[0:00] okay it's uh 5:30 we can start the city council work session for Tuesday March 18th

[0:06] 2025 and uh Clon please call the council member ad here council member here counc

[0:13] member Pierce here council member here mayor H here uh we've got a singular

[0:20] topic tonight and that is Park planing updates um I think it'll be an exciting

[0:26] evening for all of us different presenters but um some really good things going on with respect to Fred

[0:31] Richards Park master plan and the Brar master plan so eager to hear about

[0:37] things from staff perspective and Perry veter turn it over to you first and let you lead lead it off yeah thank you

[0:44] mayor and Council uh this evening we are going to go over some updates for those two uh Park planning initiatives and

[0:50] just a reminder these were um um Master plans that had existed for some time

[0:55] however they have catapulted in action after the successful ref ROMs for the local option sales tax um with that

[1:03] we're going to have uh Rachel um finberg give us an update as well as Tom ssson

[1:08] and myself as we kind of navigate through so um we're going to take them kind of in three chunks we're going to

[1:13] talk about uh Brar Park specifically the Brar Arena then we'll talk about the Brar Park uh Park and natural resources

[1:20] section and then we'll talk about Fred Richards Park so we'll have an opportunity to kind of pause in between those so um we can address anything as

[1:27] we kind of go through those uh sequences how's that sound awesome okay uh

[1:33] Rachel's going to kick us off all right so um really wanted to start with this slide just to talk a little bit about

[1:39] our our project process and kind of how um as we move along in this process um

[1:46] comments and our influence to changes end up costing us more so this is really

[1:51] why it's important that we engage both with the community and with Council very early in these projects so we can get

[1:57] the right trajectory going and um limit our change orders and things like that further down the line for those changes

[2:04] um so we're at um different points in these projects so Fred Richards Park is

[2:11] right now kind of in two separated projects um so our site and Landscaping

[2:17] has moved to about 90% construction documents so this is the layouts the

[2:22] Civil the landscape um and then our Fred Richards facility and buildings are a little bit

[2:28] earlier in this process kind of the reason for this disconnect and timeline is we really needed to figure out

[2:34] feasibility in the site layout be before we really could approach the buildings themselves um and we're glad kind of

[2:41] that we took this approach because we ended up kind of going a different direction with the buildings which we'll talk about later um and then the Brar

[2:49] Park project is a little bit further down the line kind of the reasoning be behind this is these had a lot more what

[2:56] I'm going to call shovel ready projects so projects that we could Implement pretty early on um with limited impacts

[3:03] from design work so a lot of those things like the trails we were able to get going with right away other things

[3:10] needed a little bit more investigation and design

[3:17] work and I'll just uh start by talking a little bit about Brar Arena um just a a

[3:23] footnote on this one as well is this actually was two referendum votes if you recall that there was the initial and

[3:29] then the modification to the master plan to include the expansion uh that was also successful so again as as Rachel

[3:37] indicated kind of some were shovel ready some we're kind of working on as as we go through um one of the first things we

[3:43] did do though is we selected uh Tegra Incorporated they are our owner

[3:48] representative so they work a lot of um as a extension of us to help us

[3:55] facilitate through the process and if that name sounds familiar they also assisted on the Fire station as well um

[4:02] to kind of lift that project um then also we selected JLG Architects as the

[4:08] uh um architect of the project record um within that we have several subc Consultants from Ice and Refrigeration

[4:15] to traffic study environmental electrical Etc they are all housed underneath jg's

[4:21] team um so one of the things we first did initially is we met with a lot of the stakeholder groups and going over um

[4:28] design ideas functional ideas wants and needs and specifically focused on the

[4:33] dinina Hockey Association um obviously they are kind of the number one um um

[4:39] ice time user of the facility that we have uh the Brar city of lakes Figure

[4:44] Skating club Ein school district and Athletics um met with them and then um

[4:51] some additional kind of partners that we have layered in um we also met with Breakaway Academy Breakaway Academy um

[4:57] operates kind of a different set of um academics that would be a little bit

[5:03] straying from your standard educational practices um where they are um an academ

[5:09] academic focused hockey school um they're also introducing soccer as well so um as part of their curriculum is

[5:16] hockey education hockey training so they are coming into Brar Arena during the

[5:21] day um they rent a lot of ice time during that time when we normally don't um have um ice needs as well as a lot of

[5:29] other ities you know daytime ice if you can find a way to sell that it's a huge Advantage so uh met with them as well as

[5:35] representative from the EA cup they do a lot of fundraising for the community they're heavily involved um you know

[5:40] from providing scholarships to they are also coaches they were former players they are kind of living that Legacy as

[5:48] well um an additional thing we did recently that the council approved and this isn't a typo so I kind of have been

[5:54] making this joke is JLG is our project architect a GL um who's not affiliated

