09-10-2025 Parks and Recreation Commission Packet

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DRAFT Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes August 13, 2025 --------- Page 4 of 8 Orono Park. He still disagrees with including Orono Park. Councilmember Grupa said he thinks there are problems within the first three parks in the survey and there are changes and decisions to be made about just these specific ones, not Orono. Chair Anderson said they are looking for usership. Councilmember Grupa said yes, but not Orono Park. Commissioner Loidolt reiterated that they already know people are using Orono Park, they need to find out how many people are using the other three in the survey. Councilmember Grupa said if everyone chooses Orono Park then they know what they are going to do with the other three. Commissioner Niziolek asked if they could put the parks in list format, for example most likely to use, least likely to use, etc. and then they would have valuable data. Chair Anderson suggested rank choice voting. Chair Anderson suggested that they change the way that question 25 is worded. Commissioner Stewart said that they need to change the question to get the answers they are looking for. In this case it is ranking the parks in order of lowest to highest or vice versa. Commissioner Loidolt said they all know that Orono Park will come in number one. Commissioner Varty said then what they are really looking for is what order the others come in. Mr. Shelby said that his suggestion would be to identify how 25 should be rewritten and then they can include that in the recommendation in the motion by approving the survey with the amendments. Chair Anderson said that one option would also be for Commissioners to send their suggested changes to Mr. Shelby, and he can bring the document back the following month for review. Commissioner Niziolek said it would take too long to get the survey out, and they wouldn’t get quality data. If they can’t get it going tonight, they should wait until next year. Mr. Shelby confirmed that the Commission wants to change the first paragraphs of the survey as well as question 25. They will go line by line. Commissioner Niziolek had concerns about the first sentence in the survey and felt that it was out of place. Chair Anderson said he believed it is fine where it is. The Commission agreed to change the first paragraph of the survey to the following: Park Usage Survey-Region 1 The City of Elk Rivers’ current model for maintaining parks isn’t sustainable long-term due to financial constraints. We need your help to make informed decisions about park spending for Country Crossings Park, Fresno Park, Mississippi Oaks Park, and Orono Park. We’re seeking your feedback on these parks to understand how residents use them. We’ve divided up our park system by region and we are asking for input on these parks closest to your home. (remove “this will be done citywide”) Your input will directly impact how we manage and maintain our parks for everyone to enjoy. The survey should take about 5-10 minutes to complete. Change Question 25: If the city had to make a difficult decision due to budget constraints, please rank the importance of playground structures in the following parks one through four with one being the most important. Remove “no preference.” Page 5 of 17