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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks and Recreation - 03/03/2025APPROVED MINUTES PARKS, RECREATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2025 7:00 P.M. City Center, Heritage Rooms 1-2 8080 Mitchell Road PRNR COMMISSION MEMBERS: Patrice Erickson, Chair; Deepa Bhujle, Cecilia Cervantes, Pedro Curry, Duane Hookom, Annie Klodd, Jennifer Meyer, Kirk Spresser, Shanti Shah PRNR STUDENT REPRES.: Richa Raja, Tavin Koenig, Tessa Plourde, Jack Petrin, Noelle Fitzgerald, Sophia Hoffelt, Haricharan Neelamegam, Arya Mehta CITY STAFF: Amy Markle, Parks & Recreation Director Lori Brink, Recreation Manager Matt Bourne, Parks & Natural Resources Manager RECORDING SECRETARY: Sarah Resemius Chair Erickson called the meeting to order at 7:03 PM. Commission Members Bhujle, Cervantes, and Spresser were absent. Student Representatives Fitzgerald, Hoffelt, Koenig, Mehta, Neelamegam, Petrin, Plourde and Raja were absent. I.APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion: Commissioner Hookom moved, seconded by Commissioner Shah, toapprove the agenda with no amendments. Motion carried 6-0. II.APPROVAL OF PRNR MINUTES – January 6 and February 3, 2025 Motion: Commissioner Hookom moved, seconded by Commissioner Klodd, toapprove the January 6, 2025 Commission Minutes. Motion carried 6-0. Motion: Commissioner Meyer moved, seconded by Commissioner Shah, to approve the February 3, 2025 Commission Minutes. Motion carried 6-0. III.REPORT OF CITY COUNCIL ACTION Parks and Recreation Director Markle stated the City Council has been quiet at the meetings on February 4th and February 18th. However, there are a few items to share. The City has a contract with the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux to perform wood grinding at the moss site. That service is important with the increase in prevalence of EAB trees. The contract is for the coming year. Director Markle states that the City has a new electronic sign on contract at the senior center, which will be installed this spring. On March 4th, 2025 at 5:30 PM in the Heritage Rooms at the City Center there will be a work session with the topic of mountain biking. Commission attendees are welcome to attend this work session. We will be exploring mountain biking at Cedar Hills Park, as well as potentially expanding the trail system if it is possible to reach an agreement with the Airport Commission. The Airport Commission has approximately 64 acres across the street from Cedar Hills Park that may be available for recreation purposes. This year, the proposal would include some engagement and design, as well as the formation of a committee to discuss next steps for this initiative. The design would be complete fall/winter of 2025, with construction occurring in 2026. If we are able to secure an agreement with the Airport Commission for the tract of land across the street, that would likely occur beyond 2026 and into 2027. Commissioner Hookom inquired whether there is any desire to request feedback from the community on this topic. Director Markle stated that while anyone is welcome to attend the meeting, no community feedback is requested at this time, as this will be an early conversation with the City Council. The City will definitely seek community feedback from the public in the future, including a committee of bike enthusiasts. The Minnesota Cycling Association has reached out and requested to be involved. IV. REPORT OF PLANNING COMMISSION Matt Bourne, Parks & Natural Resources Manager, said there is nothing to report from the Planning Commission. V. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATION VI. NEW BUSINESS VII. OLD BUSINESS I. REPORTS OF COMMISSION & STAFF 1. Summer Staffing and Training Recreation Manager Lori Brink gave a presentation on the staffing and training of the City during the summer months. a. Summer Seasonal Hiring 2025 Recreation Manager Brink states that their department was tasked with gathering information and having conversations about summer seasonal hiring with staff associated with this task. 1. Types of Part-Time Positions • Lifeguards and Water Safety Instructors Some lifeguards and water safety instructors are on staff year-round on a part-time basis, but more are summer staff only (beach guards as well as outdoor staff). Aquatics has 110 part-time staff in the summertime. • Park Rental and Event Support Staff, Mobile Café Staff This operation emanates out of Doug Tucker at the Community Center. Tucker handles the rinks and concessions at the Community Center, and when things are more quiet in the summer he oversees park facility rentals and Customer Relations Leads. CRLs are there to make sure facility rentals are set up for park users. They are very busy on the weekends due to a high volume of park rentals. The Mobile Café team is cross-trained, set up primarily at Staring Lake to support the concert series and plays that occur there. • Park Maintenance, Natural Resources, Horticulture & Boundary Inspection These seasonal staff fall under the umbrella of Matt Bourne’s area, Parks & Natural Resources. Boundary Inspectors maintain boundaries of parkland and city property yearly, so that it is not encroached upon. • Youth Sports The City contracts with a service provider that comes in with trained staff and equipment (similar to Skyhawk Sports Camp). In addition, we do have a large in-house tennis program. We hire and train tennis instructors, as well as a part-time Sports Coordinator. They assist with getting players to meet around the Twin Cities. • Day Camp Staff Day Camp Staff includes counselors, coordinators, and inclusion support assistants. Inclusion support can support young people with disabilities who may need additional support in order to participate in activities. There are a wide variety of positions we hire for in the summertime. 