All right. I'd like to call to order this meeting of the Apple Valley Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee for December the 4th, 2025. At this time, I'd like to invite all those present who are willing and able to please rise and join us in the Pledge of Allegiance. >> I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to theublic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [clears throat] >> All right, good evening everyone. Uh, first up is uh approval of tonight's agenda. Uh, Kayla has given everyone a copy of the agenda. Are there any changes or additions that any of the members would like to see made to the agenda for this evening? If not, I would look for a motion to approve the uh tonight's agenda as printed. >> So moved. >> I have a motion from uh Craig. >> I'll second that. >> I have a second from Jess. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> And any opposed? That passes unanimously. Next up is the audience participation. Uh each meeting we set aside some time for the audience or for the public to come and speak with us if they choose to by looking at the uh empty seats. I don't think we're going to have anyone tonight that's going to be speaking with us. Um just a reminder for anyone that may be watching at home, if you'd like to come down and speak with us, um we'd love to hear you. Uh we meet the first Thursday of every month usually with the exception of next month. Um but we would love to hear your thoughts and ideas. Um there's things you're happy with, not happy with, we'd love to know that. So please keep that in mind. Um and with that, we're going to move on. And the next item is the approval of the minutes from the November 2025 meeting. You all have a copy of that. Are there any changes that any members think need to meet should be made to those um minutes as they are presented? None. I would look for a motion to uh approve the minutes from the November 2025 meeting. >> I'll make a motion to approve those uh minutes from the November 2025 meeting. >> I have a motion from Dave. >> Second. And I have a second second from Jessica. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. >> Anyone opposed. Passes unanimously. All right. Next up are the agenda items. And first up are the division updates. And [clears throat] I believe the first one is for Valleywood. And is that Mr. Zinc is going to be presenting that to us? >> Yes sir. >> Thank you. Good evening, chair, members of the committee. I'm Jim Zinc, golf course manager. I have Jordan Johnson, our clubhouse coordinator here, to provide any additional information that I'm unaware of, which could happen. Um, just want to briefly go through uh we had a great year at Valleywood. Um, as you guys know, a couple years ago, we did uh some irrigation improvements and some encourse improvements and uh all of that has been very wellreceived. Okay, we'll try this one. There we go. Okay. Uh, rounds of golf. This is just a comparison of the last two years. Um, basically, uh, May through August, we're full. If the weather's good, we're full. Uh, almost about 6,000 rounds a month we're doing. um the the shoulder seasons, if you will. If we get open and great weather in April or great weather like we did this year in October, the last couple years actually late in the year. Um that's kind of where we we can really make a big difference in in comparisons. Uh again, same kind of thing with monthly revenues. Uh we bring in a little bit in the off season um with uh banquetss, events, uh gift cards, things like that. Um obviously the bulk of our revenue is golf related. Uh this what we've seen from our annual rounds. Um some of you were involved uh when we developed our new business plan a number of years ago. And the business plan was kind of based on 30,000 rounds. Um, so you see we've uh we've been doing very well. COVID was very very good for the golf business. Um, and the South Metro area, they keep building houses and they're not building golf courses. So business has been very very good at Valleywood. Uh, events. We do a number of events. Uh, these are basically banquet specific events. Um, we estimate that we do 10 to 15 golf events of over 40 players a year and probably 25 or more of 20 to 30 players. We don't count that in here. Uh, many of those golf events will use the banquet facility, but when they're paying the, you know, few thousand dollars for the golf, we let them use the room. So, um the event business has been pretty consistent. Um we had we don't do very many weddings. Not a very great venue for that, but we'll do a couple every year. And um we've got very popular with we just had a Christmas party the other day. Um the other nice thing is that the city were able to use that that facility for a number of we had a training there earlier today. Um we do we get quite a bit of use out of it that way too. uh annual revenue continues to climb. Um both uh rounds have been up and the market keeps driving the price up. So one of the things we have to do is we try to we have to be competitive in the local market when it comes to prime time afternoon leagues um and weekend green fees, but we offer almost halfp price fees weekday mornings. seniors. Um, in fact, our senior league is so popular that our morning special that's supposed to end at 11:00, I believe, went till 11:15 >> 11:15 this year just because the senior league is so full. So, uh, it's been very, very popular. Uh, food and beverage annual revenue, uh, 2020, it's not a typo, that was roasted pears last year running food and beverage in the building. Uh in 2021, uh we opted to take it all back inhouse and uh hired a bunch of 18-year-old kids and Jordan worked really closely with that group and we've seen pretty steady growth in that side of the operation. Um and now it's kind of leveling off at about 250 to 260 a year. Uh one of the big things we did with our Encourse project a few years ago was the driving range. So, in 2023, we closed the range a little bit early uh for that project to go on. Complete revamp of of the driving range. For someone like myself who's been out there a long time, it's hard to believe that's still the same piece of property it was. Um, but we are seeing massive growth in range usage. One of the things we did when we did that project is we added a new ball dispenser machine up on the range where people can use a credit card right at the machine. And each month a higher and higher percentage of range balls are sold right at the driving range. Uh by the end of this year we're selling almost 50% of all the range balls right at the machine. Um it's great for people that that just want to come out at their convenience and use it. It also allows our staff to provide, I think, a higher level of service in the golf shop for those that are golfing. Uh, this last year, uh, as the committee is probably aware, we used a lot of our capital to purchase a new fleet of golf cars. Uh, business has dictated we went from 55 golf cars to 60 golf cars. Uh, we spent about $420,000 on that fleet of golf cars. And you can see from this we recouped 367 of it the first year. Golf carts uh state-of-the-art battery should run probably four to six years of use we should get out of them and then we'll have some reciprocal trade in value at that time. So everybody rides except Dave. Um just re recap kind of what we do. Uh we've talked about this before. Uh obviously we do a lot of different kinds of golf events, high school golf, uh you know, juniors, we have a lot of juniors that play. We work with state golf association. Uh this year, uh last year we had the