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Home My WebLink AboutPARC Agenda Packet 6-2-25CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS Parks & Recreation Commission City Hall 2077 West Larpenteur Avenue AGENDA June 2, 2025 at 6:30 P.M. A. CALL TO ORDER: B.ROLL CALL:Joe Morseth_____ Eric Brenton_____ Tom Faust_____Bob Haight_____ Wesley Goldberg_____ Erin Williams_____Jerry Buckridge_____ COUNCIL LIAISON: James Wassenberg ____ STAFF PRESENT: Kelly Nelson____ C.PRESENTATION: D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: 1.May 5, 2025– Parks and Recreation Regular Meeting Minutes E.AGENDA: 1.Finalize Community Park Playground Color Scheme2.City Event Planning F.INFORMATION/ANNOUNCEMENT1. Upcoming Park Audit G. ADJOURNMENT: 1 BLANK PAGE 2 CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS Regular Meeting of the Parks & Recreation Commission City Hall 2077 West Larpenteur Avenue MINUTES May 5, 2025 at 6:30 P.M. A. CALL TO ORDER: 6:32 PM B. ROLL CALL: Mike Bradbury__X___ Eric Brenton__X___Tom Faust__X__ Bob Haight__X___ Wesley Goldberg_____ Erin Williams__X___ COUNCIL LIAISON: James Wassenberg __X__ STAFF PRESENT: Kelly Nelson__X__ C. PRESENTATION: N/A D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: 1. April 7, 2025 – Parks and Recreation Meeting Minutes – Joint Meeting – Community Engagement Commission Bradbury motions to approve the Park minutes; approved 5-0 E. AGENDA: 1. Community Park Playground Color Scheme Discussion Nelson shares a color chart and examples of color schemes from Northland Recreation. Parks commissioners discuss which ones they favor for the playground equipment at Community Park. Sunny Days is identified as a favorite, and commissioners discuss what they like/dislike about it. They are interested in seeing a different color roof and/or seeing where the color orange can be added in. Williams says to keep touch surfaces light to avoid getting hot in the sun. Nelson takes their feedback and will request updated renderings for the next commission meeting so that a final decision can be made. 2. Update Community Garden Rules and Regulations Nelson shares the existing community garden rules and regulations, which have not been modified in many years. Commissioner Haight had expressed an interest in helping to spearhead updating the rules to be more brief and also brought the idea of creating a garden committee before the commission. Brenton favors the one-sheet format for rules and doing a FAQs page as well. 3 Haight shares that he would volunteer to serve on the garden committee. Bradbury asks if the committee would be disciplinary or advisory. Wassenberg suggests the committee notify city staff of issues vs. act as enforcement. Williams asks if there is a secondary space to add garden plots and then asks if one area should follow existing conditions and if a second area has different terms. Commissioners have discussed the idea of having two different sets of rules for two separate garden spaces so that a future garden may not allow existing gardeners first rite of refusal but move to a lottery system, for example. Brenton suggests having up to five garden committee members. Bradbury wonders if one community liaison is more appropriate. Haight will volunteer to be the liaison but would need a generic email account. Nelson would then notify gardeners that there is a garden liaison. Haight will flesh out the idea of having a committee. Brenton suggests posting the “Please do not…” section. Bradbury says the liaison can explain why woody plants are not allowed, for example. 3. Programming Discussion – Scholarship Update and City Events Nelson shares that the scholarship reimbursement program is up and running, with qualifying households receiving $25 from the city as reimbursement for signing up for many surrounding recreational options. So far, the reimbursement requests have been extremely low (one). Bradbury has seen the scholarship reimbursement in the newsletter but suggests moving it so that it’s next to the rec class information. Brenton suggests asking surrounding communities what their most popular activities are specifically for a 6-to-8-week timeframe. Williams suggests putting a flyer up at Spring Together to inform attendees of the scholarship reimbursement program. Information/Announcement G. ADJOURNMENT: 8:26 P.M. Haight motions to adjourn the meeting; Approved 5-0 4 BLANK PAGE 5 Item Finalize Community Park Playground Color Scheme Description The City Council approved by Resolution 24-62 a release of Request for Quotes for the Community Park playground, seeking renderings from playground vendors. On October 26, 2024, WSB sent a quote package to seven local playground vendors on behalf of the City of Falcon Heights. The vendors were given a deadline of 11:00 AM on November 26, 2024 to submit a proposal for a playground budgeted at $225,000 with