HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRMinutes_2024_04_01
Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Notes
Monday, April 1, 2024 5:30 PM
1. Call to Order
Chair Erika Saunders called the meeting to order at 5:30 PM. Board Members present: Erika Saunders, Doug Smith,
Jay Larsen, Nathaniel Condelli, Stacy Zerfas, Erin Benz, Cade Christianson, Brenda Andersen. Board Members absent:
Steven Berseth. City of Brookings Staff Present: Park, Recreation and Forestry Director Kristin Zimmerman, Assistant
Director Parks, Recreation and Forestry Joshua Bauman, Golf Course Superintendent Greg Redenius and Park,
Recreation and Forestry Office Manager Ashley Johnson.
2. Approval of Agenda
Doug Smith motions to approve April 1st, 2024 agenda. Nathaniel Condelli 2nds motion; Motion Carried
3. Approval of Minutes
Nathaniel Condelli motions to approve March 2024 Minutes. Cade Christianson 2nds motion; Motion Carried.
4. Call to the Public
Members of the public attended the meeting to ask questions and voice concerns regarding tree removal. There are
a large number of trees being removed from around the dog park on 7th Ave and 15th Street S, near McClemans
park. There was also a question regarding some trees being removed near the Newman Center on SDSU Campus.
Josh Bauman stated that the tree removal on campus wouldn’t be a city project but said he would double check. As
far as the tree removal by the dog park it was noted that they had to go into the shelterbelt to remove 3 larger trees
that were down, so they decided to go a head and take care of the Ash trees that were also located in that area.
Citizens are concerned that the shelterbelt will be totally demolished. Josh assured them that the Forestry Department
will be planting other trees in the fall to make up for trees that were removed. He explained that they will have to
continue to monitor trees for diseases but they would be in contact with property owners when it came to the removal
of trees that are closer to property lines. Josh reiterates that when taking trees out the Forestry Department likes to
make sure that trees are replanted in the fall. Kristin also assured the citizens that in the future we will try to be more
open with communication regarding tree removal.
5. Discussion & Possible Action: Disc Golf Tournament
Disc Golf Tournament is set to happen June 9th at Larson Park. This is an annual event and typically they have 90
participants, they will do all of the set up and tear down. Nothing has really changed since the previous years. This is
being put on by the Disc Golf League. It is a growing group. Doug Smith motions to approve, Cade Christianson 2nds
the motion; Motion is carried.
6. Discussion & Possible Action: Camaro Fun Days
Car show on August 10th at Pioneer Park. They expect about 400 people for attendance. They will only drive through
the park and will be getting their parade permits through the city. They have been doing this for a number of years.
Doug Smith Motions to approve, Brenda Andersen 2nds; Motion is carried.
7. Discussion and Possible Action: Arbor Day 5K
Arbor Day 5K is a program that the Parks, Recreation and Forestry partners with the Prairie Striders Club. This will
be held April 26th at Dakota Nature Park. Its an annual event that they usually have about 80 to 100 participants.
When the participant finishes the 5K they will receive a tree. The tree this year will be a Red Oak. Jay Larsen motions
to approve, Brenda Andersen 2nds; motion carried.
8. Brookings Inclusive Play Project
This would be a large destination playground. It will include a large destination playground; we are looking at around
12000 sq. ft. space This will include a splashpad, restrooms and Mini-Pitch (futsal court). With the Mini-Pitch we would
be able to flood it in the winter and have an ice-skating rink. We are starting the initial grant funding process. We
will need to go to City Council for a resolution for support. This is in the very early stages and it will be a fundraising Draft
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campaign. We are officially a Play for all city now. We will be one of very few sites in the country that qualifies for
sites that are designed for people with special needs in mind.
9. Division Updates- Edgebrook Golf Course
Greg Redenius gave us an update on Edgebrook Golf course. The Golf course opened on March 11th, it’s a tie for
the earliest that we have ever opened. We opened March 11th in 2016 as well. Irrigation was turned on March 13th
and blown out on March 19th. Last fall we seeded three tee boxes. (Red Tees 14, 16 and 1.) We will have to top
dress them a few times to get them done this spring. We removed the Willows on 15, once the stumps are ground out,
we will try to move some Honey Locust in. Last fall we put in 56 tons of sand in the sand traps. We just received our
bunker rake and Toro workman that we ordered last fall. All our other equipment has been serviced and is ready to
go for the season. Daniel May our golf tech redid all of our tee signs and benches. He also did a deep clean of the
club house. He has painted all the tee markers and is currently cleaning the balls that were removed out of the ponds.
We are still in our contract with our lease for our golf cards, next year we will roll in the new ones.
10. Recreation Programs and Events – Summer 2024
Our Recreation Guide is out! Kristin wanted to highlight some of the larger programs. The Arbor Day 5k will be April
26th. Adult kickball and volleyball registration deadline is May 15th. We will be open the Hillcrest Aquic Center on
May 28th. We aren’t sure yet of a closing date because we haven’t received the school calendars for the start of the
school year this fall. First tee at Edgebrook begins the week of June 10th. The little Rascals Grand Prix will be June
15th. This year we will be doing Downtown at Sundown. Parks and Recreation will be doing the children’s area. We
would use our interns and partner with our user groups. BISA would do a hockey clinic, the Sustainability council will
do some seed balls, we are looking at other activities. Our leadership statement is “Bring Your Dreams”, so we are
thinking about asking the kids what they want to see for the future of Brookings. This will be a good way for our
department to get out into the community and meet with people. We are also hosting the State Legion Baseball
Tournament July 30th through August 3rd. We also hope to do an Adult Glow in the Dark Dodgeball Tournament. This
is TBD, and will be held at the Larson Ice Center.
11. Capital Project Updates
Pickleball Court: Kristin will be meeting with the pickleball players this week to discuss the colors and have an open
vote to pick the colors of the court. Construction on the Pickleball Courts is set to start this week weather permitting.
They have already relocated some utility lines and took down a storage shed.
Pioneer Bandshell: We are having a pre-construction meeting next week, with construction starting ASAP! The deadline
for this project is the end of June. We will have the temporary staging.
12. Director’s Report
• Seth Olson was promoted as the Park Supervisor of Ball Fields. He worked for 5 years in ball fields in Brandon
and has been with us for the past year. Seth is great and we believe that he will do a fantastic job. This now
opens a Park Technician position.
• The Hillcrest and Camelot playgrounds were delivered, we are currently just waiting on the instillation date,
which is probably just on hold pending weather.
• Kristin is collecting proposals (engineered drawings) for the next steps in the Edgebrook water sourcing project.
We getting proposals from Norby, ISG and a couple of other local companies as well. We are just wanting
to explore our options.
• McClemans Playground will have lighting added to the main posts of the playground. These lights are solar
lights and should run for about 6 hours. If the lights go well, we plan to try to expand that to other playgrounds.
These are a great option because they are solar powered and we don’t have to run any type of electrical
lines.
• The Pool glass coat is scheduled to start this week, possibly next week.
• Prairie Hills Trail phase 2 is also expected to start soon, pending weather.
Draft
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13. Adjournment
Doug Smith motions to Adjourn, Cade Christianson 2nds the motion; Motion carried.
Draft