and the people parked right up to the corner and I had to make a turn I had to back up and then go north in Charles because I usually go that way to get out to the light to get to 120 And it's great It it it would be
nice when you give the people the permits you park on the park perimeter You do not park in front of the houses because it was uh beyond West Charles and almost to
Henry They were on both sides Mhm You know it's great that you guys you know do that And a lot of people found out that's the cheapest place to rent rather than Casey And uh but I hate to see if there
was a fire call or an ambulance cuz an ambulance it's a heck of a lot wider than my truck and so is the fire trucks They would not they they would be knocking mirrors down Was there an event there or was it people using the park there's an event Okay So your events
tell them you got to park on the perimeter of the park And I'm sure the people that was that lived there didn't appreciate it cuz the guy that that when you turn north on North Charles three street cars all the way up to his
garage was parked and they don't you're supposed to stay so back so far back from the curb They were right up to the sidewalk That's how tight it was You know I understand when there's a big group there but I mean if nothing else put a parking lot down in the hole area
since there's no ball field or anything And uh the other issue is Southwood You have 30 seconds Okay My wife and I we worked there for uh 17
years and it's getting so we can't do no work anymore Couple other people that used to work with us quit I through the DNR I given the city grants for goats Maplewood uses them and
that but I hear North St Paul says you can't have goats Apparently the goat owner is supposed to be responsible for it The goats watering and everything and they do clean up the area They eat a lot of stuff that we can't pull no more Yeah So
but I mean there I don't know what happened I I I have connections with the DNR My daughter has connections with the DNR because she works at the feds I turned it in here I don't know if they trashed it or what I never got no reply Okay
Thank you for letting us know Thank you David Thank you Can I ask what the occupancy of a housy rental building is do you know how many off top of my head The actual occupancy is 49 Okay
Does I'm not assuming we do this that often but when we have events are the police aware like those being rented so if there is someone like I don't know I guess I don't know who's the um the hammer when it comes to like let's say
you rent that building because it's cheap but then you have 150 people in it and you're because I just wonder if you really did have if you you'd have to have almost 49 individual cars to describe what he's saying which could be true but um I just just made me think of
just do we have a gut check on like if people are overdoing occupancy because that was my first thought is well it's 49 in the building but you also get that outdoor shelter you can have people side Then there's park users and yeah I mean you just had the pickle ball courts put in I mean this is a high desired park
right now Um circling back on the goats you may talk with Brian regarding that Yes So maybe Brian can give you an update Yeah Um about the parking like do we have any ability to control any of the parking around uh
housy for events you know when there is like a police thing if I don't know how they can patrol that but that would be more of a police thing It seems like a city thing not so much a park commission thing but it's good to be aware of uh problems like that because Yeah Especially Well maybe if people
aren't aware that you can't park to the corner like maybe having better signage up on our part saying like you can't park here to the corner or just because it's a way so people can get a get around Um because if this is going to be a desirable park this could be a potential issue and I would hate to see
which that that signage would still be a police issue because they'd have to be the ones that enforce it So but it might you may not know like I think I parked there and I parked on the corner Like I parked kind of close to the corner of like Charles and whatever by the pickle ball courts and I I'm now like is that actually illegal i It's been like it's
been like 25 years since I took a driving test you know so I'm just saying it might not hurt just to not necessarily enforce but just educate um or because like if I saw a sign said no parking here to the corner I wouldn't park there you know Sure I don't know
Just a thought I think it raises a good point Is that those things on they do that cow across across the street from cow lady couldn't get her mailbox in so they put a sign up No the the lady put a the lady put a sign up She did Not the
same She made her own sign and put it on her mailbox I thought there was a really nice one in there now No but it's she made I know she put federal law or whatever Yes Okay All right So we're going to get back to our park cleanup plan Yes Um so there's really not much
to plan Obviously we know it's on May 17th and it's going to be from 10:00 a.m to 12:30 What we need from the commission is it's not feasible for us to do every park that day We can encourage people to go out but we can't have representatives at each park So I
think we need to come up with a plan on which parks the commission is going to focus on that day and who from the commission will be at those parks Um I won't be available that day So I just want to make sure we're all clear like that we have a plan going into it Yes
I'll be at S I think Silver Lake is a big one and I think because we have the lake association and I think you said that you had already talked to Yes the lake association and they are willing to be on that same date Yes they I'll follow up with Ava because she talked to
them Um but it sounded like they were going to do the same date Okay I think that's an important one um because we have some we have a lot of manpower pe person power with that um lake association and then also it's a big park and always use you know and so I'll
be there for that one for sure I'll be um I can be the contact person for that that one perfect okay so it this also says that the Friday before bags and gloves will be available to commissioners to pick up from city hall so whoever is our liaison or our park
person You're also committing to getting that the Friday before Is that something you can do yeah Yeah Okay So when you said not all parks are going to be um cleaned up do you have a list of the ones that will not be No that's up to
you guys Yeah that's up to us Okay Tonight and we can say encourage people to do everywhere It's just we can't have people at every location Yep How many people have uh from the board have volunteered cuz four I think Okay So I think we should fit pick a maximum four
parks then Yeah So we have Sorry just going back to who is confirmed So for parks cleanup we have Dave Rachel Ingred and Ben So uh Ingred
you're going to do Silver Lake Mhm Um Dave do you have a preference of what you would like to do well that's why I was asking which parks I mean you could spend a whole day just at Southwood going through there Um so do you want to do Southwood that might be a nice opportunity for Southwood to you know
there but I could do I mean that's one of mine Mcnite there's not much to do there That one we could actually eliminate at this time Mhm Um and so if there's more than one that you would want me to do I mean
I could go through Southward meet people at the observation deck hand out what I can scoot off to another park do the same and because some parks aren't going to have a lot to do and some are going to need a lot of clean up Yeah I think we should focus on high usage So I think
Silver Lake absolutely Casey is probably another high usage and large And then how we were just talking about housy high usage but that's pretty small So you depending on how many people we have show up that could be done in 20 minutes and then you move on to another one Yeah
