18-03 Approved Commission MinutesCrystal Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes
March 7, 2018
Crystal Community Center
The Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting was called to order at 7:01 pm by
Commission Chair Lori Merriam.
Commission members in attendance were: Lynn Haney, Lori Merriam, Erin Kolb, Andy Leipold,
Patrick Rosenquist, Tiffany Kovaleski, David Pascoe (via phone) and Meredith Torres-Walsh.
Also present were Olga Parsons, Council Liaison; John Elholm, Brad Fortin and Scott Berggren
from the City Staff.
There were no commission members absent.
There was no public comment.
Ms. Haney made a motion to approve the February Park and Recreation Commission minutes;
Ms. Kolb seconded the motion. The Park and Recreation Commission minutes for February were
approved as written.
In the chairperson’s report, Ms. Merriam requested that we add commission members absent
to the minutes for easy reference when reviewing.
The City of Crystal Attorney, Troy Gilchrist, gave a presentation on Open Meeting Law (OML).
His presentation followed an outline which can be found in (Appendix A).
Mr. Elholm provided the commission with an update on three on-going park projects.
1. The MAC park project has resumed after a 30 day waiting period. The installation of the
helical pilings will take around 5 days to complete.
2. An open house was held for the Welcome Park project on February 27. Those in
attendance were happy with the plan that was presented. Staff and consultants will
continue to move forward with park design, with plans ready for bidding in April.
3. An updated design for Becker Park was presented to the commission. This new design
still has all the same elements that had been discussed during the master planning
process. Based on initial budget estimates, the skating area may not be included in this
phase of the park project.
Crystal Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes – Page 2 March 7, 2018
Mr. Elholm is currently working on sponsorships and grants that will help fund the Becker Park
project. He recently met with Buffalo Wild Wings to set-up a promotion where patrons can
mention the Becker Park project and 10% of their bill will be donated. The commission had
discussions on other ways to help fund the project, including engraved paver stones, civic group
donations and corporate sponsorships.
The Commission will participate in their annual park clean-up of the Crystal Community Center
grounds on Wednesday, April 4. The clean-up will begin at 5:45 pm and will happen until the
tree board meeting at 6:45 pm.
There was no City Council report
Mr. Pascoe gave a Crystal Fund report. They will be working on plant sale assignments during
their next meeting.
Reports were given by Mr. Fortin for park maintenance and Mr. Berggren for recreation
programming. They both made reference to information presented in the commission packet.
Mr. Elholm gave the Director’s report. He mentioned that registrations for the Crystal Ball are
still being accepted, however the deadline to participate in the dinner is March 18. Participants
are still able to register at the door for music and dancing.
The Crystal Frolics committee will resume meeting in March. They will be kicking off the design
contest for the Crystal Frolics Button at Family Fun Night.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:33 pm.
John Elholm, Recorder