HomeMy WebLinkAboutJune 11, 2019 MinutesCITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS Regular Meeting of the Parks & Recreation Commission City Hall 2077 West Larpenteur Avenue
AGENDA
June 11, 2019 at 6:30 P.M.
A. CALL TO ORDER:
B. ROLL CALL: __X _ Walt Dunlap _X_ _ Ron Eischen _ X__ Olivia Demerath __X Ryan Carlson _ X_ Mike Bradbury
__X _ Council Member, Melanie Leehy __X _ Staff Liaison, Nalisha Nandkumar C. PRESENTATION
D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Approval of May 6, 2019 Minutes
Eischen 1st Motion
Walt 2nd Motion
Motion Passed
E. AGENDA:
1. Updates a. Garden-in-a-box
• Garden-in-a-box program has started and boxes have been placed at
Curtiss Field, FH Elementary, City Hall and Falcon Townsquare. The boxes were provided by the Minnesota Horticulture Society. Supplies for the boxes included the box, soil, compost, organic fertilizer and various plants. b. Summer Programming
• Summer programming began on June 10th. The most popular programs are Messy Art, Mini Soccer, Super Soccer, Blastball and Summer Discovery Playground. A majority of programs are being held at Community Park in which only one session of Mini Soccer and three
sessions of Rec on the Go are held at Curtiss Field. Rec on the GO started off with a turnout of about 20 kids. Also joining the Parks & REC team is Three Rivers Park District. Three Rivers Park District were at the first session and engaged the kids in bug catching and a insect craft activity.
c. Ice Cream Social
• Ice Cream Social/Hot Dog with a Deputy will be on Thursday July18th 5-7PM at Community Park. The Percolators will entertain the crowd with live music and there will be games and activities at this
event as well. There will also be several groups at the event that will engage the community on upcoming events.
d. Spring Together
• Spring Together occurred on Saturday June 8th. There were about 50 people at this potluck style event. There was a bounce house, mini soccer and the game of Kubb. The game of Kubb was popular and Commission Member Ryan Carlson will work with City Staff to
organize another Kubb event on the green space outside of City Hall. 2. Events a. Harvest Event
• Parks commission members brainstormed ideas about a potential harvest fest that could be held during the fall. This will be a family friendly event and discussion about hosting the event the Saturday prior to the Autumnal Equinox would result in the event landing on September 21st.
• Further discussion about partnering with Gibbs Farm for bobbing for apples or partnering with the U of M to do a hayride in the fields are items that need to be explored. Having apple cider, s’mores and mini- farmers market. Members also came up with the name of “Cider Fest”
as a potential name.
b. Event/Planning
• Discussion of keeping an event in each season occurred. Spring results in Spring Together, Summer is the Ice Cream Social, Fall could potentially be Cider Fest and talks about bringing back Winterfest
during the Winter.
• Winterfest could include events like it did in the past such as skiing, sleigh rides, hot cocoa, crafts for kids and much more. By keeping the current events that the City already hosts such as Ice Cream Social and
Spring Together this will allow community members to become
familiar and know that the events will continue to occur. c. Parks & Rec Programming 2020
• Parks Commission members discussed revamping the parks program for 2020. The general discussion included that offering more times for
REC on the GO for older kids in the afternoons would be ideal. Right now REC on the GO has been held 9-11AM and has a younger age group of kids attending.
• Discussion also presented that kids like unstructured activities and by
offering more REC on the Go sessions to different age groups will be enticing.
• Offering programs for adults while kids are enrolled in their programs would be a way for adults to get out and be active. Hosting adult
programs such as Zumba or strength training simultaneously with youth programming will be explored in 2020.
• Discussion of STEM relating to engineering or nature related programs would also be of interest of kids. Exposing youth to various
programs can be more engaging and will allow them to be more open
minded. F. INFORMATION/ANNOUNCEMENT
• Ramsey County is interested in placing a compost drop-off site within the city limits of Falcon Heights. Based on the information from staff
liaison Justin Markon and the Environment Commission there has
been talks about placing the bin in the parking lot of Community Park or City Hall. Discussion included the idea that having the drop-off site at City Hall would allow for more exposure and access off of Larpenteur Ave. If the bin was placed at Community Park there was
concern for limited parking spaces during the summer.
G. ADJOURNMENT: 7:25PM
Eischen 1st Motion
Demerath 2nd Motion
Motion Passed