Park & Recreation Advisory Board

Public Services – Parks & Recreation REGULAR MEETING MINUTES OF THE ANOKA PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2023 COUNCIL WORK SESSION ROOM OF ANOKA CITY HALL 2015 FIRST AVENUE, ANOKA MN MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairperson Steve Nelson, Mark Beckenbach, Bob Erickson, Mary Blankenship, Derek Sebesta, Don Rowell and Kirk Schnitker MEMBERS ABSENT: Joe Anderla STAFF PRESENT: Lisa LaCasse, Public Services Administrator and Jon Holmes, Public Services Supervisor APPROVE MINUTES There being no corrections to last meetings minutes. A motion was made by Schnitker, seconded by Rowell to APPROVE THE June 20, 2023 REGULAR MEETING MINUTES OF THE PARK AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD. 7 ayes – 0 nays. Motion carried. OPEN FORUM NEW BUSINESS MN Kindness Alliance Maintenance Agreement for Anoka Kindness Rock Garden LaCasse explained that when the Kindness Rock Garden was incorporated, both the organization and the City agreed to get a maintenance agreement together and have it signed by both parties so there is an official document for it. There were 2 drafts provided to the Park Board, the one included in the packet is the version before it was sent to our attorney, the version handed out as a supplemental piece is the version after the attorney edits. The Kindness Rock Garden has formed an official alliance now called the MN Kindness Alliance, MN non-profit organization. The maintenance agreement lays out what the city is responsible for and what the alliance is responsible for. The city is responsible for replacing some things like the interpretive sign that is out there if it ever gets vandalized or worn out and the alliance is responsible for things like managing the content, what the community adds to it and making sure it’s appropriate and aligns with the mission. The changes from the draft that is in the packet are minor. #8 was added, if the city brings forward any concerns, they need to be reacted to in a timely manner. They have also agreed to monitor the book content in the little free library adjacent to the rock garden. If there is anything the board thinks is missing it can be added to the agreement. Nelson asked if there is a clause in there about pre-approving any changes in artwork. LaCasse said that there isn’t but it can be added. Sebesta asked if line #8 needs any sort of timeline to correct the issues or concerns. The board agreed that 14 days would be sufficient. LaCasse will also add the 14 day requirement. Regular Meeting of the City of Anoka Parks and Recreation Advisory Board August 15, 2023 Page 2 A motion was made by Blankenship, seconded by Sebesta to APPROVE THE MN KINDNESS ALLIANCE MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT WITH DISCUSSED ADDITIONS. Hunting Program/Schedule • Archery Deer LaCasse explained that Jenks included the registration packet for 2023. There will be hunters at the Nature Preserve, Kings Island and maybe Sunny Acres. The DNR did come out with new rules for crossbow hunting and have opened it up to everyone. The city will still be keeping stipulations on the crossbows, they either need to be 62 or older or have a disability. One thing the hunters will be reminded of for this season is to have their hunting license tags visible in their vehicles when parked. The program is still only available to residents, it’s opened up to city employees if there are spots left. Nelson asked if Anoka County is following the States rules or coming up with their own for cross bows. Rowell said the age limit for the County is 60 and older or they must have a disability. Schnitker asked what kind of participation is there for archery. For deer hunting it’s between 12 and 18 hunters throughout the season and then we break it out into smaller seasons. Its split up so there is a week in between seasons with no one hunting to give people time to take down and set up their stands. Jenks started doing an orientation meeting with the hunters to get them introduced to each other. The program works well with residents only, there seems to be a lot of pride for it. We’ve only had one issue recently where someone was setting up multiple stands when they weren’t supposed to. The archery hunting program and waterfowl for warriors were both started in 2013. Most of the information for the rules and regulations were pulled from the City of Redwing. Erickson brought up that the only feedback he has gotten from the hunters was that people don’t stay on the trails so maybe additional signage would help. LaCasse said that staff can look at some supplemental signage since there are already signs out there. Maybe it says “Hunting Ahead” or has information on hunter harassment. Even the police captains say that having a sign is a lot better than having no sign because it makes everything more effective and makes it easier to prosecute people. • Waterfowl for Warriors Staff is moving forward with the Waterfowl for Warriors program this year. Dates are still being decided so they haven’t been released. On September 10th there will be a hunt and if it fills, we will do another on the 11th. There will be 4 dates throughout September, October and November. The City of Ramsey reached out and would like to host a hunt in their city, we still need to find the location. Fall Event Schedule The updated fall event schedule is included in the packet. August – October is the busiest time of the year for public services. This coming weekend is the food truck festival. There are quite a few activities throughout September, some city staff are involved in. