02-11-2026 Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Packet (1)

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Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes January 14, 2026 --------- Page 4 of 6 and broke his arm. She said they need to take into consideration how parks are used in the winter as well as the summer. Commissioner Niziolek said it is imperative that they refer to it as Ridgewood East. Commissioner Goodwin and Commissioner Niziolek explained how the sledding hill works at Ridgewood East and how it slopes into the basketball court. Commissioner Loidolt pointed out that he noticed there wasn’t any protection around the basketball pole on the sledding hill as well. Commissioner Goodwin agreed that there needs to be some consideration as far as the safety of the sledding hill. Chair Anderson said that when they did their last survey, he did not see any actionable data, so he isn’t inclined to do another survey to determine what to do in this case. Commissioner Goodwin said Ridgewood East is a destination park for sledding in the wintertime, so she thinks it is more than a neighborhood park. Chair Anderson said they have removed other park amenities without surveys based on staff observations of usage. Commissioner Stewart said that the nice thing about this one is that they are not spending money to remove this feature so if they are wrong it won’t cost them anything. Chair Anderson said they could take the post out and see if there was a response. Commissioner Niziolek said that he thinks that everyone knows his opinion, so he isn’t going to say anything. He explained that he wants to make sure that people understand that he just wants to spend the money wisely. Commissioner Goodwin and Fermoyle agreed. Commissioner Goodwin asked how they can do something about the basketball hoop this winter to keep people safe. Chair Anderson asked if they could put some straw bales around the post. Chair Anderson said if the consensus is to remove this from the CIP, then they should make a motion. Moved by Commissioner Goodwin and seconded by Fermoyle to recommend the City Council will remove the Ridgewood East basketball court from the Park Improvement Fund CIP. Motion carried 6-0. 8.PARKS AND RECREATION MANAGER UPDATE 8.1 Parks and Recreation Manager Update Mr. Shelby presented his report. 9.ANNOUNCEMENTS 10.MOTION TO ADJOURN REGULAR MEETING Moved by Commissioner Fermoyle and seconded by Commissioner Goodwin to adjourn to work session of the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting at 7:38 p.m. Motion carried 6-0. 11.WORK SESSION 11.1 Trail Safety Mr. Shelby presented his power point about trail safety, starting with the discussion goals of types of signage, locations, needs/want to stripe the trail, etc. He shared that the other Great Northern Trail shareholders have no intention of striping or paint work on the trails. Sherburne County put a sign up on their portion about trail etiquette three or four years ago and will also be putting up speed limit DRAFTPage 5 of 22