Agenda - Council - 05/23/2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Reeder stated that currently the organization serves nine sports and are in discussion to add four more sports. He stated that the most pressing sport is youth fishing. He stated that the organization will host a fishing tournament this summer. He noted that they have also talked about adding golf and track and field. Ms. Deutschman stated that in regard to track and field they would need a track as the high school tracks are very busy. She noted that even in regard to fishing they would need information from staff as to the permits that would be needed and the locations that would be available. Mayor Strommen stated that her son recently joined the Junior Bass Masters fishing team and the closest location available was New Brighton. Mr. Reeder stated that they are going to send out an interest email soon and are looking at different options, such as competitive and learning general skills. Mr. Reeder thanked the Council for allowing them to be part of the discussion tonight. 2.03: Update on Recreation Programing for 2017 Parks and Assistant Public Works Superintendent Riverblood reviewed the staff report and provided a summary of the diverse range of programming available through partnerships the City has obtained. He reviewed some of the potential program partnerships that are in process for the summer. He stated that he is looking for any feedback from the Commission, Council or that may have been passed on from residents regarding programing in preparation for budgeting and planning for the future. Parks Commissioner Bayer stated that he attended the movie in the park event and there was a great turnout. He noted that people were wondering why the next event was not until September as they really enjoyed the event. Parks Commission Chair Bennett stated that people continually want more programming and they want that programming to be as flexible as possible to meet a lot of audiences. He stated that staff has done a great job of providing a flexible array of programing options. Councilmember Williams stated that she has received very great feedback on all the programing. She stated that it is really important in terms of budgeting to consider consistency. She stated that she would also like to see information that shows the benefit provided comparing the costs to the revenue generated and the attendance of the events. Parks and Assistant Public Works Superintendent Riverblood agreed that is important and believes that staff has done a great job of tracking the real costs and obtaining feedback from participants. He noted that if you offer something free, people often sign up and do not show up, but if you charge a small fee such as $5, people are more apt to attend after they sign up. He noted that generally recreational programming is not a cost generating item. He noted the cost City Council Work Session / May 9, 2017 Page 4 of 10