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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks and Recreation - 12/01/2025 Approved Minutes Eden Prairie Parks and Natural Resources Commission Meeting 7 p.m. Monday, December 1, 2025 City Center Heritage Rooms 8080 Mitchell Road Eden Prairie, MN 55344 ATTENDEES Commission Members: Patrice Erickson, Chair; Pedro Curry, Vice Chair; Cecilia Cervantes, Duane Hookom, Jennifer Meyer, Kirk Spresser, Sana Elassar, Lisa Nichols, Giridhar Kuppili Student Representatives: Jack Dennison, Seth Gilligan, Everett Gilligan, Simone Kauna, Allison Schuessler, Daniel Siegert, Ani Dirks, Rose Wicks, Affan Syed, Gwendolyn Glasrud, Ella Brazil City Staff: Amy Markle, Parks and & Recreation Director; Jana Graczyk, Recreation Services Manager; Matt Bourne, Parks & Natural Resources Manager; Gamiel Hall, Community Center Manager; Kristen Twitchell, Recreation Supervisor – Arts & Events Recording Secretary: Sarah Resemius MEETING AGENDA I. Call the Meeting to Order Chair Erickson called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. Director Markle introduced Recreation Supervisor Kristen Twitchell, along with members of the Eden Prairie community arts programs. Vice Chair Curry and Commissioner Meyer were absent. Student Representatives Dirks, Gilligan, Wicks, Syed, and Glasrud were absent. II. Approval of Agenda Motion: Chair Erickson moved to approve the agenda with no amendments. Commissioner Hookom seconded. Motion carried 7-0. III. Minutes A. Motion: Commissioner Spresser moved to approve the November 3, 2025 minutes with no amendments. Commissioner Nichols seconded. Motion carried 7-0. IV. Report of City Council Action Director Markle shared updates from the November 18th, 2025 meeting of the Eden Prairie City Council. The Lion’s Club made a generous donation of $21,000 for 3 additional AED Safe Stations in Eden Prairie’s parks. This will result in a total of 6 AED Safe Stations throughout Eden Prairie’s park system, once the new Safe Stations are installed. Eden Prairie Parks and Recreation staff are working to create a map of AED Safe Stations in the city parks using GIS. The annual deer management contract with the USDA was discussed. The goal of the deer management contract is to harvest 50 deer. The City does receive occasional complaints on deer overpopulation, usually in specific neighborhoods with significant deer populations. At the November 18th City Council meeting, a contract was also completed to remove 150 Emerald Ash Borer (EAB)-affected trees along Pioneer Trail. The EAB-infected trees will be removed over winter, and the City will be re-planting trees in those same locations during spring through fall of 2026. The City also has an agreement with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR) with regards to the fishing pier at Round Lake. A new pier will be installed with a few more accessibility components. Currently, it is difficult to access the dock when water levels are low. Some additional ramps are being added through funding and materials provided by the MN DNR. These improvements will be installed by the City’s team in spring of 2026. In the future, sauna sessions will be offered at Staring Lake. This will begin in early January 2026. We had a staff report on the City’s recreation app. We are currently waiting on approval to go live in the app store. We are hopeful that it will go live this week (the week of December 1st, 2025). Commissioner Hookom called out the upcoming Open House at the Art Center, and asked if it would be possible to promote the rollout of the app by having an information table or something similar at the event. Director Markle shared that there have been postcards sent out to community residents. Commissioner Nichols asked if the postcard was delivered to certain residents first, as some community members they know personally attempted to access the app via the postcards that were sent out, and encountered issues. Manager Graczyk shared that the postcards were rolled out to certain residents before others, in a similar fashion to similar City communications sent out in the past. Commissioner Spresser added that it is possible residents on the City’s email list may have received this communication first. Chair Erickson asked how many saunas will be available at Staring Lake, once they have been installed. Manager Graczyk shared that there will be one sauna available once installation is complete. Director Markle shared that the City considered the placement of the sauna carefully, ensuring that it would be placed in an accessible location close to the parking lot, free of snow and ice in the winter. V. Report of Planning Commission N/A VI. Petitions, Requests and Communications N/A VII. Reports of Commission and Staff A. Parks and Recreation Director 1. 