Years ago we had volunteers that actually even raked up all the pine needles and stuff I mean it was a little overkill but the garbage and stuff that was blown in from the neighborhood and stuff it it only took a half an hour You
know I would say probably I'm not going to be the one there but like I would say Northwood overy I would think any parks with more brush where trash can fly into How's actually at least kind of nice and clean there's not a lot of ground brush where Casey Southwood even silver where
there's water where things can go down Yeah Okay So Dave if you're comfortable let's have you do Southwood Yeah Um that'll be a big undertaking Uh Ben you mentioned Casey Do you want to be in charge of Casey it's his part Yeah Okay And you're
good to get the supplies ahead of time Great Rachel Northwood for the last one Yeah I think I feel like Howy is really highly used right now Um I'm hoping that maybe people are being stewards of that park already Uh I feel like Northwood
isn't as highly used So and there's more ground to cover It's It's used Well all of our parks are used So I would I would recommend South Northwood too Okay This is such a big It's going to get used Yeah Event once school gets out It's just thinking about where the wind blows
things too Like the f this funny thing about Howy is like I was there when it was windy and the trash just kind of blows through to someone's house unfortunately because it's like a pretty clean landscape Not that that doesn't mean there isn't trash there that could be used to clean up But okay So we have
Ingred at Silver Lake with the Silver Lake Association Dave at Southwood Ben at Casey There's a Casey Lake Association isn't there no no Okay There's a Facebook page Okay I thought they were doing stuff with the water and
the lily pads Oh there's a Oh there is a group that that talked that was focusing on the focusing No you're not You didn't wildlife Okay So it's not an it's not an association that we need to loop into
this No No Okay Great And then Rachel you'll be at Northwood Um so that gives space for other commissioners to support kind of our lead commissioners at those parks Um or service some of our other parks And then I feel like we could also direct
the community to say "Hey if you want to be a big part if you want to be a part of a big cleanup check out these four parks If you want to do it on a smaller scale we'd love your help on some of these smaller parks." I think that's a good plan Does that sound okay yep How does trash collection after the event
work yep So um I am going to get hopefully like maps that I can send out cuz I like to be really specific Um so what we'll do is we'll just tie up the bags Public works is actually going to come in special and pick them up that day at 12:30 Okay Mhm But uh we've
always just used the bins We don't have like separate garbage bags sitting out by the curb or anything like that We've always just used the garbage bags that are or bins you know that are provided in the park We're going to provide more bags this year If we're recommending
citizens also go to the other parks I want to make sure they don't get overloaded So will public works be checking the other parks as well yeah I Yeah they'll swing by them just to take a look and see Yep Um I'm I'm just thinking about housy and how you know
that's not it's a it might be a great time to like um I love that park because there's people all around it Um and I was just wondering is there a city is there a resident right around there that
might like to help lead that cleanup you know because it's not really something that's complicated and it's like picking up garbage and it's such a discreet you know space that it might be not such a big responsibility but it might be a
nice way for um them to take ownership and also just like um meet each other because that's what I've discovered at these cleanups It's kind of a nice way to meet neighbors So um well if you want I can I can pick up supplies and also
drive by housy Yeah because that's kind of close to Northwood I mean yeah that's logical Yeah So and then I'll also drop off supplies at houses and if I can meet a resident who wants to kind of say yeah and I can direct
them where we you know want the the trash to be put once they're done So I have no problem with that Wonderful All right Is there any more discussion around park cleanup and there is no tying it in with a high
school team We used to we used to uh have the track team and and North High track team There's no there's been no discussion about that No there the track team isn't the high school is they're doing it during the week It's like Thursday in for like an hour It is still
in May so it's still going to fit in this cleanup theme Uh but nothing special Oh that's good to know Okay Yeah Used to do a a little bigger thing Yeah Okay Sarah please share with us all of
the nature preserve research maintenance sorry maintenance re research that you've been doing Yes So from last meeting you as the commission asked me to provide some research on local nature preserves and how maintenance is completed and determined for the areas
Um so what was found um that you'll see in the packet is most places operate in a similar fashion to the way we do Um so there's no formal agreement with any volunteer groups Um but there are volunteer groups that will make recommendations to their commissions or
to the city Um and then the city ultimately makes the decisions on the maintenance or upgrades or anything like that So that's kind of what we do now Um after talking with Brian our city manager um we kind of feel the same like
we don't feel that there needs to be a formal agreement with the task force Um if they're going to continue to exist but they can still certainly come and give recommendations they can give them to Dave or Lloyd also um and come back to the commission um and then I can get
that to public works Um there's also another document in there from 2023 so before I joined the commission that it looked like it went to council on a Southwood policy as well that got approved Essentially it's saying the same thing So um the city will do the
maintenance and um monitor the budgeting Um but folks can make recommendations as they can for any other park So um I would recommend and the city's recommending that we just um find out if the task force still wants to continue
uh to move along and if so making sure that our leaison who I know have tried to make connections with them um have those connections with them but other than that um move forward as we have been David I would like to maybe meet with them if they're going to if they're going to move forward with it and see if
we can get some parameters that they can follow because it's been kind of a up and down thing for 10 year 10 15 years Yeah I um I talked to Daryl earlier today uh he just has a suggestion for
where they move removed a bunch of trees But if you look through the document that Sarah has sent out to us for Southwood um and this is something I'm going to bring in front of Daryl so he's aware of it A lot of the stuff is
actually being taken over by public works buckthorn removal invasive plants There's there's a lot um that's being taken over through this document by public works not so much
volunteers So and I have not talked to to Ron or anything I'd like to have maybe a discussion with him prior to talking to Daryl but it might be their task force could just start suggesting certain things without having to worry
about volunteering their times or committing to a project that may or may not get finished So um but I would like to have just a little bit more clarification from Ron from public works and then I would meet with Darl personally I like I said I did talk to
him a little bit uh this afternoon Did not go over the the statement policy that we have in place now that Sarah had sent out Um so with that said um this is something I think we can get resolved and maybe have the task force just make
recommendations to us and then we can make sure that everything's in the budgets because if you look at it I mean the city is is willing to take care of the weeds they're willing to take care of the the buckthornne uh all the