state senior amateur qualifier. This year we have the uh women's team championship. Uh in the fall of 2026, we'll have that. Um so we do a lot of different kinds of golf events. And then you know the golf course is is a community asset. So we do there are a number of things we do if privately owned golf course probably wouldn't do it. Um so we're very supportive of our high school golf teams. The Nordic ski team uses a facility all winter. Uh we host uh section cross country meets and uh actually the school district's a a pretty good they rent our building for different trainings and things in the off season and meetings um that get where it says gatherings pop. That is the Prince of Peace Ladies group uh who's been playing. They play their spring and fall event at Valleywood. They play once a month around the Twin Cities but they do their banquet at our place. Um, and I don't know how many golfers they know, but I'll tell you, they they sure are positive about the experience at Valleywood, so we like having them out. Uh, then we have the the large banquet space uh used by uh all of our leagues. So, uh, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings, uh, we have golf leagues out there using that space. Um, school district meetings, as I mentioned, city meetings and trainings and things like that. >> [snorts] >> Um, we had a great year. Uh, we had a good year from a business standpoint, but we have, I think, the best staff we've ever had. And, um, we are fortunate, uh, the Minnesota Golf Association works with the U. United States Golf Association, promotes a youth oncourse program that we've been a part of for a number of years. and they did uh just recently they have their kind of give to the max day where they're promoting everything and they actually the national video that promoted uh was with two of our staff members. See if I can get that to >> I'm Tara Dudley. Um it's my fifth summer here and I am the pro shop supervisor. >> My name is Benji Vanderberg. Um this is my third summer out here at Valleywood and I'm a pro shop and outside service [music] lead. >> I think I first heard about Youth Encourse from my dad. and I think some family friends told us about it. >> The most memorable experience for me was probably my first time ever using Youth On Course. Um, showing up to the course and paying $3 to play nine holes with my friends. I >> think I was definitely intimidated as a young girl. I was coming into a place I had never been to really before. Um, so I joke with a lot of the staff here that I was kind of scared to come here because I didn't know what to expect. [music] But I'm glad I stuck with it. I really wanted to get better at golf. Um, and it was one of the best things I did. >> Youth on course really gives you the opportunity to um, explore the golf course and explore the golf community. If >> I had any advice to give to parents or kids thinking about joining Yukon Course, I would say definitely do it. It was one of the best things I [music] did as a teen and I think you learned so many valuable lessons and more than just golf. Some advice [music] I would give to future Youth On course members or current Youth On course members is take the risk and play with a random single that [music] you might get paired up with. You never know where that connection will take you. >> Any young kids [music] I'm going to be a teacher. So any young kids I see that like golf and like do youth on course please. It's awesome. And anyone [music] that comes into the pro shop that hasn't signed up yet or even their past is expired, [music] renew it, get involved. It's awesome. So both both Tara and Benji we've known since they were kids. I mean Tara was probably 14 13 years old when we first got to know her. And and one of the things we talk to youth on course about it's a great opportunity for kids to be able to play. But it's really a great opportunity for people like Jordan and I to get to know these kids and and future employees. Um so it's it's been great. uh Tara kind of manage or kind of the supervisor in our golf shop. Um a couple years ago, uh we've got a number of retired people that work there and I met with a few of them just to say, "Hey, we're thinking maybe of having Tara be a supervisor." And I mean, I was shocked the enthusiasm of a, you know, bunch of 75 year old men for a 21-year-old girl to be the supervisor. Uh both Tara and Benji are going to be teachers. Um, they're both almost finishing school now. I think Benj will be done this year and I think Tara has one more year of grad school. So, uh, they've just been invaluable. Um, probably the best year I've ever seen for staff. Um, we had a good year business-wise, but a great year staff-wise. And uh not to end this on on too somber a note, but you know there's some things come up in park and wreck that you don't really plan for. And in June we had a member of one of our golf leagues went down on the 6T and uh PE guys came in and Jordan and I went out and we uh we hit got the guy hit him twice with an AED. um he did not survive. Um and then in the fall, one of we have these these five food and beverage leads that have been with us for five or six years and one of them their parents were killed in a car accident and uh it was very difficult. Then about a month later, we had a young lady whose sister also worked for us and she was killed in a car accident. And you know, we have a tragedy at the golf course once every few years. It's just the nature of it. Um we have, you know, emergency personnel respond to something. And um all the years I've been at this uh I was not prepared for what we dealt with from a staff standpoint. Um I know that Jordan and I are extreme maybe too close to our staff. We work so closely with them. Uh we're open, you know, 210 220 days a year. We open, we don't close until snow comes. Um so we're with these kids a lot. And um it's just it was a brutal way to go through the year and finish the year and have such a great year in all other ways. So um we're hopeful that uh we haven't really seen uh those girls since the two funerals we attended. Um but we're hopeful that they'll come in over Christmas break and we'll get to see them again and and start hopefully they'll they'll stay with us for a little while. But I think for all of us in park and wreck, you know, we deal with the public. We have a lot of people using our facilities. Um, we have a lot of staff, young people and retired people that we get very close to. And um, just like anything, when you get real close to people, you you you have a risk there that something may happen. It was great that we all had each other. Um, but it was just a really really difficult way to finish the year. So, I hate to end on that note. Um, from a business standpoint, it was a great year. Um, and we're really looking forward to next year. Um, I guess if you have any questions, >> uh, yeah, just, uh, thanks for those heartfelt comments. I know as a a user of Valleywood, I've seen the uh close relationship you and Jordan have with the staff and I've seen the growth of the staff um over the past few years. So, uh it it's really been been nice to see. Um I do have one question for you on the u on the tea sponsorships. Could you explain how that uh that works or is that something that Hollywood staff does? Yeah, we have uh so we had a company um probably maybe eight 8 10 years ago that started producing scorecards for us. Um we go through about 25,000 scorecards a year. Probably would cost us a couple thousand dollars a year to get them printed. Uh this company sells ads on the scorecards and