Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021 05-18 PRMMINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE PARK AND RECREATION COMMISSION FOR THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER IN THE COUNTY OF HENNEPIN AND THE STATE OF MINNESOTA REGULAR SESSION MAY 18, 2021 WEB -EX MEETING CALL TO ORDER Chair Sorenson called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm. ROLL CALL Chair Sorenson and Commissioners Ebert, Bonovsky and Branch were present. Commissioner Lungelow was unable to attend. Also present were Acting Recreation Director Joe Ericksen, Public Works Director Doran Cote, Recreation Program Supervisors Janelle Crossfield, Carissa Goebel and Jacob Andersen. City Engineer Andrew Hogg was also present. Councilmember Graves joined later in the meeting. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Addition to Unfinished Business which is Commission Appointments. Addition to New Business is program fees for Children, City Webpage and Summer Recreation Guide. With these additions the agenda was approved. APPROVAL OF MINUTES — March, 2021 There was not a motion to approve the March minutes as errors were found in the minutes. The errors need to be corrected and pushed to the June meeting for approval. COMMISSION MEMORIALS or SERVICE RECOGNITION Public Works Director Cote suggested the city should draft a policy for memorials or recognition that can be used when requests come in for these services. Currently there are two memorials that the process had stopped and would like to finish these projects. The park bench project memorial project was decided to finish and use as an example of something the city can be done in the future. Commissioner Bonovsky mentioned that a nice metal sign on bench would be an option. Comissioners Ebert and Bonovsky will work with Director Cote. PLAYGROUND SCHEDULE The contractor that was awarded the job in April has not had a chance to connect yet with the plans. The equipment has been ordered however we do not know their schedule for which parks and when. BELLVUE PARK GARDEN PRPOSAL This has been deferred to next year as they are going to do more research with the neighborhood. DOG PARK UPDATE There was a survey over a year ago that said it could be at Centennial or Freeway Park. FREEWAY PARK UPDATE A cemetery land exchange agreement has been developed in March and we are waiting to hear back. We started the removals of backstops, ball field ag lime, drinking fountains, and basketball courts. The picnic shelter and parking lot will remain on Freeway Park so that is to be determined on what to do with it. City Council did approve the plat. Freeway Park master plan did not get completed due to the pandemic. SUMMER RECREATION GUIDE Acting Recreation Director Ericksen reported that fees for youth programs have been reduced to make them more affordable. The Commission discussed if the fees were fair or if more programs needed to be affordable. A motion was voted on and passed by the Commission that they recommend that the Recreation Department should have a graduating fee scale to make fees less expensive on the number of kids a family has. BC PARKS OUR BEST KEPT SECRET The Commission asked to have pictures of all of the parks and have these on the website. Acting Recreation Director Ericksen will get these pictures on the new website by the end of summer. COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT Councilmember Graves reported a resolution was passed on Saturday. Staff will present framework for the opportunity site at the upcoming council meeting. Work on Brooklyn Blvd has passed. The Fire Department took part in the Heal the City event. The City Manager with other city leaders have been planning on what we have learned from Covid-19 and the unrest to prepare the city for some discuss. The Fire Department will be conducting a live burn at the end of May. Brooklyn Center is still having an increase in Covid-19 cases. Hennepin County now has a drive through Covid-19 site. BIKE SKILL COURSE Janelle Crossfield and Andrew Hogg presented on bike courses for the city. Minneapolis has these bike parks and stats were taken from Minneapolis for who can use it and the benefits of it. It was proposed to be put at ice rinks in the summer at Centennial Park to start. A partnership would happen with Hennepin County to purchase these ramps. Three Rivers would also partner for advertising, signage and possibly funding. A motion was made to the Recreation Department as a recommendation to look into this forward. FIREHOUSE BASKETBALL COURT The question was asked on why the basketball hoop was taken down. The answer had to do with issues that took place in the area when the hoop was up. It was requested to look into getting more basketball courts available in the city. PARKS TOURS Do park tours in September for the Commission after they have at least two new members. CITY WEBSITE Chair Sorenson questioned why the website was not up for the public yet and why the progress is taking the length it is. Recreation Supervisor Carissa Goebel spoke on that the city has been working to get the website up however there is not a date for the website to be launched. The Commission also asked about the lack of youth programs for Brooklyn Center participants only. Acting Recreation Director Ericksen gave the history of lack of participation and the partnership with Brooklyn Park to get these programs going. It was talked about to revisit Brooklyn Center running their own programs again. FUTURE MEETING Continue zoom meeting for the third Tuesday in June and discuss meeting in person after that. MEETING ADJOURNED A motion was made by to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed unanimously.