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3 <br /> <br />Ice Rinks <br />- Is it possible to leverage the areas set aside for ice rinks for other use(s) when it is not <br />ice season? Since the ice boards stay up year-round, PEC has talked about using them as <br />borders for pickleball if they aren’t used for another sport (namely at Central Park <br />location). <br />- The discussion of how many ice rinks the city needs goes back several decades. Now it is <br />a resident expectation even if we don’t need all the ice rinks. <br />- Boosters has been trying to grow hockey but there is no formal SAV team yet. Kids in the <br />city play hockey through Mounds View. <br />- Public Works has rink attendants do rough counts for usage, but they aren’t exact <br />numbers. This also raises the question of what is the cutoff for usage being “enough”? <br />- The ice rinks are used for recreation (one hockey and one skating rink at each park). We <br />get requests to reserve ice sheets and reject those requests. Some kids that play hockey <br />elsewhere may use it for practice, but they are not being practiced on by an <br />organized/school hockey team. <br />- There are many nights where ice rinks are not used regularly, but when conditions are <br />good for ice there are lots of people using the rinks. <br />- There are warming weather trends, and the window may be getting shorter for having <br />outdoor ice. Last winter, PW crews worked overtime to make ice that only lasted a week. <br />- A suggestion was made for refrigerated ice rinks that could be a paved court in the <br />summertime. These types of rinks are more climate resilient and exist in other cities but <br />very cost prohibitive. <br />- There is a sense that maybe it is time to consolidate from 3 to 2 ice rink locations, <br />especially if we don’t have a St. Anthony team. All the rink locations provide <br />convenience but with lower usage/participation is that necessary? <br />o Emerald Park could be kept to maintain northern amenities, Central Park is <br />centrally located, removing ice at Silver Point Park could make way for other <br />amenities there… <br />Silver Point Park <br />- This park was intended to be a water retention and drainage area first. Amenities came <br />later. <br />- Major issues at this park are a lack of parking and safety concerns. <br />- 29th Ave is an unsafe area for kids to walk through with so many cars and traffic around, <br />street parking still gets congested and cars block neighbors in their driveways. <br />- Parking has been an issue for decades.