provides us free scorecards. uh when we started the course improvement project uh started planning for that this same company Benchcraft reached out to us that they can provide T- signage and as part of that they sell ads on the T- signs and it's that time of year where they're they're doing it right now because I've gotten a couple calls people confirming that it's a legitimate business or whatever. Um, but we we estimate that those T- signs that we got from them were probably would have cost $15 to $20,000 for us to produce and install. They took care of all of it. Um, we do have uh, you know, we we've made it clear we don't want any alcohol on the signs. We don't want certain businesses on the signs. Um, but they they sell them, I think, a two-year cycle, and then if they have a new sponsor, they'll send us the little plastic sign to replace and pay us 10 bucks to do it. >> Great. Thank you. >> Anything else? >> I do have Oh, sorry. Uh I have one question about the irrigation system and maybe this isn't something you have offhand but I recall um when we discussed this um as the system was being put in it's a lot more efficient um and leaks have been you know leaks in the old system are obviously not there anymore because it's been completely replaced. >> Um >> do you have any kind of a ballpark as far as like how much water how much money that system has saved us in it first year? um dollars. It's the the we're on a DNR permit with a we have a well on the property. So, and of course weather varies year to year. Um compared to kind of our average from the previous say eight years, the last two years our usage is down about 25%. We anticipate it um going down a little more next year. One of the things where we have uh a pond for our well and an adjacent pond that we fill on the 15th and 16th holes, we estimate those hold about 3 million gallons of water. We do not need to drain those anymore. We used to have to drain those down below the intake for the the irrigation system and just by having to drain them down and refill them. So, our usage is down about 25%. The cost saves us a few hundred to be honest. The DNR permit, we pay about $150 plus we pay a premium for that water usage uh May through September. So, I think I'm just getting ready to do this annual. I think it's probably going to be about $800. Um the cost of the permits probably offset the savings, but we're using probably 25 plus percent less water and way more coverage on the golf course. >> That's that's good to hear. Even if it's uh >> not saving us a lot of money. I know that, you know, through our referendum, we found that natural resources is really important to the community. So saving 25% Yes. >> water use just on its own, even if it doesn't save us a penny, is uh absolutely very good. So >> yeah, and our repair costs are way down. So, >> did you turn that off? >> I did not. [laughter] >> Anyway, uh just a big [clears throat] tip of the hat to you guys. You're doing a great job. Um Valleywood's in good shape. Wasn't always that way back when. So, whatever you're doing, keep it up and just hope for some good weather. and >> you know, congratulations. >> Appreciate it. Thank you. >> All right. Next up, I believe, is the aquatics, and I believe uh Steve Skinner is going to uh talk to us about that. >> Good evening, members of the committee. Nice to meet you, see you again. um happy to come and talk about the renovation of uh what is now Splash Valley Water Park. Um fundamentally speaking, I think we all know that uh that facility was renovated over the uh last winter into spring and right up almost till we opened. But I thought he'd like a look again at what phase one looked like back in 1998. There was no river. Uh it was just the the one leisure pool. We added that river in 2009 and uh now the facility looks like that. So coming along nicely. I think probably the most prominent thing in this view is how much shade we have added to the property. There's shade everywhere including you'll note there's shade over the water now. So really nice for those parents who have to sit there with the little ones in the shallow end. They can sit in shade if they want to while the little ones play. Um, we've themed the park and it is now Splash Valley and otter are de definitely part of that theme and they're all over the place. So, you're going to see statuary scattered around. As I said, uh significant increase in uh in shade throughout the park and uh some of that is uh most of that is is uh open to everybody. So, it's kind of first come first serve. So, when people arrive in the morning, you'll see them sprinting for the the shade structure that they want to be in that day. Um, but people do also reserve shade. So, I'll go over that in a minute. Uh, we do have several different varieties of rental shade. Uh, this one is in particular is picnic tables under shade. And people can rent one picnic table, both picnic tables, um, for a two-hour block, and that is very popular with people who just want to know where the stuff's going to be and where they're going to set the food up, things like that. The kids are all in the pool, of course. We did add birthday party packages as well this year. And you notice there's a Lelo and Stitch themed party going here where somebody's uh decorated around that theme and they were having a lot of fun with it that day. Um let's see. We've also the birthday party packages do include 10 entries um a treat for every uh every participant and uh use of the party pavilion and then we also give them a towel or a SPF 50 t-shirt depending on what they want and they can purchase additional entries as well if they have more than 10 guests. But that uh that's been very popular and there's a little sampling of what the t-shirts in this towel look like. So it's just a big beach towel with our logo on it. Um, probably the most prominent increase in pre features on the pool itself is this this area where we've greatly increased the uh the play area for small children. We've got the wet play um table there. We've got the little slides. We've got a lot of water flying around and then of course they have that tippy bucket which every six minutes dumps a real deluge onto the onto whoever is willing to stand underneath it. So, and they love that. Uh we did also add season passes this year and those were actually very popular. I think people really like the idea of just if they're going to come a lot, if they're going to come more than seven times, uh it's that's the break even point and after that it's all all good for them. So, we're seeing a lot more repeat users because of that. Uh they like that a lot and that's actually we're selling those now as stocking stuffers. So, it's that time of year. Um there's another, you know, just talking a little more about shade and additional seating. We did add a lot more seating to the property as well. So, people are often, you know, trying to find a a chair. So, we've tried to make sure there are chairs everywhere and uh that is indeed the case. You know, right along the water line all around and many of them under shade as well, although some folks do still like to sit out. And then we do have four cabanas uh back by the lazy river which is a little more quieter. Um you know, nice place for uh people to have a little quieter time for the adults while the kids play. So, those have been uh very useful and a lot of people like those and they some folks have small parties in them too, you know, just to gather, give people a place to go. Um, currently, you know, available, as I said, for holiday gift giving. We've