Youth Commission

YOUTH COMMISSION City Hall—Council Chambers, 590 40th Ave NE Wednesday, November 09, 2022 6:00 PM MINUTES The following are the minutes for the Meeting of the Youth Commission held at 6:00 pm on Wednesday, November 9, 2022, in the City Council Chambers, City Hall, 590 40th Avenue NE, Columbia Heights, Minnesota. CALL TO ORDER Meeting called to order at 6:10 pm by Commission Chair Ali. ROLL CALL/STATUS OF MEMBERSHIP Members Present: Commissioners Ali, Hussein, Israelson, Johnson, Marquez, Rogne, Williams Council Liaison: Mayor Márquez Simula Members Absent: Hernandez Monroy, Garcia Genis, Mamo, Novitsky, Solem, Tabor Also Present: David Cullen, Street and Park Superintendent; Sara Ion, City Clerk; Ben Sandell, Communications Coordinator. Discussion of commissioner absences Communications Coordinator Sandell stated that he has received communication that member Mira Kucera will be leaving the Commission effective immediately. The Commission will need to determine how they would like to move forward with addressing those members who have now missed the September, October, and November meetings. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion by Commissioner Israelson, seconded by Rogne to approve the agenda as presented. All Ayes, Motion Carried. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Clerk Ion stated that due to the change in commission members holding the position of Secretary she will prepare the minutes and have them ready for approval at the next meeting. CORRESPONDENCE Clerk Ion stated that there was no correspondence at this time. NEW BUSINESS Ben Sandell introduces Streets/Parks Superintendent David Cullen. Superintendent Cullen led a presentation to the Youth Commission on Streets and Utilities. He City of Columbia Heights MINUTES November 09, 2022 Youth Commission Page 2 highlighted the importance of support, funding, execution, and care of parks (highlighting what the steps from start to finish would look like for a skate park here in Columbia Heights). He also spoke about his background and how he became a Superintendent for the City. He highlighted some of the programs that he is working on to implement at the high school to attract and retain students to work for the City. He would love to schedule a tour of the Public Works building for the Youth Commission so that they can see the facility and check out the equipment that is used. Commissioners report on Truck or Treat, proclamations, and other civic activity. Commissioner Williams spoke about volunteering at Truck or Treat and how busy it was and that she had a lot of fun helping out. Clerk Ion offered her appreciation as well as a big thank you from Will Rottler the Community Engagement Specialist who appreciated all her hard work. Commissioner Israelson spoke about presenting the Native American Heritage Month Proclamation at the October 24th Council Meeting. He found it very impactful, and it was wonderful to present the proclamation to State Senator Mary Kunesh who attended and spoke at the meeting. Commissioners discuss next steps in project involvement relating to potential haunted house production, skate park and other park projects, and youth engagement initiatives. The commission is going to look at committing to three events / projects for the upcoming year. If they want to pursue the Haunted House, they will need to reserve Murzyn Hall soon for October because it does book up very far in advance. Chair Ali also brought up the potential of having a water lantern festival. Clerk Ion asked that she start the preliminary process of looking into if there are City, State and County regulations that would prohibit that type of event here in Columbia Heights so they could partner on that type of research to see if it would be feasible. There was also a discussion of having a smaller sub committee related to the skate park. OLD BUSINESS Officer elections recap and clarifications Communications Coordinator Sandell clarified that the newly elected Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary should be working together to continue to try to run the meeting with the assistance of staff. If help is needed Staff is available. ADJOURNMENT Chair Ali adjourned the meeting at 7:30pm. Respectfully Submitted, ______________________________________ Sara Ion, City Clerk