Scott County Park Advisory Commission April 5, 2017 6:00PM

Scott County Government Center County Board Room 200 Fourth Avenue West Shakopee, MN SCOTT COUNTY PARKS ADVISORY COMMISSION PRELIMINARY AGENDA

6:00 P.M. – April 5, 2017 Scott County Board Room, 200 Fourth Avenue West, Shakopee

1) Roll Call – Mark Ewert, Chair Kristin French, At Large Kathy Gerlach, District 3 Barb Hedstrom, District 1 Jerry Hennen, At Large Eric Spieler, District 2 Patrick Stieg, District 5 Mark Ewert, District 4 Commissioner Jon Ulrich, Scott County Board Liaison

2) Pledge of Allegiance 3) Approve Agenda 4) Approve Meeting Minutes for March, 1 2017 5) Recognition of Interested Citizens for Items Not on the Agenda (No action will be taken.) 6) Visitor Services a. Let’s Go Fishing 2016 Overview and Approval of 2017 Partnership (6:15 to 6:25) 7) Maintenance a. Winter Update and Spring and Summer Plans (6:25 to 6:40) 8) Informational Items/Other (6:40 to 7:00) a. Advisory Commissioner Reports (Verbal) b. Programs Update (Verbal) c. Three Rivers Newsworthy and Legislative Update

9) Upcoming Meetings (7:00 to 7:10) a. May & June i) Cleary Master Plan Update – Process/Timeline ii) Budget iii) Tour of Cleary Visitor Center iv) Operations/Visitor Services Update b. July and August Meeting Dates Review 10) Adjourn (7:10)

Regular meetings of the Scott County Parks Advisory Commission are normally held the first Wednesday of the month at 6:00 PM in the County Board Room of the Scott County Government Center. Meetings are open to the public. Contact Patty Freeman at 952-496-8752 if you have an item you would like placed on the agenda.

SCOTT COUNTY PARKS ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES March 1, 2017

The Scott County Parks Advisory Commission held their regular meeting on March 1, 2017 at the Scott County Government Center, 200 Fourth Avenue West, Shakopee. Staff members present were Patty Freeman, General Manager of Scott County Parks and Trails, Scott Fuhrman, Park and Natural Resources Coordinator, Nathan Moe, Park Planner, Lynn Stoltzmann, Director of Facility Services, and Mandy Whiteside, Director of Marketing and Community Engagement.

1) Roll Call: Chair Mark Ewert called the meeting to order at 6:01 PM and proceeded with the roll call. Members present: Barb Hedstrom, Pat Stieg, Mark Ewert, Eric Spieler, Kristin French, Jerry Hennen, and Kathy Gerlach. Member absent: Commissioner Jon Ulrich.

2) The Pledge of Allegiance followed roll call.

3) Approval of Agenda Chair Ewert noted the addition of times next to agenda items and emphasized that they were there to act as a guideline and were not intended to curtail discussion. No changes were made to the agenda:

Motion by French; Second Hedstrom to approve the agenda

Motion carried: Ayes: 7 Nays: 0

4) Approval of Meeting Minutes for 02/01/16 No changes were made to the 2/01/17 Meeting Minutes.

Motion by Spieler; Second Gerlach to approve 02/01/17 Meeting Minutes as written.

Motion carried: Ayes: 6 Abstention: 1

5) Recognition of Interested Citizens for Items Not on Agenda No citizen comment.

6) Operations a) Lynn Stoltzmann provided an update relating to the open Park Services Liaison position. The position was posted on February 9, 2017. The job description was upgraded from a level 5 to level 7 (Park Service Officer) so this will be a supervisory position. There were 55 applicants; and 24 individuals met the qualifications. Interviews are targeted to take place on March 9, 2017; and they are hoping to have a new person in place to start May, 2017. • Qualifications: Bachelor’s Degree, customer service, public safety experience, and interest in Parks and Recreations. • Currently in the interim, we have Park Service Assistants who will provide assistance from the Hyland Park Reserve cluster. They will provide the customer service, public education and provide a positive presence “eyes and ears” in our parks.

