The Commission will be updated on current and upcoming park projects and recreation programs.

Transcription

1 City of Oakdale, Minnesota -established Department of Recreation 4444 Hadley Avenue North Oakdale, MN (651) (651) (fax) November 17, 2017 Dear Parks and Recreation Commissioners: Enclosed is your packet of information for the regular Parks and Recreation Commission meeting to be held on Tuesday, November 21, The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the Oakdale City Hall Council Chambers, 1584 Hadley Avenue. The Commission will be updated 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) Sincerely, Julie Williams Julie Williams Recreation Superintendent

2 Oakdale Parks and Recreation Commission Agenda Tuesday, November 21, :00 pm, Council Chambers Oakdale City Hall 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Pledge of Allegiance 4. Approval of Minutes October 17, Council Update Bill Rasmussen 6. Parks Update Jeff Koesling 7. Recreation Update Julie Williams 8. Commissioners Comments 9. Adjournment The next regular Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting will be held February 20, 7:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers

3 REGULAR MEETING PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION City of Oakdale October 17, 2017 CALL TO ORDER A regular meeting of the Oakdale Parks and Recreation Commission was held on Tuesday, October 17, 2017, at Oakdale City Hall, 1584 Hadley Avenue, Oakdale, Minnesota. The meeting was called to order by Vice Chair Bethke at 7:01 p.m. CALL OF ROLL On a call of roll, the following were present: Vice Chair: Commissioners: Also Present: Absent (Excused): Maxine Bethke Janet Cunningham Colleen Swedberg Jane Klein Jeff Koesling, Parks Superintendent Julie Williams, Recreation Superintendent Gary Masterman, Chairperson Brian Bachmeier, Public Works Director Bill Rasmussen, City Council ANNOUNCEMENT Vice Chair Bethke announced that this meeting and all future meetings may be seen live streamed online on the city website. Find the link on your government s webpage. Thank you for watching. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE PARKS UPDATE Jeff Koesling Fall Park Maintenance Crews have been busy working as the fall soccer and football seasons are wrapping up. Soccer is done this Thursday and football ends next week. Crews have begun aerating park areas and will wait to do the athletic fields when the sport seasons are wrapped up. Weather depending, the crews will begin removing tennis nets the week of the 23 rd or the following week of the 30 th. While enjoying the seasonably warm weather, we try to keep the nets out as long as possible. It may get cold next week. Park crews will begin doing park cleanup of fall leaves working side by side with the street crew. As street staff sweep streets, park staff get the leaves from parks into the streets. This system has been used the last four to five years and works great. Annual Fall Snow Expo Training Day Crews attended training the first week of October in St. Cloud. Classroom seminars, an equipment show, and demonstrations were part of the event that was put on for

4 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION October 17, 2017 Page 2 the whole state s public works staff. There were a wide variety of 45 minute training classes so that employees could attend a few throughout the day. Winter Preparation - Staff have begun winterizing city irrigation systems and buildings. Equipment operations changes from summer to winter. Preparation of outdoor rink areas, warming houses, and other change of the seasons duties have been started. Mowing may only happen a couple more times this season. Oakdale Bark Park Commissioner Klein asked if dog park trails would be cleared over the winter. Superintendent Koesling responded that his belief is the trails will not be cleared, because bringing in equipment requires a permit due to the underground pipeline. In an area where a bench was considered, the pipeline was found to be only 16 inches deep. There are very particular rules about what equipment can be brought in, and drive over the buried pipeline. Mr. Koesling will seek a definite answer and forward it to the commission. Commissioner Klein visited the dog park two weeks ago and commented that the double chain link gate system with the pulleys is the slickest thing to prevent dogs from escaping. Mr. Koesling responded that dogs are smart and will open a regular gate using their nose. The last gate broke because someone thought it was locked and kicked it open. There are now signs with gate opening instructions. The gate is magnetic. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Regular Meeting, September 19, 2017 A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER KLEIN, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SWEDBERG TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 19, 2017 AS PRESENTED. 4 AYES 0 NAYS RECREATION UPDATE Julie Williams Farmers Market Recap Over 20 vendors participated throughout the season this year. Traffic increased with shoppers coming through on a regular basis. New this year, Market Coordinator Nathan Timmons was present throughout the market. He has done a fantastic job taking over this year. Being present every Wednesday helped the market and vendors. He stayed the whole day, gave out freebies, program information, and promoted the weekly basket raffle. Wednesday hot, rainy, and windy weather has been a challenge, but people still showed and there was an uptick in shoppers. Next season, more live music is planned to add a boost and nice vibe to the market for shoppers. The Mexican food truck will return next year after having a really good season this year. We will have more incentives to get families out to the market. It was a nice season.

