20-07 Approved Commission MinutesCrystal Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes
July 1, 2020
Crystal Community Center
The Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by
Commission Chair Lynn Haney.
Commission members in attendance were: Lynn Haney, Lori Merriam, Andy Leipold, Tony
Sumnicht, Erin Kolb, Meredith Torres-Walsh, Joyce Cooper, Jesse McCaffrey and Dave
Anderson. Also present were John Elholm, Brad Fortin and Scott Berggren from the City Staff.
Commission Members not in attendance were: Shaz Ahmadi
Community Members in attendance were: Neil Lantto
There was no public comment
Ms. Kolb made a motion to approve the June Park and Recreation Commission minutes; Ms.
Torres-Walsh seconded the motion. The Park and Recreation Commission minutes for June were
approved as written.
There was no chairpersons report.
Mr. Elholm provided an update on changes being made due to the continually evolving COVID-
19 situation. Recreation staff are adhering to phase III guidelines which call for group sizes of up
to 10 indoors, and up to 25 outdoors. Outdoor sports competitions are allowed to resume on
July 6. We have been issuing permits for field use and picnic shelter rentals. All permits are
accompanied by a COVID checklist that provides information for the renter - to help stop the
spread of the disease. Recreation staff continue to plan innovative programming for both in-
person and virtual participation.
Mr. Elholm provided an update on park projects happening around Crystal. The concrete work
at Iron Horse Park is almost complete. Much of the trail will be paved in the coming weeks with
the ‘loop’ part of the trail being completed at a later time. The next step will be the installation
of the shelter. The playground project at Fair School Park is still awaiting the approval of a
$25,000 grant from Hennepin County. Ideas on how to complete the project if the grant isn’t
funded are being discussed with the school district. Finally, the hockey rink at North Lions Park
is on schedule for completion this fall.
The Commission discussed the proposed idea of doing their park tour at Becker Park on July 15
this year. Commission members were in favor of this idea. Staff will work on planning the
details for the tour. In addition to the in-person tour at Becker Park, Mr. Berggren will be
organizing an opportunity for Commission members to visit local park on their own, and share
their observations at a future meeting.
Crystal Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes – Page 2 July 1, 2020
There was no City Council update
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. We are in the process of hiring a Recreation Supervisor
to replace Marcia Bach. Once hired, the new employee will overlap with Marcia prior to her
retirement. The community center will be busy this election season. We will be hosting 4
precincts in our building during the August 11 primary and the November 3 general election.
Plans are being made on how to circulate voters through the building safely.
Mr. Elholm and Ms. Haney gave a Crystal Frolics report. Ms. Cooper’s son David, won first place
for the Crystal Frolics Button Contest. Buttons with his design will be sold to the public, with
proceeds going to the NEAR Food Shelf. Ms. Haney also did an interview with the Start Tribune
about the impact of canceling this summer’s festival.
There were no new updates from the Crystal Fund.
Ms. Haney addressed open meeting law, reminding Commission members not to send bulk
emails, or ‘reply all’ to emails.
Ms. Kolb made a motion to adjourn the meeting; Mr. McCaffrey seconded the motion.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 pm.
John Elholm, Recorder