2004 April Newsletter - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Recognizes Long-Term Parks Commissioners At its March 1 City Council meeting,two vol- Commission from scratch. The City Council put unteers were officially thanked for their work on together the framework of the Parks Commission, the Parks and Recreation Commission. Robyn but they really took on the initiative to get it mov- LaCasse and Dave Strub served on the Parks ing." and Recreation Commission from July 1998 to March 2004. "There really were no parks when LaCasse will still be involved in the community, we started this,"LaCasse recalls. "We had two especially with the new elementary school. "I wooden swings and hardly any money. If I recall, am very involved in other things and continue to our amount when we started back then was about serve on the advisory commission for the new $7,000." school,more as a citizen,but also to make sure there is community space,"she said. She is very LaCasse and Strub were involved in establish- proud of her work with the Parks and Recreation ing the Neighborhood Block Program,Lions Park Commission stating,"It's amazing to me every- playground equipment,Beaver Ponds soccer fields, thing that we have accomplished." Bernin Park, Oneka Ponds Park, and many other beautification efforts. "We've come a long way. Strub will be stepping away from the Commission There's certainly a long way still to go,but I think with wonderful memories. "Eight years was long we've made a huge dent and set some guidelines enough...I felt like I was being selfish staying on for future development,"LaCasse said of her ser- there myself. I want to let someone else have a vice. Commenting on the early days of the Parks turn doing this and having fun. It's a great group end Recreation Commission, Strub said,"The fun of people that are on there now,and no doubt they part for me was the planning session. It's amazing will find some other great people to fill our spots. to me how well the master plan is holding up. Two To step down was hard,but it felt like it was the years of writing it,six years of trying to implement time to give someone else a turn,"he said of his it,and it's still a pretty valid document." service. Mayor Fran Miron remembers the volunteers as key players in the early days of the Parks and Recreation Commission. "Obviously the area has been urbanizing for a number of years,and we rec- ognize that. With the day-to-day business that the Public Invited to City Council is involved in,it seemed like we were not spending enough time developing and planning Open House our parks. We needed some expertise and some people that were willing to focus in to get our Residents are invited to attend an parks development moving within the community. Open House at the Hugo City Hall on They were two very key people in that process,"he Monday,May 10,2004 from 5:00—9:00 noted. p.m.to provide input on the new pro- LaCasse and Strub will be missed by the Parks and posed Downtown Redevelopment Plan. Recreation Commission because of the strong lead- Please call City Hall at 651-762-6300 if ,rship roles they played. Mayor Miron described you have questions or are interested in chem as"very qualified, self-starting individu- attending. als that were really able to develop the Parks