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02-06-2023 PRCEM Parks, Recreation & Community Education Advisory Board Meeting Minutes February 6, 2023 Members present were Erin Knudtson, Jeff Hoeft, Kyle Wendling, Chad Czmowski, Kim Schutt, Liz Stearns. Staff present Lynn Neumann. The meeting was called to order at 5:15 pm. Motion was made by Erin Knudtson to approve the minutes for November 7, 2022. Chad Czmowski second the motion. Minutes were approved. Welcomed new PRCE Advisory Board Members – Elizabeth Stearns, Kim Schutt. Members of the board went around and introduced themselves and stated how long they have been serving on the board. Welcome Kim and Liz! Congratulations was extended to Advisory Board Member Ashley Gabbert and family on the birth of their son. Ashley was not able to attend the meeting. Members signed a card to share with her family. Bennett Michael Gabbert born January 30, 2023 Old Business River Rental Operations for 2023 o Equipment usage numbers for 2022 were provided to the board. Tracked usage for the 2022 season was very low. o Staff will be modifying the operations for 2023 season; going down to only two days open per week; one weekday and one day on weekends for operations. Shady Ridge Playground Update o Fundraising efforts continue for the neighborhood group. Playground modular system has been ordered and installation will take place in July 2023. New Business PRCE staff retirements o Recreation Services Coordinator, John McRaith, has announced his retirement date – March 20, 2023. o Recreation Facilities Operations Manager, Marv Haugen, has announced his retirement date – March 10, 2023. o Both positions are retiring after 40 + years of service to the PRCE Department. PRCE job positions and postings o Restructuring of the PRCE Department will take place due to the retirements of long-time employees. Both positions will be filled. The positions have been modified to meet the current and future needs of the department. o Recreation Manager and PRCE Facilities Maintenance Manager positions will be posted for applicants. o Position job descriptions currently being reviewed by Saato. Lynn will share with the advisory board once they are completed. Holiday Banner Design o PRCE Staff have been working with Display Sales to design the holiday banners. The new design was provided to the board. Suggestions were noted by board members. o PRCE Staff will be purchasing new holiday banners for the 2023 holiday season. DNR – Prairie Restorations Grant o PRCE staff applied for and received a $50,000 grant for Prairie Restorations in various locations around Hutchinson. The grant is currently being executed for work to start taking place in Summer 2023. The work needs to be completed by 2026. o The grant has allowed the city to hire Minnesota Native Landscapes to come in and perform work on our current prairies. o This grant is an ongoing grant and staff can apply for the grant again in the future when more work is identified. Outdoor Recreation Grant o Working on completing an application through the DNR for the Outdoor Recreation Grant. This grant would help fund the Splash Pad Project. o Applications are due March 2023. The maximum grant award is up to $350,000.00. Potential NA3HL team consideration o Hutchinson has been approached by a NA3HL team to operate out of Burich Arena. Staff have had multiple conversations and meetings with the organization to see if it would be a good fit for Hutchinson. o All stakeholders have been included in the conversations to make sure this is a good fit. o PRCE staff have been doing research with various other communities to better understand what the agreement would look like. This would bring in more revenue for the City of Hutchinson. o More to come as this process developments. Bicycle Friendly Community Application o PRCE staff and city staff have been working on the application for the Bicycle Friendly Community Status. Currently the City of Hutchinson holds the Bronze Designation. th o Application deadline is February 15. Awards for the spring 2023 BFC submission round will be announced in May 2023. Hutchinson Sidewalk/Trail Plan o PRCE staff and Public Works staff are working to update the Hutchinson Sidewalk/Trail Plan. The work is being done in house by city staff. o Lynn will email out the potential plan for the board to review. Suggestions can be communicated to Lynn at the next meeting or via email. Board Member Items No board member items were presented. Adjournment A motion to adjourn was made by Kyle Wendling and Kim Schutt second the motion. Meeting adjourned at 6:15pm. th Next Meeting Monday, March 6 at 5:15pm Location TBD