[6:02] with JLG is a subc consultant that's going to help us navigate the food and beverage as well uh we knew we needed

[6:08] that through the process of updating our concession stand however through engagement we really heard loud and

[6:14] clear that's our um um a desire we're trying to figure out that level of support for an elevated food and

[6:21] beverage um experience there so um so they're going to help us navigate that process as well U and then most recently

[6:29] we issued a um request for proposal and we just interviewed construction manager at risk firms so that's similar to what

[6:36] um you met on Saturday with kuss Anderson at the fire station the actual Builder with the uh gross maximum price

[6:43] we just interviewed those firms as well and we believe we have a a selection

[6:49] that we're going to um recommend Council approval in the near future but we need

[6:54] to onboard them and really look at some project costs to understand uh where our

[6:59] scope scale is and you'll kind of see a little bit of why that's important on this next slide um so just on the right just to

[7:05] familiarize North is going to the top of the screen you see Brar field obviously

[7:11] we have the west east and south Arenas and then the other one is our backyard rink um so as part of this project we

[7:17] will be hitting the city's uh Green Building policy our sustainability goals with that that will require us to do

[7:24] sp230 so State Building Code 2030 and this is where it gets a little bit more challenging for an ice arena

[7:31] rather than any other sort of development is we have the opportunity to do B3 or lead um it appears most of

[7:39] our peers that have been going through this lead silver is a little bit more

[7:44] um I think compatible might be even too strong of a with ice arenas right when we think of ice arenas um they are not

[7:52] your typical um energy consuming facility so um so we are headed the direction of lead silver um I don't know

[8:00] if at through the end we will actually go through accreditation but at least hit those measurement marks um that is

[8:06] going to require us to do geothermal on site um we do have two options and that's geothermal in general or

[8:13] geothermal including the rink Refrigeration that has not been proofed

[8:18] um yet to our comfort level so I don't know if we'll be doing geothermal for actually rink cooling um but we'll be

[8:24] doing geothermal we'll have to be looking at solar arrays as well and one

[8:29] of the um cautionary ones we're entering now is these goals will most likely require us to switch a lot of our

[8:35] existing equipment from natural gas to electric um however we do have some um

[8:42] um concern a little bit about just the grid and electrical service in general in this area we've had a number of

[8:48] outages over the years on a supply side um you know we had um you know a power outage on Excel remember last year um

[8:56] during the summer around the gulf Dome as well so there's a little bit bit of General instability in this area that we

[9:02] want to make sure we um approach really uh carefully and do

[9:07] our due diligence on um one of the first things um you know meeting with our users was just about existing

[9:12] infrastructure and we challenged JG with this um is that is there an alternate

[9:18] design that hits all of our goals that does not demolish the South rck um I

[9:24] think that was always one of our our points in the process is that is you know of decent quality we've got other issues there um and that kind of initial

[9:32] concept was building you know Lobby space outward you know expanding to the outward and can we um hit all of our

[9:39] goals as well as maybe in increase a few of them um namely one is just saving

[9:44] downtime um on the project and ice time sales um you know there is kind of an

[9:50] adequate condition there and just a better connection for our our patrons and tenants was kind of what we were

[9:56] concerned about um and then obviously continue with all aspects of the master plan you know the safer drop off the

[10:02] infrastructure Ada accessibility all those things um so again this is not jg's work they do a whole lot better on

[10:09] this but just for today I I took a little bit of um um a stab at it and just to highlight one of the things we

[10:15] are looking at is um potentially enclosing the backyard rink as the

[10:20] fourth rink of the component of that um it has some existing infrastructure that's already in place um and then

[10:27] looking to you know offset that you know outdoor ice time or U seasonal lce time as well on the site um if we did that

[10:35] could we better connect the four rings um instead of EX you know taking

[10:41] up space with an expanded Lobby outward could we better connect to have more Lobby space on the inside of those four

[10:49] rinks um and you kind of think about that you know if you've ever been there in that January time frame wind is

[10:55] blowing and you get that parking lot uh parking spot that's kind of over by the sports dome you've got a long walk all

[11:01] the way around the ring to come in that front entrance um would be creating an additional entrance between where

[11:07] General Sports and velocity is and the West rink so basically having two entrances to come in have that Central

[11:14] Lobby where or we can you know really circulate people where they need to go um so instead of just expanding it but

[11:20] actually helping them navigate through the system um that would also create an opportunity you know with that Lobby is

[11:27] we could have storefronts into those tenant spaces um whether it's into General sports or into the vacant

[11:34] velocity space where you know we kind of keep getting that food and beverage pressure is you know um potentially

[11:40] doing something there so really looking at this kind of smartly that um you know

[11:45] as we've always said this has really been you know that 1967 1980 1990 Edition and now you know in the 2025

[11:52] realm is if we were to start from scratch how would you better connect these and how would you make that better