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• Scott County Sheriff’s office is aware of the vacancy and they will respond to any emergencies and calls during this time. There will be no change in their function during the vacancy. • PSA patrol focus: - Paved and turf trails; - Parking lots; - Off-leash dog areas; - Golf course; - Camping areas; - Mountain bike trails; - Group camps; - Money and pay station (Jenna and staff will handle); and - Supervisory Position

b) Mandy Whiteside, Director of Marketing and Community Engagement for Three Rivers Park District provided an overview of her department, the work they are currently doing and the various ways they are working within the partnership. Her position is new in that,under her direction, what used to be the ‘Marketing and Communicatinos’ department now has a community engagement feature and it is focused in reaching the underrepresented populations identified in their research. Particularly, for the Park District operation in Hennepin County, in those cities located in the upper tier of suburban Hennepin County (Golden Valley, Robbinsdale, New Hope, Crystal, Hopkins, East Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, St. Louis Park, Richfield and Edina).

The department business model is a pyramid which illustrates the foundation of awareness of parks and trails at its base, visits to park centers for the center and advocacy at the top. The purpose of their department is to promote environment stewardship through recreation and education in a natural resources based Park System; and to connect people to their mission in engaging and inclusive ways.

Her department has the unique opportunity to work with people with varying levels of awareness, familiarity and interaction with the Park District which makes their job fun. - First, the base of the pyramid is awareness to let people know who they are, what they do and why they are here; - Second, they hopefully get the public out to visit the parks and trails; and finally - Elevate the public and visitors to become advocates for the parks and their mission.

Department Structure: • 30 staff total (combination of regular and seasonal) • The awareness team focusses on marketing and community engagement - Digitally focused with social media, website (April 3, launching new interactive website; not currently connected to Google) and targeted emails - Media relations – working with the local media - Printing / mailings (examples: Scott County Scene, brochures of parks and other facilities, rain garden signage at Cleary Lake) • Visits – Guest services and customer services • Advocacy includes the volunteers and work within the Park District foundation

Questions • Question relating to having apps available to provide conditions of the parks. The apps for conditions of the parks is on the list of future projects. • Question: Do you have a way to monitor what is working and not working? Digital messaging helps to monitor what is going out, what is working and not working. It is also very easy to tweak the messages to be more effective.

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• Question: What do you call a successful website or brochure? Their department doesn’t have a percentage to determine success – it is more message-driven. They are constantly reviewing their analytics by monitoring their web page views and the words the public is searching.

Community engagement is the newer part of the department and its focus is reaching out to the under- represented populations and this team works in tandem with marketing. The team is targeting the communities which are within the first tier (locations mentioned previously) and the under-represented population (household incomes < $50,000 per year, high school education or less, ages 45 and older, non- white population). This research was completed by the Park District in the year 2013; and will be completed once again 2018.

Ms. Whiteside’s team is looking for ways we can do program delivery, education and build the partnerships. An example of this type of effort would be Park Partners which is similar to an internal micro grant where we work with Park District Facility staff. What are those opportunities or groups that would love to work with us, but financial reasons are among the barriers? Our team provides them with small grants to try out new ideas (examples: Scott County team working with the Anchor Center, Seniors to the parks on trolley trams, Richardson Nature Center with the Department of Educational Equity, Silverwood and Assisted Living Centers). Another example of this would be Parks on the Go outreach van brings information out to the public (schools, libraries, church groups, Shakopee Diversity Fair, etc.)

• Guest Services: Focus on renting the facilities (weddings and events) • Special Events - 2016 Cedar Lake Farm Grand Reopening; and - 2017 Cleary Celebration on May 20. • Volunteers - Each site has a volunteer liaison to help coordinate the events - 800 reoccurring volunteers - 1200 one-time volunteer (46,000 volunteer hours across the Park district)

Questions: • Do you see a difference with marketing in Hennepin County versus Scott County? Different demographics? The geography is different. In suburban Hennepin County, the parks are closer and in Scott County they are more spread out. However, the parks in Scott County are more unique so there is a reason to encourage the public to enjoy a unique opportunity. The methods and mediums are the same.

• April is national volunteer month. Do you do something for our volunteers? The Parks do a lot of our volunteer recognition at the site level; and they work with the Volunteer Liaisons to develop volunteer recognition events. At the Park District level we have a Distinguished Volunteer Service Award program. Each year in April we recognize a group of 5 -10 volunteers who come from a variety of facilities and roles across the district. They are recognized amongst their peers as well as at a board meeting and they enjoy a special dinner reception with the Superintendent, Chairman of the Board and Staff.

• Do you provide training and screening for volunteers? How do you get your volunteers? We are fully integrated with their Three Rivers office; and there is screening for the volunteers who will be working with children.

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7) Informational Items a) Advisory Commission Reports: Will there be a meeting at Cleary; or a pancake breakfast in April? Will the Park Commission do something this summer at Cedar Lake Farm? Ms. Freeman indicated she is working with Staff to determine and there will be more information at the next meeting.

