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<br />Hans advised that they have met and become closer with a lot of their neighbors through this <br />project. He stated that they have met people in the park that are interested in helping out or <br />starting their own colony of purple martins. He advised that it is a misconception that the birds <br />would abandon their nests if a person is to touch their babies. He showed a video of a nest <br />changing in the Otsego colony. <br /> <br />Parks Supervisor Riverblood commented that it looks like Hans and his wife have spent 100's of <br />hours on this project. <br /> <br />Hans confirmed that and explained that he comes to the bird house a few times during the day <br />and his wife also comes down with the kids to check on the nests when he is at work. He advised <br />that he also hosts purplemartin.tv where several people have put cameras into their purple martin <br />nests and people can view them online. He explained that purple martins do not fight back <br />because their beaks are softer and shorter than other birds. He advised that they also have some <br />signs they could display in the park near the house to educate the public. . <br /> <br />Barry Bowen questioned if the color of the paint used on the house was important. <br /> <br />Hans advised that the white color of the house does draw the birds to the house, but the main <br />reason it is painted white is to keep it cool in the summer. <br /> <br />Lorrie reported that she and Hans were seeing a lot of vandalism in the park, such as drawing on <br />the slide and near the bird house. She stated that they had been involved in geocaching and <br />thought it would be a good idea to have a geocach in the park to draw in people and bring them <br />into areas where people might be doing things they should not. She advised that geocaching <br />started in 2000 when the government opened up the restrictions on GPS devices from 200 feet to <br />20 feet. She explained that the basic idea is to setup a each, which is a hidden container, and <br />then share the latitude and longitude online. She explained that the GPS takes those coordinates <br />and when visitors find the each they take something, leave something, and sign the log book. <br />She advised that if you find trash during this process you are also encouraged to take it back out <br />with you. She explained that geocaching is something that is done worldwide and there are many <br />types and sizes of containers. She stated that more information could be found on the web site <br />www.geocaching.com or www.geocaching.org. She explained that the benefits of geocaching <br />are increased visitors to the parks, increased user fees (if applicable), it is a park friendly activity, <br />trash is picked up, and it is a wholesome family activity. She advised that by placing the geocach <br />in the park they are hoping that it would bring more traffic to the park and deter kids from <br />vandalism. <br /> <br />Commissioner Shryock thought that geocaching would be a good idea for Alpine Park also. <br /> <br />Lorrie advised that there were currently 36 active geocaches in Ramsey and 300 within a ten <br />mile radius. <br /> <br />Commissioner Shryock advised that geocaching had been -mentioned before but they had not <br />gone into detail like that. She thought it sounded intriguing and sounded like something to try. <br /> <br />Park and Recreation Commission/July 10, 2008 <br />Page 4 or8 <br />