Parks & Recreation Commission

City of Oakdale, Minnesota -established 1974-- Department of Recreation 4444 Hadley Avenue North Oakdale, MN 55128 (651) 747-3867 julie.williams@ci.oakdale.mn.us July 16, 2021 Dear Parks and Recreation Commissioners: Enclosed is your packet of information for the regular Parks and Recreation Commission meeting to be held on July 20. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the Oakdale City Hall Council Chambers, 1584 Hadley Avenue. The focus of the meeting will be to update the commissioners on current and upcoming park projects and recreation programs. Should you have any questions regarding the upcoming meeting, or are unable to attend, please feel free to contact me directly at (651) 747-3867. Sincerely, Julie Williams Julie Williams  AGENDA Oakdale Parks and Recreation Commission Tuesday, July 20, 2021, 7:00 PM CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE APPROVAL OF MINUTES: MEETING, MAY 18, 2021 CITY COUNCIL UPDATE: JAKE INGEBRIGTSON MANAGEMENT REPORTS a) PUBLIC WORKS UPDATE – BRIAN BACHMEIER b) RECREATION UPDATE – JULIE WILLIAMS ALL OTHER ITEMS a) COMMISSIONERS COMMENTS ADJOURNMENT The next regular Parks and Recreation Commission meeting will be held August 17, 2021 at 7:00 PM in the Council Chambers.  REGULAR MEETING PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION City of Oakdale May 18, 2021 CALL TO ORDER A regular meeting of the Oakdale Parks and Recreation Commission was held on Tuesday, May 18, 2021, at Oakdale City Hall, 1584 Hadley Avenue, Oakdale, Minnesota. The meeting was called to order by Chair Lockhart at 7:30 PM. CALL OF ROLL On a call of roll, the following were present: Chair: Paul Lockhart Vice Chair: Jenny Cook Commissioners: Jan Cunningham Glen Giacoletto Freddie Jiles Steve Meyer Also Present: Brian Bachmeier, City Engineer Jeff Koesling, Parks Superintendent Julie Williams, Recreation Superintendent Absent: Jake Ingebrigtson, City Council Mark Giannini, Commissioner Quorum Present: YES ☒ NO ☐ PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Regular Meeting Minutes, April 20, 2021 A MOTION WAS MADE BY VICE CHAIR COOK, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER CUNNINGHAM TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING OF APRIL 20, 2021 AS PRESENTED. 5 AYES 0 NAYS PARKS UPDATE – Jeff Koesling Softball – Youth and adult softball have started. Crews are maintaining the fields by mowing and trimming. The irrigation could use relief with some rain. PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION May 18, 2021 Page 2 Summer Seasonal Openings – Between field maintenance and keeping up with work orders during the busy summer, the Parks Department is in need of seasonal staff. It is a great fit for college kids and required for staff to be age 18 and up. No one is applying and the department is six staff short. This hurts the crew, especially when one or two may be on vacation. Chair Lockhart will talk to his son who is graduating to reach out to friends. Park Vandalism – Mr. Koesling appreciated Commissioner Jiles report of rubbing out vulgar language on Walton’s handrails while he attended ballgames yesterday. Mr. Koesling said that Oakdale Parks have been dealing with the vandalism since last Wednesday. A Walton bathroom is closed because of it and since this afternoon, a dumpster was hit in broad daylight. Oakfield Park was destroyed in the last four to five nights and the police have been asked to patrol there. This is common when school gets close to letting out, then tapers off over the summer. We have crews that go through parks daily. Chair Lockhart recalled notorious tagging on wood benches in the past. He suggested replacing wood with aluminum open backed benches. Mr. Koesling said wood can be painted over. He agreed that aluminum looks nicer than wood. Summerfest 2021 – The abbreviated version of Summerfest will take place Friday, June 25, and Saturday, June 26. There will be no parade because restrictions didn’t lift in time to pull one together. The committee decided against it for crowd and social distancing reasoning. There will be no carnival. On Friday, from 5 to 11 PM the entertainment is advertised on the City of Oakdale website. On Saturday the event will begin at 12 PM. There will be kids activities, food trucks, legacy vendors, art and vendor fair, music, and the Rockin Hollywoods playing, with fireworks at 10 PM. Planning is taking place now that restrictions have eased and the event will be good for the community. RECREATION UPDATE – Julie Williams Summer Programming – Summer is moving full speed ahead and the newsletter should hit mailboxes late this week. It will be available online as well. The full newsletter includes both adult and youth activities. Summer Staff – Instructors