Commissioner Stieg shared information relating to the Parks and Trails Legacy Advisory Committee which met the week of February 20th. The Committee is planning some public engagement activities since 2018 is the 10th anniversary of when the amendment was approved by the voters. There will be a series of events to recognize that 10th anniversary. They will discuss the accomplishments of the Legacy funds in to-date as well as to dream and plan for the next 15 years of that park plan. There would be the opportunity for all of you to attend these events. There will be participant-driven workshops (6 – 8 around the state that would occur this Fall in September 2017 through November 2017). That would be a lead-in to a state-wide summit on the Park & Trails Legacy funds which would occur next spring in either March 2018 or April 2018. This summit will take place either in the Twin Cities or St. Cloud; and of course all of you would be invited. It will be either a one or two day event. The event will include either field trips to projects which were funded by legacy dollars or projects that are awaiting potential legacy dollars. There will be presentations, sharing, learning, celebrating and planning. Commissioner Stieg will keep the Park Commission informed on this topic.

b) Program and Facility Specialist Position Update: Josh Sweet is taking a position at the Ney Nature Center. We have a vacancy in the program and facility specialist position. There are some good internal candidates; and it shouldn’t be a problem to fill the position. We’ll know more in April, 2017.

c) The upcoming Recreation and Education Programs in the Parks (fliers/information in packet) draw attention to the suite of programs we offer and a way to get it in front of people.

8) Upcoming meetings:

For future meetings, we have identified some possible meeting topics: • Budget goals and feedback • Winter recap from operations and maintenance April or May • Let’s go fishing 2016 summary April or May • Cleary Master Plan – Restart process outline April or May • Comp Plan public feedback summary will be one of those months. • Outdoor Recreation Supervisor will come to one of our future meetings. Adaptive programs connect them with the City of Shakopee. Not sure when they are available. • The Memorial Bridge meeting went well. We have alignment on the route. The D&R is supportive of having the route go through Memorial Park. Challenge is how to get the rest of the funds. We are working on additional grants. • Lions Park, handicapped playground is completed. Please take a moment to take a look.

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9) Adjournment

Motion by Hennen; Second Hedstrom to adjourn the meeting

Motion carried: Ayes: 7 Nays: 0

The meeting was adjourned at 7:10 PM.

______Mark Ewert, Chair Date

______Dianna Gerold, Secretary

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PARKS COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM: 6. a. 2016 Let’s Go Fishing Recap

MEETING DATE: April 5, 2017

PREPARED BY: Scott Fuhrman

REQUESTED ACTION: Recommendation to approve 2017 partnership With Let’s Go Fishing

Jenna Tuma will present on behalf of the Scott County Chapter of Let’s Go Fishing, providing a recap of the 2016 season and a preview of the upcoming 2017 season.

BACKGROUND: The mission of Let’s Go Fishing is to enrich the lives of individuals by bringing the healing of nature through boating excursions. The Let’s Go Fishing mission aligns with the County’s vision of “Delivering What Matters” by creating safe, healthy and livable communities.

On May 5, 2015 the Scott County Board of Commissioners approved Resolution 2015-082 (attached) in support of providing a host site for the LGF pontoon at Cedar Lake Farm Regional Park, providing basic program support, offering use of existing facilities, and allowing for a Park liaison to the LGF Scott County Chapter’s board to ensure smooth communication. This support is enacted through an annual Special Use Permit issued by the Parks Department to the Scott County Chapter of Let’s Go Fishing.

Provide a host site for the pontoon • Park Maintenance staff installs and removes dock at the beginning and end of the season • LGF pontoon is docked on-site at CLF for the duration of the season

Basic program support • Park maintenance staff ensures that the LGF pontoon has fuel • LGF Golf Cart is stored and charged in CLF Maintenance Shop. On LGF excursion days, Staff moves the cart outside at the end of their shift so that LGF volunteers have access.

Facility use • LGF can use classroom space for training and meetings • LGF Volunteers have a code to access classroom space at the Pavilion • Bait and lifejackets are stored in the concessions area of the Pavilion • The boat cover for pontoon is stored in the pavilion basement • LGF golf cart is stored and charged in the maintenance building • Groups typically have lunch at the Pavilion before or after their excursion. There have not been use conflicts between LGF groups and picnickers, as the outings are during the week. • For Winter 2016/2017, staff granted an emergency request for the LGF pontoon to be stored in a pole barn at one of the county owned parcels in Blakeley. This will be reevaluated for 2018/2019.

