This transcript is for a meeting of the **Apple Valley Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee**. Based on the dialogue and the context provided, here are the speaker assignments: * **Mark:** The Committee Chair (identifiable by his role in calling the meeting to order and managing motions; his name is mentioned at [47:54]). * **Dave, Craig, Erin, Jessica:** Committee Members (identified through motions and the Chair’s responses). * **Samantha Bram:** Natural Resource Coordinator. * **Evan Aosta:** Assistant City Engineer. * **Eric Carlson:** Parks and Recreation Director. * **Steve:** Staff member (likely from Parks Maintenance, as he provides specific data on ice rink days). *** [0:11] **Mark:** All right. I'd like to call to order this meeting of the Apple Valley Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee for April 2nd, 2026. >> You ready? >> I'm okay. [0:27] **Mark:** Okay. Uh at this time I'd like to invite all those present who are willing and able to please rise and join us in the pledge of allegiance. [0:56] **Mark:** All right. Good evening everyone. Uh first up tonight is we need ourselves an agenda. Uh you should all have a copy of that. And uh are there any uh additions or changes that anyone would like in the agenda for tonight? [1:15] **Mark:** Hearing none. I would look for a motion to approve tonight's agenda as it is printed. **Craig:** So moved. **Mark:** I have a motion by Craig and I have a second by Dave. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. **Dave:** I. **Mark:** Those opposed that passes unanimously. So we now have ourselves an agenda. [1:36] **Mark:** Uh next up is audience participation. Um looking out at our gallery, we have two people but uh we have none from the public. So um we will move forward from there. [1:57] **Mark:** Uh, next up is approval of the minutes from the last meeting which was the March 2026 meeting. Uh, you have those minutes in front of you. Are there any changes that anyone thinks needs to be made to the uh, minutes as they are printed? [2:15] **Mark:** Look for from the March uh, 2026 meeting as they are printed. **Dave:** I'll make that motion to approve. **Mark:** from Dave. **Craig:** Second. **Mark:** All those in favor signify by saying I. **Committee:** I. [2:32] **Mark:** Anyone opposed? That passes. All right, we are up to agenda items. I will try and take these in alphabetical order and you'll keep me in line. I hope I'll keep going. [2:48] **Mark:** So, we will start with item A and that is an update on the Apple Valley additions storm water projects and I believe that is Samantha and uh Evan. Thank you very much for coming. **Samantha Bram:** Greetings of the committee. Um I'm Samantha Bram, the Natural Resource Coordinator for the city, and today we're just providing a brief update on the Apple Valley edition storm water projects. So this is for management on three different parks at Greening, Penock, and Duchess. [3:13] **Samantha Bram:** So, we'll just provide a brief slideshow on where we're at in the process and the grant that we achieved and um just provide some other updates and answer any questions. So, kind of where did we um how did we get here? So, fortunately, the city was able to secure grant funding through the MPCA for a storm water resiliency grant. Only $35 million were actually available to the state. So, it was an honor to receive that funding. And what will this include? This will include um an infiltration basin, underground chamber and playground improvements at Duchess Park, a wet pond at Greening Park, and then something kind of interesting is an active play infiltration and playground at Penock Park where this basin will be functional in both dry, wet, and flooded conditions. So, we'll provide a few different renderings of those projects for you to review. [3:59] **Samantha Bram:** Um what I really like is this project tells a good story. So, in 2017, we actually did a sub-watershed assessment. So all of these parks are located within the Keller Lake watershed district and these were all identified as good locations to put in storm water management. Um so these projects were identified um come 2021 and 2024 we identified this whole neighborhood actually is in need of rehab um for its street reconstruction. And so there we kind of did a feasibility study to look at what would be needed for these roadway improvements. Anytime you do a roadway improvement, you also got to worry about storm water management. And so this was able to kind of kill two birds with one stone by looking at what we need for construction and then what we need for storm water and then we were able to get park improvements that include storm water as well. [4:46] **Samantha Bram:** So 2021 and 2024 we did that feasibility study and then just in 2024-2025 we were able to get that grant funding completed. Um we were notified by the state of receiving that funding in May and since then we've been working on getting final plans created and we actually have the project that has gone out for bid. It's approved. We've got a neighborhood meeting next week and a pre-construction meeting next week as well. [5:16] **Samantha Bram:** So just to kind of get us oriented here in the watershed of where we're located. So, um, we've just got the three parks highlighted there, and you can just see the schematics of the different um, ponding features, shown there, but, we'll go into more detail as well. [5:32] **Samantha Bram:** And just