other entities that go along with that nature preserve So um with that to me it looks like the city the public works is committing to quite a bit of this uh through their policy So
um without getting a little bit of clarification on what they what public works would expect either from volunteers or whatever and how they would like to see that forward Um cuz I know over time there's liabilities on
certain things and stuff like that So um but as I look at the document that was sent to us um it's I think more if they had a project that they want because there's it doesn't cover certain
projects in this plan if you look at it So like I said I'd like to get just uh from public works standpoint um a little clarification and then I'll bring bring this forward to Daryl who's in charge of
the task force I also have been talking to people from the task force Tiffany Brian and they're more than willing to talk with you all and have shared that Daryl is kind of phasing out So I would add them into your contact list and also note that they haven't been doing um
that much and they haven't been meeting regularly Not because they don't want to they just haven't had the capacity to do so Okay Can I make a recommendation would this work uh a twice because it's kind of it's seasonal these things that need attending to Would it work to have
two meetings a year with with public works um where two or three representatives from the task force or even one advises the public work you know if public works has a question and it seems like wouldn't it
be logical to have a couple scheduled meetings so that it's not always like oh yeah we should we should find out about this or we should you know like um if there if if there was a meeting it might
just add some clarity to what oh oh yeah we have to decide what needs to be done you know by March 30th because we're going to have that meeting I do want to be really explicit and say that like we are not in charge of telling public works what to do in Southwood Nature
Preserve and neither is the um the task force and ultimately public works is going to make those decisions and we're extending this as a courtesy to the task force and um I appreciate that you're willing to like talk with Ron about this and bring it to Daryl but I also think
that like that's a a commissionwide thing not just something that you're doing on your own Um so that's information that you like I request that you bring here or we have Ron come talk to all of us because you are the park leaison which is great but I don't get
to make decisions about howy park by myself Well we wouldn't I don't think that we would be making the decisions we would be we would just be getting some information and like any other um group or whether it's fall cleanup or or whatever you need we need to come back
and report to this commission before we move forward with anything at least to give an update Yeah because it's always been and has been And if you read through the documentations they have to bring something to us and then we would say "Yeah that sounds like a great idea."
And then we then pass it forward to city council So it's not like I would be making any decisions Laura But the thing is they haven't had a meeting for over a year and that's okay Like if they're Well that's fine But but if they're not meeting then they're not meeting like we
can't force them to meet and we are the city's taking care of the park right that's what the document says So it's it kind of did clarification on you know one at one point like Darl had a recommendation which I'll bring up in my
report for Southwood but back in the day they used to do a lot more there the some of the task force were doing a lot of um natural or yes we we know and that's all voluntary and again it's a
task force it would be just like uh Silver Lake Association dropping themselves So it's it's what they choose to do and if they want to bring it to your attention they can Um whatever Ron can help with Ron's team will he'll let
you know what they can help with Ron's what I would like to recommend is if if this is so strongly felt whoever is on this task force comes in presents we get Ron in here and develop what whatever needs to come up I agree There's it's
I'm just trying to get because they have to come through the park commission They haven't said anything Um and if they don't they don't Right We've made space That's the point is we've made space for them to make those recommendations They know how to get in touch with us This
policy is in place You've tried multiple times to get in touch with them They haven't met for over a year We have these things in place and we're just kind of at a place where like they know how to get a hold of us if they need to get a hold of us Y or are we going to keep the task force
going or are we just going to let it go back there isn't a task for I mean the task force is whoever chose to be on this task force So we don't know even know who's on that task force We don't assign those people It's like you know Ben Lloyd and Sarah creating we're going to go straight to Northwood and this is
our task force Right So they choose to be their own They are now no longer Okay So that is my understanding is it's starting to fizzle out And if it fizzles out and nobody wants to be on that task force anymore that's what happens I mean
that's that's life So we're just going to kind of ride it out and see what where it goes We don't have to do anything with that task force What what we need to worry about is what are the needs of South of Southwood right now Uh you choose whatever needs are out
there You bring it to um Sarah's attention Sarah will take it to Ron and if they can do whatever they can do there then good If they are looking to spend some money then it gets brought to council and we go from there David let's meet sometime Yeah And we'll bring it
back to the commission Sounds good Perfect Need need some clarification because it's kind of been an up and down thing Mhm As David knows for the lastif 15 years Was there more that you wanted to update us about nope That was all just that I
got the research done and we're doing what we probably should be So thank you for pulling off research One one quick question So with yours when you were doing some of your research did it did it show that most of the because what I
understand is about 90% of the parks or nature preserves that you did contact are all taken care of by their public works Correct Y and only maybe a 10% done by volunteers Correct So the ones
that are done by the volunteers um does it seem like when you were talking to them did they have a good success from that or maybe not it seemed like it Um but they're also way more
organized than like ours would be Um even I was able to go on and find like web pages that they have dedicated to this and talking about um every species that they have in there and donation thing and it was it seemed more like a
formal um type of agreement Um they did see success Um but most I found that just going directly through the city having public works do it was easier cleaner and better for a lot of the taxpayers All concerns Okay I just Yeah
I just wanted to know how that kind of played out So Sure Okay Thank you Yeah Okay Are we ready to move to commissioner discussion sure I Does this include the park update or is that after
this it can It's just an opportunity for you to speak Okay freely about um we talked in the last meeting wanting to make space an opportunity for if you have something that you want to share this is the dedicated time to do it Sometimes it's hard to get a word in as we're talking about other things So this
is space for all of our commissioners to have time to talk about things that are important to them Uh park update possible like programmatic ideas just anything that you want to share and contribute to the conversation Will this be in conjunction with reports mm- Yeah
we have the reports separate later I don't know We can change that moving forward but this is our first time So um I think this is a great opportunity I mean what you're doing right here is a perfect opportunity to for your voices to be heard Yeah And then you jump into