5 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION October 17, 2017 Page 3 Music Wall Kids are having fun with the new addition of the music wall to the Oakdale Nature Preserve. Girl Scouts Emily O. and Stephanie M. constructed the music wall right behind the schoolhouse. It was part of earning their Silver Award; the second highest award given in Girl Scouts. Congratulations to them! The wall turned out really nice. The girls worked with both the Recreation and Parks Departments to pick a location and work out the details of their project. Master Gardeners Container Gardening On Saturday, from AM, Jane Klein will present information on turning flower pots into fall/winter containers. The class is free and open to all. Call the Recreation Department to reserve your spot for Saturday. Flashlight Pumpkin Hunt The big Halloween event is Thursday, October 26, from 7 8:30 PM at the Discovery Center and Nature Preserve. Kids hunt for pumpkins on luminary lit trails, find a pumpkin to decorate at the shelter, have a bonfire, DJ, snacks, and fun games. Typically there are 150 kids and their parents for a 300+ person event. The registration is open through Thursday. There is still room! Artist of the Month 16 year old artist Victoria Vicky Taylor s paintings and drawings are on display through the month of October. It is nie to see a younger person involved in the display. Her work is unique, fun, and interesting. We are happy to have her here this month. Art Discovery Fair On November 4, from 10 5, the Discovery Center will have paintings, photography, wood, clay, jewelry, and more at the art fair. We are full and capped at 25 artists; the most vendors we have ever had. It is nice to see full, and hopefully we will fill with shoppers too. There will be live music by the 2 Sisters who have performed at the farmers market. There will be a free opportunity for kids to make a craft at the Kids Kraft Korner. Also, the Mexican food truck will be stopping by for hungry visitors during lunch. The event is free to browse. Indoor Market The season is almost upon us as the indoor market begins on Saturday, November 11 at the Discovery Center. There are 20 confirmed vendors. We will probably end up with 25 vendors, as we don t want many more. The full vendor list will be available the end of October on our website. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Commissioner Klein thanked everyone that turned out last Saturday for the Buckthorn Round Up. Mr. Dean s North High Students were fabulous; they worked hard and hauled a lot of buckthorn. Donations came from Hy-Vee, Envision, and Stiglich Construction. It is nice to have the community come together; public works, students, and Master Gardeners volunteering their time. The park looked really good when we were done. Thank you to everyone that showed up and to Mother Nature for no rain. ADJOURNMENT A MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER SWEDBERG SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER CUNNINGHAM TO ADJOURN THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION, DATED OCTOBER 17, 2017, AT 7:14 P.M.

6 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION October 17, 2017 Page 4 4 AYES 0 NAYS Respectfully submitted, Laura Heimkes

