HomeMy WebLinkAbout10.6.25 Park & Rec Minutes1 | Page
CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS Regular Meeting of the Parks & Recreation Commission
City Hall 2077 West Larpenteur Avenue MINUTES October 6, 2025
A. CALL TO ORDER: 6:36 PM B. ROLL CALL:
Joe Morseth_____ Eric Brenton__X___Tom Faust____ Bob Haight__X___ Wesley Goldberg__X___ Erin Williams__X___ Jerry Buckridge__X__ COUNCIL LIAISON: James Wassenberg _X___
STAFF PRESENT: Kelly Nelson__X__ C. PRESENTATION: N/A D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: 1. August 4, 2025 – Parks and Recreation Regular Meeting Minutes Haight motions to approve the Park minutes; approved 4-0 Williams arrived just after the vote
E. AGENDA:
1. Fall/Winter Programming Update Commissioners establish a date and time for a board/card game night at City Hall. It will be on Friday, November 7, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM.
Nelson will create a flyer that can be handed out/displayed at the Fall Fest this coming weekend to help start promoting the event. The event will also be included in the fall newsletter to be mailed to all residents soon.
2. Community Garden Discussion Haight looked at the current Community Garden rules, which have been in place since at least 2017, and compared them to St. Anthony Park. While most rules remain the same, Haight shares that one proposed change is to create a Steering Committee, which would include two gardeners and a staff member. Another change would be to move away from a wait list and to utilize a lottery system. Nelson says that the current wait list system has its challenges because it sometimes takes years for someone’s turn for a plot to come up, and by then, they may have moved, or they no longer have interest. It takes considerable staff time to assign new gardeners.
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Haight believes that holding an annual meeting with gardeners will increase the community
aspect. Williams suggests raising the plot fee to $30 in 2026 and fellow commissioners support this. Wassenberg says that the goal is not to make money, but to cover expenses, and it’s reasonable that expenses have increased over the last several years. Nelson asks the commissioners for direction on how to handle second garden plot requests from current gardeners and requests from non-Falcon Heights residents under the new proposed lottery system.
Brenton thinks it would also be reasonable to restrict garden plots to Falcon Heights residents only moving forward since the demand exceeds the supply. Current non-Falcon Heights residents who have a Community Garden plot can continue gardening it.
Nelson believes approximately 12 plots out of 38 are currently gardened by non-Falcon Heights residents (after the meeting, Nelson looks at the roster and it is 15 plots out of 38).
Williams asks if non-Falcon Heights residents should be allowed to be on the Steering Committee, and commissioners are supportive of this since we currently have many non-Falcon Heights residents gardening. Goldberg thinks gardeners should only be allowed one garden plot moving forward to allow more residents to enjoy gardening. Commissioners then discuss the Steering Committee’s role and abilities. Goldberg sees the Steering Committee as advisory but not disciplinary and Wassenberg adds that,
aside from the Planning Commission, the City’s other commissions and committees are all advisory. Nelson and Haight will work together to better define the role and responsibility of the Steering Committee. They will also add language to a gardening rule which mentions “untended plots will be reassigned,” so that it is made clear that gardeners should communicate if unable to tend their
plot(s) for any reason. Commissioners support the updates to the Community Garden Rules.
3. Summer Music in the Park Discussion
Nelson says that Buckridge helped bring this agenda item forward by mentioning a nearby event that could serve as inspiration for future summer programming at Community Park.
Music on the Front Lawn currently takes place on a residential lawn in Saint Anthony Park. The concerts may end after this year due to the loss of support from one neighbor to close the city streets in order to host the shows. Essentially, bands who perform at Music on the Front Lawn
are not paid but typically receive more in tips than they would playing at another venue. Buckridge thought the organizer of Music on the Front Lawn would be willing to share the band’s contact information. Wassenberg wonders if the bands involved in Music on the Front Lawn are tipped more than elsewhere because of the community aspect of the shows and the neighbors having a strong interest and support for events.
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Goldberg thinks a minimum guarantee to the musician would be good.
Brenton says that a PA system will be needed and some bands may not have their own. Commissioners show support for holding live music from the new picnic pavilion at Community Park next summer, but much is still unknown at this point in terms of the completion date and being ready to hold events. Commissioners discuss how many live music nights to try and suggest maybe holding the first event in June, if ready, or in early August. Information/Announcement
G. ADJOURNMENT: 8:25 P.M. Haight motions to adjourn the meeting;
Approved 5-0