so people have an idea of what is a watershed. So, this is the whole drainage area that ultimately drains into Keller Lake. And so, you see those three different parks that are um, highlighted there. And then, just another note is that we're also looking to pursue a storm water management project at Keller Park. Um, just adjacent is the little pond you can see there, two-celled pond. We call that Whitney Pond. So, through doing all of these park projects, we're actually going to meet our pollutant reduction goals for Keller Lake. So, in the storm water world, if a lake is impaired, you have to complete projects to help get that off the impaired water by doing our pollutant goals for the lake, which is awesome. It'll be the first time we've actually met our waste load allocation for a lake, so it's a big deal. [6:16] **Samantha Bram:** I'm just going to skip over the slide because we've kind of already talked about the different things. So, here's just kind of the first schematic that was put together for Duchess Park. Um, so you see we're maintaining the ball field. We're adding some an infiltration basin. Um, the sports courts will remain and then we're actually adding an underground infiltration system as well. You won't even know it's there. [6:40] **Samantha Bram:** Here's just an updated schematic of that. what that will look like. Here's another schematic just drawn out kind of this is our final plans of the plan sheet here you can see we still got the sports court and playground so none of the amenities are changing. Greening Park here, we have the updated schematic here as well. Um I don't believe this is facing north so I apologize for that but um we'll maintain the ball fields, updated courts, and then it will also include a storm water pump. [7:17] **Samantha Bram:** Just that we'll be putting in a number of native plants and vegetation as well as part of these projects. And then here we have Penock Park. So this is the largest basin and so that's why we kind of wanted to introduce an interactive component. Um so we've got kind of two different infiltration basins. Um one of them we will actually be incorporating a volunteer planting as part of that. And so we're going to kind of tackle that smaller basin and there might be some additional volunteer planting opportunities just to kind of help get that vegetation established. Native seed can take quite some time to establish. So this is just a good way to get the community involved. [7:58] **Samantha Bram:** So how are we making Penock Park a little more interactive? So we have different walking paths that actually go down into the basin, incorporating some different rock elements. And then something that kind of brings home this idea of storm water management will be these kind of different markers. I have one circled there that says ten-year. [8:15] **Samantha Bram:** Those are actually modeled elevations of what where the water would be. So in Minnesota 100-year event is about 7 inches. So hopefully we would never really see it that high, but if we did, there's a little marker where that would be of what we would anticipate the level of the water to be. So just something to get people thinking about storm water management. So, kind of a neat feature. [8:36] **Samantha Bram:** And then we'll have a little overlook by the park as well. So, here's just another way of kind of what that looks like. More of a detailed stepping stones. Um you see the two-year, ten-year event highlight would also show the hundred-year event as well. [8:56] **Samantha Bram:** And here's of course the sports courts. Um, Eric may need to speak to the specifics of that, but it looks like it's got pickleball, basketball, tennis. You guys are the parks and rec experts here. I'm more of the nature person. So, um, and then just to kind of coordinate into this is how this is fitting in with our street reconstruction project. So, we are doing a different phasing just to incorporate these funding that we received for these parks. So you see in 2026 we'll be tackling the areas in yellow and then we had to do some rearranging just to get done and utilize this grant funding. [9:40] **Samantha Bram:** So kind of how do we get here? So March 26 this project was awarded at the city council meeting. Um come April 6, we will conduct a neighborhood informational meeting to discuss the project with residents. A lot of that will be related to the street reconstruction project. So people who are impacted by the street reconstruction happening in the neighborhood, they need to know what's going to happen with their mail, what's going to happen with anything they might have in their boulevard, those sorts of things. Um, so that'll kind of be the primary focus of that, but we're also going to be there to share information about the project. Um, and then site work is likely going to begin mid-April. Um, park equipment is to be auctioned and removed prior to the project and then we'll be ensured that ball field access remains through the end of the scheduled season um, which is in July. [10:24] **Samantha Bram:** And then just one final note, this was that little double-sided pond that I mentioned earlier. Um we we actually were able to receive about a million dollars in grant funding for this project as well. And so we will be bidding this this summer. Um and then hopefully beginning construction in late '26, early '27. So a lot of things happening in the neighborhood which is exciting. [10:48] **Samantha