got the season passes. We got the 10 entry discount sets, and we've got cabana rental vouchers, which, uh, means that somebody can give somebody a cabana for the summer, and they, uh, they get a little code on the, uh, on the coupon, and they can go in and reserve a cabana whenever they want. So, that'll be nice. And then concession improvements. Uh, a lot of what was going on there, um, one, we wanted to just improve the, uh, equipment in the concession stand. And we now have two speed ovens and some other things that are making it much easier for us to move food quickly when people demand is high. And uh you'll note that the um that some of those windows have been lowered and opened up so everything is now much more accessible than it was. So people who are in wheelchairs, people who had mobility impairments had a hard time getting to the concession stand. Now they have very little in their way. So, that should make uh that should make life easier for everyone, especially if they have young children in tow and they're trying to keep everything um keep everything moving smoothly and the children happy because, you know, that's what it's all about, keeping the kids happy. As far as the summer went, it was very cold and windy at the start of the summer. June was not a pleasant month uh for outdoor swimming, but uh I think Valleywood did well because tends to be that way. And when it's very hot, we're the ones who are doing well and they're not so much so. And then it's a little cooler. Valleywood's doing better and it's a little quieter at the pool. Um July and August were very hot and very busy. So it was a good summer in that uh regard. And we did have some impacts from poor air quality uh you know Canadian wildfires. So a lot of hazy days. So um you know significant number of people again going through the park. Uh so a lot of fun. Water walking continues to be very popular. Um morning and evening especially on the hot days. People love to come down and cool down with that in the evening. And then just a little sampling of you know some other views. Um we do have preschool or uh you know tot time going on in the morning during water walking and lap swimming. So in the leisure pool it's just the little ones and their parents and that's becoming uh quite the destination for the little ones. So they're having a really good time with that. And then we've uh got quite a few games scattered around the property too. So if kids want to play with things, got lots of lawn games and things like that for them to play with. So questions about the pool. So um I think it not this last season, but the season before that I think we were forced to be closed. Wasn't it like 10 days or something? >> Yeah, it's uh you know was >> 2024 was a lousy pool summer. Yeah, it was and it was >> and then the summer before that we're closed hardly at all. I mean just brutally hot all summer long. So some of this is very weather dependent. This summer was a very nice summer and for the most part other than June everything was very it was warm day after day after day. It's really nice. >> Are they using the splash pad much at all or >> they do? Yeah. Especially um during especially during safety breaks because you know we encourage everybody to get the kids out of the pool. Okay. once an hour and um encourages them to use the locker rooms and at the same time the kids that want to keep doing things they're over there squiring around on the splash pad or they're at the concession stand. That's when we typically see the rushes at the concession stand as well. So >> So we're seeing a lot more younger >> Yes. >> admissions because of the new equipment and stuff. >> Yeah. This this equipment is very much designed for them. Yeah. This is really small kid small kid heaven right there in that section of the pool now. So, they're having a great time. >> I would add to that, too, that we're seeing a lot more seniors coming to our park. Uh they are primary users of the season passes, >> sunbathers. >> Well, it's a beautiful looking facility now. I mean, it's um you know, everything's shiny and new and >> inviting. >> Just getting those um slides uh rejelled or whatever they did to them. I mean, God, that looks nice. >> It does. It really does. People are People are really enjoying it. One thing that uh I was going to comment on is the uh chairs, the colored chairs that sit upright instead of the traditional ones. >> Um very happy to see those. I know some individuals that have um >> persistent back problems and it makes a world of difference to have that type of chair available. Um so very pleased that those are there and um you know as chairs need to be replaced I hope that those ones are are still considered cuz appreciate having those around. >> Yeah. know people really like them and they're easy to move [clears throat] so they can gather them and you know sit together. It's very nice. Anything else I can answer? >> I uh I enjoyed using the facility this summer with my family. So well done. There was so much thought that went into this. Is there anything as you kind of look back and it's all on and you know is there anything you would have done differently >> as far as the renovation itself? I don't think so. Uh, I think we it went as smoothly as it could cuz the weather didn't always cooperate over last winter. So, uh, it was pretty touch and go. I mean, within 3 days of opening, we were still we still had a lot of work to do as far as getting the site cleaned up. Everything was done, but the site really needed a lot of thorough attention. But, you know, I had 25, you know, high school and college students to do that. So, we just turned them loose and they walked a police line all the way around the interior of that park looking for anything sharp that had accumulated through the construction process and we got all that out of there and that was my main fear that we would still have some sharps on the ground. We got through it. So, that was good. >> Well, that's important. But if that was all you were worried about, that was a pretty good project. >> That was all I was worried about at that point. So, yeah, it was very nice to to see it all come together the way that >> Well done. I would add to that um we added additional 110 chairs to this facility, the lounge chairs if you will, including the upright chairs you spoke of, Craig, and then we also added a half a dozen or so more tables. Um we thought that that would be enough. Um we are we we could have added more. >> All right. Very good. >> All right. >> Thank you, Steve. >> My pleasure. >> All right. Next up is going to be athletics. And I believe this is uh Nick going to present that to us. Mr. Chair, members of the committee, Nick Thompson. Um primary role is as mentioned athletics. I work with the youth associations quite a bit as well and then permitting fields as well as uh rentals themselves. See if I can figure this thing down here. Okay. Uh so our youth athletic partners, we have EVAA in town, VAA um some Legion and uh Valley Lacrosse is a conglomeration of uh of VA and and EBA come together for those offerings. Um throughout the spring, summer and fall season, we had 153 fields permitted. Um we have a lot of a lot of options out there. Uh we're happy to keep, you know, to keep kids active and EVAA and our other partners in VA do a great job um great job and we're happy to help them. Roughly 4,600 athletes annually uh 13 plus thousand um hours of use in those parks. Um just the local associations run eight tournaments that usually are anywhere from two to three complexes uh deep. Um and then this