your reports Yes Yeah Okay So let me take a step back We'll do park reports at the end This is dedicated space for you to talk about something anything or nothing that you want to bring to the commission We ask ideally it's like 3 to
5 minutes or less Um and if you don't need the time you can just say pass Is that okay good idea Perfect Sarah do you want to go sure Um were we still going to discuss some of the projects tonight like
like ahead of next month's meeting of like things we think money should be spent on would this be the time to maybe discuss that like ideas okay Um so I brought this up to Sarah before the meeting but I did play pickle ball atY and one of the more pro players I was playing with had mentioned maybe having
a windshield around it That that's a really common thing It's like a tarp that goes around half the court or something Mhm Um so I did bring that up to Sarah We were saying maybe just like my memory sees them but I can't picture it You know what I mean i know exactly what it was a windy day and we were having trouble playing And so Oh it's
about the wind Oh yeah it's about wind So um just I brought that up Um something I think would be kind of lowhanging fruit as we talk about spending money this year is um how popular Gaga Ball is and how lowc cost those little octagon little things are
And I would love to maybe discuss like what the cost of those would be I think I'm imagining they're pretty low cost what parks we could put those in Um I think that would be a great addition to some of the small parks especially like when we think about Polar or Colby Hills that don't really have as much that
might offer something else to do Um something else I'm in charge of the urban ecology and I would love to see especially as the weather's getting nice so many people go on that trail right there an opportunity potentially for signage picnic table or a resting spot
kind of um maybe even a chance to educate people about North St Paul about our snowman about our downtown maybe even wayfinding of like hey get off the trail here to go see downtown North St Paul oldest bar you know I don't know maybe just an opportunity to take advantage of the people who are on that trail Maybe even have a picnic table
more accessible if we clear some of the brush right off the trail on the park part that we own Um and I've always kind of envisioned like something fun or small like a balance beam or something like nature play incorporated that could be fun for kids because there's a lot of
kids and families on that trail Um so that's my other idea Um something that fell off the wayside and I know we're talking about Northwood Master Plan Sorry my list is long um Northwood master plan is we it fell off the radar a long time ago about ADA accessibility
to that playground and um maybe that wants to be incorporated when we talk about Northfield uh Northwood excuse me as a whole but I would love to go back to that People with strollers wheelchairs don't really have access to get into that park We had also talked about making handicap accessible parking
Um so I just love to see that incorporated as we talk about Northwood and maybe that's part of the master plan Um I'm also in charge of KBY Hills and um we have such a really nice beautiful big park shelter there but that playground is so tiny and small and it's
new so I don't recommend changing that but I would love to maybe discuss again not a huge project but could we add a climbing element or could we add something else we do have that big space that used to be flooded Um I think they did flood it this year I never saw
anyone on it but um maybe is there just something else we could do maybe it's part of that gaga pit like to enhance that park or maybe give a little like older child It's the only park walkable to me and it's a bummer cuz my kids are too old and they're eight you know like eight and 10 So I'd love to see maybe
some other element in there that would be low cost not the cost of like a full playground And then just advocating for polar I know that's on our list So um excited to see what we can do there And that's that's what I got Perfect Thank you So maybe what we do is we take notes
of the ideas that people have for specific parks and then once we all go around we can as a group talk about what um what we want to bring to the next meeting in regards to projects with the budget with the budget the people there
cool thoughts okay perfect so Rachel are you ready to go I'm going to start with you and then we'll go down so are we talking about just the park updates we're proposing or anything anything This is anything map
Um I was thinking um it could be a good idea if we put a flyer at each park saying "Hey this is the parks and recck commission Here's a QR code um for you can put in a comment a suggestion
um an idea." um just so it's better to have I feel like that's an easy way to get better citizen engagement because I don't think we have a lot of that right now Um another uh citizen engagement idea I had is uh potentially emailing a
flyer with people's utility bills like once a quarter or twice a year Um and it can have a QR code of all the events that we have Um and that could be beyond parks and recck too that could include the arts and culture uh commission events and uh stuff like that because I
I feel like we're not successfully advertising the events that are happening and I'm I'm not sure of a a great way to do that but I feel like this could be a a cost-effective start Um uh I had an idea last meeting of
doing a park passport uh where people would uh visit each park and then um take a selfie with either the the park sign or a notable feature of the park and then once they've uh collected a selfie of themselves at each park they
win a prize Um I would like to proceed with that idea I was thinking once uh I think selfie is the cheapest and easiest way to go about confirming they've been there and then I think once they've visited all the parks they could get like a a snowman pin or a North St
Paul hat or something like that So I would like to proceed with that idea I don't know if I need to make that as a a motion a like a motion for next month or whatever but so definitely noted start it as super important something that you want to do and then once
everybody's talked we can all talk as a group Okay Is that okay okay Excellent Okay Um and that's all I will say for now Okay Thank you Great Awesome job Dave are you ready to go yeah Only thing I have
concern is on you know we've got earmarked 100,000 for uh the urban ecology part Um 100,000 earmarked Don't tell Sarah that Right here Dang
I'll start I'll start shopping Well I I was a little concerned I could I could see us changing some signage up and putting I I agree We need some I have no idea where that number came from But I don't think we want to put like
playground areas in that that spot I think we want to leave it kind of as a natural reserve So um that's my only thought on that And it would not cost that kind of money to put you know two three maybe even four picnic tables
throughout the route um and maybe a little signage um that we could do out there just to maybe to explain a little bit about the area um without going way over this This is a huge budget So um we
also don't know if there is something else in there like if I don't know if they're planning to clear something up or trees or I don't know As Cassidy shared the CIP fluctuates so that was that can be pushed off for the next 10
years I mean that's the CIP is not a set right i'm just when I saw that I'm going that's we don't really want to make it into another playground area But those are things to discuss too when you see things that are earmarked for money Do
we want to again this was last year we had budgeted for Mcnite Yeah Chose not to move forward with it You know there's $100,000 here This is where we have the discussion at these meetings is this year we have $100,000 Let's come up with a plan of