Bram:** So, more information to come on this, but just wanted to share that just because we are in the area. And so, this was another project that was identified in that Keller Lakes watershed. Um we did do a number of community engagement events. Um got some good feedback for that. And then this grant's a little different than our usual grants. We actually have to bid the project before we get a formal grant agreement. So, we're just kind of working through that. And then as mentioned, we're going to be bidding the project in the summer and kind of submit for that final grant dollars and rock and roll. [11:21] **Samantha Bram:** With that, I'm happy to take questions or we also have our assistant city engineer here, Evan, if you guys have more specifics on engineering things. **Dave:** Um I had one question. Um of the three parks that we're doing. I think it mentioned that a playground was going to be part of the grant for two of them but not greening. Is there a reason the playground was not noted in that park and the other two were? [11:57] **Evan Aosta:** Mr. Chair, uh yeah, Evan Aosta, Assistant City Engineer. That's a good question and one we're happy to provide an update on actually tonight. So, when we originally put the together the grant application, we were working off of the $5 million max application amount. Uh, so when we put our cost estimates together, we were pushing the limits of what the budget would allow. Eric and his team had planned through the referendum to replace the park equipment at each of the three parks regardless. Maybe not to the same level—well, the equipment itself would be to the same level, but maybe some of the other amenities not so much. So when we looked at which pieces of playground equipment we could ask for grant eligibility on, we started by asking for only the two which currently sit where we're proposing to put a basin. So those would be directly impacted by the storm water work. We're happy to report that the bids came in substantially below what we expected and were able to actually request additional funding. So, we have a request in to the MPCA right now to actually incorporate that third playground as well as some of the other components of the project for usage of the grant funds. So, we're optimistic that that actually will be paid for by the grant money. [13:16] **Dave:** Um, then in Penock Park, that's going to have the big the big trench I'll call it. Uh how much of a maintenance item is that? I mean is that going to require—I mean we're not mowing it—but obviously you're going to have water flowing into it and then going out and the potential for weeds and some other stuff to make it look not so nice. I mean how much maintenance is going to be required to keep it looking the way the artistic pictures depicted it? [13:56] **Evan Aosta:** Yeah, that's that's a good question. The short answer to that is there will be a fair amount of maintenance required to keep it functioning similar to what the rendering shows. That's a concern that was raised by Eric and his team right off the bat when when we asked to take up, you know, most of Penock Park to use for a basin. So, one of the things we've kept in mind throughout this entire process is how can we not let that dissuade us from providing such a great benefit to the community. So what we've landed on is we'll be contracting out the maintenance for the planting at this basin and potentially the other basins for an intermediate amount of time. So perhaps like a 5-year maintenance contract on a rolling basis to make sure that the plants are carefully evaluated and established. We're looking into ways that we can use kind of additional grant funds from other grants within the watershed um for maintenance purposes as well as just cost savings from our other projects to fund these maintenance activities. So, one of the things we've been doing as we enter reconstruction phases, uh we do provide an ongoing maintenance budget following those projects including the storm basins or infrastructure for that. So, we already have kind of the framework in place to implement and keep this off of being a burden from parks maintenance staff. [15:22] **Eric Carlson:** And Mr. Chair, if I may, um, we do currently have budget available for doing what we call BMP maintenance. So, that's best management practice maintenance. And anytime we're getting a grant-funded project, we want to ensure that we're going to be keeping that looking good. We've got a lot of stuff out there that is maybe a little tired and needs some love, but we're really trying to be adamant about anything new that we do that we're getting it started on the right foot. [15:47] **Dave:** So, um the idea of this um is water wants to flow into it and you really want it to dissipate as quickly as possible. So, what's underneath there? Do we know? Is it sand and gravel like most of Apple Valley? So it will accommodate the water. [16:08] **Evan Aosta:** Yeah, Mr. Chair, the the design portion of the project involved a ridiculous in my opinion amount of soil borings in all the proposed basin areas. So we have a very good understanding—well, as much as you can learn from a 4-inch hole in the ground that goes, you know, 15 feet deep. We feel that we understand the soil mechanics that we're basing these basins on and that's why we're comfortable proposing this. Now, as Eric would share, we felt that way about Hayes as well. Uh we have a basin that's going to be acting similar