Liaison • Jenna Tuma acts as Park Liaison to the Scott County Chapter of Let’s Go Fishing’s board.

LGF Scott County runs two excursions per day, Monday through Thursday, from June until September. In 2016, the Scott County Chapter of LGF served approximately 1200 riders, engaged 125 volunteers, and raised $32,000. The chapter hopes to reach 1,500 riders, 150 volunteers and raise $75,000 in donations for the 2017 season.

PARKS COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM: 7. a. Maintenance – Winter Update and Spring and Summer Plans

MEETING DATE: April 5, 2017

PREPARED BY: Patty Freeman

REQUESTED ACTION: Informational

Doug Berens, Maintenance Director for Three Rivers Park District will provide an update of the 2016- 2017 winter maintenance operations and an overview of the spring and summer season plans.

Newsworthy items for March 17, 2017 Board of Commissioners

Construction update — Nine Mile Creek Regional Trail West Segment Early spring delays some boardwalk work until next winter For the Nine Mile Creek Regional Trail project in Edina, boardwalks are being built where the trail travels over wetlands. Boardwalk footings are installed in the winter months to minimize impacts on the wetlands in which they are located. Due to the unseasonably warm weather in February, the contractor for the Nine Mile Creek Regional Trail project was not able to complete installation of the boardwalk footings in some wetlands on the trail’s West Segment. That work is now scheduled for the winter of 2017/18. Footings were installed for most boardwalk locations, and those boardwalks will be completed this year.

New online experience launches April 3 On Monday, April 3, the new Three Rivers online experience will launch. As you’ll see, the revamped design was developed with a mobile-first mindset, creates a more intuitive user experience, includes upgraded features like interactive mapping, and improves the shopping experience. Overall, this new site will be much easier to use and will better represent the mission and personality of Three Rivers.

Upcoming Legislative meetings Park District Legislative Consultant Margaret Vesel has arranged the following meetings with Legislators for the coming week. If you would like to attend any of the meetings, please let Jason McGrew-King know at [email protected] or 763-559-6779. Additional updates will be sent as other meetings are scheduled.

 Rep. Mary Kunesh-Podein (District 41B, New Brighton) — Tuesday, March 21, 10:30 a.m., 303 State Office Building  Sen. (District 41, Columbia Heights) — Tuesday, March 21, 11:15 a.m., 2327 MN Senate Building  Sen. Paul Anderson (District 44, Plymouth) — Tuesday, March 21, 12:45 p.m., 2103 MN Senate Building

A Legislative update from Larkin Hoffman is attached as a PDF to today’s Newsworthy email.

Earned media update WCCO paid a visit to French Regional Park and aired this story previewing the maple syrup festival at French Regional Park.

News Channel 12 aired this story previewing the maple syrup festival at Eastman Nature Center. Scroll ahead to the last story of the newscast.

Memorandum

To: Three Rivers Park District’s Board of Commissioners Boe Carlson, Superintendent

From: Margaret Vesel, Larkin Hoffman

Date: March 17, 2017

Re: 3/10/17-3/17/17 Legislative Update

The following memorandum provides an overview of recent activities at the during the 2017 session with respect to issues identified as having importance to the Three Rivers Park District (“Park District”). If you have any questions regarding this summary, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Committees Continue to Meet Late as Second Deadline Approaches Today at midnight marks the second policy committee deadline at the Minnesota Legislature. Policy committees have worked late into the evening for a second week in a row as they attempt to review and evaluate a broad number of legislative initiatives. Legislation must have passed through all policy committees in both bodies before midnight tonight in order to continue to progress. Legislation that meets the second committee deadline then has until midnight on Friday, March 31st to either be included in an omnibus bill or moved to the floor of the House and Senate.

The next two weeks will continue to be busy as finance committees assemble, debate, and pass their respective omnibus finance bills. Governor Dayton is expected to release his supplemental budget proposal later this afternoon. Legislative leadership will follow suit in the next couple of days and release budget targets for each finance committee. Those targets will guide committee chairs as they work to assemble a state budget for the next two years.

Legislation of Interest to Park District

The following bills have been identified as the main priorities for the Park District for the 2017 legislative session.

Operation and Maintenance

HF 1790 (Hoppe, Chaska)/SF 1546 (Dziedzic, Minneapolis). This legislation appropriates $14.3 million each year from the general fund to the Met Council for metro regional parks operation and maintenance and appropriates $5.67 million each year in lottery-in-lieu-of money to the Met Council for the metro regional parks. This legislation is being pushed and supported by the 10 park implementing agencies in the metro area.