how we're going to utilize it Well like I said I I I saw something about putting some playground equipment in there and I don't have that right in front of me at the moment And my thoughts would be to keep it as just a trail and stuff so
people can go out and walk their dogs or just go out there strolling with their kids or ride their mountain bikes But if they say "Hey you know I'm a little tired I'm I'm not as young as I used to I want to sit down at the picnic table." I think that's what we should do but not
to have another playground area or climbing area in that particular park So I mean that's supposed to be open discussion So I'm just throwing that and that's something that Sarah can bring with these type of discussions too Sarah can you bring that to the next meeting
absolutely Uh discussion on the urban ecology center Right Well that's all I had So that's that's another piece of this We don't have to make decisions It's discussion No we're not trying to make decision If it's one of those things like you feel passionate again Rachel on your end the park
passport It's something that Sarah can look into and if it's logical bring it back to the table Yep So that's all I got Thank you Ingred Um yeah I just want to um piggyback on that Um and I I don't
think anyone really wants a playground in that area but I loved when Sarah mentioned the balance beam something to you know kids that's so simple Uh you know you can keep the sort of natural um and it it could even look like a log It
could be a log balance beam thing that the kids could climb on while you're stopping to have um some water and a rest um and a picnic or something So it's uh I I kind of love that I don't I don't love the idea of a park there but I love um you know something like that I
I would wholly back that Um uh I don't really have any um any issues I I have something sort of just like still sort of I would need to process regarding Southwood I've been on the commission so long that I have seen just how many
hours and hours and hours and months and years and all all the effort that has gone into creating this um uh it's it's a nature preserve It's different than just a park And so I don't I guess the reason I was saying and and we're not
saying the Southwood Task Force is going to boss public works you know around I'm not trying to say that at all I'm trying to say um public works doesn't have the same knowledge of all of the plants that they've put in there So I feel like that
legacy Kathy's and all of the people who have worked so tirelessly down at Southwood I mean I've I've seen it over I don't I've been on this commission a long time and it's not so active right now but boy there was just a lot of
passion and and knowledge and so I don't want to see that lost in this process I would love to be able to you know the stakeholders who are in it right now who know about what's in there what to watch out for you know that's really important
information for public works to have Yeah Um I'm not saying they're going to they're going to become naturalists I'm not suggesting that I'm just saying let's let's let's not lose all of those years of knowledge and
um you know hard work Uh that's kind of where I'm coming from So um and I I don't even know that much about Southwood but I always appreciated Kathy's dedication and all of the neighbors that the and Dave Dave Lloyd
Lloyd I know it was a passionate group So all that's all I want to say is I I don't want to see that part of it lost um in the in the shuffle about six 17 years Yeah That it's been going and
that's and I don't have anything for silver I don't um uh yeah I um I there is a an event that's happening and I'm a little worried about parking down at Silver uh if the event
is big That's a a steel drum concert Um that's one of one of the events that um Ava has planned But uh so uh parking is kind of an issue around there but we can discuss that closer But other than that
I don't I don't have any issues at Silver that I need to discuss or anything Great Thank you Uh I don't really have a lot to discuss Um I my biggest thing is I don't want Northwood to get lost and pushed off for
another 10 years Um I think it's an important piece of uh the city It's a transition for a lot of people It used to be a big transition for the middle schoolers that were there and they would spend a lot of time in that park And I think it's important um
and I think it hasn't had a lot of work done on it recently and I'd love to have it become something um that's special to that part of the community and um special to the city That's all I have
Lloyd first Uh Sarah are we working still on trying to make uh exercise area in Casey Lake if so um I don't know if you're aware of the one that's down by in Oakdale If you go all the way down uh
Geneva threequarters of the way and there's this uh you beyond Granada there is this little park and it's a huge nature preserve that's tied into uh the Oakdale Nature Center and there are exercise type
equipments throughout the park Oh yeah In the Oakdale Preserve Yeah Yep Yep Number two um Southwood with all the removal of the trees uh just a curiosity as to whether we can
get grants to replace the trees or what is the plan with all these trees going That's a good question I can get that answer Um as Daryl had asked um Dave if they could put wild flowers in there as a replacement So I will ask I have sent an email to Ron about that as well but I
can certainly follow up too and see May I don't know if there's a grant with the DNR or whatever but there could be Okay I think the I think the state legislature provided I don't know if North St Paul already got that but we did Or Yeah Okay Mhm There was funding for that Sarah could you check to see if
for all the parks not just I forgot which one you mentioned Southwood Yeah Not just Southwood Okay For I feel like a a lot of the parks had trees removed Yeah Okay and Ingred and my my suggestion would be when they have the the drums see if we got a park issue over there like you said and maybe when
we if we have to address it at Howy we can address it at Yeah that's a good idea Silver Lake Yeah that's all I got Ben no discussion for me Okay Okay So
um Oops Sorry Was that me whoops Um sorry Collected my thoughts Uh I'm I'm just looking at the time and I want to be um aware of uh we've been here for an hour Um and all of these things are
important Uh so I'm wondering if our next steps are to do what I said previously where we talk more in depth about things that we want to bring next meeting or if we bring this list next meeting and I'm open to hearing people's
thoughts Uh I know we're having this budget discussion and that's going to be a long yeah an extension or a long time too We might want to give about two three minutes from each person and say I want this I want this I want this No other discussion other than I want this
I want this I want this And then make a list And well I think we should discuss the list because if one person wants something and nobody else does then it's not quite in consensus I think it would be nice I also would be conscious of time but if we're able to give ourselves 10 minutes here to like maybe give
ourselves a time limit so we don't over talk on things but just maybe make the list that we would like to bring to them that way we're not spending two hours of their time next week Sounds great Yeah Are we okay with that to clarify we're talking about what to bring to the finance meeting next month What do we
want to spend money on okay And basically like we all just listed our ideals of what we do want to do What do we Yes What do we now want to put money to next month when we actually can say "Hey we're going to spend money." Like Sarah said So quick summary Sarah talked
about a windscreen outside of the pickle ball court at Howy Gaga pits in some of the smaller parks Uh urban ecology signage picnic table resting spot some sort of natural play incorporated Um ADA path and parking at Northwood Colobby
Hills Park shelter Can we add something for older students um sorry uh kids uh advocating for Polar Rachel has some programming ideas um and engagements around making flyers accessible with QR codes Wanting to do the park passport
