Minutes - Parks and Recreation Commission - 08/12/1999

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Commissioner Droegemueller stated that there is not a large amount of land available in the City to develop a large athletic complex and to redesign the existing parks would be to costly. Councilmember Connolly questioned if the Commission would be more comfortable putting together a task force that would only focus on trails. Councilmember Hendriksen stated that he feels that there is support by the City Council to construct trails and understand the importance of receiving grants and encourage the members of the Park and Recreation Commission to attend the workshop and give a commitment to either do the task force or give reason why not to. The Commission discussed options to help keep the Commission updated on action taken by Council in relation to Park items. Commissioner Rolfe stated that Councilmember Hendriksen's idea has merit, but remains concerned about timeline. Commissioner Droegemueller stated that trying to get people to continue on the task force is very difficult. He suggested compiling all the information the parks department has to date and meet with City Council and if they can give names of people who could help in the needed areas then schedule another meeting with the appropriate people to determine if they would willing to commit to the project. Commissioner Droegemueller addressed a letter from Timothy Bums received by the City in regards to poor park maintenance. Mr. Droegemueller stated that he is a Commissioner of the Anoka Area Baseball Association and that they have used all the fields in the City and from his estimation Ramsey has done an excellent job with maintaining the fields and have had several compliments from neighboring cities on how well the fields are maintained including the baseball complex at Alpine Park. He explained that their association had teams qualify in state tournaments, regionals, and for first time ever a north metro team won a state tournament and felt that part of the success was due to the City of Ramsey. Mr. Droegemueller presented Parks/Utilities Supervisor Boos and the maintenance staff a metal from the Mickey Mantel State Tournament. Chairperson Cook stated that he often attends different parks and that he is hearing from a lot of new residents that they are moving into the City because of the recreational oppommities that are coming into the area and commended Parks/Utilities Supervisor Boos for his work on the trails. He noted that he did receive a couple of complaints at Central Park in regards to not enough drinking fountains and suggested looking into the matter. Parks/Utilities Supervisor Boos thanked the Park and Recreation Commission for there support, and noted that in the future they will be mandating that field maintenance requests are done in writing or by fax. Park and Recreation Commission/August 12, 1999 Page 8 of 9