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4.3. SR 10-21-1996'"ity of iver ITEM 4.3. MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor & City Council FROM: Pat Klaers, City Administrator DATE: October 21, 1996 SUBJECT: Community Recreation Board Update Councilmember Roger Holmgren is our city representative on the Community Recreation Board. The Community Recreation Board is scheduled to meet the afternoon of October 21, 1996. At the October 21 City Council meeting, Roger is scheduled to give a general update on recent Recreation Board activities. Attached for your information is part of the October 21, 1996, Community Recreation Board agenda packet. If Roger is not available for an update, Community Recreation Director Jeff Asfahl will be in attendance for a brief update. s:\council\comrecup.doc 13065 Orono Parkway · P.O. Box 490 · Elk River, MN 55330 · (612) 441-7420 · Fax: (612) 441-7425 Natures Hideaway- Community Recreation Board Notice of Meeting Monday October 21, 1996 - 11:45 am Rogers, Mn. Located east of highway 101 on county road 144 * Your attendance is always important! If you cannot make the meeting please arrange to send an alternate or notify me at 241-3523 that you will not be in attendance. Thank you! AGENDA A. Routine Matters: 1.) Approval of past minutes 2.) Changes or additions to agenda 3.) Staff reports & updates: 3.A) Review staff reports 3.B) Youth Initiatives Update Items of Information / Discussion: 1 .) Joint Meeting with CE and ECFE advisory councils 2.) Field Development / Regional Planning & Responsibilities 3.) Healthy Communities / Building Community Assets 4.) Personnel Committee Update C. Other Business: - Set next meeting date: - Other D. Adjourn Consider November 18th. November 11th is Veterans Day. Please see the reverse side for explanation of the Agenda items. Agenda Item Detail B.1 ) Joint meeting with CE and ECFE advisory, boards: Staff representatives of CE, ECFE and Recreation have over the :asr several months been working at improving understanding and communication for the betterment of each of our program areas and the constituents as well. Being that our market is primarily the same, and the way in which we deliver our service is as similar, it can be easily understood that occasionally boundaries get crossed. Staff believe that it would be beneficial for the leadership of each to meet and share their vision, concerns, etc. so that individually, while in a united fashion each program can prosper and most effectively serve our constituencies. This meeting has been scheduled for Thursday evening January 9th 7:00 pm. At our September meeting it was suggested that in preparation for this meeting it would be a good idea for us to review each programs mission. They are as follows: Community Recreation: To provide, develop, and initiate year-round recreation programs, services and facilities that enhance the lives and increase enjoyment and well-being of all residents. Community_ Education: "To create a sense of community through lifelong learning." Early Childhood Family Education: The mission of ECFE is to strengthen families and support the ability of all parents to provide the best possible environment for the healthy growth and development of their children. I will further explain our plans / agenda and desired outcomes of this meeting at today's meeting. B.2) Field development / regional planning and responsibilities: At our September meeting we began to revisit our 1995 Long Range Planning goal that dealt with this area. At the September meeting you were presented with an inventory of community athletic fields in the District 728 area. Some of our individual communities have had experience with planning, developing, maintaining, etc. these facilities while other communities with respect to rapid and expected growth are just beginning their planning and dealoing with their new found responsibilities associated with these types of facilities. The Community Recreation Board could be the vehicle in which joint partnerships could be established between any qumber of communities or entities to cooperatively plan, develop, and mange these types of facilities. It was also suggested that these types of relationships with respect to developing facilities are usually top candidates when seeking grant funding. Enclosed with this meetings packet you will find an article related to state funded grants. A strategy should be considered as to how this organization can best coordinate and assist with planning, development, and managerial concerns of these facilities. (scheduling & maintenance) B.3) Healthy Communities / Building Community Assets: Enclosed with this meetings packet you will find several pieces of information related to this topic area. Dr. Peter Benson of the Search Institute was the keynote speaker eadier this month at the Area Mayors Luncheon. Additionally this same concept of community assets was identified by the Community Youth Task Force that has recently completed a 3 year study of issues related to youth in this area. The CYTF has completed their study and has offered some recommendations. It would be time well spent for the Community Recreation Board to discuss this information and determine how we can work towards some of the recommendations. Some work that has been done already to begin taking action on the recommendations has identified the Community Recreation program as a resource. B.4) Personnel Committee Update: The committee has been researching methods that would add more cladty and unity to the administration of our program. Much of this work is still in progress. According to feedback thus far about managing our personnel costs, the committee is researching and comparing job-responsibilities and will utilize this information to consider implementing a single administrative policy and wage manual. JA will explain the status of this research and optimal timeline for implementation. Below is an outline of our research areas. 