program figuring out what that would look like Um Dave you uh talked about wanting to put more signage um into urban ecology parks some picnic tables You're hesitant about putting play equipment into um that area Uh Ingrid
you want you like the idea of some like natural play um elements in urban ecology park but are not like big playground structure uh you have concerns about parking for Silver Lake but we're going to just Yeah
that's and then it's important to you that the historical knowledge does not get lost um from the people who have brought Southwood to be where it is now and that that information is given to public works and somehow maintained um because that work is important
Uh Lloyd Southwood Tree Removal DNR funding DNR funding and just a suggestion to Sarah about Oakdale Nature Preserve because I started walking there and it's amazing what's in there Yes You had a question about fitness at Casey whether that was still a priority Yes Oh yes
Thank you Yep And then Ben no discussion from you Okay So are there thoughts like what what sticks out to you yeah just uh talking about that playground equipment in Casey I'm I'm really for that I I am
for that fitness equipment I mean um but I I just want to comment on I walk in the Oakdale Nature Preserve all the time and I I I love it I'm there all I'm there several times a week I don't see people on those discreet things very
much And we had a discussion a couple years ago about how what we're envisioning is um an an organized bunch of them so you can go from one to the next and you can really it's like an adult park in a way or you know um but
those separate things I mean I will randomly see one person once a month on those I just don't think they're getting used the same way when when they're spread out in an area But I think when they're all together it could make a
really great thing And I our demographics are dog walkers uh adults I don't kids kids very few kids Where we ended that at least because it was Tim and I that were working on that just maybe the spin because it is fitness
related but where we wrapped is what we thought would be more functional than like what you see at Maplewood Like the outdoor elliptical would be more of a ninja style So bringing back the army park which was kind of just like you could do pull-ups or push-ups there was like a ladder like it was like a make
your own kind of fitness adventure but it was more play related I think that would be a lot more relevant especially because we have a lot of feedback from people saying they miss AR what they call the Army Park at the east end or the west end of the park That's what I I still think that's important I don't
think Casey to me is as important but I would love to see that I know people want that I know it would get used And maybe it's the instead of those elliptical things which seem cool and no one uses kids will hang on a bar Adults will hang on a bar I try to do monkey bars I'm terrible at it Like just
something that's fitnessy e but like imagin like your imagination can make it whatever you want Is this at Casey or Urban Ecology casey Okay This this was on our like Yep Yeah I think it might have been more the midterm but um it was something during co that we said the
importance of outdoor fitness and I think an adult play aspect or even older children teenagers high schoolers college kids I think that's a need that's missing right now I think that would be very valuable Yeah the ninja term kind of makes it more relevant when
you think about jumping off of like things like parkour Um there's this the the new park in Shore View that's outside of their community center It's um it it's like four different areas that transition and it's
clear that it's for all ages but there's a one section that's a Wharton Ninja Warrior park um that's really well done And so if you ever wanted to go see what something like that kids love it adults love it um I would recommend checking it out I don't know the name of it right
now but that would be a very easy visual representation kind of what y'all are talking about What city was that in shore Shore View It's outside of their community center I don't know what the park is I know we didn't discuss this too much but I would love because we have a lot of money We haven't spent it
in order to be able to like kind of equally distribute some newness to a lot of our parks like Tower and these ones that don't get a lot of attention I would love to discuss like and maybe if anyone else thinks of anything in the meantime is like either low cost climbing structures or these Gaga ball
pits which are probably like a couple hundred dollars like what could we do to like give our parks like a little something for everyone love for everyone and not just Casey or Silver whatever Um what could we do with some of those spaces i would love to like I mean it's
probably only like $5,000 we'd have to spend in some cases to be able to give the parks like something little and new Um I would love to see that and I think it's something we could do this summer and actually like get done Um and I do think urban ecology would be great The sign that's there from the DNR which we
don't have control over is like really worn down and gross but there's so much traffic that that carries just between pedestrians and kids Um I would love to see like what we could do there And I agree Dave I don't think $100,000 is what we need to spend Maybe it's even a pergola with like two picnic tables
under it Just you don't see any of those until you get almost to like uh Lake Elma like you get past Mameidi before you see any resting structures on the gateway Um and we wouldn't have to go that far off And I do I don't think a playground I would not want to see a playground there but I think there's a
lot of these nature like crawling through the fake logs or just something where like the parents can have lunch and the kids when they start getting restless it would blend into the scenery hopefully but again not that expensive Um I would love to talk about that Yeah
Okay So um just kind of to summarize some of the small our smaller parks need a little bit of love and we're looking for small things that have high impact and so I feel like we can do research on what those things would be for the next
meeting I feel like that one can go like we can come prepared for that urban ecology park It sounds like there's interest in figuring out how we can enhance that park both in resting structures natural play elements and then signage for like educational
purposes And we can look at what that would look like Do we feel like that summarizes urban ecology yep Okay The other ones that we have on here are um the you have the wind screen I feel
like that doesn't necess like can you just look to see if we can do that Yeah Okay So I'm gonna that's going to be off of this off the big list Um and then Rachel let's talk a little bit
about uh the park passport piece of it Um is that something where you like have an idea you want to make a proposal for us and be like "This is how I think this program will work and this is like what I'd like to see." Sure Okay You feel
like No no no Cuz it it's make a presentation No no no It's something that's important to you now So can you come to the next meeting and say this is how I think Like start to finish ideally what this program would look like Okay
surprise maybe maybe a budget like I need 300 bucks to buy the prizes like because that way we could actually approve dollars to be spent because if you want to do it over the summer or something then we want to get you rolling because we'd have to have it on the agenda in order to um yeah so I'll put it as a separate item I don't think
it's something that needs to be discussed with Dan or Brian or anything Um possibly I need to ask where the funding will come from specifically because that's a different thing But um we can do that as a separate line item for like after they leave we can talk about it and approve it Y so just like