2026 Commission Topics (draft) • The opening of the Homeward Hills playground will be discussed by the PRNR Commission in 2026 • Dog parks will be discussed by the PRNR Commission in 2026 • Director Markle shared that a new bike park will be constructed in summer of 2026 • Director Markle shared that there will be a presentation about the new EP Walks Program at Round Lake Park • As a result of feedback from PRNR Commissioners, there will be a joint commission meeting with Eden Prairie’s Historic Preservation Commission at the Cummins-Phipps Grill House in 2026 • Director Markle shared that an analysis of Eden Prairie compared to similar Peer Cities in the Twin Cities metro area will be completed during summer of 2026, and the results will be shared with the PRNR Commission • Towards the end of 2026, Friends of Eden Prairie Parks will be presenting at a PRNR Commission meeting • Director Markle stated that all the 2026 Commission Topics listed may be subject to change, for example if a more urgent discussion point arises during 2026. Chair Erickson said that it may be helpful for PRNR Commission members to receive an update on the Homeward Hills Park playground construction before the relevant Commission meeting in 2026. Director Markle shared that one of the Student Representatives had asked for one of the discussion topics in 2026 to be Public/Community Art. Director Markle shared that, as new developments are erected within the City of Eden Prairie, it is strongly encouraged that along with the development a new piece of community art also be installed. Commissioner Cervantes asked if, when new development occurs, a percentage of the profits must be dedicated to public art. Director Markle shared that there is no legal requirement to do so, but it is strongly suggested by the City. B. Recreation Services Manager 1. Community Theater – Eden Prairie Players and Community Band • Kristen Twitchell, Recreation Supervisor, gave a presentation on the Eden Prairie Players and Eden Prairie Community Band. • Eden Prairie Performing Arts Overview • Community Band • Organized in 1973 • 60+ volunteer members • 15 concerts per year • 4 ensembles • Prairie Winds, The Prairie Brass, Jazz on the Prairie Big Band, and Prairie Ramblers Traditional Jazz Band • 11,000 people served • International tours • Past international tours have included China, Italy, Austria, Scotland, Ireland, Greece, Baltics (including Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) • Tom Muehlbauer, Director • This will be Tom’s 10th year as Director of the Eden Prairie Community Band • Rob Estrine, Ensembles • The Community Band shares music with our community through shows like the following: • Share the Warmth • Senior Living Communities • Memorial Day • Veteran’s Salute • More • Jeff from the Eden Prairie Community Band shared that the Band considers itself an ambassador of the Eden Prairie community. The District is a good partner as well, as we have played several of their festivals. As Supervisor Twitchell shared, the Band is also an international ambassador for Eden Prairie’s community as it has played outside of the United States as well. • Commissioner Spresser asked how any community members who may be musicians interested in joining the Community Band may find out about it, and go about joining. Jeff answered that the Eden Prairie Community Band receives new applications every month. • Another member of the Eden Prairie Community Band shared that they had an experience during college where a professor chastised students for discussing which fraternity to join, saying that by participating in jazz and music they would be a part of the world’s largest fraternity, able to make music with others wherever they may live. Through the shared interest of music, where they are from in northern Wisconsin, the east coast, and in Europe, they have been able to form new relationships wherever they have traveled through a shared interest in music. They became aware of the Eden Prairie Community Band through a performance at Staring Lake. They also shared that the size of the Community Band, and the regularity with which they meet, are unique amongst all of the many places they have lived. They went on to say that the Community Band also periodically tackles challenging music. They said that, unlike many other community bands, there is no fee for community members to be a part of the Community Band. They shared that the Community Band experiences a large amount of interest from prospective new members, to the point that they have had to turn away skilled musicians in the past due to capacity. This year, the Community Band created a Membership Council to help facilitate new members joining, as well as the logistics of getting such a large group together on a weekly basis. Now, we have been rehearsing at Valley View, which has been a great partnership with the school district. • Community Theater • Organized in 1992 • 140+ volunteer members • 5+ productions per year • Total of 21 performances • Variety of plays and musicals • The Community Theater tries to create a variety of programming for the community (i.e., classic musicals, new and popular plays, and family-friendly productions) • 