to an infiltration basin at Hayes. We opened it up, the soil was too clean and the water's infiltrating too rapidly. So, soil amendments were made to make sure that it actually still functions and protects the groundwater recharge. So if we do encounter that scenario, we'll be addressing it throughout construction to make sure that it functions as we intend. [17:04] **Mark:** Okay. Thank you. **Craig:** Uh I don't have any real questions, but I I have to say the last time that you were here to talk about these projects, I recall asking about volunteer opportunities and about interactive and informational things um and the use of native plants and all this. So I am very pleased to see all of those things very clearly incorporated here. Um I think it's a very it will be a very good way to get the community engaged and involved in and more aware of the processes that go on around us that are kind of invisible to the eye but that are very important. So um just thank you and kudos on that work. It looks really really good. So very excited. **Samantha Bram:** Appreciate the comment. **Erin:** I also don't have any questions, but wanted to just thank you for all of the work that you do for grant writing and the great job that you clearly do in securing all those grants. So, good job. **Samantha Bram:** Thank you. Hopefully more to come. [18:07] **Craig:** Yeah, I I do have one question on the grant. Who is the MPCA that gave you the grant? **Samantha Bram:** It is the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, so it is a state agency. A lot of people get concerns about federal funding. So, most of the funding that we are going for is state funded. And I'm not positive, but I believe that this funding probably comes from the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment, which is something that we all voted on recently. And so, it's a portion of our taxes that just go to protecting clean water, arts, some other good stuff. You can look it up. But yeah. [19:28] **Erin:** Could I ask you a question? I actually don't have a question; I wanted to see how I could follow up on your comment about the wastewater—and I'm sure I don't think we need to take the time for that here—but the wastewater goals. I think that's so exciting that we are going to meet those goals and I'd love to know where I can find out more and kind of what those goals are, etc. But I don't think that's for this meeting. **Samantha Bram:** Sure. Yeah, you can definitely—I can definitely give you my card for more information. And just for clarification, wastewater and storm water are different. **Erin:** Okay. **Samantha Bram:** So we're storm water, but I call it waste load allocation. It's a very technical term, but we'll call it pollutant load reductions. Maybe that's a better way to put it. But yes. **Erin:** That is a big distinction. Yes. And I was getting confused. **Samantha Bram:** Yes. A lot of stuff we do in public works is invisible. So, this is kind of nice where you can actually see some of the things that we do. So, what else do you have for me? [19:51] **Dave:** Um, Alamagnet. Um, we've just completed the first Buckthorn remediation? **Samantha Bram:** Yes. **Dave:** And so, that work is done. **Samantha Bram:** I would say the work is not fully complete. Um, the majority of the work is done. There needs to be some additional cleanup that needs to occur through a forestry mow. We're kind of waiting for the ground to dry out a little bit more and then there will be follow-up herbicide use and then seeding as well. So, if you guys have been out there, it's shockingly different. Um a 20.5 acre section of the park that we did. Um people now have lake views that probably never had lake views before. Um so, I encourage you to go check it out. Um it's going to be a great project and we're excited to kind of see how it turns out. So so far so good. [20:47] **Dave:** So that was about a quarter of the park roughly. **Samantha Bram:** Yes, I would say it's about a quarter of the park. I believe it's 87 acres within Apple Valley. Um and we were able to get a $262,000 grant through the DNR through their conservation partners legacy program. Um, so if you recall in August of 2024, um, you folks helped pass the Alamagnet Natural Resource Management Plan that provided framework for different park units. And so we're kind of tackling unit one, which was this 20.5 acre section. And then we'll continue to tackle those sections of park um, kind of per that plan. So I don't know that we'll do that large of an area this time. I think we'll maybe cut that in half um, just for the next project. But it was good learning. [21:34] **Dave:** So, do we need grant money for additional work that needs to be done then? **Samantha Bram:** We would definitely look to get grant money. I guess I can't speak to like "do we need grant money," but we will pursue grant money because I think that's just the best approach for the community. **Dave:** So, will we be doing another section next winter? **Samantha Bram:** Um, it probably won't be next winter, but maybe the following winter. We'll keep you guys posted on grant applications. Kind of depends on what's open and just staff workload and those sorts of things. **Dave:** You have any idea timewise as far as when the park itself might be completed? I mean we really can't put in new pathways and stuff until basically all that's been taken care of. So I was just wondering how long we're going to be looking