EWF (Engineered Wood Fiber). Vendors were instructed to depict poured-in-place and perimeter fencing as add-on options, as they may be dependent upon whether funding is received through the MN DNR Outdoor Recreation grant application that was submitted by Staff in March 2025. The Parks and Recreation Commission then considered the eleven designs received, with Northland Rec’s chosen as the most preferred. The City Council received the Parks and Recreation Commission’s recommendation to consider during the December 4, 2024 Workshop Meeting and had no further revisions of their own, directing Staff to begin discussing the Commission’s requested revisions with Northland Recreation and moving towards a final design. The City Council was then presented with the proposed final playground design from Northland Recreation and approved it to award the bid during the December 23, 2024 City Council Regular Meeting. While the playground equipment and the playground layout are final and approved, the color scheme of the equipment can be adjusted at this time prior to ordering it, which will not occur before July 1 to allow the City to be notified if they will receive any grant funds to be used for the playground. The Parks and Recreation Commission discussed color schemes during the May 5 meeting, favoring the color palette called “Sunny Days,” and asked for renderings updated to reflect the playground in this color scheme. Northland Recreation created a few variations in how the color was applied to the Meeting Date June 2, 2025 Agenda Item E1 Attachment Playground Images Submitted By Kelly Nelson, Administrative Services Director/Deputy Clerk 6 individual pieces of equipment for the Parks Commission to consider. The Commission should now select the most preferred rendering for the play equipment so that it is ready to order. Budget Impact N/A Attachment(s) • Northland Recreation -Playground Renderings Action(s) Requested Staff recommends reviewing the playground color options to identify their preference for the play equipment to be ordered in. 7 SUNNY DAYS 1 8 SUNNY DAYS 1 9 SUNNY DAYS 1 10 SUNNY DAYS 1 11 SUNNY DAYS 1 12 SUNNY DAYS 1 13 Sunny Days 2 14 Sunny Days 2 15 Sunny Days 2 16 Sunny Days 2 17 Sunny Days 2 18 Sunny Days 2 19 Sunny Days 3 20 Sunny Days 3 21 Sunny Days 3 22 Sunny Days 3 23 Sunny Days 3 24 Sunny Days 3 25 Sunny Days 4 26 Sunny Days 4 27 Sunny Days 4 28 Sunny Days 4 29 Sunny Days 4 30 BLANK PAGE 31 Item 2025 City Event Discussion Description The City has established dates for its two remaining 2025 events. Ice Cream Social will be held from 5:00 to 7:00 PM on July 17 at Community Park (unless park renovation requires event to move to City Hall). The first annual fall festival was held last year from 2:00 to 5:00 PM on October 26. The commission discussed and supported moving the event up to Saturday, October 11 with time TBD. Staff has reached out to Falcon Heights Elementary and they are open to discussing the idea of having the fall festival there. Commissioners should recommend any time/date changes for events, as applicable, as well as the activities offered onsite so that staff may continue planning. Budget Impact TBD Attachment(s) Action(s) Requested Staff recommends commission members discuss the upcoming City’s 2025 events. Meeting Date June 2, 2025 Agenda Item E2 Attachment Submitted By Kelly Nelson, Administrative Services Director / Deputy Clerk 32 BLANK PAGE 33 Item 2025 Audit of Parks Description For the past two years, the PARC has opted not to hold a meeting in July to instead use the time to conduct park audits, individually, throughout the month instead. The purpose of the audits is to compile a list of improvements to be considered in 2026 and to allow Staff to budget appropriately, with such improvements in mind. This is an opportunity to walk new commissioners through the process and to distribute a checklist/audit template. No decisions are needed at this time. Budget Impact TBD Attachment(s) • 2024 Park Audit Findings • Audit Report Template Action(s) Requested Staff recommends commission members complete individual audits of the park(s) in the month of July. Meeting Date June 2, 2025 Agenda Item F1 Attachment See Below Submitted By Kelly Nelson, Deputy Clerk / Admin. Services Director 34 2024 Park Audit Findings Summary CURTISS FIELD Grass looks great; only worn in a couple of expected places like under basketball hoops Small amount of weeds in expected areas, but not impactful Noted larger curb cracks and large pieces of concrete missing along the parking lot, especially near the handicap spot. Sediment on basketball court due to poor water drainage. Install buried drain pipe with 3 drain openings on south end, cornering and heading north along the west side to tie into the existing drain line. This is a 4-hour project for one guy, costs about $50 and Commissioner, Tom Faust, will