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HF 1790 was referred to the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance. On Tuesday, March 14, 2017, the Met Council was joined by representatives from Scott and Carver Counties in their overview of the Governor’s budget recommendations regarding operation and maintenance for the metro area parks to the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance. They were also able to provide a brief overview of HF 1790 (Hoppe). There was a good discussion of the Park Agencies’ needs and request. SF 1546 was heard in the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Finance on Tuesday, March 14, 2017. Senator Dziedzic presented the bill with Scott and Craver Counties. There was a good committee discussion regarding the metro park system. A number of committee members spoke in favor of the proposal. S.F. 1546 was laid over for possible inclusion in the Omnibus Environment Finance bill.

HF 888 (Fabian, Roseau)/SF 723 (Ingebrigtsen, Alexandria). This legislation represents the Governor’s environment and natural resources budget recommendations. The bill appropriates $8.54 million to the Met Council for the metro parks’ operations and maintenance in each year of the biennium ($2.87 million in general fund and $5.67 million in lottery-in-lieu-of money).

HF 888 was referred to the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance. The bill has not yet had a hearing. SF 723 was referred to the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Finance. On January 24, 2017, the Met Council provided a general overview of the metro regional park system and funding.

Bonding

HF 1856 (Dettmer, Forest Lake)/SF 1832 (Abeler, Anoka). This legislation appropriates $10 million in general obligation bonds to the Met Council for the metro parks system’s capital improvements and acquisitions. This legislation is being pushed and supported by the 10 park implementing agencies in the metro area.

HF 1856 was referred to the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance. The bill has not yet had a hearing. SF 1832 was referred to the Committee on Capital Investment.

SF 210 (Senjem, Rochester) /HF XXX. This legislation appropriate $1.6 billion in general obligation bonds. The bill is a close replica of the 2016 capital investment bill that failed to pass the legislature. The bill contains an appropriation for $5 million to the Met Council for metro regional parks capital improvements.

SF 210 was referred to the Committee on Capital Investments. On January 26, 2017 the bill passed out of the Capital Investment committee and was re-referred to the Committee on Finance. SF 210 was then re-referred on the floor to the Committee on Transportation Finance and Policy. On February 21, 2017 the Committee on Transportation Finance and Policy passed the bill and referred it to the Committee on Finance. SF 210 was heard on Tuesday, March 7, 2017 in the Committee on Finance. The bill was passed to the Senate’s General Orders and now awaits action by the full Senate.

It is important to note that this bill does not have a House companion and Minnesota’s constitution requires that all spending bills originate in the House of Representatives. We are closely monitoring the political maneuvering that may occur with this legislation.

2. Legacy

HF 891 (Gunther, Fairmont)/SF 708 (Ruud, Breezy Point). This legislation is the Legacy appropriations bill for Parks, Trails, Clean Water and Arts and Cultural Heritage. The bill appropriates $16.741 million in the first year and $17.790 million in the second year. The bill reflects the agreed upon funding formula of 40-40-20. The 10 implementing agencies are supportive of this legislation.

HF 891 was referred to the Committee on Legacy Funding. On Monday, March 13, 2017 the House Legacy Committee heard HF 1731 (Torkleson). This legislation contains the clean water and parks and trails provisions and appropriations from the Legacy bill. There was little discussion regarding the parks and trails section of the bill. HF 1731 was laid over for possible inclusion in the Omnibus Legacy bill. SF 708 was referred to the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Legacy Finance.

Legislative Meetings

To date, we have met with the following legislators regarding the Park District’s legislative priorities.

Representative Lyndon Carlson

Representative Mark Uglem

Representative Laurie Pryor

Representative Dario Anselmo

Senator

Senator David Osmek

Senator Cwodzinski

Important Dates to Remember

The following dates have been identified as important date during the 2017 legislative session. They are as follows:

 Friday, March 17, 2017 – Committees must act favorably on bills, or companion bills, that met the first deadline in the other house.  Friday, March 31 – Committees must act favorably on major appropriation and finance bills.  Sunday, April 9, 2017-Monday, April 17, 2017- Passover/Easter break  Monday, April 24 — Three Rivers Park District Day at the Capitol  Monday, May 22, 2017- Legislature is constitutionally required to adjourn

If you have any questions, please contact Margaret Vesel at 651-341-0880 or [email protected].

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