at before we can start some of the other amenities. [22:44] **Samantha Bram:** Sure. That's a good question. Um I believe the natural resource management plan provided a five-year plan. I think a more realistic plan is probably more of a seven-year plan. And that didn't include the whole park. So um I guess I can't speak specifically to long-term time frames at this time, but we can definitely look a little bit more into that. But you do pieces. I guess I don't know about the ultimate trail goals within the park, but we're going to kind of work our way maybe north and then east. So, we're kind of starting where Burnsville began and then we're kind of working our way over and up. So, it might be a phased project for parks. **Dave:** Well, I was out there this week and it's amazing. **Samantha Bram:** Yeah. I mean, and once the park gets bloomed out and especially where you see where the buckthorn and stuff is now as opposed to where it was. It's pretty dramatic. **Dave:** It really is. **Samantha Bram:** So, it's going to look worse before it looks better, but I think it looks— **Dave:** No, I think it looks better. Looks better than what it did. I don't think anybody would have a problem. **Samantha Bram:** Okay, good. We went out there and we're like, "we did this on purpose." So yeah, it's exciting. [23:52] **Jessica:** I do have one question back to the stormwater things. Uh with the recognition that a firm date has definitely not been set, like what time frame, like what month are we looking for when the volunteer planting opportunity would be? Are we looking like May? Is that like July? **Samantha Bram:** No. Um we would probably if anything, maybe it's a fall planting or a spring planting next year. **Jessica:** Okay, cool. **Samantha Bram:** It'll kind of just depend on where we're at with everything, quite frankly. You never know. **Jessica:** I figured that would be one of the last things that's done, right? Putting in the kind of the top dressing on it, but I just wanted an idea of generally. **Samantha Bram:** Sure. There probably will be other planting opportunities that we can share with you guys. **Jessica:** That'd be great. **Mark:** Any other questions anyone? All right. Thank you very much. Appreciate your time. [24:47] **Mark:** All right. Next up is item B and that is to approve the monument signs for Kelly, Redwood, Hayes and Johnny Cake Ridge East and West Parks. **Eric Carlson:** Yeah, Mr. Chair, members of the committee, as you know, as part of the parks referendum projects, we are replacing all of our park ID signs and last year we did about 46 of our parks, installed about 53 signs across the park system. You can see an example of that on the screen at Lac Lavon Park. Um, and the parks that we haven't done yet were basically because they were going to receive a little bit more of a fancier sign, a monument sign if you will, and those parks are the two Johnny Cakes, Redwood, Hayes and Kelly. And so, we've been going through a process to figure out what those are going to look like. [25:59] **Eric Carlson:** We've got two different styles. We've got what I'm going to call a horizontal style where the left hand side of the sign names the park and the right hand side of the sign talks about some of the major amenities found within the park. And so for Johnny Cake West and for Hayes, we're recommending horizontal signs listing those amenities. You would not see the arrows that are shown on these signs as part of the finished product. Um and we list four of the amenities and we're leaving one slot blank if we want to name something in the future. Then at the other parks, we're looking at more of a vertical sign. Again, the name of the park is on top and those amenities found within the park are on the bottom of the sign. [26:50] **Eric Carlson:** Across the system, we're talking about putting a vertical sign at Redwood, Kelly and Johnny Cake Ridge Park East. Um the one at Johnny Cake Ridge Park East, the vertical sign would go on the parking lot along Johnny Cake Ridge Road itself. And then we would do horizontal signs at Johnny Cake Ridge Park West and then at Hayes. At Johnny Cake Ridge Park East, the horizontal sign would go on 140th Street by the parking lot. And then you can see what we're recommending with regards to the different amenities in each one of those parks. We did receive two different quotes to do the sign work. And the low quote that we received was $147,750 from Indigo Signs. And so, I can stand and answer any questions. [28:02] **Dave:** The um, I thought someplace it listed, you know, where the signs were going to be going in each of the parks. And in Redwood, it said something about southeast corner or something. **Eric Carlson:** Yep. So I can walk you through where each of the signs would go. So at Redwood Park, the sign would go at the intersection of Elm and 42nd, which is really the southeast corner of that portion of the park. Uh so the pool is north of the building. So just to get your bearings straight, so the southeast corner of that park is the intersection of Elm and 42nd. It's basically right where the old sign was, but it's going to be a little east of where the old sign was. If you can visualize that. **Dave:** On the north side of 42nd. **Eric Carlson:** North side of 42nd. Yep. But in the southeast corner of the park itself. **Dave:** Okay. **Eric Carlson:** The Kelly Park sign is going in the northeast corner of the park. So 152nd and Foliage is the corner