Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 10/12/2017

Home

Parks & Assistant Public Works Superintendent Riverblood stated, related to the cost-effective category, a Capital Improvement Plan is being developed to include bonding and other financing tools. He stressed the importance of being specific about how to achieve goals and objectives, and how far the City might want to go in terms of Park Dedication and how much it can impact new development. Lydia Major, LHB Consulting, stated the list of objectives may seem vague, but they are useful for making future decisions about things that are not anticipated. Mr. Jacobson stressed the importance of keeping in mind that this is a starting point, and a way to tease out the crucial threads that tell a story that is unique to Ramsey, by creating a powerful statement about what the Master Parks and Trail Plan is setting out to accomplish. Chair Bennett asked whether formal action is required. Parks & Assistant Public Works Superintendent Riverblood stated the Commission can continue to refine and develop the key points of the Master Plan, and consider ways of reconciling these concepts with the Comprehensive Plan. 5.02: Approve Parks and Recreation Master Plan Survey Parks & Assistant Public Works Superintendent Riverblood stated Master Plan survey was disseminated for Commissioners to complete and provide comments. The goal is to get feedback related to the survey, and any other comments that the Commissioners might have. He added only three Commissioners took the survey. He stressed the importance of having all seven Commissioners complete the survey. Ms. Major, who is administering the survey, stated she will be going on vacation on August 21, and she would like to close the survey that day. Chair Bennett stated the survey was written well, and some of the questions could be expanded, so it forced me to make difficult choices. He added there was a good mix of activities. He noted, on the first page, there no option to select that you have lived in Ramsey for 12 years. Ms. Major said an internal goal can be set about how many people we want to respond to the survey. She added a good variety of respondents is important, rather than a majority from a specific group who will all have the same responses. She stressed the importance of keeping in mind that it is a statistically invalid survey. She noted the survey is long and very specific, and it would be better if it could be shortened and answers could be more general. Commissioner Bayer asked whether Item 10 could have a map with parks locations, as some residents might not know where parks are, or what they are called. He added the list of parks is long, and some parks are on it twice. Park and Recreation Commission/August 10, 2017 Page 4 of 12