[11:57] for users so that's how we're kind of on a little bit of time frame to look at this specifically to see if this makes

[12:02] the most sense it's also why it's really important we get that construction manager on board to really proof like

[12:08] this is our Mac Max budget so how do we do this appropriately and you know can we um kind of navigate this so really in

[12:15] the end have a really good product so that's our last Arena slide so if you

[12:21] want to pause there question with the equipment um switching from natural gas to

[12:26] electricity if we do it sort of phases um would we switch all the equipment to

[12:33] electricity or so what I want to avoid is what we talked about on Saturday and that's everything coming due at once

[12:39] right um so is it possible to stagger the replacement of the equipment um over

[12:45] time um I don't know the answer to that but one of the things we are looking at

[12:50] is is it more advantageous to go from um right now we have three ice plants on

[12:57] site is to go to one Cal okay so instead of having three pieces of equipment that are operating in the

[13:03] same sense at a smaller scale is it better to go one larger that has redundancy in it um so we can operate

[13:10] that as one so that's one of the decision points that we do have upcoming and that really relates to a lot of

[13:15] these um you know goals that we have to hit is is that the better trajectory

[13:21] okay um it may not be and then we would have the ability to phase something like that but it really kind of gets into um

[13:28] the complexity of running than you know four and a half sheets of ice right right okay but there's also piece of

[13:34] this too is that you know it's not just the cooling system so it's radiant heat it's Lighting systems it's you know

[13:40] locker room heat or ventilation that I think to your point is there is a myriad of different equipment that will have to

[13:46] be replaced okay yeah have you thought about like power walls or like as a way

[13:53] to alleviate issues with unreliable electricity um so

[13:59] because paired with solar panels the grid goes down your solar panels fuel

[14:05] your power wall and you've got that storage yeah I think there's

[14:10] opportunities there for our like the user convenience um I don't think we

[14:15] would have enough um potentially Bank power to run our compressors okay and

[14:22] that's the the big we can always say hey we're we've got an issue with a locker room or

[14:29] a Lobby or something like that the thing that worries us the most is losing losing a rink like in the summer right

[14:36] when we're out and it and it starts melting and not having enough capacity in that system to keep

[14:41] it running so there's a I keep thinking wouldn't it be cool to have a micro grid

[14:47] somewhere in IND but I don't know enough about micro grids yeah and again I think if you were starting from scratch you'd

[14:52] say would you have one Central generator that can power Public Safety you know

[14:59] Cold Storage the golf Stone the golf course you know where you could build your own maybe not a micro grid but a

[15:05] redundancy factor with yeah oh micro

[15:16] grid that's what we've been up to there what about exterior

[15:22] improvements um yeah Roofing siding Aesthetics is all part of this as

[15:27] well you seen any elevations from the architect yet on the exterior really

[15:34] we're working on plainly um movement within the facility um elevation changes

[15:40] things like that um not necessarily going into you know here's what this

[15:46] would look like it's really kind of the the evolution right now where everything's kind of a white wall and then eventually you kind of move through

[15:52] that um and that's why it's at a important point for us right now because we need to pick a lane um if we're going

[15:59] to go kind of the traditional um at a rink on the outside if we're going to be able to kind of do this expansion so we

[16:06] don't want to spend design time right now we want to proof a concept and then

[16:12] make a lane to go forward you know when you're over there and you walk into the South Arena just

[16:19] as a lay person you think should we be tearing this down and then switching them so there's two ranks there running

[16:26] East West so I like the idea that you're

[16:31] contemplating enclosing the outdoor rink which I like from an architectural standpoint but I I don't think it gets

[16:36] used as much I don't know you maybe you have better information on that but it's

[16:41] been a challenge I would say over the last several years um one you know we have some pretty um stringent

[16:49] requirements on U Max temperatures in the winter and also U minimum

[16:54] temperature so if it drops below a certain temperature we don't allow people out there um because can't get

[16:59] equipment out there as well um there's been a couple of times now through these freeze thaws where we've had to like

[17:04] reflood the backyard rink because you get one of these warm-ups and um you know that's a challenge I think from a

[17:11] user perspective um it really changes the dynamic out there once the sports

[17:16] gnome goes up and you create a really um distinct wind tunnel um between the back of the arena

[17:23] and the Dome it really comes in there we get real a circulation factor that um

[17:28] add complication you know a light snow it all ends up down there Swirls and settles in the rink right so um so it is

[17:34] something that we kind of look at is you know can we solve for you know going through

[17:43] this do we know if that's a potential cost savings to do it this way you know

[17:49] enclose the outdoor rink and and not tear down the Sal and build two new rinks there we

[17:55] have any of that data yet that's what we're going to work on next once we on board a construction manager that they need several weeks to kind of plot out

[18:03] you know path one and path two um while there would be savings on not tearing down South we do have then you'd have a

