09-10-2025 Parks and Recreation Commission Packet

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DRAFT Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes August 13, 2025 --------- Page 3 of 8 other than a deer cam, that they could use for gathering data. He said there is so much technology out there today and everything is changing by the moment so he can’t speak to that. Chair Anderson said if they change things now, they would essentially be pushing the project out a year. Commissioner Stewart asked if the point of the survey is to count the number of people in the park or what amenities they are using in the park. Commissioner Niziolek said that he just wants to monitor the usage of the park to make the best decisions with the budget they have. Commissioner Loidolt said that he is concerned about citizens feeling like their privacy is invaded with a monitoring system and he is also concerned about vandalism to the units that are doing the tracking if they are portable. He is not in favor of this. Commissioner Niziolek said the city is already moving in the direction of monitoring, and the city would have to buy more units that are expensive. Councilmember Grupa said they have had vandalism in some of the parks, which is why the cameras have been installed. Commissioner Niziolek said he thinks that the data is all there and that we just have to use it. Commissioner Niziolek said based on the feeling he is getting he thinks they should just go with the survey. He says the Commission should strongly consider more objective ways to gather the data. Commissioner Stewart said that in the interest of transparency bullet points 19 and 20 address that this survey is about what the residents want but also reiterates that the city has a budget. Commissioner Niziolek asked if the sequence of questions is of significance in this survey. He wonders if the sequence could affect the answers they get. He would like to have data backing up the significance of the sequence of the questions. Secretary Larson pointed out that Mr. Shelby pulled these questions from a lot of current surveys that exist right now. Mr. Shelby shared that he reviewed many surveys from other communities that were looking for the same information. Commissioner Niziolek said that they should collect as much data as they can so more choices and more data is what he would like. Chair Anderson said that he agrees that Orono Park should be included in the survey. Commissioner Varty said she thinks the questions are in the standard order that you see in most surveys. Chair Anderson stated that the Commission has two surveys to choose from, one with Orono Park in it and one without. Commissioner Niziolek said he thinks they should collect as much data as they can and that information about another park is only going to help them make good choices. Chair Anderson said that he agrees that Orono Park should be included. Commissioner Varty agreed as well. Commissioner Loidolt said that he views Orono as a destination park and not a neighborhood park so he doesn’t think it should be included. Commissioner Fermoyle said she can email her suggested changes to the document to Mr. Shelby. Commissioner Loidolt said he thinks that residents will all choose Orono Park on question 25. Councilmember Grupa said that if they include Orono Park in the survey, the data will show in favor of recommending keeping Orono and getting rid of the other three parks. Commissioner Niziolek asked if question 25 can be reorganized to have the surveyor rank the parks in the order. Chair Anderson stated that the majority of the Commission want to include Orono Park in the survey. Commissioner Fermoyle said that she would like to rewrite the opening paragraphs of the survey. She wants to explain why the current model for maintaining the parks isn’t sustainable. She suggested varied options of what the paragraph could say. Commissioner Loidolt said question 25 doesn’t make sense because he thinks everyone will choose Page 4 of 17