year we had to navigate a temporary loss of some fields uh due to some referendum projects. Everybody's very excited about having some new fields in play. Um but it did put a temporary pinch. Um the youth associations I can't say enough good things about how well they how well they were u to work with on um you know finding creative solutions to get through like I said a short-term pinch on the field rental side of thing side of things. uh when the youth associations are not using our complexes. So, weekends, some a little bit heavier in the fall as well. We have adult baseball, uh soccer teams that use the use the fields as well, club, youth baseball and softball, um soccer leagues, and then um like I said, tournaments. We anticipate 23 or more large scale tournaments for the 2026 season. And as the numbers kind of uh jump out at you here, um the tournament the tournament and field rental has been growing year after year after year. I kind of keep waiting for when that plateau might happen. Um and it just doesn't um which I guess is a good thing. So I'll take my chance to uh give a shout out to the park maintenance department. Um they do a great job um with those tournaments and that's a big piece of wise why those tournaments keep coming in. They have good things to say and that kind of is a self-feeding cycle there too. So give my annual plug to those guys. They do a good uh they do a good job for us. [clears throat] On the adult athletic side of things, softball, um we haveund had 102 teams in 2025. Uh leagues are out there four to five nights a week uh between the the summer and fall seasons. Uh we did partner with Egan this year. They had some construction happening on their complex. So, we were able to host all of their um all of their teams that wanted to sign up down here uh for one year just trying to help [clears throat] uh helping neighbors and making sure that people have a place to play if they want to. Kickball is a uh uh a league that we actually work with. Um it's called the South of the River Recreators. Um a bunch of a bunch of communities. It's leagues that we might have a tough time. Like we're not Savage and Egan and Apple Valley and Burnsville and Farmington are not all going to be able to have a kickball league, but we can have one and make it and make it happen. So, we host kickball. There's other unique leagues in some of the other communities. It's kind of a nice a nice way for us to work together um and and run some leagues that we normally couldn't. Bean Bags is still going strong. 91 teams in 2025. Uh it's we're one of the bigger um bigger uh park and wreck uh programs in the in the metro area. Uh we run both indoor and outdoor leagues at the community center and then out of Johnny Cake Rich Park East as well. Volleyball is one of our um it is our biggest program. So we have sand leagues. We expanded this year to two different seasons um [clears throat] in the at this for the sand season. indoor leagues. Uh we have 383 teams in 2025. Um it's uh it's it keeps the community center packed just about every single night. Um with with those leagues, uh Mid Mid Winterfest tournament had 84 teams. That's up to the 24% from 2024. Uh we've been adding some weekday tournaments kind of in between on days where I probably shouldn't run leagues. So like Valentine's Day, it's a good day to kind of have off, but we had a facility sitting there um that could be used. So we're running some kind of mini tournaments during those um either breaks between season or unique days. Uh we had a Halloween tournament. We have another one coming up over the holiday break that already has 10 teams registered for it. So we're just kind of trying to trying to find gaps in the schedule and see if we can uh fill them. And these mini tournaments have been working out pretty well. uh total tournament participation is up 61% um in 2025 compared to 2024. And then our adult clinics, they continue to exponentially kind of grow. I think last time I talked to you, we were around like 80 to 90 participants per year. Um this year we're at 222. So they're uh they're in high demand and usually have a wait list. >> Who who runs those um clinics? Is that city staff or do you It's not hire outside. >> You don't want me there. I I do a good job behind this behind the scene. Uh no. Uh we partner with a with a business called Aspire Adult Volleyball. Um they uh they came highly recommended when I was kind of looking for somebody that that we could partner with. Um they've been great. We get nothing but nothing but rave reviews from them and >> great. Thanks. >> They're easy to work with as well. So, our basketball league collaboration with with Egan has continued. Um, we we host the the Sunday leagues in Apple Valley. They host Wednesday leagues up in Egan. We both take registrations for both programs. Um, and then we just share um share and uh even up costs based on who has a percentage of the league. Um, so it kind of helps us both fill our leagues. uh we went from just having like six or seven BA basketball teams to having um well 51 in uh in 2025 between both communities. So that's cheating a little bit, but even divided by two um it it really boosted our numbers. The leagues are are soaring. People are having a good time with it. Um fall, winter, and spring seasons. Um and then um yeah, like I said, prior to the collaboration, you know, we we averaged six to seven teams and now we're at 20 plus every year. So, it's been it's been a good move. Adult athletic free agent list. So, this is actually one of my favorite um pieces that we have um in our in our adult athletic program. It's just a form. You can kind of see the start of it there in front of you where people can sign up. Um, they, you know, they could say their name, phone number, email, the sports they're interested in, the level that they want to play in there. They can add some additional details like if they know they want to be a pitcher for softball, they could add that in there. It's a way to get individuals that don't have a team. And then, uh, we use them in a a number of different ways. So, uh, it helps our existing teams find subs. So, if an existing team, registered team reaches out saying they need some subs, um I filter down that list, shoot it off to them, and they're usually able to find um it's usually a list of 40 plus people, and they usually need one. So, they've been pretty successful finding finding subs that way. Um we actually have so many free agents that we've started to create teams entirely from that free agent list. Um, my evening staff does a I usually do the initial reach out and kind of try to get them interested and let them know that we can can have you we can have you play. We just need to help build a team that matches kind of what they're looking for. Um, evening staff kind of takes it from there, guides them through the process and helps them register individually. Um, and then we just kind of form a team. Uh, we've had good luck with those teams um, starting up and then continuing in in our leagues as well. Then it also helps if a team's on the edge of whether they're going to be able to stick around or not. It's a way for me to say, "Hang on a second. I got a list of people. Don't give up just quite yet. Let's find two or three more people to supplement your team." [cough and clears throat] [snorts] Pickle ball um continues to be a big program for us. Uh had 96 lesson participants in 2025. Um leagues are um leagues are growing time and time again, but any pre any prime evening time that we offer fills up almost immediately. Um we have to balance