[18:11] an enclosure cost to kind of come through and and build those support mechanisms as well on the self side

[18:18] so is this um help preserve the Hornets Nest work

[18:24] that they did a few years ago correct yeah this would not interrupt that at all um so the access would be actually

[18:31] above it where we kind of have some weird um Lobby space and access there um

[18:38] you know this would allow us to actually you know maybe increase restroom access through that Lobby around um potentially

[18:46] even you know for large tournaments or sections or large um Varsity games you

[18:52] know you could have a a West entrance only for the evening and we could keep all other traffic to the

[18:59] um traditional entrance that would access Southeast and I don't know we've been kind of joking North right um we

[19:06] need to get a little more creative than that um but it could allow us to you know even separate that off where it

[19:12] could be you know a paid ticketed event on this side and it's you know games or practices for youth on the other side so

[19:17] it really kind of opens up some options there um for us to to start navigating

[19:23] this but we're kind of at this pause period where we need to onboard them and really look at that path forward

[19:29] um you know either way we've been looking at you know the potential for the inflation reduction act credits um

[19:37] you know as part of this you know with all the improvements we're making um we've heard different things on that um

[19:43] but um but we'll see as this shakes out a little more what about the enhanced dining

[19:51] experience what do you what are your preliminary thoughts there if we were to do that we would

[19:58] most likely look for a a private sector partner on that and then ask them to

[20:03] also operate concessions what we wouldn't want to do is operate um our own level of concessions and then have a

[20:09] competition there so it's really to look at um having something do someone do that and kind of maybe even stagger that

[20:16] so um you know a guaranteed concession stand like we do do it you know maybe starting at a certain point in the week

[20:22] it gets does get elevated to larger events it gets even grander um you know we've heard different things from you

[20:30] know a lot of the users about um um you know even more grab and go be able to

[20:36] get soup you know some of the coaches we've talked to are like it gets pretty cold being out on the ice so to come up

[20:41] get a nice coffee tea salad bowl of soup to help warm up um to that not

[20:47] necessarily um we haven't necessarily heard like we want a bar and grill you know we want a 3-hour hangout um we

[20:54] heard more things like Athlete Performance healthy eating um you know maybe able to get you know smoothies

[21:01] proteins those types of things um more in the realm of a fast casual with a

[21:06] place to sit down um you know the other thing is can we sell for um the unique

[21:12] observation there and you've probably heard it before is figure skating parents come with their child and stay

[21:19] hockey parents drop off and leave and we don't know where they go for that hour and 15 minutes so you know is that

[21:25] something where we could get them to stay you know is that pulling up their laptop or a better cup of coffee or you

[21:31] know light healthy snacks that they would want to stay um plus the whole aspect of games

[21:38] tournaments as well as you know a dedicated use there um I'm not going to

[21:44] forhad out there's very mixed feelings on alcohol um and what that would entail

[21:50] there um it is a challenge because we know people want that because they're

[21:56] consuming it where we they think we can't see them we can't throw them so you know after big events we are

[22:01] cleaning up in the parking lot and we do know that that is um you know either

[22:07] good or bad depending how you look at it kind of enriched in in that um aspect of that sport um so should we embrace it

[22:15] and use it to help um sustain operations or do we not so we've got some decision

[22:20] points as we look around that as well so we're not recommending anything but we do see kind of that elevated from what

[22:26] we traditionally offer it's just how much and what's sustainable people say they want to support it but will they I

[22:32] think that's why we brought JLG on or jgl on see we need a different acronym

[22:38] uh to really help us with that because we get kind of one chance at this and we want to make sure we do it right over

[22:45] the years you heard people talk about whether you could have fast casual dining in a way where uh you could have

[22:52] an you could have a view of what's going on in the rink or one of the rinks some thought being given to that and that's

[22:59] what allows us here right you know expanding that Lobby you can almost picture like you know glass wall looking

[23:04] in right um opening that up getting sight lines in whether you're watching it from the game standpoint or just

[23:11] observing um observing a practice or something like that and through this too it's been

[23:17] really important us to really respect the tradition of West drink um and that's been at the

[23:23] Forefront is not goofing that up um Everybody we' kind of talked to said you know we I know we to enhance the West

[23:29] Arena but don't mess it up everything else is on the table no one has a distinct tie to the

[23:36] East Ring yeah don't mess up the West how about uh input from uh deauty

[23:42] league boys um yeah we've been um including the debuty League's younger

[23:50] brother who's on the I cup well that that'll get that'll be family communication there yeah yeah

[23:57] every once in a while um cuz we kind of said it early on is you know it's um you know JG specializes in ice arenas that's

[24:04] one of their sport res or sport Resource Group um features but we've got people

[24:10] in this community that have probably been uh I mean you'll send pictures of hey here's one from Tampa you know