5,000+ people served • Collaboration • The Community Theater collaborates with the in-house Communication team to create all of the poster and logo designs. This has helped reduce costs, which is helpful with keeping productions free or low cost for the community members who attend them. • The Community Theater does not currently have a permanent home for rehearsals and performances • This is a topic of conversation the Community Theater is looking to improve upon in the future • PiM Arts High School has been a venue in use by Eden Prairie Community Theater since 2018 • Fall COA and WOA+ • 2005: Collection of One Acts • 2008: 1st original, unpublished play • 2010: Created a call for submissions of unpublished works • 2018: Added Women’s One Acts • 2023: WOA+ stands for Women’s One Acts Plus, intended to be inclusive of women and community members with genderfluid identities • Behind the Scenes • Volunteers make many aspects of the Community Theater happen behind the scenes, including managing multiple rehearsal spaces, varying storage locations, rehearsals, table reads, props, and fight choreography • CTW – Children’s Theater Workshop • 2025 will be the 20th year of the CTW program • 30+ children • David, a member of Eden Prairie Community Theater, shared that they first became involved as a participant in 2009. Free productions help to raise awareness of the Community Theater’s existence and programming to community members. David had experience in theater during high school, and later in life when they had moved to Eden Prairie, they tried out for a production by Eden Prairie Community Theater. During the time they joined the Community Theater, they were working from home and joining had a very positive impact on their life through being able to interact with others. The Community Theater is always trying to grow and add Committee members who are interested in providing quality productions to the community. David shared that One Acts began in 2005, starting with professionally written and licensed one acts. Over time, the Community Theater moved from longer one acts to shorter one acts with a greater variety to the productions. In 2010, the Community Theater decided to take on local, unpublished one act productions. For a period of time, the Community Theater was performing a mixture of published and unpublished one act productions. In the first year of performing unpublished one acts, the Community Theater received 400 submissions. David created a website called Theater Forms, which is a play submission and review service. Through Theater Forms, playwrights can log on and enter all the necessary information about themselves. From there, the system logs each entry in the database. Afterwards, the Community Theater Reviewing Committee members log into Theater Forms and the website selects an unpublished script. The Committee members can then evaluate scripts on the basis of quality. At this point, the Community Theater leaves submissions open for one week. During this time, the Community Theater receives more submissions than it is possible to review. In previous years, the Reviewing Committee would cut off submissions at the quantity it was possible for them to review, which is 150. The Community Theater received negative feedback on this, as the opportunity to submit an unpublished play would often close before even 24 hours after it had opened. As a result, the Community Theater has implemented a lottery system wherein playwrights can submit scripts throughout the week-long submission window and scripts are randomly selected to be reviewed by the Reviewing Committee. • Taylor shared that, when they first moved to Eden Prairie and did not know anyone in the community, Facebook suggested the Eden Prairie Community Theater page. Taylor auditioned and got a part in the fall One Acts. They shared that their involvement in the Community Theater changed their life through the connections that they experienced while participating in community theater productions. Taylor also shared that they were able to direct a production through Eden Prairie Community Theater for the first time in over 20 years. 80 people auditioned for the Community Theater’s production of Little Women. • Supervisor Twitchell shared that there is some overlap between the Community Band and the Community Theater, as many Community Band members make up the pit music for community theater productions. • Concert Series • Staff • Advisory Boards • TPA Hiring • Unique to Eden Prairie • Impact • Feedback, Questions, Discussion • How do we make our community more aware of these Community performing arts groups? • Commissioner Spresser shared that social media reels may be a great way to gain community art participants. • Commissioner Spresser also shared that it may be helpful to advertise future productions to audience members at current productions. • Commissioner Cervantes shared that they appreciated hearing the personal stories and experiences of the community artists who attended the PRNR