1 ) Overview of current fiscal agency roles & associated issues: - lSD operates on a fiscal year, (July - June) and all municipalities and townships operate on a calendar year. As do we. - JA is on lSD payroll and benefits structure while all other admin, personnel are on city payroll and benefit structure - all recreation program staff become an employee of the host city of the activity. This lends itself to duplication of: work comp., payroll management, & confuses the issue of liability/work comp. issues. - requires lSD stationary checks, which are confusing to our identity. 2) ExDIoration of uniting fiscel agency- Considerations'. a) admin staff payroll and benefits: it would be possible to develop our own and set policy that covers all admin personnel payroll and benes. b) recreation program personnel: It could be designed to have all program personnel represent our organization and receive a check from us rather than potentially from 4 different sources as current structure allows. c) accounts payable / receivable: lSD currently performs this. Current format for line items is dgid due to educational requirements that a municipality would not be bound by. lSD fiscal agency is prohibitive to our identity. If our own were developed, it could be customized to suit our specific financial management needs. 9/16/96 COMMUNITY RECREATION BOARD Minutes Fr. 9/16/96 \ttendance: J. Asfahl- Comm. Rec., Doug Thompson - Hassan, S. Slater - City of Dayton, R. Holmgren - City of Elk River, G. Eitel - City of Rogers, Vern Heidner - City of Otsego, R. Johnson - Livonia, J. Gongoll - lSD 728, C. McNaughton-Commers - CE Representatives absent: Zimmerman Chair - Roger Holmgren called the meeting to order at 12:00 pm. A. Routine matters: 1 .) Approval of oast minutes: The minutes from 8/19/96 were approved on a motion by,Vern Heidner seconded by Roy Johnson. Motion Carded. 2.) Agenda changes/additions: None 3.) Staff Reports: )JA pointed out the report from Michele this month and that this will continue, as she is very involved with all details associated to programs. B. Items of Information I Discussion: B.1) Reports on Recommended Budget for '97: No issues to address. B. 2) Review 1995 Long Range Planning Goals & review area community athletic field status: Jeff reviewed the 1995 goals and reported the progress/status of each. It is the field development status and discussion of develop[ment and maintenance coordination that needs attention. Jeff handed out an inventory of all balldiamonds and soccer fields in the district728 region that currently exist and those that are at this time being developed. It was determined that we will continue this topic by reviewing photos to familiarize ourselves with what a good plan would be and possibly at some time do some site visits. (Gary Eitel offered to take some photos) It was agreed that a regional plan to maximize field development should be developed. B. 3) Personnel Committee update: JA reported that the work was in progress as explained in the agenda item detail. B.4) Joint meeting with CE and ECFE councils: JA reported that the meeting is currently being planned by staff to take place later this fall or early winter. It was suggested that JA provide us with the mission of each program area to help us prepare for the meeting. Other: It was suggested that St. Michael may be a good candidate community to join our partnership. On a motion by Roger Holmgren, seconded by Gary Eitel; Doug Thompson and Jeff were asked to meet with St. Michael early this winter to visit with them about our program. Motion Carried. Motion at 1:15 pm to adjourn by Roy Johnson, seconded by Shirley Slater. Motion carried. Respectfully Submitted,~, ~ ~ Next Meeting to take place on: October 21st - 11:45. Natures Hideaway - Rogers Mn. 10/15/96 Community Recreation Board Staff Report for 10/21/96 Programming: - Current / Recent Activities: The fall program is well underway. Gymnastics has been very popular. The exposure to gymnastics from the summer olympics has benefitted our gymnastic programs. The fall haydde and fun house is once again very popular. A sampling of this Falls opportunities that we administer are: Mens volleyball, Women's volleyball, adult basketball, adult flag football, Jr. and Sr. High volleyball and Flag football, open gyms, gymnastics, haydde, a haunted fun house, pumpkin patch scavenger hunt, pillo-polo, start smart, indoor walking programs, plus various special events planned in cooperation with the CE and ECFE programs. We are also gearing up for our winter program planning and organization as well. The city of Elk River has responded to the need for a place for skateboarders and in-line skating. This site has been established on a trial basis and will be reviewed and considered for permanent development. The "skatepark" has been very popular. There was a very exciting exhibition put on this past October 12th. Miscellaneous Updates: - Youth Needs: As reported the past several months, the Elk River Mayor is interested in having the Community Recreation Board program work with the Community Youth Task Force (Rita Johnson), and Para Black (a teen program specialist with Comm. Ed. ) to develop a plan to increase opportunities for teens ( specifically grades 6-9). This committee has been meeting regularly since December. This focus group type study took place on March 12th and 15th. 90 Junior High students took part. The report was given on May 30th at our annual meeting by a panel of youth that were involved. The youth are anxious. Comm. Ed. and Comm. Rec. hosted a community meeting back on July 16th that had over 60 residents attend to further discuss options/directions to better serve our youth. A follow up meeting to the July 16th meeting was held on August 22nd & it was a very good meeting with approx. 