be happy to explain it, if needed. Tetherball needs air and a shorter rope. THE GROVE Some weeds in playground mulch, but not a lot. Grass: Some ruts in shadier areas under trees, under basketball hoops, in front benches and the little library. The bench on the Vitacourse needs to be removed / replaced. Wooden benches could use a power washing Trim away brush Plastic edging on playground areas is getting worn and broken in some places. COMMUNITY PARK Dig out suckering stumps along fence of basketball court Hole in one soccer net Big boulder in woods (inside of path in the woods) would be a great addition to the playground area (would require a bobcat to move) Exercise Station 10 bed - wire is broken 35 Buckthorn in woods - maybe a project for community members, maybe just ignore it. Dead trees in woods around perimeter. 2025 BUDGET WISH LIST CURTISS FIELD -Add drinking water -Add push-button, timed lighting -Add a sidewalk to connect the parking lot to the pathway. - Replace grills or see if new grates could be ordered to help refresh them. -Correct drainage at one end of the basketball court, power wash it and touch up the paint on the court. -Add a spiderweb swing for older kids to enjoy -Update park signage THE GROVE Commissioners suggest replacing the playground at some point in the future to include more swings. For now, a new grate for the grill or a new grill would be nice. -Update park signage COMMUNITY PARK -Add doggy bags for cleaning up near trash cans. -Add trash cans so there are more throughout the park. -Add chicken wire at the bottom of the Community Garden chain link fence to prevent rabbits from entering. -Add wire to the bottom of the fencing around the tennis courts to close the gap (balls roll under it). -Replace grills or see if new grates could be ordered to help refresh them. 36 -Add a Little Library -Create an in-ground reservation sign at picnic areas. -Move large boulder from the woods and the one that juts out from the soccer field over to playground area. -Update park signage 37 Park Name: Date of Audit: Auditor: Landscaping / Grounds 1. Are weeds absent from grass and surrounding grounds (mulch beds, playground, courts, etc.)? Yes _______ No _______ N/A _______ Comments: 2. Is grass is in good condition (no excessive wear, brown spots, wet spots, no scalping, no ruts, etc.)? Yes _______ No _______ N/A _______ Comments: 3. Is grass properly maintained (grass is cut, has been edged recently, and is trimmed along fence lines, curbs and trees)? Yes _______ No _______ N/A _______ Comments: 4. Are grounds clean and free of debris (no trash, pine needles, leaves, or other debris)? Yes _______ No _______ N/A _______ Comments: 38 Concrete and Pathways 1. Are concrete pathways and curbs, along with aglime pathways in good condition (no excessive cracking or heaving, no significant damage or wear and tear)? Yes _______ No _______ N/A _______ Comments: 2. Are trails and pathways properly maintained (pathways are clean - no trash or debris, no washout, no graffiti along walkway, etc.)? Yes _______ No _______ N/A _______ Comments: Playground 1. Is surface material in playground area well maintained, clear of debris and in good condition? Yes _______ No _______ N/A _______ Comments: 2. Is playground equipment in good and working condition? Yes _______ No _______ N/A _______ Comments: 39 Park Facilities 1. Is equipment and are all amenities, as outlined in this packet, accounted for and in good condition? Items to inspect and report on include picnic tables, grills, etc. Yes _______ No _______ N/A _______ Comments: 2. Are courts free of debris and in good condition? Look for cracks in the court, paint flaking, and check condition of nets. Yes _______ No _______ N/A _______ Comments: 40 Park and Facility Audit Venue Amenities at Park Findings/Updates Recommended Improvements Community Park Building and Upper Picnic Area 2050 Roselawn Ave. (corner of Roselawn and Cleveland) Portable bathroom 2 BBQ Grills 4 Outdoor picnic tables Parking lot (50 spots); there’s also on street parking Community Park East Picnic Area (near playground) 2 Picnic Tables Trash receptacles Portable bathroom Parking lot (50 spots); there’s also on street parking Community Park Lower Picnic Area (Southwest corner of park) 2 Picnic Tables 1 BBQ Grill Trash receptacles Portable bathroom Parking lot (50) and on street parking Curtiss Field 1551 W. Iowa Ave. Playground (2 toddler swings, 1 belt swing and teeter totter) Basketball court with one regular hoop and one mini court/hoop Tetherball pole 3 picnic tables Portable ADA bathroom Parking lot (10 spots); there’s also on street parking 1 BBQ Grill 4 benches at playground area The Grove 1600 Coffman Street Playground (outdated) Basketball court with two hoops; painted pickleball lines. Mini library 2 picnic tables 1 BBQ grill 3 benches scattered around On street parking NO restroom 41