2. Recruitment Strategies The audience for most of our recruitment is teens and young adults (high school and college students). We may want to expand that demographic. Our current recruitment strategies include: • Online Platforms Indeed, Handshake, etc. • Job Fairs The City has participated in job fairs, such as the University of Minnesota job fair and the Eden Prairie high school job fair. At these events, we provide a QR code with Dove chocolate attached to it. • Current Employee Referral Perks Perks may include sweatshirts, stocking caps, etc. for employees who were referred and hired into the system. Word of mouth employee referral is very valuable for us. For example, at one time most of the café was staffed by the high school marching band. • Social Media Reels and Video We have utilized both Instagram and Facebook. We have increased the amount of videos we used to produced. We have aimed to increase the voice of our young workers, in order to attract their peers to employment at the City of Eden Prairie. • Dedicated Webpage (Recjobs) Outside of our dedicated job page, we have edenprairie.org/recjobs. We keep this page updated with current employment opportunities. • Early Timelines Prospective employees are out there looking for summer positions early. • Training and Development Program o Leaders in Training (LIT) for Camp Staff When a camp participant ages out of our day camps, they can participate in a summer camp called Leaders in Training (LIT). They receive leadership and personal growth curriculum in the mornings, then work at a camp site as a counselor’s helper in the afternoons. There are 2 4-week sessions, and participants can sign up for both. We have many 12-13 year olds who participate in the program. This is a paid curriculum and experience. Participants pay a fee, and are not paid. o Aquatics Swim Teams and Lifeguard Training We are the main pool for Eden Prairie Schools. If someone is trained by us and then is hired by us, we have pathways wherein we may then reimburse a portion or all of their trainings with the aquatics program. This creates access, as lifeguard classes can be costly ($200-$300 for certification). o Mentorship Programs We created a mentorship program in our tennis program, so that we can hire the younger individuals who have previously been requesting to join our program. 3. Recent Trends • College Students Internships are a priority for college students seeking summer employment; they are looking for the addition of an internship to their resume. Parks & Natural Resources Manager Matt Bourne said that we now have 2 forestry interns, 1 horticulture intern, and 1 additional intern. In addition to employment, internships can also offer college credit. We have had joint interns that experience multiple departments within Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources here at Eden Prairie to get broader experience. Recreation Manager Lori Brink points out that sometimes, the internship requirements are filling out a record of an intern’s activities, while some may involve a professor’s participation. • Desire for “Regular Business Hours” It can be a challenge to staff beaches on weekends when young people want their weekends free. • August Availability August availability can be a challenge, as college students are now returning to school earlier (i.e., August 10th compared to the last week of August). • High School Students We are seeing a younger applicant pool among high school students (as young as 15). These younger applicants have expressed a desire to work with their friends. This is a strength for us. Parks, Recreation & Natural Resources is a place where we can create community, and create that experience for our young employees. • Demanding Sports/Activity Schedules We have had to create flexible arrangements to accommodate for the schedules of young employees who are athletes and have other demanding schedules. • Other Target Groups Retirees and educators are demographics in which we have had some success with regards to summer employees. We have had success with incorporating both teachers and educational paraprofessionals that work with special education students during the school year, helping to foster inclusion in our summer programs. Parks & Natural Resources Manager Matt Bourne states that we have had success with retirees who work in park maintenance. Chair Erickson asked when the start is for summer employees. Recreation Manager Brink answered that it can vary by position. Parks & Natural Resources Manager Bourne states that their department starts the 1st week of May, and ends in late October depending on the weather. 4. Challenges • Hourly Rate Young employees are aware that they could be making more at private employers than with Eden Prairie. When we have done salary studies, we look at comparable employers such as other cities. We try to talk all the time about all of the benefits to employees in addition to the hourly rate. • Outdoor, Physically Challenging Work The majority of our summer positions are outdoor, physically challenging work. As a result, there are some limitations for some people. In park maintenance, turf maintenance, and our playground camps, you are outside all day long and there is no air conditioning. • Retention (Internships) Oftentimes, a college student may work for us after their first and/or second year of college, but then in 3rd year may want to move on to an internship that is more directly related to their career path. 5. Training Camp counselors receive 2 full days of training. Training looks different at each of the positions. Below are the types of training offered for summer employees: • Safety • Job-Specific • Citywide Required • Job Shadow o Official shadow shifts where someone is working alongside a new employee, or group shadow settings • Mentorship Recreation Manager Brink states that we have had to turn away students who could be in swimming classes because we do not have sufficient staff. Recreation Manager Brink opened the floor for comments, asking specifically if there are any ways in which we can think differently. They asked if we are not going after recruitment of high school and college students, how we may think differently about recruiting different segments of the population. Chair Erickson asked Parks & Natural Resources Manager Bourne whether most of their department’s jobs are posted on the website. Bourne answered that they are, and that