[24:16] here's one that's got palm trees on the inside and not we're going to recreate that but here's the feature that we

[24:21] really like of the one in Pittsburgh you know here's the one we really like of the one in Kansas City CU they are going

[24:28] to all these locations it's not just architecture behind the scenes it's this view is

[24:35] really nice you know they did this really well with their bleachers they did this really nice with their team

[24:40] boxes so that's kind of the you know the built-in Factor here that we have going

[24:45] for us you've got people you're getting input from that have had that experience on a personal basis and all they Rings

[24:52] all around the country which is nice sight Lin these folks put a lot of miles

[24:57] on they're traveling to a lot of rinks across the country in Canada

[25:04] so like we said I don't know if we can do it all but you know if there's a decision point between a or b and we can

[25:09] do it let's make the better decision

[25:17] okay with that I will um take over some of the other elements of the Brar Park

[25:22] um master plan so there's kind of different components going on and like I mentioned some of the items were shovel

[25:28] ready so some have been constructed some have needed a little bit more work um this past year we had our grand opening

[25:35] for um our trail system and that has been really successful so that's kind of on the what we like to call the hills of

[25:41] Brar um both um pedestrian Trails hiking trails and mountain biking trails um

[25:47] we're really excited Arbor Day this year is going to be held um on our gleon side we're going to be doing some plantings

[25:53] um of some native plants um along the roadside and starting kind of that restoration effort uh we also have a

[26:01] contract a five-year contract with um a company that's going to be doing restoration work through um all

[26:09] throughout these areas so reestablishing keeping that Buckthorn at Bay um and then working on reestablishing Native

[26:15] species throughout um other projects that we um have going on uh though it's

[26:21] hard to imagine we did purchase the equipment for Nordic ski um Trails we

[26:27] purchased it right after the lovely snowstorm in 2023 and haven't had a chance to put it out yet um so we do

[26:34] have um a a network that we have created for that we just have not had the opportunity yet to use that equipment

[26:41] you usually need about at least 8 Ines in order for them to even do the initial grooming on that so fingers crossed for

[26:48] upcoming winter um another piece too that um we're working on is there were

[26:53] um site upgrades that were identified both in parking lots um and hard surfaces and then also pickle ball and

[27:00] platform tennis um so that's a piece that I'll be talking about um that we're looking at at the golf dome area um and

[27:06] then also that Hillary Lane Road reconstruction um we have started some

[27:11] initial work on that looking at the storm water because it links in with some of these other decisions that we

[27:16] need to make um so that's another piece the pickle ball of course would go

[27:22] between Courtney fields and the Brar Dome we're going to show you a location that we kind of like to do purpose it oh

[27:30] okay so uh just a quick update on the uh Brar Trail status like I mentioned those

[27:35] are opened um and being used this winter actually was pretty light so between the freeze STS they actually had been

[27:41] opening and closing those Trail systems we have this great partnership going right now with Mor who we have a trail

[27:47] Steward and a trail boss that have helped with those oh sorry Minnesota off-road cyclists um they're helping us

[27:54] with closures and maintenance on these Trails um so that's been a really great partnership they work it's all

[28:01] volunteers um and they also work with the mountain biking team and bring them in when they're working on larger

[28:07] projects on that um and then we're also working on updating some of the trail signage um and a connection um on that

[28:15] South End um and actually the uh I have a picture of a young gentleman who did a project for us out at Brar um this is

[28:22] Nigel Nolan he did his Eagle SC Scout project and did a um picnic table at two

[28:29] of our Trail heads and then also a bike repair station at those Trail heads so addition of some of those

[28:36] amenities so the one piece that was um needed further design in this project

[28:42] was this South connection so um this is a connection kind of connecting the two

[28:48] Trails um both hillsides um this is going through two conservation eement

[28:53] and kind of a sensitive area these are Wetland areas we also have to work on a Crossing of um the actual 9M Creek um so

[29:00] this is one that we're still working through what the best alternatives are on this um to limit our impact um and to

[29:07] to maximize um the sustainability of the trail system we put in

[29:13] there and then this is the um golf dome that we were mentioning so we're looking

[29:19] at the parking lot is in need of um additional spaces however this parking

[29:26] lot does not get used in the summertime um so how can we maximize our hard

[29:32] surfaces by adding in other features so we're looking at how do we increase

[29:37] parking here but then also use it for other features so right now we're looking at could we put pickle ball here

[29:43] and use it as trail head plus pickle ball in the summertime again maximizing um those hard surface

[29:52] uses so one of the layouts we're looking at kind of two layouts right now and really what we're examining is the

[29:58] impacts of both of these so one layout would be expanded parking and then the

[30:04] addition of pickle ball um adjacent the other option we're looking at is kind of

[30:10] the slash option um so we're looking at what if we were to take the added um