have been selected and training will begin the first week of June. Six staff are returning and there will be three to four new hires. Free Summer Youth Programming – The Council decided to offer youth programs at no cost to Oakdale Residents this summer. Indoor Garage Sale – The event typically held in winter was pushed to May due to Covid-19 uncertainty. It was held on Saturday from 9 AM to 1 PM at the Discovery Center. Next year the event date will be scheduled in winter again. Summerfest – The 5K run on Saturday, June 26 will have Citizens Community Federal Bank returning as sponsor. Volunteers from Hope Church will also be helping at the race. All participants PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION May 18, 2021 Page 3 receive a race shirt. There will be no day of registration this year; preregistration is required. The 3rd Lair Skateboard Contest will be held on Friday, June 25 at 5 PM with check in at 4 PM. The annual sponsors are Amy Brown State Farm and Oakdale Collision Center. Participation in the event is free. Amped Up Entertainment – The series kicks off Thursday, June 17. Free outdoor amphitheater programs will be offered select Thursdays at 10 AM. This year will feature the Raptor Center, Wendy’s Wiggle, Jiggle, and Jam, and the ACME Magic Factory. Typically the audience is 100 people for the very popular events. Summer Concerts – The Blue Dream Classic Rock Band will kick off the series on June 16. Concerts are held select Wednesdays beginning at 7 PM at the Walton Bandshell through August 18. Farmers Market – June 2 will kick off the Farmers Market, held Wednesdays through October 13 from 2 to 6:30 PM at the Oakdale City Hall Parking Lot. The market time was extended one half hour from last year. KCM Eggrolls and the Mexican food trucks will attend markets, along with rotating other food trucks. The majority of vendors are returning, with a few new vendors too. AARP Tax Assistance – Volunteers served 118 taxpayers while operating at half capacity this tax season. Park Cleanup – 11 parks were cleaned by 111 volunteers. Volunteers received grow-able plants as thank you gifts. Thank you volunteers! Volleyball League – Commissioner Meyer suggested a volleyball league to designate a location for the sport. He noticed the popularity with adults at Eastside, Walton, Eberle and Northdale. At Northdale, volleyball games have blocked practice play for other sports. Parks Superintendent Koesling notified that permits are required to set up volleyball because net stakes have damaged two lines beneath the ground where irrigation and power are located. Volleyball also erodes the turf down to dirt and players keep setting up courts over the same areas. Director Bachmeier was trying to find a good park to fit another volleyball court but there is difficulty finding the spacing required from other park amenities. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Park Tours – Commissioner Cunningham suggested the commission visit parks to visualize planned park improvements. Chair Lockhart will email the commission to plan dates and parks. He will send Mrs. Williams a schedule to post for the notice of quorum. Passive Parks – Commissioner Giacoletto suggested delisting Armstrong Park from the park directory because it is misleading when the park has no amenities, signage, or even cultivated grass to make it usable. The neighbors don’t want the park developed and it is clear one of the houses adjacent to the park is absorbing some of the park area. PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION May 18, 2021 Page 4 Chair Lockhart recalled a similar scenario at the recently sold property of Titan Park. The neighbors refused a picnic table or playground on the parcel the City would mow, and two daycare centers would utilize the open field. Replying to Commissioner Cunningham’s question about what defines a city park from other city properties, Director Bachmeier explained that properties platted as parks get the designation when they are donated to the City to be used as parks. If the City were to use them for anything other than that, there is a different process than some of the other open space areas the City has. The Park Chapter designates park land with a subtle distinction from open space. Some areas platted as parks function as open space. Mr. Bachmeier continued that there is no major expenditure at Armstrong Park as nothing is being done on the property. He suggested that exercises that will be used for developing parks in the new developments of Willowbrooke and Helmo Station may start another process on how we want to utilize current parks. This will be an opportunity to consider how facilities are utilized and address what is missing in the parks system to plan for a change