where that will go. And again, that's the side of the park where all the parking lots are. Um, so in that if you're standing in the park looking north towards 42nd, it would be to your right hand side, the corner on the north-east side of the park again by the parking lot. Then we've got Hayes Park. It's going to go basically the same spot that the current monument sign is at, right as you enter the parking lot. Johnny Cake West would go on the driveway as you go down into the park. It would be on the south side of the driveway. Um right there where there was a sign there at one point in time and again on the Johnny Cake East. The sign would go along Johnny Cake Ridge Road by the parking lot and then on 140th by the parking lot itself. [29:37] **Mark:** Okay. Eric, on the Johnny Cake East, uh we've got Legion Field there and that has its own sign. Uh is that going to be replaced or does that stay or is that part of this? **Eric Carlson:** Um eventually it will be a part of it. It's not a part of what we're talking about right now, but we plan to replace all of the signs in the park system and go to this branded format. And so that too would be updated with this brand, but it would still be Legion. **Mark:** Thank you. [30:07] **Jessica:** I don't think I was on at this time. So, could you just remind me why some are horizontal and why some are vertical? Like why we just went with two different versions? **Eric Carlson:** Um just the traffic volume on the streets. Um so some of these signs are a little bit bigger than the others and it just seems to make a better fit for the situation. **Mark:** Any other questions? **Dave:** I think they'll be attractive. **Committee:** They look very nice. **Mark:** And this is an item we are voting on tonight. **Eric Carlson:** We're asking you to make a recommendation for the city council. Yes. **Dave:** I'll make a motion that we approve the monument signs as presented for the five parks. **Mark:** Okay. I have a motion from Dave. **Erin:** Second that. **Mark:** A second from Erin. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. **Committee:** I. **Mark:** Opposed. That passes unanimously. [31:22] **Mark:** All right. Item C, consider renaming Johnny Cake Ridge Park East and Johnny Cake Ridge Park West. **Eric Carlson:** Again, Mr. Chair, members of the committee, it was the committee's desire to have a conversation about the names of Johnny Cake Ridge Park East and Johnny Cake Ridge Park West. And so, it's up to the committee to decide whether or not you want to change the name in any way, shape, or form of those two parks. Now is the time to do that before we order the signs. If you choose to change the names, we will certainly change the names before we order the signs. So committee members should discuss amongst themselves if they want to change the names and if they do, what do they want to change the names to. **Mark:** Do we want to change the names? Anybody have an issue? **Craig:** I think they're long and wordy and they should be changed to be shorter. **Mark:** I—that okay, so we will be looking at changing the names. Uh, we decided on what we want the names to be? **Dave:** Well, we had talked about the—after a lot of deliberation, we had narrowed it down to a potential Johnny Cake Park West and Johnny Cake Park East to keep the confusion down going forward with park goers. Is that correct? **Mark:** I think I think it's important just to recognize that part of the original reason for this was the confusion that the east and west creates for people um and that the committee had some good healthy discussions and came to the conclusion that although it creates confusion to have an east and a west, creating a brand new name that didn't really designate intuitively where the park was was just creating different problems. So, uh I'm fully supportive of just removing the name "Ridge" from both parks and calling them Johnny Cake Park East and Johnny Cake Park West. **Dave:** I agree. [34:21] **Mark:** Okay. Um are we voting on this? **Eric Carlson:** No particular reason other than I like my job. **Jessica:** I make a motion to rename the parks Johnny Cake Park West and Johnny Cake Park East. **Mark:** Okay. I have a motion from Jessica and I have a second from Craig. What we're doing here is forwarding a recommendation to the city council to make this change. We're not actually making the change. All right. I have a motion and I have a second. Any further discussion? Uh if not, all those in favor, please signify by saying I. **Committee:** I. **Mark:** Opposed. That passes. [35:01] **Eric Carlson:** Mr. Chair, maybe I'll just add a little bit to the comments that Randy just made. Obviously, the parks committee's job is to provide advice, if you will, to the city council. The city council absolutely appreciates all of your advice. Um and but at the end of the day, it's their prerogative to follow advice or to make their own decision. At the end of the day though, the city council gets to decide whether the name's going to change or not. So, your recommendation will be provided to the city council and I know that they appreciate the recommendations that they receive from this body. **Mark:** They are the elected officials. So, correct. [35:48] **Jessica:** Can I ask one more question about where the sign names are? Where are they right now or where were they for the names of both of those parks? **Eric Carlson:** Where are—I'm not following your question. **Jessica:** Where