Commission meeting. • For youth commissioners: What suggestions do you have for getting more young people involved? • Student Representative Schuessler shared that people in their age demographics have short attention spans, so any flyers or reels should have an attention-grabbing hook or bold visual component. • Commissioner Spresser asked if there is an opportunity to be involved for community members who do not reside in Minnesota full time, such as students who leave the state for college during different points of the year. Jeff answered that they do have individuals who only participate in the Community Band for part of the year, such as retired community members who spend their winters in different parts of the country. • Commissioner Nichols asked what year the Student Representatives currently are in at their high schools. The Student Representatives shared that most of them are high school seniors. • Commissioner Nichols shared that the primary way young people obtain information is through social media. As a result, if driving engagement with young community members is a priority, it is important that Eden Prairie community art advertises effectively on social media. • Student Representative shared that the City of Bloomington community art programs advertise effectively on TikTok and other social media platforms. As a result, the Student Representative said that it may be helpful to coordinate with City of Bloomington staff to begin the process of effectively advertising on social media. • Rehearsal and performance space • Supervisor Twitchell shared that affordable rehearsal and performance space is an opportunity the Eden Prairie Community Theater is currently exploring, and asked for any ideas that Commissioners and Student Representatives may have. Supervisor Twitchell said that any suggestions at the PRNR Commission meeting, or afterwards via email, would be helpful. • Commissioner Spresser suggested that the Event Center at Staring Lake Park may be an option. • Commissioner Nichols shared that they had recently learned about the immersive theater scene in New York City, where in an environment like a hotel, staff and bystanders are all actors. Commissioner Nichols expressed that it may be interesting for the Eden Prairie Community Theater to consider a similar immersive theater production in the future. • Student Representative Schuessler asked if Eden Prairie’s community arts programs do any fundraising. Supervisor Twitchell and David shared that Eden Prairie community arts programs participate in grant writing, as well as a fundraising branch associated with the Community Foundation, called Friends of Eden Prairie Players. David shared that Eden Prairie Community Theater also includes a donation QR code in all production informational booklets provided at each event. Supervisor Twitchell shared that these funds are used for extra storage equipment, as well as scholarships for community members to participate in the Children’s Theater Workshop. Student Representative Schuessler shared that other community arts programs have fundraised by selling food and other merchandise. Taylor shared that unfortunately the Community Theater is no longer able to sell food as a fundraising tool due to the environment and associated health concerns in which plays typically take place. C. Communication Center Manager 1. N/A D. Parks and Natural Resources Manager 1. N/A E. Parks and Recreation Experiences 1. Commissioner Hookom shared that they noticed the sledding hill has opened up for the year. 2. Commissioner Hookom asked if ice rinks are being prepared for the winter season. Director Markle shared that they are, and that the City is currently in the process of hiring ice rink attendants. 3. Commissioner Nichols shared that they recently participated in wood shop training. They learned how to operate power tools, and want to create a bench for their front closet and objects made out of buckthorn wood in the future. VIII. Other Business PRNR COMMISSION PURPOSE STATEMENT Act in an advisory capacity to the City on matters of leisure services, recreation programming, and development and use of parks and recreation facilities supported by the general public. •Enlist the support of organizations and individuals in providing City parks and recreation facilitiesand activities. •Provide input to staff in the promotion of awareness and use of recreation facilities and activities by community organizations and individuals. •Provide input to staff on park plans including the site development and facility modifications and/orimprovement program. •Provide input to staff on park and recreation facility use. •Provide input to staff on leisure programs and activities. •Provide input to staff to ensure the inventory, preservation, and management of natural resources. IX.Next Meeting 1.January 5, 2026 Staring Lake Building (14800 Pioneer Trail) X.Adjournment Motion: Commissioner Spresser moved to adjourn at 8:22 PM. Commissioner Hookom seconded. Motion carried 7-0.