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Park Vandalism After the board talked about this topic at the last meeting, Blankenship had the idea to start a campaign. LaCasse talked to the police department, and they came up with a simple graphic to post on social media. “See something, say something” is the name of the campaign. The PD is going to speak about this at their events they hold around the city, they are trying to encourage people to just call 911 and not be afraid to do so. Its more efficient to call 911 – rather than the Regular Meeting of the City of Anoka Parks and Recreation Advisory Board August 15, 2023 Page 3 non-emergency line because it generates a report that requires a response, and they can start to link crimes together. LaCasse is working on an article for the fall newsletter explaining the campaign. Blankenship brought up some of the vandalism that has happened this summer to some neighbors at their night-to-unite event and people were horrified to hear about it. This would be beneficial to keep putting this out there again and again on social media and any other avenue we have. She asked if there has been any vandalism at the new bathroom in John Ward. LaCasse said there hasn’t been any yet, but we also have not opened the bathroom yet because we are waiting for the final plumbing inspection and installation of the water heater. If anyone from the board has some stronger language, let LaCasse know and it can be implemented. Blankenship said maybe we should just see how this goes, maybe putting dollar amounts out there too would help. It gives people more of a realistic view on how this impacts the city financially. She asked if the police force is down. LaCasse said the police department is fully staffed and have added some additional community service officers on patrol. We have been seeing them a lot more around town, they’ve been listening to us when we bring ideas forward and have been patrolling the problem areas at night. We’ve been talking to electric about some additional security lights or motion lights since its pretty dark in the park at night. It would be nice to see this keep going and adding additional graphics that are geared towards certain issues. Project Updates • Mural All the public painting dates are done and the artists are starting to wrap up. Jenks is working with them to determine if they are going to do a ribbon cutting event. It sounds like they will but it will be closer to Halloween and tied into all of those events. • Roof at Riverfront The roof structure is ordered. We ended up with a 50-foot wide and 25-foot deep shelter. Council was all on board with it and excited. At some point this fall we will be doing the footing installation and potentially some of the construction as time allows. We will be working hard to get this ready before Memorial Day. Electric will be adding some additional lights and outlet boxes with key access. It will have all the bells and whistles we discussed with the stone wrapped footings, tongue and groove ceiling, and the metal name plate across the front. • Highland Playground LaCasse received word that the playground won’t be arriving until the end of September or early October. To do a community build in October would be terrible for us so we are looking at pushing that out till spring and just doing that as the “community workday” event. COMMUNICATIONS Social District Information LaCasse explained that back in 2020 the legislature passed a designation for Anoka to do a trial social district. People will be able to purchase alcoholic beverages and carry them outside in a set boundary. A map of the planned boundary of the social district was shown on the screen. Basically people will be able to walk on the sidewalks and will be able to go into certain establishments within the boundary with beverages. The pilot program will be running for 30 days from September 6th through October 7th. Sunday to Sunday – 10am to 10pm. The businesses that are located within the common area will have the option to allow beverages and will have a window decal to notify the public if they are allowing them or not. We will be having Regular Meeting of the City of Anoka Parks and Recreation Advisory Board August 15, 2023 Page 4 bands play on some Sundays in Riverfront Memorial Park, there will be music on the 10th, 17th and 24th. 10K and Magillycuddy’s have joined forces for some additional music performances. Staff believes there is the intent to extend the social district in 2024 from May 1st to November 1 to coincide with the patio season. The only big change there will be for Riverfront Park is that people will no longer be able to bring their own alcohol in – it will have to be consumed out of the social district cup. There will be a designated cup with the Anoka Social District logo on it, all beverages brought outside will have to be consumed out of the approved cup, it’s a recyclable one-use cup. Eventually the cups will also have the logos of the individual participating bars/restaurants, for the time being the businesses will be hand numbering each cup coordinating with their specific permit number. Any kind of alcoholic beverage can be served in the cups, there’s nothing limiting that in the statutes except its limited to no more than 16oz. Staff is trying to work out the details for setting the boundary with the public, the police department is not sure how they should or will be enforcing it. At the end of the trial period we will have follow up meetings with the participating establishments and then we have to report back to the state on what worked and what didn’t work. ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING Cannabis Use in Public Spaces Riverwalk Update Adjournment There being no further discussion, a motion was made by Erickson, seconded by Rowell, to ADJOURN THIS REGULAR MEETING. 7 – AYES, 0 – OPPOSED. Motion carried. Time of adjournment 8:17 pm Respectfully Submitted, Lisa LaCasse, Public Services Administrator