are the signs that name the west side? **Eric Carlson:** Well, for Johnny Cake Ridge Park West, there's actually a sign on 140th just above the varsity baseball field just before you would get—if you're coming from Galaxy as an example going east on 140th, you will see a sign on your right hand side just before you get to the intersection of 140th and Johnny Cake Road. So if you take a right and go south on Johnny Cake Ridge Road, you get to the driveway that gets you into the park, there's a sign on the south side of the driveway entrance and that's all Johnny Cake West. On Johnny Cake East, there is a sign on 140th in the island of the big parking lot that's just on the south side of 140th. And if you park there, you're either using the Legion baseball field or you're walking up to the softball fields. And then the long narrow parking lot on the east side of Johnny Cake Ridge Road. Um that's in Johnny Cake Ridge Park East. There's a long parking lot. There's another sign there that identifies that as the park. So that's where those four signs are. [37:22] **Erin:** Could I follow up with a question? I am still learning here, but I'm wondering—I have come to like the Johnny Cake Park West and East. Is there a way to help with the confusion around it? Like is there a way to explore some additional indicators of what you are? What comes to mind for me are some of the things in airports etc. like "this is where you parked" or something that makes it really clear if you're on the east side that there's like "E's" around or something that shows that you're on the east side. I don't know if that's for this discussion here but it makes me wonder if there might be an exploration of other ways to indicate to folks to help reduce that confusion. **Eric Carlson:** We can try to explore something. **Jessica:** Maybe the fields would have a JCPW, JCPE, you know, because they're they're labeled now. **Eric Carlson:** Right now, I think they're just labeled with numbers or letters. But from a staff perspective, we'll kick around that and see if there's something we can come up with that would make sense. [38:29] **Jessica:** I have a question not related to signs, but related to the two parks. Um, so the the crossings to get across from east to west, the pedestrian crossings, have we ever explored any sort of enhanced marking or signage for pedestrian safety between the two? Because that was part of my concern is if someone parks in the wrong place and now they're trying to bring all their gear and their kids and walk across the road. Like I know that there's a four-way stop sign there where you go into Splash Valley, but it's still a heavily trafficked road. **Eric Carlson:** So, Mr. Chair, members of the committee. Um, actually our engineering department reconstructed that stretch of road last year. It went on a road diet. So, it went from a four-lane road to a two-lane road. Now there's shoulders on both sides. It's still a busy road, but there's a little less traffic. There are crosswalks at the intersections. And if I'm not mistaken, we also have crosswalk lights at the intersection at 142nd. I think it has flashing stop signs there. So they did consider that as a part of the reconstruction process to try to make pedestrian safety more recognized, I guess. **Jessica:** Awesome. Thanks. [40:34] **Mark:** All right. Then we are up to item D and that is to approve changes to the Johnny Cake Ridge Park East Field C. **Eric Carlson:** Mr. Chairman, members of committee. So from us, this is kind of a staff-driven item on the agenda. So Johnny Cake Ridge East Field C—this is also referred to as the stadium soccer field. It was constructed over 20 years ago and its main purpose for the first 20 plus years was the varsity soccer field for Apple Valley and Eastview boys and girls soccer. It was fenced in. There was a press box, a scoreboard, a lot of bleachers. Um, and it it's been lighted. It's irrigated. [41:19] **Eric Carlson:** Since both high schools have installed stadium fields with artificial turf, there is no longer any high school soccer being played at the facility and it's being used by the community. VAAA and other users use the facility. So, there isn't the need for all of the fencing that there once was. Um, there isn't the need for all of the bleachers that there once was. There isn't the need for a press box that there once was. So, we're recommending that we remove most of the fencing. We would still keep some line fencing to catch soccer balls. We'd repurpose quite a few of the bleachers to Valley Middle School and then remove the press box. It's not needed and they create extra maintenance for us. As an example, we have to weed whip the fence lines. We've reached out to both high school athletic directors to find out if anyone has an issue with what we're suggesting and we didn't receive any negative comments. So we would be recommending that we make those changes. [43:06] **Dave:** So, of the fencing that's currently there, how much are you planning on taking out or removing? **Eric Carlson:** Well, for sure the east section and the west section and then parts of the north and south section, but not all of it. We're going to leave a decent sized section behind the goals on the north and the south sides of it. **Dave:** Wouldn't there be a danger of a ball going off to the west and winding up in Johnny Cake Road? **Eric Carlson:** There's quite a berm on the west side of of that. **Mark:** So, it does go