their department also recruits at senior centers and focuses on retirees. Retirees can come earlier and stay later. The City needs seasonal help, and college students are not available until May. Commissioner Meyer stated that it would be helpful to have the PRNR Student Representatives here for this conversation, and asked if we could bring this topic up again at a future meeting. Parks & Natural Resources Manager Bourne stated that all Parks & Natural Resources employees must be at least 18 years old in order to operate the necessary equipment. Parks & Natural Resources talks to groups (i.e., baseball teams) to recruit employees who are turning 18 as they graduate high school. Commissioner Hookom asked if we hire umpires seasonally. Recreation Manager Brink answered that we do. We have both volleyball officials and softball officials in summertime. Volleyball officials are year-round. That has been a difficult position to hire for as well, year-round, especially at the youth athletic level. Commissioner Hookom asked if we run background checks on all prospective employees. Recreation Manager Brink answered that we do for all prospective employees who will be working with children. This is also the case for the Eden Prairie Players theater group, as children may also be cast members. Parks & Natural Resources Manager Bourne stated that we also do driver history checks and drug checks, as employees will be driving City vehicles. Brink stated that as much as we try to take a youth development focus with our participants, we try to take that focus with our staff as well by giving opportunities for leadership and professional growth. We give help with resumes, mock interviews, and letters of recommendation to help them in the future. Chair Erickson asked what the feedback was from the University of Minnesota job fair. Brink stated that the location of the job fair was tied to the University’s athletics and recreation center. We wish we would have been more attached to education, and prospective summer employees who are studying to be educators. Chair Erickson also asked about the high school job fair. Brink stated that it was delayed due to bad weather, and it has been rescheduled to April. Chair Erickson seconded Commissioner Meyer’s idea of checking in with the PRNR Student Representatives at the next meeting. Recreation Manager Brink states that a few years ago, we piloted a program wherein employees would give us their end date. If workers stayed through their end date, they would receive an end-of-summer bonus. B. Community Center Manager 1. N/A C. Parks and Natural Resources Manager 1. Parks & Natural Resources Manager Bourne gave Project Updates • Within the next few weeks, we will get the flying red horse’s lights up and running, and get it turned on. It turned out really well and is much bigger than we thought! • In Miller Park, we are getting light posts up there. We are hopeful that the pickleball, tennis and basketball courts will be set up by the time we have nice weather. We are hoping within the next few weeks we will begin to see it take shape. • Homeward Hills Playground plans should be forthcoming in the next few weeks. We should have more information at the next PRNR meeting. As Amy said, we will hopefully have some preliminary plans at the next meeting. Brink added that, to piggyback on the pickleball conversation, we are looking to create a more structured use of our pickleball courts. We are going to build a schedule for the different kinds of play. We will have QR codes for each type of calendar. There will be signage with the QR code for individual and group play. We will take all 5 of our sites and create a schedule whereby there is a place for everybody at any given time. In addition, we will have our teams and leagues on this same schedule. We would like users of the pickleball courts to check the schedules before they leave home. We will be taking feedback and creating something that we hope will work for everybody. Chair Erickson asked if we will we have attendants at the pickleball courts like last summer. Brink stated that we will not; instead, we are going to use the QR code schedules instead of attendants. D. Parks and Recreation Director 1. N/A E. Parks & Recreation Experiences Commissioner Hookom stated that the flying red horse brings back a lot of memories. Hookom offered kudos to everyone who worked on that. Hookom brought forward that the Arbor Day Tree Program has been announced. Bourne affirmed, and stated that the sale this year will be bumped up to 500 trees. We will be having the Tree Program at Flying Cloud this year to help with ease of tree pickup. Commissioner Klodd asked if we have considered doing a time-slot pickup for trees, as this may help to reduce the exhaust from idling cars. Klodd stated that having this event located in a larger parking lot should help with congestion as well. Bourne stated that Tree Trust manages this program, and that they will check in with them to see if a time-slot pickup is an option. Commissioner Hookom asked if we used volunteers for the Arbor Day Tree Program. Bourne stated that we utilize our staff, Tree Trust staff, and volunteers for this event. Director Markle shared that this Saturday we have our Polar Plunge event at Riley Lake Park. The following weekend, the Eden Prairie skating team will be putting on their annual show, a Barbie-themed event. The same weekend, there will be a large state swim meet at the pool. Recreation Manager Brink stated that the Art Center held open house this past Saturday. It was a 3-hour event with over 300 people. We try to time it so that we have the open house the weekend before summer registration opens in order to encourage attendees to sign up for summer camps and classes. Chair Erickson stated that it has been exciting to see the flying red horse after all these years. Director Markle shared that the City will be having a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the flying red horse. VIII. NEXT MEETING PRNR: Monday, April 7, 2025, Outdoor Center IX. ADJOURNMENT Motion: Commissioner Hookom moved, seconded by Commissioner Curry, to adjourn. Motion carried 6-0.