[30:16] parking area and make that into pickle ball in the summertime um we do not need

[30:22] that much parking even between pickle ball and trail head in in the summertime so could use that space as pickle ball

[30:30] um they make this great product called pickle roll which is a matting similar to the cushioning that you put on a

[30:36] normal um pickle ball surface anyway um and then how do we um put in some temporary netting um and safety

[30:44] features um and then also we're looking at the impacts and of these too so you

[30:51] know how many trees would need to be taken out for these Alternatives um and then what are the storm water needs cuz

[30:57] the addition of hard surface means the addition of storm water

[31:04] requirements so these are the corny baseball fields located at Brar Park

[31:09] just north of the Ice Arena uh it's an ongoing project that's almost complete

[31:14] it'll be uh complete uh mid mids spring the sports lighting system in the in the

[31:20] bottom right corner if you look at that picture those lights are up and running uh you can the interesting thing with

[31:26] them they're LED lights so they save energy uh but the player and Fan Experience is certainly elevated with

[31:33] the quality of light that's on the field uh but the cut off where the LED light leaves the field it goes dark

[31:41] right away so all the light is focused right where the play is and it doesn't spill into the neighborhoods we've been

[31:46] implementing at this at other Parks Lewis Park is coming next but that system is up and running and uh people

[31:53] have really enjoyed the the new experience uh we also had uh back stops

[31:59] our chain link from 1970s with wooden poles holding the lights up and wooden poles uh holding

[32:06] the netting for safety over the shelter there uh all those have been removed and

[32:11] replaced with uh metal poles uh for longevity and then the netting is a

[32:17] really fine netting so the experience for the fans and for the spectators is

[32:23] uh just visually it looks a lot like a professional Stadium I don't I really should have a before picture to show how

[32:29] cluttered it was with the netting before but now it's it's really a spectacular uh new system uh paths and site work uh

[32:38] around are still in process but you can see that the asphalt on most of it has been replaced so it's a smooth surface

[32:45] for walking uh we are adding uh some improved Ada seating behind the main

[32:52] field field number one uh to again improve The Spectator EXP

[32:58] experience later this fall we'll be switching out some of the electrical components that are kind of behind the

[33:04] scenes everything's up and running right now but the age of the facility uh

[33:09] Garners that they should be replaced so we're going to be doing some behind the scenes not very exciting work this

[33:16] fall and then the playground Tom's point on the back stops and knitting I think

[33:21] he did get a call of like why didn't you replace the netting and it was like it's already up like it's as you're walking

[33:28] down there it's hard to even tell that it exists the sight lines are so good um

[33:34] and then you get down you're like oh it is but you it's you could barely tell that it's there from the parking lot

[33:39] above where that lighting picture is you can't even tell anything you just see the we have a game tonight why is their

[33:45] back stops and it was like no it's there so it's where they go it's it's really nice uh along with this project uh the

[33:53] neighborhood to the north uh of the ball field is been underserved for a

[33:58] playground use uh we kind of have pretty good coverage throughout the city between the school district and Idina

[34:05] Parks but that area really was missing something a place they could walk to and use a playground uh uh the playground

[34:13] would serve the baseball players families but also those neighborhoods we had a public process where we engaged

[34:20] the neighborhood and the broader community on on what kind of a many they' like to see so the equipment in

[34:25] the upper right the equipment is installed but it's not fully complete

[34:31] couple more pieces still to go on some concrete work and some safety surfacing but that should be uh completed and

[34:37] open uh early spring is our

[34:44] goal so that's our prar Park section can you go back three slides it's not like

[34:49] you don't have enough to do but I would just wondering about this one more back so per you know talked about this um I

[34:56] don't know is there you were spending what close to 100,000 a year taking down and putting up the

[35:03] Dome oh the sport Stone the sport Stone yeah it's yeah

[35:12] [Music] so uh we're up in Plymouth that legisl

[35:17] and talking to their they're thinking about making theirs permanent putting of a permanent structure around the field

[35:25] that their Dome occupies one you guys like to vote Yes tonight on that um we

[35:31] would be completely in favor of that I know you've brought that up ccie has brought that up um you know I guess

[35:37] that's something we could work with Plymouth on to kind of look at their estimates on square foot coverage and do a takeoff um but that would be

[35:46] tremendous from us I think it would help protect some of our infrastructure um you know in my mind you'd need some

[35:53] really good ability to open that up in the summer to kind of get that summer feel whether that's you know larger

[35:58] doors or whatever that may be but um you know from our extent that would be

[36:03] fantastic um you know I'm sure Plymouth has also done takeoffs on what their Energy savings are I think that's one of

[36:11] our big things is you know that's a huge component of it um you know we're

[36:17] working with um one of our associations on potentially maximizing the heating