7 M E M O R A N D U M TO: Bart Fischer, City Administrator FROM: Julie Williams, Recreation Superintendent DATE: November, 2017 SUBJECT: Monthly Update 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. Community Walk Re-Cap The Community Walk wrapped up the season on October 31. The program was again extremely successful. 278 participated and walked over 36,000 miles (12,000 more miles than the previous year). Participants earned gift cards for the amount of miles they walked. 50 dedicated participants reached the ultimate goal of 400 miles! Top mileage walker was Jill Sadler, who topped over 800 miles! Participants enjoyed the beautiful trails at the Oakdale Nature Preserve with many walking on a daily basis, sometimes more than once! Congrats to all! 2. Art Fair Re-Cap - 25 local artists gathered at the Discovery Center on Saturday, November 4, for the 5 th annual Art Discovery Fair. A variety of artwork was on display and available to purchase, including paintings, jewelry, photography, clay, wood, blankets, clothing, and mixed media art. Approximately 350 shoppers attended the event, which also included live music by the 2 Sisters, a free kid s craft station, and a lunchtime visit by the Taqueria los Paisanos Mexican food truck. 3. Indoor Market The Indoor Market kicked off on Saturday, November 11 at the Discovery Center. We re looking forward to another great season as shoppers can expect local items from over 25 vendors. Products include bakery items, bbq sauces, holiday plant arrangements, salsas, homemade sausage, honey, jellies, coffee beans and coffee, paintings, jewelry, candles, eggs, fresh pork and beef, and spices. New vendors include Dahl Hobby Farm (spices, chutney, fruit), Gilbertson Farm (pork and beef), Hoppel Poppel Breads, and Freynika Chocolate. The market will be held on the following Saturdays: November 25, December 9, January 6 and 20, February 3 and 17, March 3 and 17. Stop by the market to get a jump start on your holiday shopping! See attached flyer. 4. Art Gallery - This November s Discovery Center featured artist is a community favorite; Jeanne Dzuik, an Oakdale resident and nature photographer. Jeanne s photos highlight the backyard birds and wildlife living right here in Oakdale and also throughout the state parks of Minnesota. Each photo is uniquely framed with materials such as barn wood, metallic paint, and wire to complement the animal or landscape within the frame Rental Report See attachment.

8 6. SHIP Grant The department had the opportunity to purchase an adaptive bike through the Living Healthy in Washington County Active Living pilot project. This opportunity arose through a SHIP grant (Statewide Health Improvement Partnership), and we are excited for the opportunities the new adaptive bike will bring to the community. With the grant, we were able to purchase a Team Dual Trike, a side-by-side tandem bike, which will be a great addition alongside the two very popular, tandem bikes that are available for loan at the Discovery Center. The adaptive bikes are inclusive and will provide opportunities to experience the park to all that visit the Nature Preserve. The bike is ideal for the seniors, families with small children, and anyone looking to explore the park in a fun and unique way. 7. Santa Mailboxes The department continues to place Santa letter collection boxes at City Hall and the Discovery Center. Still a very popular activity after many years, over 200 letters filled our mailboxes last year. After we forward them on to the North Pole, each child who submits a letter receives a letter from Santa. 8. Santa Truck The Recreation and Fire Department are partnering again on the annual Santa Truck event. A fire truck decked out with lights and of course Santa will make its way down Hadley Ave on Thursday, December 7 from 6 7:35 p.m. The truck will begin at the North Fire Station with selected stops along the way for candy cane giveaways! 9. Winter Wonderland The upcoming annual Winter Wonderland event will be held on Saturday, December 16 from 9 a.m. 1 p.m. One of our biggest events, over 1,000 participants stop by every year. Activities will include: visit with Santa, hayrides, dogs of winter, petting zoo, holiday train display, candy cane hunt, bonfire with s mores, breakfast and lunch, holiday face painting, and crafts. Partners include the Oakdale Chamber, Platinum Bank and the Maplewood/Oakdale Lions Club. 10. Snowshoe Rentals Our snowshoe season will begin on Sunday, December 20 (pending snow conditions). Rentals are available Monday through Friday, 9 am to 4 pm; Saturday, 12 to 4pm; Sunday, 1 to 4 pm. Rates are $5/person for a two-hour rental. Sizes are available for both children and adults. First come, first served. Reservations recommended for groups of six or more. 11. Ice Rinks/Rink Attendants Rink Attendants will be hired in the next few weeks to staff the warming houses for the season. Warming houses are located at Northdale and Richard Walton Park. We re hopeful the rinks will be up and running by Christmas break this year. 12. Spring Newsletter The Spring newsletter (Feb May) will be delivered to residents mid- January.

9

10 2017 FACILITY RENTAL REPORT Discovery Center Rentals January 1 through December 31, 2017 $15, permits Discovery Center Permits by Type: Party Meeting Wedding Remembrance/Memorial Total 17 permits 26 permits 10 permits 2 permits 55 permits Shelter Rentals Walton Park - North $6, permits Walton Park - South $4, permits Walton Park - Small $1, permits Walton Park - Band Shell $2, permits Eastside $ permits Eberle $ permits Guthrie $ permits Northdale $1, permits Oakdale - Large $1, permits Oakdale - Small $ permits Oakdale - Amphitheater $ permits Oakfield $ permits Tanners Lake $1, permits Total Shelter Rentals $20, permits