balance all sorts of play that people want to do. Uh that includes just open open play available for the public as well as some league opportunities. So we try to be conscious of that. Um make sure not to not to put too much of a a pinch on that open play. Um but it is something that people are obviously looking for the leagues fill. So we try to find that find that balance uh with the additional courts. Uh we will be offering some additional leagues um additional leagues this year. Um we won't be interfering in any more nights of play though. We also do um court rental at the community center. We do open pickle ball at the community center. And then Rotary runs a big tournament every year that we're happy to host. They do a great job with it. It's a it's a really well attended tournament. On the adult open gym side of things, uh we have volleyball, bad mitten, pickle ball. Um a lot of days a week for all of them. You can kind of see them laid out there. Um bad mitten especially, well, they've all been growing growing pretty exponentially, but bad mitten especially has been um we've expanded nights, so we offer Sunday nights um at the community center. Sunday nights actually didn't even used to be open and now we have basketball league on one court. Uh we have a volleyball uh league that started up a couple years ago and has um has just started to fill. And then we have um open badminton as well. So we're filling some underutilized times at the previously underutilized times at the community center. 2,900 total emissions from November to November 2024 to 25. So, it is a um a very very very popular program um with a lot of people running through it all the time. [snorts] And with that, I'll turn it over and see if you guys or see if you have any questions. >> What sport didn't you offer? >> What didn't we offer? >> Yeah. >> Can't think of one, Jess. >> I bet [laughter] >> if you have an idea that you want to play, come talk to me. We'll see if we can make it happen. >> I think it's just since you started this has just gone a whole new way and I I you know I think when I met you when you started the focus on the associations and just on a rational number to help them understand but now you fast forward and you've got a whole ecosystem and associations are less and less of the dominant voice and usage and seeing other people come and use it is just cool. So so good job. Mhm. >> I think one of the other things that I appreciate too when I got to meet you was, you know, Mullerfield was a good example of a great space that was going to get destroyed if we didn't take care of it. I live right across the street and so the work that you guys have done over the, you know, last what, two years to have gotten Peter Bowmont to stay off that field for, you know, as long as you did so you could get that work done means that you probably had something to do with that. So, you know, I I throw that to you, too, because I know protecting our environment and making sure we're rotating fields was a big deal. And so, you know, I see the benefits of it personally. So, good job. >> Youth Association, they've been great partners. It hasn't been a fight. It's been a just a great partnership where they want to see good things. We want to try to make it happen. Um, I hope that I hope they feel the same. >> I appreciate them. >> Good job. >> Anything else? Yeah, I just want to um commend you on a couple other things. Uh I recall last year, the year prior, you were talking about kind of getting that free agent list started and um I'm [clears throat] really happy to see how well that's worked out. Um as someone who is not native to Apple Valley, I I don't have enough friends here that I could make a full team on my own. So having an option like that for individuals like me who may want to play basketball but don't know four other guys who want to uh is really awesome. And um also uh kudos for the uh collaboration with our neighboring communities. Uh what we're doing with the Egan with the basketball registrations and that sort of thing is uh definitely um worthy of praise. So uh good work on that. Thank you. >> Thank you. Appreciate that. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you, Nick. Appreciate it. All right. Next up is the uh review plans for Duchess Greening and Penock Parks. Mr. Carlson. Mr. Chair, members of the committee just want to uh review plans for the three of the parks in the southwest area of Apple Valley, Duchess Green, and Pan. So, we'll go through those really quick. Um, so these are this is a list of the parks that we're planning to improve in 2026. I won't read them, but amongst those parks, and it's like a dozen of them, um, we are planning to make improvements to Duchess Green and Penock. And as you're aware, we're working very closely with our engineering department because not only is the city planning to make some park improvements in that area, we're also planning to make some pretty major road improvements um in that area as well as some underground utilities, water, sewer, storm water. Um one of the major pieces of that is our natural resources and engineering staff are working to improve the water quality um of the Whitney pond. And to do that, they need to install storm sewer in that entire neighborhood. Um, and that means they need to find spaces and places to do some water infiltration and some storm water ponding. So, they're going to be using parts of these three parks to achieve some of those goals. So, in Duchess Park, we're going to be replacing the playground, the back the basketball court, the back stop. Uh, making sure that everything that we're doing there is ADA accessible. They're going to be building an infiltration basin um and and an underground storm water vault. And this rectangle right here is is where the underground storm water vault is going to be. So, if you can imagine a just this big huge concrete structure going to be buried underground and then you're going to put dirt dirt back on top of it, put grass back on top of it and unless you know it's there, you're not going to know it's there um because it's going to be underground and it's going to help improve the water quality of that entire area. Um this is where the current playground is sitting, but it's going to become an infiltration pond. Uh the baseball field sits basically right here right now. Um so uh and the basketball courts over here, but we'll be putting the basketball court and the playground um in this general area and then building this 88 trail that gets you connected to the playground, the basketball court and the baseball field all at the same time. So that's just more of a a better image, if you will, of what's going to be happening at at that park. And then here's and as as you know, we've always engaged the public about what they want. Um, and we gave the public a couple options for playground equipment. And this is the playground equipment that the people uh voted the most for. So, this is the playground equipment that we'll be moving forward with um at at the park. Couple different views of that and I think that's the last one and we'll move on to greening park. So, again, a lot of the same types of improvements. no underground storage facility for water treatment in this park, but we would do have an in infiltration basin planned for the park. Um, this this drawing shows a looped trail. We will not be going uh moving forward with the loop trail, but we will be moving forward with the infiltration basin, improvements to the back stop, the basketball court, and the playground. And there's a better uh rendering