[36:22] and blower system where um you know I can't remember what the degree

[36:28] difference is that we can kind of try to get to usually it's like whatever the outside temperature is plus like 25 or

[36:36] 30° um you know we can't keep it at 60 we can't keep it at 50 it's always like

[36:42] outside temperature plus you know um so that's one issue we have and then just

[36:48] the take up take down and you know we're not we're we're not at the point of replacing that structure but it's coming

[36:55] right it's getting closer than it was new um on that Horizon so um we'd be

[37:00] happy to take a look at that one maybe April you could vote Yes then we'll have that back for

[37:07] you it's a huge concern long term to

[37:14] us other Brar Park questions all right with that I will

[37:21] transition into Fred Richards Park so Fred Richards just like um Brar

[37:28] was a master plan um and we're very thankful and grateful for all of the work that has gone into this and all the

[37:34] input that was received even early in this phase so you know it's been a long

[37:39] process but again kind of what when I touched that um curve with you at the

[37:44] beginning those decisions early on are important that's when we can make the most impact um without the

[37:53] costs so throughout that whole engagement process kind of major themes were brought into um specifically the

[38:01] Fred Richards Park restore Nature's role create Pathways for play in health and invite the whole community and these

[38:07] have been critical goals for us throughout this whole process so anytime we've been making decisions we Circle

[38:13] back to these three goals and see how these fit in as well as our city goals

[38:19] as well um so this is the 2017 master plan that was approved um so kind of what

[38:27] differed this 2017 plan from the 2014 Vision plan was um the addition of the

[38:33] pickle ball kind of the the change from um storm water holding to this um nature

[38:39] Bank idea um the addition of an Adventure Playground and kind of this

[38:45] concept of that Great Lawn area versus um formalized Sports

[38:51] Fields um when we jumped back into this project in 2023 and started working on the implementation of it um through

[38:59] feasibility and kind of the changes in in the climate we we um changed a couple

[39:05] items so the first item that we looked at was what we call the Panhandle but that Northern Area initially that had

[39:12] been a pump Park which was pretty active Recreation um through feedback we

[39:19] altered that into more of a passive recreational space um so again amping up

[39:25] um more of those Community Gathering areas areas um areas for contemplation um areas for walking um and the addition

[39:33] of a food forest and then looking at that um nature Bank itself um typically

[39:39] when you hear the word Wetlands you think of open water and Cattails um we really wanted to truly make this a

[39:45] restoration so that included looking at what was historically there and then

[39:51] what the hydrology and the soils would um be able to sustain so kind of changing that into more of a sedge

[39:58] Meadow versus um like I was saying more of the Open Water and Cattails um and

[40:03] then um kind of morphing that adventure play um into again a little bit of a

[40:09] different theme and going more with the nature and inclusive play for the playground area again really circling

[40:16] back to that restoring Nature's role and linking all of those things together um and then amping up our gathering spaces

[40:23] in all of our areas um in 2024 we did um more

[40:29] engagement came back to council um just to kind of check to make sure we were on the right trajectory um through that

[40:36] process we um the feasibility process and the initial um permitting process a

[40:43] few changes were needed to be made um one of those was um due to Wetland

[40:49] impacts um so that changed a little bit of where our hard surfaces were going um

[40:54] and then through the whole process talking about the Wetland bank with um regulatory authorities um figuring

[41:00] out what we could and could not put within those spaces um and then um I

[41:06] think one of our bigger things was a shift in um where the buildings were

[41:11] going to go so we had um talked with Council and

[41:17] um were excited about the commitment to the Wetland bank process we did understand it was going to be a process

[41:24] um so it has taken time to kind of go through each piece of these features but with each of our decisions we feel like

[41:30] we've been getting more and more of a quality restoration and a more and more of a quality Park um so we've been

[41:36] thankful for that so this is a really great rendering of kind of what it's going to look like again less of that

[41:43] there will be some open water it'll be more shallow water but um the inclusion again of this this um sge Meadow and um

[41:51] different Eco types so just kind of a quick update on

[41:57] our banking process like I mentioned it's a lot of steps um we've gone through all of our preliminary steps um

[42:04] we're working on our full submissions so we should be submitting our final um

[42:09] Wetland Bank application this month as well as our storm water permitting for 9M Creek um we have a submission into 9M

[42:18] for our Wetland impacts and we'll get a decision or it goes in front of their board tomorrow night um we're also

[42:25] working on um the actual paperwork of the actual easement part of

[42:30] it so the actual regulatory part um but it's been a process and it there were

[42:37] delays on their side they've had such an influx in applications that we've been told there are some delays on that um so

[42:45] we're waiting on that as well so what Rachel means is we submitted and they said we're not going

[42:51] to look at that for two months wasn't it's going to take us two months it was we won't look at it for two months so

[42:58] yep um and then I just kind of wanted to again highlight the the variety within

