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Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes June 11, 2025 --------- Page 7 of 10 dollars to replace the current playgrounds. She said they should ask residents what they want destination parks to look like. She said Play My Way was a good start to surveying people but if they could continue having conversations with the community with that in mind, that they want to create destination parks that have amenities that families want to go to then they can look more strategically at the location of those and plan for the future once the sand dunes get developed and what do parks look like in that direction. Then they can plan with a new strategy in mind. Commissioner Goodwin asked how the commission should plan for this. She pointed out that things will change again in 25 years. She suggested there are already some destination parks in Elk River such as Orono, Trott Brook, etc, so how do they maximize the amenities in those parks? They need community involvement, and the reality is some of these parks will be eliminated, but what can they do to maximize the amenities in the parks that remain. Commissioner Varty asked Commissioner Goodwin if only four parks would be enough if they were all different. Commissioner Goodwin said yes, and that Elk River already has that. She and her family go to Woodland Trails Regional Park, Orono, and Trott Brook Park. Commissioner Niziolek asked what they would do if they were going to just remove playgrounds. He is concerned about how the parks will meet the needs of the residents. He also asked if playgrounds will ever become mobile. Commissioner Fermoyle asked who would remove the old playground equipment. Mr. Shelby explained that Josh Baas, the Park Maintenance Foreman, and his staff remove it and sometimes there is a company they can donate the equipment to be shipped overseas, or it is disposed of. Mr. Shelby shared that being conscious of cost, staff try to absorb the labor costs etc. as much as possible. Chair Anderson said that he likes the idea of talking to people and canvassing neighborhoods, but there is nothing like traffic counters. He said that he sees people at Woodland Trails Regional Park a lot, but he doesn’t see that many kids at other playgrounds. He asked staff to draw circles on the map in the packet around Orono Park, Lion John Weicht Park, and Trott Brook Park. He pointed out that if they look at Orono, there are 5 playgrounds in that area numbered as 11, 13, 19, 23, and 1 on the park map. He doesn’t know how they are going to be able to afford to maintain that many parks in that quadrant of the city like that. He said that his grandkids would drive by 5 parks to get to Orono in the past. Commissioner Varty said every school has a traditional playground and asked if people could go to those if they wanted to. Commissioner Niziolek said that when they built Lion John Weicht Park Playground, they asked the playground designer to survey the playground equipment at the local school. Some of the playgrounds may just have to be pulled out and then see if people get upset. Commissioner Loidolt said that the small neighborhood amenities and playgrounds are just for the residents in a three to four block area. He asked if there is a way to capture the median age of the people in a neighborhood around where a park is. He said that if a neighborhood has a lot of residents in the 50- to 60-year-old range the neighborhood is going to turn and flip into younger families as they eventually move out. Commissioner Goodwin said that she thinks Sherburne County would probably have that information. Commissioner Loidolt did point out that they had removed a playground before and no one said anything. Chair Anderson asked if there are any amenities they can offer in those locations besides playgrounds that the neighborhood would want. Commissioner Loidolt suggested, for example, a