Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 09/11/2008

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go into an account that provides parks for the residents of the city. He advised that other projects are also funded from lawful gambling, such as the skate park at Alpin~ Park. Motion by Commissioner Backous, seconded by Commissioner Barr, to approve the 2008 Parks CIP Work Plan as presented. Motion carried. V oHng Yes: Commissioners Backous, Barr. LaMere, Shryock, and Board Members Ma.x, McDilda, and Freeburg. Voting No: None. Absent: None. COMMISSION/ST AFF INPUT Commissioner Backous advised that the Northern Lights Soccer Club recently held a north boys soccer tournament at Elmcrest Park. He stated that participants came from as far as Duluth and they had 116 teams this year at the tournament. He explained that this causes thousands of people to come into the city. He advised that the Soccer Committee had to rent a huge tent and portable toilets .and thought that the addition of a building at that park would greatly benefit tournaments held there. He stated that he received many compliments on the city and the park. He advised that it is hard to find that many full size soccer fields in one place and that it is rare to tind a soccer park that big. He thought that it was an asset to the City to have this park. He_ stated that he was going to try to attract more tournaments to the city in the future and it would be nice to have a building there. He advised that he would poll the soccer coaches to determine what they would like to see in a building at that location. - Vice Chair Shryock; appreciated his input and having him get the information for the Commission to use as direction. She hoped that if they were to have better utilization of Elmcrest Park and draw in more tournaments it might bring in some help with the intersection on Highway 47. Commissioner Backous was happy to see the parks staff pulling weeds and working out at the park to get things ready for the tournament. -He advised that there is a lot of pride and volunteers in the city and stated that other cities do not get the support that is given in Ramsey. He stated that Ace Solid Waste had donated the use of their garbage carts. He advised that everyone comes together and the citizens, city staff and the businesses all work together and support things within the city. He explained that this makes people excited to come and is a good image for people to go away with from the city. Commissioner Barr advised that a building would help for other sports in that park as well. Vice Chair Shryock commented that a lot of residents seem to like lacrosse and it seemed to her that other cities were not supporting this neW sport and instead treating it like a secondary sport. She thought that it would be helpful to encourage the lacross_e teams to come play in Ramsey. Commi~sioner Backous agreed that the park would be an ideal spot for lacrosse. Parks Supervisor Riverblood advised that Ace Solid Waste gives a donation eachyear based on the number of new customers they have within the city. He advised that a portion of their business is returned to their community. Park and Recreation Commission/August 14,2008 Page 7 of 8