of what that's going to look like. Um, most of the time there should be a little bit of water in the bottom of this pond. And again, neighbors and people had an opportunity to vote on the playground equipment for the park. And this is the direction that they wanted us to go. Then we're off to Panach Park. Again, a lot of the same improvements. Uh but we'll be building a relatively large infiltration basin in in this park. And uh this is Pennock right here on the right hand side of the screen or the east side of the park. We'll be having a basketball court uh a tennis court and a pickleball court in the area where there's currently two tennis courts. Um the playground sits right about here right now. The basketball there's a basketball court here. This is where the playground will be. And this will be an infiltration basin as will this. Um this is going to be about 12 feet deep. So this is going to be a significant uh depression or hole in the ground if you will. Um during large rain events it will have water in the bottom of it designed to have water in the bottom of it for a couple of days and then it should infiltrate and or drain out of there. So a lot of the time the the area will be dry and usable. And so as a part of the design process, we're trying to make sure that we can still use the bottom of the pond for recreational purposes. And so we've been asking for feedback from the community on what that might look like. And so there might be a trail that goes through it. There might be some plantings that are at the bottom of it just to try to make sure that it's not just this hole in the [snorts] ground. We want to make sure that it's attractive and provides uh for some benefit to the community. And again, this is the playground equipment that people uh voted on and are selecting for Penock Park. So, I can stand and answer any questions that committee members may have. [snorts] I'm just curious as to what pulled the loop uh on greening. >> I'm sorry. >> I just I'm curious as to what what drove the decision to pull the loop. >> So, it's not it's not an amenity, if you will, that we have in any of our other parks. And so, we don't want to start um start a trend, if you will, of of doing that and have and it's not that big of an area to begin with. So, that's the direction we wanted to go with that. [clears throat] >> Thank you. So that can you go the picture of uh Panak the that one now that looks real nice right there but is that going to be maintained at all? Is it going to be mowed? Is it going to be just let I mean >> the uh a lot of the plantings will be natural the naturalbased so on the the slopes if you will be naturalbased plantings uh not intended to be maintained. Uh the bottom of it um in this at least in this depiction a it will be a lot of natural plantings but some of it will be mowed not on a regular basis but on a somewhat basis. >> Okay. But it won't weeds won't be growing. >> That's not the intention. But it's also not intended to be a soccer field or something like that. >> Right. >> Just so we're on the same page, >> a pickle ball court. >> The Well, there there is going to be a pickle ball court, but that's going to be up at the at the court level. >> Any other questions on what we're planning to do with the three parks in the southwest part of town? Uh, I would just say I [clears throat] like the idea of having the native plantings in there. Um, the other thing that I would commend, and I know that this is partially based on how the uh, citizens voted for each of these neighborhoods, but um, something I was concerned about is ending up with cookie cutter parks because we're doing them all kind of at the same time and all of the renderings that were shown for these three parks seem very distinctive and very different. Um, so I just want to uh commend you and the designers and community members who voted on it on giving a little variety because I think that that's uh important as we're redoing so many parks on such a short time frame. So I was pleased to see uh the variety there. >> Yeah, thanks for bringing that up. So that is [clears throat] one thing that we have been cognizant of. We are uh trying to make sure that we don't have all of the same vendor uh putting too much playground equipment in in the same vicinity. if you will. So that that helps with the variety. Um I will say that there was a couple parks where it was like 4951 and there was other parks where it was 7030. Um on a couple parks where it was 4951, we didn't necessarily go with the 51. We might have gone with the 49 because the park right next door was the very similar in nature and we wanted to make sure that there was enough differences, if you will. So when it was that close, we felt like we had the ability to say, "Okay, we're going to we're going to break this in essence tie and go this way because we were looking at a bigger picture, if you will." So all right. Uh then I guess we'll be moving on to uh approve update updated youth open gym policy and rules. Looks like this will be Mr. Rosa. Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members. So, today we're here for approval or questions and everything, but looking for approval on our youth open gym policy and rules. Um, what we're doing is updating our existing internal policy and procedures. Staff were looking for clarifications on the roles and responsibilities and different situations that have come up or occurred. So, what we did is we took a deeper look uh reviewed policies and procedures from multiple cities that offer a very similar program. Um we found we were operating similar fashion overall with a few areas we could improve. Um one being the uh code of conduct and rules and making sure that we have those hanging within our in in our facilities as well. So we took the next steps for making updates uh having part-time and full-time staff review those updates. Uh we had the city attorney review next so that makes sure we're compliant and legal there. And now we're here for your input uh from the park and ad park and recreation advisory committee. And after any comment, questions, and potential approval, we will bring it forward to the city council for final approval in the required process. Um, some quick information for you. The program is for grades 6 through 12. It is free, but it does require registration. Um, it runs weekdays and non-school days from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. and then Saturdays from noon till 2. And this will all occur in our Hardwood gym. Uh we have over a thousand different youth have checked in over the last 365 days and we average around 40 to 50 youth a day. And then in front of you again is the proposed uh proposal for youth open policy and procedures and the code of conduct and rules for your approval. I'm available to answer any questions. >> What what's the biggest changes that you made from the policy or the unwritten policy you had previously? >> Uh the code of conduct and the rules. uh making sure when we looked at some of the other cities they have those posted in the gym. So, it's the thing to point to, right? And then the youth can also see, the users can also see like, okay, yep, no food or beverage is allowed there. Okay, property damage. What happens if I do this? What is the outcome if I do this? So, kind of just making it known and given staff the ability to point to it. Like, it's right there. You can see it that's not allowed. So, because of that, um, it's also given us a a better opportunity to see what the consequences are should certain things occur within the building. Some of