your dream your dream program and then figure out what we can do On her other topic would you be able to I know there was a thing about putting things in the utility bill not would you be able to look into can we put something in there and what the cost I know it's usually like a thousand bucks or something to
like add to do a mailer but like what would the cost be just to stick it in and are we allowed to do that so Rachel would know because I do think that's a great idea to be able to just even a bookmark with all this stuff that's going on because people could just hang it on their fridge and they would know Sure
The grant part I thought there was something about like them not letting us put stuff in the utility That's why I just want to make sure a separate mailer is expensive Some money towards flyers It's all expensive Yeah Rachel I will ask that if you have any documents or anything that you want to
share I will need that the Thursday before our meeting Okay so you can send it to me You can send it to me and Laura or me Laura and Sarah however you want to do that Um but that would be like the hard deadline Okay Uh okay And
then Silver Lake Parking that's one I'm going to pull off and we'll we'll check in on that Um polar is the one thing I think we should bring up It's on our short one to five years and that's a higher cost Maybe we wouldn't just want to like discuss
cost of the playgrounds Yep Maybe not doing something this year but just before we do that uh the DNR funding Sarah is something you're going to look into us So we're going to pull that off of this list Okay So yes let's talk about Polar Um I don't know enough about Polar
I should It's an old It's our oldest playground left Is the funding going to get brought back up at the next meeting i can bring it up as like a report Yeah Yep Okay It's the last playground that hasn't been touched Okay So we need to update We need to we need to do it Which
one polar Yeah We were there Jill and I were there several years ago and at the time we didn't think it was it wasn't as bad It wasn't bad But now it's it's 30 years old Yeah Yeah Five years since we went over there and looked at it Yeah Yeah Okay Um it's been a minute since
we've planned a playground So do we just are we at a place where we do the bidding pro or you come up with some ideas i can find that out Okay It's hard with staffing changes which I'll talk about but um yes we'll look into
that for sure at next meeting anyway We would get that answer Okay Um 100% Um but I would assume that would be the next logical step is we would bring it to council and they would say yay or nay and we would get approval Sometimes we've had the public involved too Like
usually we'll hold like uh like I won't say a town hall but like a meet at the park and people can give feedback especially because that's a park people live right behind they might have specific this is great this isn't great Um we might want to hear their feedback cuz I know this isn't like going to be done this year but I think we should set
aside or figure out Okay So will is anybody opposed to updating Polar Park no No Okay So we can say we're ready to do that Let's talk to the people with the money about that process Yep
We had to bid out the playgrounds too Yeah And years ago when we did like tower and the rest of them we would have at least three different contractors We have to present what they had So we could at least have something
The public works has a strong input on that because this is from Keith many moons ago but it makes sense if we keep inviting new um playground companies which is fun the parts become difficult because it's like this park has this and this park because that's the problem with Casey is like their parts come from
somewhere else where a lot of them come from landscape or whatever right um but yeah we used to have the same issues when I worked for the school district So but uh yeah I think we need to move forward with Polar and the one that we should being we're going to be which is
also on our plan is uh the Northwood What we need to to kind of change all of that cuz we when Sue was here her recommendation was to move the playground a little bit closer to the the street and the sidewalk rather than
being up by the uh water tower So I think being that's also on our our five to 10 year plan Uh and it would be nice to I think move that up a little bit closer so we can start getting an idea of what the true costs of those are
because we got that earmarked now for a million4 So um it's it's on the short-term list of like getting the master plan My only thought at that is I don't disagree that we should but I worry if we start working on a master plan for Northwood when we haven't even started on Mcnite which we just wrapped
that master plan that I feel like we're going to get council a little scared of all the dollars that are flying But I don't know I I don't want to ignore Northwood I think you have a fair point but maybe it's when do we want to do that master plan this may not be the right year as we're trying to find the funding for Mcnite I think that's the
conversation that we had as we were starting the HDA was Northwood is important but it also like we had to choose three So I think it's it will the master plan is coming I think we just need more time to execute the plan that we have for the three parks But it's
it's also I concur with Dave about Northwood It's Northwood's getting put off too and it's been getting put off several times If that's a million5 and Mcnite is 10 million like the city doesn't even have a million So like we're going to spend
all this money on a master plan that's going to get kind of tossed to the like it's Northwood is sadly going to get pushed aside no matter what happens based on how we prioritize Mcnite That's why I think potentially looking at some of these low like little things like a
gaga pit or maybe climbing structure something that we could add in Yeah in the meantime till we muster it all out because the ADA thing is still really important at Northwood but do you want to do that before you if you're going to move the playground like Right It Yeah it's just hard Well there was a
recommendation uh also about getting rid of the the hockey rinks but they were playing hockey there just a month ago So at night there was quite a few Mhm Um I guess we would just have to have more of the consensus that like do you want to
bring Northwood up at the budget meeting next week or do we not my thought is I care about Northwood too but I don't feel like this year is the right year to talk about it And I think we we bring it up again next year and see how how and where we're at with Mcnite Do we have
funding for Mcnite do we get grants do we alleviate some of the costs from the city are we going to have to do a bonding bill if that's the case well maybe we do bring it up But um my my worry is that if we go down all these master plan routes but we're not executing anything we're just spending a
lot of money without Rachel it's yours park isn't it What do you think i agree I think if we do like all the parks we have a small little addition to freshen it up uh put lipstick on the peg um and then review it next year see how the
master plan for the other three parks is going Um cuz yeah I feel like our attention will be too divided if we then have another master plan in the mix Well it's not another M This is part of the master plan That's the thing Well the I'm talking about the the three that the
HGA did right I will also note that it did get pushed out in the CIP anyway which the commission did talk about last year to 2033 is where we have Northwood ear marked for We do have to begin reviewing our
CIP recommendations again here April May So um that will be coming up and can be a larger discussion then as well Okay Okay Yeah because I don't think we need to push back our other parks that do need attention for something we don't
even have yet You know I would be okay with waiting with Northfield if we're going to talk about it in May as long as it gets discussed Yeah At some point So should we So is April going to be the the finance month and then I think May
