Minutes - Council Work Session - 03/21/2006

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staff. However, there was a lot of interest in bringing someone new to the table for all of the parties to buy into and offer a new perspective on the transportation system throughout the corridor. The decision to award the bid to WS:B was the consensus of those present at the meeting. 2) Park & Recreation Department Coordination City Administrator Norman reviewed that the discussion of a possible Park & Recreation Department took place during the January 24, 2006 Council work session with the discussion of the re -organization of the Ramsey Youth Athletic Association. Council directed staff to place the item back on a Council work session agenda for future discussion. Staff would like to briefly discuss the topic. The Council may want to discus the very early stages of a Park & Recreation Department, which would likely only be to assist the youth athletic association. This topic will likely be discussed further during budget discussion. Councilmember Strommen commented the Springsted reorganization study and the budget will play a lot into this discussion. Councilmember Elvig indicated he has had discussions with Anoka Ramsey Youth Athletic Association (ARYAA). The leadership of the association has indicated they do not have any problems with what Ramsey is doing and how the City is maintaining their fields and working with them; the leadership would like to keep the situation status quo. City Administrator Norman advised as the City becomes more populated and more organizations come about, there will be competition for the City's facilities. Parks/Utilities Supervisor Riverblood noted some of the enthusiasm of the youth association is likely due to the successful merger between the Anoka and Ramsey associations. On April 4th there will be a meeting with all the commission and board members to set the season, and it will be determined how the scheduling of the fields will work. Councilmember Elvig stated the youth association leadership feels strongly that they can coordinate themselves and maintain this. He suggested the Council discuss how other activities will be handled in the City, such as for the elderly and activities for kids that are not handled by the youth association. Councilmember Olson concurred. She suggested a Park and Recreation strategic plan be drafted. Mayor Gamec noted the City provides funding to the community school, which offers activities like floor hockey, basketball, art classes and reading classes. Councilmember Strommen suggested a survey be conducted of what types of classes are currently offered through the community school. The City can then determine whether there are holes to be filled, and whether the City could partner with the community school to fill in some of these holes. City Council Work Session / March 21, 2006 Page 3 of 7