08-26-2020 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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STAFF REPORT TO: Mayor Keis and Members of the City Council FROM: Bryce Shearen, CPRP, Parks & Recreation/Community Services Manager DATE: August 26, 2020 RE: Pioneer Park Master Plan – Resilient Communities Project BACKGROUND The RCP Fellows will be in attendance at the City Council meeting with a presentation for the Council on the work that was completed, discuss next steps, and be available for any questions the Council may have. Below is an overview of the program and project to be reviewed prior to the meeting. Overview of RCP Fellows Program The Resilient Communities Project (RCP) Fellows Program organizes interdisciplinary teams of University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (UMN) graduate and professional students to assist local government agencies with projects and initiatives aimed at advancing their community’s sustainability, livability, and resilience. The summer 2020 Fellows team for the City of Little Canada was composed of five UMN graduate students with academic backgrounds in Communication Studies, Landscape Architecture, Linguistics, and Public Affairs. Team members were selected via a rigorous application and interview process, with work beginning in mid-June 2020 and culminating at the end of August 2020. Project Development The initial project presented to the RCP Fellows focused on the development of a new Pioneer Park Master Plan. Specifically, the Fellows were asked to aid City staff in identifying and testing COVID-19-approved community engagement efforts, the results of which would be used to inform the new Plan. The RCP Fellows were introduced at the July Parks & Recreation Commission meeting. At this meeting the Fellow asked for feedback on some preliminary questions they had on community engagement strategies and tactics. The questions were also distributed to the Council for feedback. However, after receiving the feedback from the Parks and Recreation Commissioners, Council Members, and conversations with City staff, as well as exploratory research in academic and practitioner literature soon caused this project objective to shift. Early research indicated that an examination of community engagement best practices was necessary in order to provide the City a framework for evaluating its use of community engagement strategies and tactics. This change in objective was prompted after the Fellows identified a lack of previous engagement with large sectors of Little Canada, including residents adjacent to Pioneer Park. Despite City awareness of and engagement with many stakeholders, the