HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRMinutes_2021_05_17Special Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Minutes
Monday, May 17, 2021 5:30 PM
Call to Order
Chairperson Erika Saunders called meeting to order at 5:32 PM. Verbal Roll Call - present: Steve Berseth, Andrea
Hogie, John Maynes, Doug Smith, Jay Larsen, Erika Saunders, Ashley Ragsdale (GoTo), & Isaac Schulte (GoTo) &
City Staff Dusty Rodiek, Greg Redenius Stacy Claussen, Darren Hoff, Al Kruse, Ronda May, & Parks Office Assistant
Cameron Harms. Not present: Carson Cody & City Mgr Paul Briseno. Guests: Harry Mansheim, 2 consultants
from Pros Consulting, Nat’l Guard Jason Kimura, & another guest in audience.
Approval of Agenda
Motion to approve agenda by Doug Smith, seconded by Jay Larsen; motion carried.
Event Request
A. National Guard – Jason Kimura: Use of Nat Park for battalion squad competition/community involvement
event. Permission to utilize parking lot of softball complex, not sure on how large event will be, depends on
community attendance. Local soldiers are 55+ & bringing in other soldiers state-wide plus others like
American Legion. Not a lot of adequate training ground here from Army perspective except at Nat Park,
easy to get to. Intent to setup couple of tents, grills, & some static displays. Trash cans, etc. would be
provided along w/hygiene items. About 2 m route w/variety of stations set up so 5-man teams can stop at
– testing on Army tasks so spectators can see what soldiers are trained on, etc. First aid, land navigation,
etc. No damage to park itself. TOC on provided map is tactical center & will probably keep a Ranger w/medic
stationed onsite for evac. Erika – public as observers? Yes, aiming for that. This is new battalion in town as
just moved here last fall so doing some community outreach, see them just not in natural disaster situation,
etc. Sept 11 is the date. Doug asked for any Parks conflicts? None. Setup 5-6 AM w/event starting around
9:30 AM & going until 4 PM. Still in planning phase until Board’s decision. Motion to approve by Doug Smith.
Dusty asked to clarify stations 5 & 9 – weapon breakdown for timed & evaluation. No real weapons on-site
during race except for breakdown. Andrea Hogie 2ndmotion; motion passed.
Parks Master Plan Data Review by Pros Consulting, Inc
B. Survey Results Findings: Dusty introduced Leon & Will Younger from Pro’s Consultants who are working
here tomorrow & Wed morning and giving same presentation Tues night to Council. Should be back in about
month. Went through PowerPoint. Everything in blue completed. Tomorrow working w/staff on maint
assessments & needs for future as well funding. Demographics & Trends: population continues to grow
slightly over period of time. We have active community, people proud to live in town, & parks large part of
that but want more trails & indoor recreation & aquatics. Value partnerships w/community entities – SDSU,
BSD, etc. Mailed out statistically-valid survey to 2800 households w/432 responses & online survey was
565 responses. ETC Institute out of Kansas compiled as they do only 2 types of surveys. Above nat’l rankings
for park percentages & overall ratings of our programs. People would like programs for special
population/disabled or low-income residents paid by our taxes. Strong perception that adults should pay
75-100% for their activities.
Facilities: want trails, neighborhood parks, community parks, paved bike trails, & picnic shelters in first tier.
How are needs being met? Indoor pools, indoor track, sledding hill, indoor facilities, walking/hiking trails,
etc. aren’t being met by 50% of surveyed households. Most imporant of facilities are walking/hiking & bike
trails as 1 & 2 then natural areas, small neighborhood parks, indoor facilities, etc. make up top 10 facilities.
Top priorities: walking/hiking trails, indoor swimming/leisure pool, indoor running/walking track, paved bike
trails, & nat’l areas/wildlife habitats are high priority.
Programs: adult fitness & wellness programs highest need from the survey. This is being met at 50% or
less. Highest priority is adult fitness & wellness, nature programs, water fitness programs, special events,
& travel/tourism (day trips). Improvement actions that are most important is improving existing paved
walking/biking trails, develop new trails, & develop new indoor rec center & new indoor swimming center.
Funding Mechanisms: program user fees, entrance operations, hotel tax, bond issue, dedicated tax for park
improvements, & impact/development fees are preferred in order as listed. Shows that Parks system needs
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add’l funding & people willing to invest in it. If had $100, highest percentage would give to develop indoor
facilities, construct new walking & biking trails, improve existing neighborhood parks, etc in order listed.
Satisfaction w/Park & Rec Services: amount of indoor rec space is where we see 50% somewhat or very
dis-satisfied so is an issue that needs to be addressed.
Parks & Rec Services that should receive most attention: amount of available indoor rec areas & also gave
other top 4 services.
CIP: critical, sustainable, or visionary alternatives are the categories to help develop estimated costs.
2020 Inventory – Developed Facilities: Total developed acres is 585.65, undeveloped is 51.90 for total of
637.55 park acres. Total park trail miles is 20.84 w/paved being 14.14 & nat’l park trails 6.70 miles. On-street
bicycle trail miles is 8.00 miles. Outdoor Amenities: very strong. Indoor Amenities: included LIC and B & G
Club & really shows add’l need for indoor space.
GIS Mapping Park Location: nice balance of different parks (mini/pocket, neighborhood, community, special
use, school, or undeveloped open spaces). We cover a lot of acres, & parks are well served in Brookings.
Some parks have limitations but have good amount of amenities & services to take care of needs.
Next steps over 2 months: Staffing & Operations Review, Priority Rankings, CIP, Funding Strategies, and
Action Plan to use as yearly score card.
John – asked if having ‘after meeting’ w/staff presenting to Council tomorrow night? Jay asked if how
reasonable they think survey is – different response areas taken into consideration? We want to look at all
sources, not just one. Used cross paths. Doug – if meet standards, 10 courts is fictitious. Yes, but need to
get everyone to work together as only so much money. Jay – Q18 & Q19 – how would you rank these? In last
5 years, they’ve done 37 bond issues & following priority rankings, all passed. They always look at top 4-5
& usually get widest amount of support. If narrow down bond issue to 1 facility, it’s hard to get support –
needs to be multi-functional. Makes strongest case for support as many can get use out of this type of
facility over years. At some point need to make decisions to make Brookings better, more livable & what
can be done to reach the highest segment of people? Makes us a destination. Wider the age segment for the
facility, the stronger the destination & is the element they’re focused on. Erika – decent amount of growth &
looked at area where that growth is? Yes, they have that data. Erika – how many years going out in report?
It’s a 10 yr plan as not growing that fast but serve a lot more people in addition to City residents. Need to
recognize serving bigger audience than Brookings. Jay – bonding question, ever happened for Parks & Rec?
Yes, both LIC & Bob Shelden. Jay stood corrected that those that have gone to a vote haven’t passed. Steve
happy that they’re looking at demographics. Only 1 school N of railroad tracks so who knows how long
everything’s on S side of railroad tracks.
Public Comment:
A. Guest Harry Manshiem: 432 responses, how were they surveyed? Surveys bought addresses & picked
random household that picked demographics of Brookings. Plus/minus 4% were guaranteed – paper, online,
or phone in survey. Assume relatively valid.
Adjournment:
John Maynes moved to adjourn the meeting at 6:26 PM, seconded by John Maynes; motion carried.
Submitted,
Ronda A May
Ronda A May, Park & Rec Office Manager