20-11 Approved Commission MinutesCrystal Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes
November 4, 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, Chair, Jesse McCaffrey, Vice Chair,
Dave Anderson, Meredith Torres-Walsh, Joyce Cooper, Lori Merriam, Erin Kolb and Tony
Sumnicht. Also present were Council Liaison John Budziszewski and city staff members John
Elholm, Brad Fortin and Scott Berggren.
Commission members not in attendance were: Shaz Ahmadi and Andy Leipold
Community members in attendance: none
There was no public comment.
Mr. McCaffrey made a motion to approve the October Park and Recreation Commission
minutes; Ms. Merriam seconded the motion. The Park and Recreation Commission minutes for
October were approved as written.
Ms. Haney gave her chair report. She shared that Ms. Merriam will be resigning from the
Commission at the end of 2020. Ms. Merriam has served on the Park and Recreation Advisory
Commission for 16 years.
Mr. Elholm led a follow-up discussion on dog parks. Mr. Elholm and Mr. Fortin met with the
Three Rivers Park District (TRPD) Director of Facility Services, who oversees dog park
operations. She provided insightful information on improvements TRPD has made over the
years to improve safety. One suggestion they shared is that dog parks should be at least 10
acres in size if possible; to allow dogs to spread out. The current Basset Creek dog park is
approximately 1 acre in size. Moving the dog park to a different location would allow an
increase in size to approximately 4 acres, and allow the area to have a separate small or frail
dog area. Mr. Elholm and Mr. Fortin also visited two dog parks operated by TRPD and one dog
park operated by the City of Plymouth. The information gathered during this process will be
helpful as a dog park is developed at Bassett Creek Park in 2022.
Mr. Elholm updated the commission on current and proposed park projects. The plan at the
beginning of 2020 was to host 4 ribbon cutting ceremonies to celebrate completed projects.
While the 2020 projects are or will be complete, restrictions related to the pandemic did not
allow for these public gatherings to occur. Mr. Elholm also discussed the planning for 2021
projects. He highlighted the concepts for the Valley Place play area and trails. A Hennepin
County Youth Sports Grant was submitted for the project, with a main goal of improving
accessibility. The play area at Yunkers Park will also be installed in 2021.
Crystal Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission Minutes – Page 2 November 4, 2020
Mr. Berggren gave an update on Winterfest for 2020. The event is scheduled for December 5
and it will take place outdoors at Becker Park. Mr. Berggren will communicate with Commission
members as he determines volunteer needs for the event.
Mr. Budziszewski provided a city council update. The City is seeking bids for the new public
safety building. The council is hoping for bids to be competitive for this project. Bids are
expected to be received by the first part of December.
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. Recreations staff was able to attend the virtual NRPA
Conference in October. The virtual format allowed for more staff to experience the conference
with less impact on our training budget.
Crystal Recreation staff is starting to review the plans we had for 2020 Crystal Frolics as we
begin to gather information for the 2021 event. The Crystal Frolics committee may resume
event planning meetings in January. The Crystal Fund has not had a recent meeting. Their next
event will hopefully be the plant sale in May 2021.
Ms. Kolb made a motion to adjourn the meeting; Ms. Torres-Walsh seconded the motion.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m.
John Elholm, Recorder