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Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes June 11, 2025 --------- Page 8 of 10 pickleball court. Mr. Shelby said to be careful with that in neighborhoods because there are starting to be noise complaints about that in other cities. Councilmember Cory Grupa shared with the commission that when they do close a park and a playground, the City Council does hear about it, so he warned them to keep that in mind. Commissioner Stewart said they have additional funding that will be needed for future developments coming in. He mentioned that they just talked about Specht Farms as well as the park north of the gravel pit. Commissioner Niziolek said that this leads them into the discussion of the master plan. He shared that he feels they need to have a financial plan and help from the council to know what they can plan for because one of the issues they ran into with the ballfield plan is money. He feels that money will drive what they do, and he thinks that will make this round of master park planning difficult. He thinks they need a financial plan before a master plan. Commissioner Loidolt asked how long the liquor fund has been set at $250,000. Staff said they were not sure. Chair Anderson said he did not think it was that long ago. Commissioner Fermoyle asked where the park dedication money goes. Chair Anderson said that it needs to be used for new installations. Commissioner Niziolek said that for example, with the Specht property all the park dedication money will be gone. He thinks they will have to put more money into it. Councilmember Cory Grupa asked if the park dedication money must be used for new amenities in the development being built. Mr. Stremcha explained that park dedication can be used for any new park property or amenities that are not currently in the system. Chair Anderson added they don’t have to necessarily keep the money in the neighborhood it is coming from. Chair Anderson shared they had a lot of park dedication money coming in until 2008, and they spent it far too quickly, and then after the economy crashed it stopped coming in. Chair Anderson said now the park dedication is going down to about $3,000 and it used to be $7,000. Without park dedication there is only the tax money coming in from Elk River residents and there is not a favorable sentiment to raise taxes, so the other option is money from the liquor store fund to maintain everything. Commissioner Stewart asked if the commission could get the actual estimated dollar amount from park dedications included in the staff report. Mr. Shelby explained that the number can change though. Chair Anderson said they used to be included but because it can change at the time of final plat, they don’t include it anymore. Commissioner Varty asked if they could change the park dedication money from going to only new things to anything. Chair Anderson and Commissioner Niziolek explained that it is state law. Chair Anderson said that someday they will be having a discussion about having too many parks but if parks were taken with park dedication, they can’t be sold. Commissioner Niziolek said they will have to find some innovative ways to use these spaces. Commissioner Stewart said that even if there are limited amenities there will still be maintenance on the property. Mr. Stremcha shared that it may mean more rain and butterfly gardens and nature play areas. Commissioner Niziolek asked what they could do down the road to make these spaces interesting and unique, such as food trucks or pop-up events. Commissioner Goodwin said it is an interesting idea but asked what their strategic plan is for what they need to deal with right now. Do they feel like they have the know how to decide what parks to keep and what they are going to do with them?