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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRMinutes_2025_12_01 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Notes Monday, December 1, 2025 5:30 PM 1. Call to Order Chair Erika Saunders called the meeting to order at 5:32 PM. Board members present: Erika Saunders, Jay Larsen, Brenda Andersen, Paul Meyer, Nathaniel Condelli, Stacey Zerfas and Isabella Park. City of Brookings Staff Present: Parks, Recreation and Forestry Director Kristin Zimmerman, Office Manager Ashley Marler, City Clerk Bonnie Foster and Deputy City Manager Johnny Mays. 2. Approval of the Agenda Brenda Andersen motioned to approve the agenda. Nathaniel Condelli 2nds motion; Motion is carried. 3. Approval of Minutes Paul Meyer motions to approve the minutes. Brenda Andersen 2nds motion; Motion is carried. 4. Call to the Public Members of the public were in attendance to find out more regarding the golf course water sourcing. No members of the public requested information of anything not listed on the agenda. 5. Overview of Open Meeting Laws- Bonnie Foster Bonnie Foster, the City Clerk for the City of Brookings went over open meeting laws with the Park and Recreation Board members. SDCL 1-25 can be found at sdlegislature.gov under Codified laws. 6. Introduction: Johnny Mays Johnny Mays introduced himself to the board, he is the new Deputy City Manger for the City of Brookings. He has over 25 years of working directly in Parks and Recreation. He has helped with the building of a 100,000 square foot recreation center in Lenexa Kansas. He come from Boone County Missouri where he was the Director of Facilities. He is a public servant and is very passionate about Parks and Recreation. He is excited to help Kristin with any projects that need help getting pushed across the finish line. We are happy to have Johnny here in Brookings. 7. Bicycle Subcommittee: Proposed Bike Rules The bicycle subcommittee looked at the rules of the trails. There are some changes that the bicycle subcommittee would like to propose. The bicycle subcommittee would like to remove the following; Respect private property, no horses and don’t alter or remove plants or wildlife. They would like to add the speed limit be 15 mph and respect plant and wildlife. The new rules would be: • Speed limit 15 MPH • Stay on Designated Trails • Keep right, pass on left, warn before passing • No motorized vehicles excluding personal mobility devices • Class 3 E-bikes are prohibited on trails • Pets must be leashed • Pet owners must pick up after pets • Respect plant and wildlife Kristin would prefer to put stickers on the paths with the speed limit instead of speed limit signs. She would also like to add for riders to make sure they are wearing their personal proactive gear, like helmets at all times. The signs do have a QR code that can be scanned to report any maintenance issues, they can also us it to voice concerns to our depart or suggestions. 8. Discussion and Possible Action: Brookings Pride Event at Pioneer Park The Brookings Pride Event is set for June 27th, 2026 at Pioneer Park from 9 A.M to 5 P.M. The activities will include vendors, food trucks, a drag show, music and speakers. Lawrence Novotny spoke regarding the event. This is the 3rd or 4th year that they have hosted the event at Pioneer Park. There has been around 200 people that attend the event they will be using the Bandshell. There are about 22 vendor spots, some are nonprofits and some will be selling items. It will be similar to the previous shows. The Drag show is family friendly. Nathaniel Condelli makes a motion to approve the Brookings Pride Event on June 27th 2026. Brenda Andersen 2nds motion; Motion is carried. 9. Discussion and Possible Action: Brookings Summer Arts Festival at Pioneer Park This will be the 55th Annual Brookings Summer Arts Festival. It will be held July 11th and 12th 2026. The Park will be reserved from July 7th through the 14th of July. This is for set up and tear down purposes. The parks department works very closely with the Brookings Summer Arts Festival yearly. There will be art vendors, food vendors, live music, living history, antiques, artisans and naturals and a children’s area. The children’s area will be growing this year. This will also go to City Council since we are closing the park for public use. Jay Larsen motions to approve the 55th Annual Brookings Summer Arts Festival rental of Pioneer Park. Stacey Zerfas 2nds; Motion is carried. 10. Discussion and Possible Action: Establishment of Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Co-Chair Erika Saunders started the discussion with a brief thank you and tribute to Steve Berseth. He was a great co-chair and very knowledgeable and was a great asset to the board. He will be missed. The board will now need to establish a new Co-Chair. The Board would need to nominate another board member or themselves and there would be a vote to approve the Co-Chair. Jay Larsen motions to nominate himself for Co-Chair. Paul Meyer 2nds; Motion is carried. 11.Golf Course Updates Kristin Zimmerman gave an update on the golf course water sourcing. We are still going through the contract process with Gary Moen. The final contract was sent to him so we are just working out those final details. It will then go to City Council before the first of the year. The engineers estimate for the water sourcing was 1.3 million Dollars. This would have connected to the raw waterline through BMU. We had that amount available in capital improvement funding and through some savings. We went out to bid and the lowest bid came in at 2.1 million dollars. We do have a meeting later this week to see if we can go through items line by line to determine if we can make the project happen. We do not have the 2.1 million dollars in our fund, it is however still a priority to make sure we do make the project happen or at least be able to find a water source. We are currently working with the engineer firm to see where we can save money or find other options. We had 6 bids and 2.1 million was our lowest bid. We will eventually go out to rebid, but right now we are looking at our cost and all of the sources again. We will not be able to begin this project this winter. Ultimately, we are looking at the best interest of the golf course. We need to find a solution that is long term and financially sustainable. 12. Event Reminders A few updates, we had our first snow of the season. We will be working with the street department to help with moving snow during the winter. The wall that heals will be coming to Brookings June 11th – June 14th of 2026. We are very excited about this and there will be more about that coming later. This year the Uncle Sam Jam will be held at Fishback Soccer Complex on the 4th of July. (2026) All of our parks have been winterized, park bathrooms are closed, campgrounds are closed and Edgebrook Golf Course is closed. I am providing a draft of the Financial Sustainability Strategy. This will lead into a larger discussion in January to go over fees. Some of the numbers aren’t correct and we will need to look further into it. REMINDERS: The Mayor Awards are Wednesday December 3rd, 5 P.M. to 6 P.M. is a cocktail hour and the awards will start at 6 P.M. The festival of lights is this Friday December 5th. The mayor will light the tree at 6 P.M. SDPRA Board Retreat will be the 9th and 10th of December in Mitchell. Kristin will be gone those two days. Next Board meeting will be January 5th. We will be talking about 2026 department goals, 3-year trails plan and the grant applications for 2026. 13. Adjournment Brenda Andersen motions to adjourn. Nathaniel Condelli 2nds motion; Motion is carried.