30 in attendance (many of which were students). (See summary of that ~eeting attached). We hosted another meeting on September 26th that was also very well attended. (summary attached). We will again be meeting on October 29th. - I have not heard any new information in some time now with regard to the lSD/CE Center office space strategies. - Marketing efforts: CE, ECFE and Recreation have been working closely on improving and developing our market efforts. Jointly we have developed a banner that has thus far been very useful, signage to promote registration and special events, and shared advertising through a vadety of sources, (theatre, grocery bags, parades, newspaper) Marketing of our programs and services is crucial. We were in the homecoming parade back on September 27th. We will also have a booth in partnership with CE and ECFE at the business expo that is scheduled for Oct. 27th. - Ongoing research to accomplish what is needed for the personnel committee related to developing a policy and wage manual for administrative personnel. - Michele and I will be attending the Minnesota Recreation and Park Association annual conference on Nov. 6-8 in Duluth. -- Will once again begin meeting regularly with the leaders of the youth athletic associations to evaluate their past season and begin preparing for 1997. - Met with various leaders associated to youth service to consider methods of better shadng planning and working together to promote activities. This was determined to be a good start and encouraged by those who have been part of the "Youth Initiative" meetings. - I attended the Mayors prayer luncheon on October 3rd. There appears to be a real interest in working together as a region to enhance our communities for the betterment of youth. - The city of Elk River will be considering a recommendation from the Ice Arena Task Force that calls for representation of our program on a newly formed Ice Arena Commission. STAFF REPORT OCTOBER 15, 1996 .~ymnastics are all approximately half way through. We have not had to issue any refunds this season for dissatisfaction with the class which is reflective of the staff we have now. They have all done a wonderful job thus far. There were almost 300 participants this Fall. Both the Rogers and Zimmerman classes filled and we added staff in both locations to accommodate the waiting lists. This is a wonderful thing to see since they, so often, don't get enough participants to run. Intramural Volleyball began October 6th with approximately 40 participants. We even got a few exchange students this year, which is really neat to see and I think it's a wonderful experience for them since they don't normally get to participate in sports while they're here. Women's Volleyball began September 30. We have 9 teams with 6-10 players per team. This league has grown over the years and I believe it will continue to grow in years to come. Open Gyms begin the first week in November. Six of the eight offerings are staffed with adults. I am hoping this will lead to a smaller rate of incidents. I am still looking for someone to cover the other two offerings. Saturday, October 12, the local skateboarders held a demonstration and sold concessions to raise money for a permanent skate park. We helped them promote this event and made a "program" for them to pass out. There were approximately 300 people there. The support was incredible. Some of the kids have a band and they performed during the event. I felt really good about the way the 9vent went and was quite impressed with the skills that some of these kids possess. I don't think they always get a fair shake because they stand out as being different. I saw a tremendous amount of initiative and leadership skills being demonstrated. The band was quite talented even if the music is not my taste. This Friday, October 18, we are holding a special event for Grades 5-9. We have a carnival in the morning and a Dash N Splash in the afternoon. There is also a 3 on 3 tournament that will be running throughout the day. We have distributed flyers and are hoping for a good turnout. We have one more Special Event planned this Fall for Christmas break. That one involves "Try Its", a Dash N Splash and a 3 on 3 Tournament. The "Try Its" will be an opportunity for these kids to see what kind of activities are available for them in Senior High. We are lining up kids from cheerleading, danceline, chess club, FFA - whatever we can get - so they can talk to the younger kids about what they do, how to get into it, some demonstrating and some teaching new skills. I think this will be a good opportunity for some mentoring. This Fall is going very well. We have no staffing problems yet and the public seems very happy with the classes being offered. It's time to begin planning Winter so I will be busy with that. This year we will offer Intramural Basketball, two leagues o one for boys and one for girls in hopes of getting out more of the females. We are also going to try Boot Hockey again. I will also be beginning to staff the Warming Houses in a couple of weeks. October 8, 1996 Dear Community / Youth Advocate: Ptease be reminded of the next meeting that has been scheduled to continue working as a community on a variety of initiatives intended to benefit our area youth. This meeting will take place on Tuesday October 29, 1996 - 7:00 pm at Salk Junior High - Room 205. Please enter Door S on the east side of the building. Please find enclosed a summary of the meeting results from our last gathering on September 26th. There continued to be some further action steps determined at our last meeting. Please feel free to "dig-in" further in any area of interest that still