in uses or providing new uses. For example, volleyball is an evolving need, and while there isn’t space at Northdale, a question would be whether to change other uses to accommodate that use. He would not jump into delisting parks, because planning parks could be part of a much broader study. Flagging open spaces versus park spaces could be a part of the evaluation. CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS UPDATE – Brian Bachmeier Shelter Roofing at Walton Park – The roofing project at Walton Park that Parks Superintendent Koesling was involved with has wrapped up and looks good. Repaving Oakdale Nature Preserve – The contract was awarded to Minnesota Paving to repave the south leg trail. Street improvements have already began associated with the project, and the last phase will be the preserve’s trail starting in August. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Walton Ice Rink Lighting – Chair Lockhart received a resident’s concern that he did not know Walton Park’s ice rink was opened this season because the lights were off. There is a switch and timer at the park. However, the resident suggested the lights stay on until 10 PM to advertise that the rink is open. He also shared that he was upset that there was no warming house. This was because of the pandemic. Family Fun Flatables – Commissioner Cunningham learned from Recreation Superintendent Williams that there will be no inflatables event in 2021 because planning for the event starts in January and the pandemic created uncertainty. ADJOURNMENT A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER JILES, SECONDED BY VICE CHAIR COOK TO ADJOURN THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION, DATED MAY 18, 2021, AT 8:01 PM. PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION May 18, 2021 Page 5 6 AYES 0 NAYS Respectfully submitted, Laura Linzmeyer MEMORANDUM TO: Christina Volkers, City Administrator FROM: Julie Williams, Recreation Superintendent DATE: July 16, 2021 SUBJECT: Monthly Update – July, 2021 The following information is provided to the City Administrator and Parks and Recreation Commissioners as information only. There is no need for any official commission, council, or administrative action; but rather, this is an effort by staff to keep you informed of the Department’s day-to-day operations. 1. Summer Camps – We are now halfway through our busy summer season. Kids are having a fantastic time this summer along with our fantastic group of staff! As you know, youth programming is being offered at no cost to Oakdale residents this summer. Therefore, the majority of programs are full with waiting lists. 2. Amped Up Entertainment - Our amphitheater program is off to a great start as over 100 participants enjoyed a visit from the Raptor Center who showcased a falcon, hawk and owl. Next up, perennial favorite, Bruce the Bug Guy and his live insects. 3. Summer Concert Series – The Summer Concert Series will host three concerts in July, KidsDance, Youth Night and the Minnesota State Band. Concerts are held on Wednesday’s beginning at 7 PM at the Walton Park bandshell. The series will conclude August 18. 4. Farmers Market - The Farmers Market continues all summer long, wrapping up on October 13. We’ve had the pleasure of hosting multiple food trucks at every market, including KCM Eggrolls and the mini donut truck. Along with all of the favorite produce vendors, we’ve added a rotating vendor booth which will allow new vendors the opportunity to sell on select dates. Some of the new vendors joining us include Soy Wicks & Sticks Candles, Campsite Treats, and the return of the Indoor Market favorite, Natasha’s Pierogis. 5. Parks and Recreation Month – On June 22, the City Council proclaimed July as Parks and Recreation Month in the City of Oakdale. See attachment. 6. Movie in the Park Event - On Friday, July 23, Onward will be shown at Walton Park under the stars. The Oakdale Police and Recreation Departments sponsor the event. Bring your chairs and blankets! Movie begins at dusk (approximately 9:30). 7. Art Gallery - Enjoy the photography of Logan Falzone this July at the Oakdale Discovery Center. See a metal print of the dramatic Yosemite spanning the wall of the gallery, a kaleidoscope view of downtown St. Paul, along with shuffling through his portfolio of landscape and wildlife prints. The self-taught photographer captures interesting perspectives of the Twin Cities and United States National Parks. 8. Outdoor Story Time – We are happy to finally welcome back Megan from the Oakdale Library. Our Story Time program has resumed however all programs are being held outdoors this summer. Up next, “Sleeping” will be held on Wednesday, July 28 at 10:30 AM at the amphitheater. This is a free, “reserve your spot” program.