the other things that we changed for this is when we're going to have the program um how we take entries into there. One of the big things we're running into is when you sign up for that registration required a parent to sign up and we have some youth here that that might be a barrier for them in order to get that to sign up. So what we've done if they are a district 196 student um they're able to show their infinite cow say the name wrong >> campus. Thank you. um their infinite campus ID and that will allow them to sign up for that registration. And that way, you know, we're getting the purpose of this this program is to provide a safe place for for youth after school and on non-school days. So, that was a major change for us as well. Making it an easier opportunity for them to get in there. You know, if you can consider it to our outdoor parks, we don't require any registr registration for that. So, the fact that we do indoors, how do we make that more accessible? That's the biggest change. and we've seen a lot of improvement for that from the youth and from staff. >> Nate, can you touch base on the difference between hardwood gym and sport court gym and how we're doing that differently as well? >> Okay, so our hardwood gym is obviously the the hard floor, right? Like your typical basketball floor. Our sport court is the one that's in the back southwest corner of the building all the way down the hallway through the right through that other lounge area. [snorts] Um, and again, it's got a a sport court surface it's called, but it's more like a rubberized flooring if you will. It's where we host our hold our um pickle ball stuff, our bad and everything on there. Um by changing some of our policies and what we use on there, we've moved the youth open gym to only the hardwood, so it's closer to the door, closer to the front desk, so staff have an easier time to go in there during their rounds. Uh just gives us a better opportunity to keep an eye on that to make sure that things are going on in there that should be going on in there. Other changes we made through this entire process, we have some traffic calming things that occur once you come into the building. So, we've put stansions up to kind of split the hallway for left and right coming in and coming out. Um, parents have always been able to go into that pro into that program to pick up youth, but we have them now for sure stop at the front desk, sign in at that front desk. Staff will escort them down to the gym, um, walk around, make sure that, you know, they're there for a reason. do require that they are there um with someone that is in their family or or that they're a parent or a guardian of. You can't just no average Joe or Joanne can just walk in and like I'm going to go check out youth open gym. So that again traffic calming allows us to assess the situation, make sure the people that should be there are there. >> So does the change from the sport court to the hardwood change the recreational activities that the youth are able to do or does that not change? It's just they moved rooms. >> Yeah. So, the same things that occur in both. It's usually basketball or volleyball. Um, with it, you know, obviously it'll change the flooring surface, if you will. Um, one of the other things, too, that we look to hope to do in our referendum project is to add volleyball nets that hang from our ceiling as well. So, it'll allow us to better better alter the use in that specific gym. So we could leave one of the the nets up, if you will, from volleyball so that it's easier for basketball to occur on a full court [clears throat] instead of just a half court situation only because we do follow up right after youth open gym with a lot of our association play, our high school usage, which requires the net, and there's just not enough time to take those nets up and down. Uh Nate, I think I saw some place, excuse [clears throat] me, in here that um every half hour there would be a staff member that would >> take a round and go through the gyms and the restrooms or wherever. >> Is that a new something new or is that always been done like that or? >> We've always done that. It just wasn't on a set basis of the 30 minutes. So, we did change it to a 30 minutes so that we we know when there goes and we do switch that if you will. So it's not always on the hour, half hour so that they're, you know, youth don't realize, okay, someone's going to come through and [laughter] >> they're smart. >> They're smart. They know. >> Uh, just a comment because I love the program and I love the fact you're kind of detaching the parent from the situation. So it's it's great for working families and just parents who can't be there. So, I think what's really noted and what I appreciate with this group is is how you've gone about balancing better access, being processed with, you know, doing what you need to do to tighten expectations and make things safe. So, it's uh it's never fun to have to expunge anybody for doing something wrong, but now you have a policy and now it's there and if it happens, god forbid, it's easy to do. So, I I think it's a great policy and I think it's it's worth approving. This has been an ongoing process for the whole all of 2025 just to make sure that we can get this in place. There's been different iterations and then the one in front of you is where we've landed. >> Any other questions? >> No, I'm >> You got your mic on. >> Can I move Can I Can I make a motion? >> Did you call for a motion? >> Not yet. Could you let me? I'm excited. I'm all excited. [laughter] >> Okay, this is something we will be voting on here. So, um I guess at this time I would look for a motion to approve the updated youth uh open gym policy and rules. So moved. >> Second. >> Okay. I have a motion from Jess and a second from Dave. >> Craig. >> Craig. Sorry, I was looking the other direction. All right. Any further discussion? All right. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any opposed? And that passes. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair, committee members. >> All right. That brings us to committee and staff discussion items. Is there anything there? >> Yeah, Mr. Chairman, members of committee, nothing specific from staff, but we are here to answer questions that you may have. members. Nothing. All right, we will move on. Uh, input from committee members on future agendas. Does anyone have anything new that they would like to add? here. I have one thing I think we should look at at some point and it may not seem appropriate on a day like today, but I think the committee should take a look at the outdoor skating situation and just um kind of evaluate it. We are supposedly in a global warming situation which probably means that things are going to probably have to change at some point. And uh I just think it would be a good idea for the committee to kind of just gather some information and just see where kind of where we're at and uh you know what what the p what the path forward should maybe be. So certainly don't needed to do it now. We don't need to do it for this season, but I think sometime in the near future would be a good topic for us to take up and uh just have a discussion. All right. Nothing else. Nobody. Well, then I think uh Dave uh >> I'll make a motion we adjourn. [laughter] >> I'll second. [clears throat] >> I have a motion from Dave and a second by Craig for uh adjournment. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Anyone opposed? This meeting is adjourned. Thank you very much everyone. >> [music] [music] >> Hey. [music] [music] [music] >> [music]