would be better doing the capital improvement plan Yeah So he is what Dan's planning on doing is coming here and also directing what he needs from the commission and he will need those recommendations um for the CIP Okay So we'll move forward monthto month after
that Okay Okay So for the next month with Brian and Dan we're going to talk about a possible Army Park ninja play element at Casey Um coming back uh we
are going to look for small additions that have high impact for some of our smaller parks Uh for the urban ecology park resting structures natural play elements and signage Um Rachel you're going to come with a program proposal
and then polar needs to be updated and we want to make sure that we engage the community when we figure that piece of it out Did I miss anything okay So then in May once we have that information we can fold that into what we talk about for the CIP for
the upcoming years to make sure that our CIP is aligning with the goals that we've set in regards to these other like four or five elements Does that sound okay sounds good Okay perfect Okay Are we okay if we Oh you
have budget recap but we don't have a budget recap I actually have quite a few things on my list to talk about then Okay Sarah let's let's let's listen for brief Okay let's It was kind of mentioned but some of you may know may not know Uh Riley Grahams who is my boss community development director is no
longer with the city Um we're in the current process of hiring Uh we had interviews today So when I mentioned that staffing is a little weird and we're trying to figure things out right now it really is So thank you for your patience with me and the rest of our department So um hopefully we have
somebody in place here in the next month or so Um and hopefully they're long term Um okay Uh HGA update I talked about this briefly before the meeting started but uh council is responsive to the
presentation that happened with HGA a couple weeks ago Um they really like the plans um they're continuing at a higher level to discuss finances around that including like not just the cost of the development but the ongoing cost of
maintenance of it and how that can work and the feasibility of it as well Um because some of these parks are going to be more demanding than others Um so they are talking about that They are looking into grant opportunities Um I would encourage each of you if you know of grants or have connections or anything
certainly send them my way Um we encourage everyone to take a look and see what kind of opportunities are out there Um and then they are planning to have a city council workshop on it as well to do more discussion with the finance director city manager the rest of council When that occurs I'll send
that out We can have representatives from our group there as well Um park and open space master plan Our master plan got pulled from the last council meeting Um it is set to go to the planning commission next week uh for their
approval Um I was asked to get somebody to commit from our c our group here to be at that meeting um because I cannot be when is it uh next Thursday at 6:00 p.m or 6:30 p.m here in the chambers Um just in case there's questions It's not
for a presentation or anything Um but in the off chance they have questions somebody that had been involved in this plan um we don't have to commit to it today but you can shoot me an email and let me know Um or give me a call and we can figure out who who needs to be there
but at least one would be great April 3rd at 6:00 p.m Yes April 3rd 6:30 p.m Yes 6:30 p.m Yes Um but anyway after that gets approved we're not anticipating any hiccups with the planning commission it's more of a formality then it'll go
back to council and should be approved So just a little bit of a delay but um everybody's liking it so far So um the other minor things there was a prescribed burn at Silver Lake Retention Pond today Uh we didn't find out about
it till today So um they had Silver Lake Association had a group come out and do a a prescribed burn out there Uh seems like it went well So that's all good Is that on the um It's near the tennis courts Near the tennis courts Okay got
it Um the pickle ball netting and post at housy So that the the post did come out Actually there's several of them that have risen um from the frost That's a warranty issue So we are working with that company to come back out but they have to wait till the frost goes Um so
it'll be a little while but we are addressing the uh posts at the pickle ball courts Um public works told me that this summer they are going to be closing part of the north trail at Casey Lake Park near the small parking lot uh for
some um utility repairs underneath Uh they're going to repave it and they're also going to rework and redo the pond that's there as well Uh they have pre-construction meetings coming up here in the next month or so So I'll have more information as that goes along Do you know how long it'll be closed uh he
said most of the summer So it's going to be Yeah Um but when I get more information and I think I'll be in those meetings I'll bring that information back North side Um thank you By the parking lot Okay And then ballfield
rentals have been coming in Uh so we have all of North High booked We have um at Mcnite and at the baseball field there We have some booked at Casey for the summer which is great Working with a few other outside leagues for Mcnite So it's all going well less teams from
North High this year so we're not getting so much usage from them uh this year but hopefully we can get some more outside leagues coming in Um otherwise I think that's it for me That was a lot Yeah
Okay Uh we're skipping the budget recap because we're getting that in in depth next month Okay Um we have our reports from commissioner and park leaison This can be uh your park updates or concerns
that we talked about We'll go opposite this time Ben um yeah just one no concerns from Casey Uh I was Cassidy might know the answer to this but um when the signs will go back in that say park hours just now
that we're extending daylight time Um might be good just to think about that for um I think it was 7 a.m to 1000 p.m last summer that those were put in Yes Yeah Y
Wonderful Wade I'm good It was covered in the other discussion so I'm good Perfect Sarah no reports for me none for me Uh I just have one concern about the beach uh beachfront um at Silver Um and
I've talked about it in previous years I just see this sort of um whatever it is whether it's buckthornne or something's encroaching on the the you know the the beach is losing some of its um what am I trying to say real estate Um because of
this encroachment on the you know as you're facing the lake on the left there Um so maybe that burn was part of I don't think they would have taken care of that because I think this is a massive polling effort that needs to
happen Um so I don't even know if that's a a parks commission thing or is it just a public works thing um I have met brought it up with public works maybe in previous efforts or years but I haven't excuse me Uh I haven't really pursued it
or or um I could um but I I don't really know how to proceed on that Is that a just a public works thing do I need to just It would be public works and I can get a hold of them and get some answers for you Okay Thank you Yeah Thank you
Dave Um only thing I got is uh they the city has cut more trees out of Southwood Uh a lot of the the trees they did cut have been removed Uh the only other thing is uh Daryl Meyer uh he would like
to see that where the trees that they pull are cut down the most have uh wild flowersowers spread out just to help keep any other base of plants from taking over So that's all I got Um same
thing Uh but in Casey there were several trees cut down So I just wanted to see if there was a plan to plant anything else or new trees or whatever So sure Yeah I can There's a grant from it from the DNR I can follow up on that Usually they do replace them in those type of things Um but I will find out Awesome
Back Okay Um I believe we are ready to adjourn I make a motion Second Any discussion all those in favor i All those opposed
And we are adjourned