needs action. Please bring along anyone you wish to this meeting! We especially like to hear from the youth! Sincerely, Pam Black Jeff Asfahl Charlie Blesener 10/8//96 Results from the 9/26/96 meeting with the community on "Youth Initiatives" There were 36 residents in attendance of which several were youth. This was the third meeting with the community for the purpose of uniting and working tcgether as a whole community for the betterment of youth. The following "interest categories" were identified as areas that received the most interest and priority as a result of our first meeting with the community back on July 16, 1996. They were then discussed further on August 22nd and again on September 26th. This same group of interested individuals will be meeting again on Tuesday October 29th - 7:00 pm a~. Salk Junior High. Results of 8/22/96 meeting: Study Existing Facilities: (Was recognized as the largest and youngest group of this meeting) - Encourage private enterprise. ( a youth coffee house is currently in process of investigation ) - Visit lSD rep. to enquire about increased use of existing facilities. - Investigate development of a skate board center. Liability costs could be covered by fee requirement for use. - Involve the youth to raise funds to get a skate center project started. Need paved area w/possible roof and ability to serve year round. - Visit city council to encourage research into outdoor pool development. Pesults from 9/26/96 meting: Skateboard Center: - Morrell Transfer potentially leaving site - Possibilities at Lions Park - Buffalo and Monticello are also investigating skateboarding center - Information on insurance is available in Skateboard Magazine - There is a known resource from Brooklyn Center who has familiarity with skateboard centers - The County Market site is very expensive - Pamida site is not available for that sort of use, suggested to revisit that possibility Space: - Consulted with facility scheduler of lSD 728. The District encourages use of buildings by the community, gyms are very busy. Use is generally free unless it generates money. - Could we use the buildings continuously? - Suggested consortium with other districts to rotate hosting of events - Identify the activity - Support the WATZ plan - Lees Auto was suggested as a possible site - County building down town was suggested as a possible site - Develop a fund raising plan to help move ideas forward - Use of arena in the summer Coffee Shop: - Old Snyder building has been looked into - General safety is a concern - Fund raising would be helpful - Have held brainstorming sessions with the youth to help in planning - Wants input from adults and youth Results of 8/22/96 meeting: Youth Process / Empowerment: - Will convene a meeting to discuss development of a Youth Board -This meeting is set for Sept. 12, 1996 7:00 pm at the Community Education Center. Results from 9/26/96 meeting: Committee met on September 12, 1996 the following areas were discussed: I. General Discussion 1. Skate Park 2. Vehicle for kids a. School b. Communication between organizations c. Get beyond schools? 3. Attendance Policy at High School 4. Student Board a. Students do all the work Have power bo II. Action Plan 1. Youth a. b. C, d. Board Purpose - Youth to influence programs and enrichment of community Approach school board or school for input Research successful youth boards Service - odented program e. Composition of youth board? f. Adults included in board g. Leadership training h. Find a group to advice to vs. Self proclamation 1. Who would board report to 2. Possibly notify different groups - Ok to self proclaim as a group - How to start Results from 8/22/96 meeting: Communication Clearinghouse: - Convene a meeting of all organizations / agencies, etc. that serve youth to consider sharing, improving, efficiency of promotions. - Work w/schools to improve the efficiency of announcements and distribution of promotional materials. - Get info. to adults as well as youth. - Establish/redesign community billboard in CE Brochure to promote for youth / diverse groups. - rise of bulletin boards and promotions during lunch periods at the schools. - Develop a section in the newspaper for consistent message of youth opportunities. Results from 9/26/96 meeting: - A meeting with various youth organization has been called and will take place Tuesday October 8, 1996 to determine a method of sharing information about programs and also a method for jointly promoting activity. - Youth Board would support this type of organization Results from 8/22/96 meeting: Mentoring / Interqenerational Mixing: - Give youth own space in CE brochure and newspapers. - Develop an "interest profile" to procure mentors of all ages. - Develop shadowing opportunities and promotion of hobbies. - Encourage requirement b/4 graduation of community service hours. Results from 9/26/96 meeting: - Unsure of what is actually needed - Suggested that at present we commit to mentodng and implement program at a future site to be determined. - Follow WCCO model of mentoring program and process o Students to students would be good mentoring ~ Leadership training for youth is needed - Skateboard center is a good site for student to student mentoring - Establish a mentodng program - An educational class through the schools that deal with mentoring - Suggested a class through Community Ed to train mentors Results from 8/22/96 meeting: Other Thoughts Shared: - The youth need to get involved. - The youth need to know and feel they can be involved to make a' difference. What's next - Suggestions from September 26 - Form your own group and go! - Follow the Anoka model / vision team - Look into how to raise money: Also to find and agent to hold money raised Our next meeting is set for Tuesday October 29, 1996 at 7:00pm - Saik, Room 205