09-10-2025 Parks and Recreation Commission Packet

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DRAFT Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes August 13, 2025 --------- Page 2 of 8 applicable rate at the time of recording and a trail access easement where the location and width will be determined by the City Council and staff. Motion carried 5-0. 7.2 Table of Contents - Elk River Parks and Recreation Framework Plan Mr. Shelby presented his report. Commissioner Niziolek asked if the table of contents page will have web-based links. Mr. Shelby stated that he believes that is the intention based on what was discussed at the previous meeting. Commissioner Niziolek asked if the links could also be tracked via the website. Mr. Shelby said that would be something our communications department could determine. He can confirm this with them and bring back that information at the next meeting. Moved by Commissioner Stewart and seconded by Commissioner Fermoyle to approve the table of contents for the Elk River Parks and Recreation Framework Plan as presented. Motion carried 6-0. 7.3 Park Usage Survey - Region 1 Mr. Shelby presented his report. Chair Anderson asked Mr. Shelby to review the questions under one of the parks listed in the survey with the intent that once approved and finalized it would be duplicated for all of the parks included in the survey. Councilmember Grupa asked the commissioners what they would do if they got feedback from the residents requesting amenities or upgrades that the city may not be able to afford and may even need to remove. Councilmember Grupa said he thought they were looking for just the usage of each park and how far the users lived from them. He is concerned about asking questions that give the impression something might be added and then the park might be completely removed. Commissioner Varty asked him if he wanted to remove the question. Commission Fermoyle said that if they are transparent with what they are trying to achieve, she thinks residents will understand. Commissioner Loidolt suggested they could state something that gives the message that there is no guarantee that these items will be added to the park. Commissioner Fermoyle said they could include a disclaimer at the end of the survey. Commissioner Niziolek said he thinks that, by the nature of the survey, they are drawing attention to the park. He thinks that usership will go up for a while right after the survey and then it will drop off. He also asked what the cost of the survey is and if they could do something different that would track the usership of the park and give quantifiable data such as visiting the site and recording the number of people present. Mr. Shelby said they could do whatever the commission decides. If the Commission wants staff to compare the cost of a postcard versus a monitoring type of technology, they could certainly explore that, but it is not an area of his expertise. He would also need a longer timeline to gather that information. Commissioner Niziolek said if this is something they are going to do multiple times they might save money if they invest in a more efficient way to monitor the presence of people in the parks to gather data. Mr. Shelby suggested that if the commission wants to switch gears, then that should be determined tonight so more time isn’t wasted on this survey. Commissioner Niziolek said he doesn’t think that doing the survey is the wrong thing to do, but that he feels there might be a better way of doing it. If this survey is significantly cheaper than he thinks, they should go with it, but if they have a better way of gathering quantifiable data that is cost effective, then they should explore that. Commissioner Fermoyle asked Commissioner Niziolek if he had any ideas of what type of equipment Page 3 of 17