4.1. DRAFT MINUTES (2 SETS) 02-03-2014

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City Council Minutes Page 3 January 6,2014 The Council welcomed Mr. Dalton. 6.2 Parks and Recreation Master Plan Presentation Mr. Hecker introduced Lil Latham and Paul Page. Ms. Latham reviewed Hoisington Koegler Group,Inc.'s (HKGi) goals for the Elk River Parks and Recreation Master Plan. She discussed elements of the plan,their past experience working on projects for Elk River. She noted the process would take approximately 9 months. Ms. Latham questioned the Council about their goals and priorities. Ms. Latham asked: 1. Which is your favorite park and why? Council comments included: • Woodland Trails for its activities • RiverEdge Park for concerts and proximity to business/river • Bailey Point • The city has a lot of excellent parks and they are liked for different reasons depending on the type of activity. Woodland Trails and Bailey Point are for nature and walking,whereas RiversEdge is for downtown and music, and the sports complexes are for athletic programs. 2. What do you think is needed or could be improved or what have you heard from constituents? Council comments included: • Direction on how to handle donations from organizations that have begun to step up and offer assistance to improve parks or donate items for them. Need to be careful on how to utilize donations,if accepted, and can't just react. Need a plan for competing priorities. • Direction and funding for maintaining parks long-term. • Inventory current parks and determine if they are needed or fit community needs. (due to funding) • Recreation programming. Expanding current program offerings and determining what public wants, statistics on current programming usage. • Important to have a variety of options available and have a balance for different users. • Connections between parks. Continuing the Mississippi River Trail to the City of Ramsey. • Determine how public feels about a park referendum. • How the Houlton property fits in. POWERED 9r 1`4M