6.0 PRSR 10-17-23 Memorandum
To: Parks and Recreation Commission
From: Michael Hecker, Parks and Recreation Manager
Date: October 17, 2023
Subject: Parks and Recreation Manager’s Report
This report is a monthly highlight of department activities related to recent collaborations, strategic planning,
staff changes/developments, and park operations.
Athletic Facilities Tour
Three team members (Warren Ellingworth, Joe Stremcha and Michael Hecker) visited various athletic facilities to
get ideas on the latest designs, services, and amenities. Facilities visited include the following: Schwan’s Regional
Amateur Sports Complex in Marshall, The Irish Yard in Milroy, Riverside Park Ballfield in Springfield, Johnson
Ballpark in New Ulm, Caswell Complex in North Mankato and Gleason Fields in Maple Grove.
We appreciated the four turf fields at Gleason, but we were not as excited about their design layout. They seemed
too spread out. We prefer the pinwheel type layout with a central service building in the middle that overlooks
the fields. Marshall had the best example of this, with an elevated central plaza (concessions, restrooms, shelter,
and playground) that overlooks their four athletic fields. Marshall was also creative in using stone/pavers for
their seating.
Highlights from our tours that staff want to consider and pass along to the Athletic Fields Planning Committee
and HKGi include the following:
• Seating areas/concourse overlooking the fields (built up) no bleachers.
• Separate seating areas at all fields ADA accessible
• Sport decking for the premier fields
• Large dugouts with storage areas and decking (Gleason had the best example)
• Archway/plaza at the entranceway
Plants and Things Recreation Complex Shed
The shed at the Plants and Things Recreation Complex is nearly complete. It is a total of 350 sq. ft. complete
with interior and exterior lighting and separate entrances. One half of the shed will be shared with baseball and
softball. Baseball has notified staff they would like to store new grooming equipment.
Item: 6
Skate Park
The skate park lighting controls and nearby irrigation controls were vandalized three times over the past few
weeks. Therefore, the lights will continue to be off for the foreseeable future. Parks maintenance is working on
moving all the electrical control boxes (skate park and irrigation) to one secure location.
Hillside Park Mountain Bike Trail Improvements
MORC was able to obtain funding for rehab and maintenance work on the trails in the SE quadrant of the park.
The contractor is Trailsource LLC which is the same company that built the trails in the west side of the park in
2018. MORC only requested $1,000 from the city to cover mobilization costs. The work will take a few days and
should be completed by the time this report is received.
Camp Cozy Natural Resource Management Plan (NRMP)
The public meeting for the Camp Cozy NRMP is scheduled Wednesday, November 8 at 5:00 p.m. at City Hall,
right before the Parks Commission meeting. The Friends of the Mississippi River (FMR) are funding and
completing the plan with a Sherburne County SHIP grant. They will also facilitate the public meeting. The goal is
to help the city improve the ecology of the natural spaces without adding a burden to staff. FMR will continue to
stay committed as a management partner once the plan is complete (just like WHHCA).
Minnesota Recreation and Park Association (MRPA) Annual Conference
Three staff attended the MRPA annual conference last week at the Plymouth Community Center. The theme of
this year’s conference was Trailblazing Beyond the Beaten Path focusing on the trailblazing experiences parks and
recreation provide in our communities. A few of the key staff takeaways from the four-day conference include
the following:
• Trailblazing = Creative thinking
• Using social pinpoints for feedback and tracking of our parks and playgrounds
• Create a large impact with a small footprint nature center
• Park programming improvements, equity in access, sustainability, and efficiency.
• An emphasis to update our current parks and recreation system wide plan (2015) with a focused
approach to the needs and priorities of our community.
• Automating recreation tasks with Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Bradford Development
Lennar/Foster property Bradford Park Final Plat for Phase One is moving forward. This area does not include
any park infrastructure or amenities as outlined in the Preliminary Plat. It is proceeding through the planning
commission and future phases will warrant future action by the commission. I recommend the commission
appoint 2 commissioners to work with staff on a subcommittee to solicit feedback and review of Plat details
prior to consideration by the Commission. This is a similar process to our Athletic Facilities Master Plan review.
Eagle Scout Project – York/Zumbro Trail
Tristan (Eagle Scout) has cleared out the brush and the trail is clearly defined. More than thirty loads of brush
were hauled away as part of the effort. The next steps include stump grinding, boundary signage and a snow
fence installation to clearly define the residential boundary in one of the open clearings. Tristan will be gone over
MEA and plans to plant grass seed and mulch at the end of the month. This has been a great collaborative effort
and staff are excited to see Tristan’s efforts come through to fruition over these next few weeks.