up. **Eric Carlson:** Mhm. **Mark:** You'd agree with that, Steve? **Steve:** There's quite a berm on that west side. All those bleachers sit higher than the field itself. So, we're not changing the elevation. We're just relocating some of the bleachers. So there's still quite a bit of topography difference or elevation between the field itself and then where those bleachers sit and then obviously it goes down to Johnny Cake Ridge Road itself. **Dave:** Okay. I just didn't want balls shooting out. **Eric Carlson:** Fair question. **Jessica:** It seems like if the associations and the high schools don't have any concern, then it seems worthwhile to do if the staff feels it's worthwhile. [45:06] **Mark:** Okay. So, we're voting on this, please. I'm looking for a motion. **Dave:** Motion to approve the requested proposed changes. **Mark:** All right. I have a motion from Dave. **Craig:** Second. **Mark:** Second from Craig. Any further discussion? All those in favor, please signify by saying I. **Committee:** I. **Mark:** That passes unanimously. All right, we are up to item six, which is the committee and staff discussion items. **Eric Carlson:** Nothing from the staff, but I'll stand here just in case someone asks a question. [45:41] **Mark:** From committees. All right, then we'll go to number seven. Input from committee members on next agenda. One thing I would like—I had put on there the future of outdoor skating. What I really think we should do is at sometime just gather a bunch of data that might be available so we can take a look at what might be the best course going forward. I don't know how much data we've got, but you know, just like how many days have we been able to provide skatable ice each year over the last 10 years. Um maybe usage, if we have any idea whether the usage is up or down. Uh, one figure I know you could get is the average temperature for December, January, and February for each year for the last 10 years. That might give us an indication of how much of an effect that global warming is actually having on Apple Valley and what we can look forward to. At some point, if we continue to warm up, it's going to be an uphill battle trying to maintain the outdoor rinks the way they are. I just think now is a good time to maybe start taking a look at that and just seeing what we can come up with data and and then kind of go from there. **Craig:** Flooding dates, you know, when we drop the water. **Mark:** Yeah. Anything, whenever we've got information, let's take a look at it, pull it together, and then take a look at what might be the best way to go forward. [47:54] **Jessica:** Mark, I wasn't here when this was brought up. It's my own fault that I'm missing it. But is that because it's expensive to maintain them and maybe we shouldn't be maintaining them? **Mark:** Well—or other reasons. Just how much, you know? Yeah, we obviously have expenses—we have manpower, we have some equipment—and this year I think was a little different. And I don't know how many days, Steve. How many days were we open for this year? **Steve:** Off the top of my head, I'm not sure. It was a lot more than the year before. I think we were open a month or close to it this year. Uh but yeah, we we've been getting that January thaw just about every year lately and that really kind of puts an end to it. **Mark:** So that's kind of why we want to take a look at it. And there are differences apparently between the earth-based and the cement-based rinks. So, we should look at that. Maybe we focus on just the cement-based ones if they are that much easier. Those are all things we just need to pull together and then kind of take a look at it. [49:19] **Mark:** Anything else anyone else wants to add for future agenda items? Um, one other thing that's on there is the parking concerns at the pickleball complex. Uh, just a kind of an FYI. I happened to be over there on Monday. Um, it was later in the morning. There was one group playing on one of the courts, so four people. I looked at the parking and every one of those stalls was full. So the students are parking in those no-parking areas which is kind of what we thought, but just to let you know that's what I saw on Monday. So I think at some point somehow we're going to have to figure out a way to to address that. [50:21] **Mark:** All right. Anything else there? Nothing. No agenda items. I just have one other thing. Um, April is volunteer appreciation month. Organizations that use volunteers such as the people sitting up here usually try and have something that shows their appreciation. The city of Apple Valley has in the past—I don't know if you've heard anything about that—but they've had a reception for the volunteers, usually before one of the council meetings. Um so I don't know if that's going to happen or not but if it is, I would encourage the members to try and show up. It's only about a half hour and I think it—I tried to get some information from city council and I didn't find out too much. So I'm not sure where that's at. But if it is, please consider trying to spend a quick half hour at that. So, all right. Anything else from anybody tonight? Nothing. [51:57] **Dave:** I'd like to make a motion that we adjourn. **Mark:** All right. I have a motion from Dave. **Craig:** I'll second that. **Mark:** A second from Craig. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. **Committee:** I. **Mark:** Anyone opposed? This meeting is adjourned. Thank you very much everyone.