[43:04] this space and all of the different Eco types um I really have been impressed with how e has really taken it upon

[43:11] themselves to make it variable in a different experience from different angles they really have done a great job

[43:17] of not just giving us a flat sedge Meadow but giving us pockets of different Eco types um and really an

[43:25] experience throughout the whole Bank Bank um in general it's a it's a very

[43:32] unique Bank most banks are not Urban um so typically when you're doing a wetland

[43:37] Bank you're doing it you know further out of the city you're going to put it in nobody's going to touch it it's going

[43:42] to be completely natural um that's not the case here um just because of all the

[43:48] pressures of the site um it is going to need M continual maintenance um and it

[43:54] also gives us this unique opportunity to really immerse people in this experience

[44:00] um so the regulatory authorities and the and the T are actually really for this it's a it's a great educational piece

[44:06] for them as well um but there are some extra hiccups in it and the fact that we have to limit you know some of the

[44:13] access so you'll notice there's a very distinct trail that goes through it you know this will really be the only area

[44:19] that people will be allowed to be in um so we need to work really hard on our signage and making sure that people

[44:26] understand the impact of them even stepping off Trail on on the Eco

[44:32] types um will this be set up so it's easy to go pick out trash because I'm sure things will blow in and stuff like

[44:39] that especially off the trail y yes yep it will and we actually have also built

[44:45] in you know access points for that aren't technically part of the bank for us to even get in there with maintenance

[44:51] equ equipment um that Northern Edge we understand that you know there may be

[44:58] there's utilities that kind of go along that section two so we left a 10 foot strip to that you know we'll we'll be

[45:05] able to get in there with equipment or Emergency Equipment can get in there or utilities can get in there so we're really trying to think about you know

[45:12] how do we limit impacts but kind of regulate how people can go in and

[45:21] out I lost control

[45:27] oh there we go um so I mentioned that we've kind of got two processes going

[45:32] parallel but not at the same um rate so the next piece that I kind of wanted to talk about are those facility

[45:38] improvements so with the shift in that parking lot we kind of changed Where The

[45:44] Heart of the park was so initially it was centered around our existing building it would have been easy to get

[45:50] to it would have been where all our activity was with the shift of the parking lot um we kind of pushed that

[45:57] heart of the park closer in um so we found that you know if we were to keep

[46:03] where just the existing building for programming and for restrooms um it

[46:08] would be quite a long ways for everyone to go to access so we looked at is there

[46:14] a way that we can add additional restrooms um kind of in that heart of the park so the new proposed building

[46:22] would include um restrooms and then a food and beverage Service as well so we

[46:27] will still be remodeling the existing Clubhouse um but we will have a secondary building too um the existing

[46:34] Clubhouse has already has restrooms and kind of has a good foundation for us for programming so we'll be looking at that

[46:41] for programming space both internal and for if Three Rivers um or other um

[46:48] groups need to schedule it or rent it um birthday parties for people who are going to the playground so more similar

[46:55] to I would say one of our Park Shel felters as far as programming goes and then that new building is where we would

[47:01] have restrooms and then the food and beverage

[47:07] service so we have OPN is our um architect on board um they are working

[47:13] through both you know the remodel process and then starting to look at um the concepts for this new proposed

[47:20] building um looking at some massing and trying to figure out space needs initially here um and then as per had

[47:28] mentioned um jgl I'm going to pause at that every time um jgl has also been brought on

[47:35] board for Fred Richards Park um so they're going to work with us through the process of figuring out what a good

[47:42] sustainable food and beverage would be in that space whether it be something that's going to be seasonal grab and go

[47:48] food trucks a full sit down a combination of those um and what they have the unique um skills to do is

[47:56] they've worked with a lot of you know um attractions they work in with um zoos

[48:02] and larger Civic facilities museums um colleges so they have a lot of um

[48:08] knowledge of the industry but then they also reach out to local um interest so getting a gauge of you know who would be

[48:15] interested in this project so kind of our next steps on this one um are working through the

[48:22] design and those space needs um and with g jgl g getting an idea of what the

[48:27] square footage is that the food and beverage will need um and then we're also bringing a CM on board or a

[48:34] construction manager on board for this project as well um so we will actually probably have that on our April Council

[48:41] approval um a construction manager is going to be really critical for this project because it's not just the

[48:47] building but it's also civil so coordinating both of those things um and then also with this site being

[48:55] surrounded by so many residents um they will help us with the disturbance

[49:01] planning so really getting a good handle on trucks coming in and out access

[49:06] safety really good site control um and um working through again that um GMP for

[49:14] costing this will also be our building will also be going through the Sustainable Building certification um

[49:20] we're still looking at whether it's lead B3 or for this one particularly Net Zero

[49:26] might be an option um so looking through you know what what the needs are and what that um building will be able to um

[49:34] support the construction manager also helped just like little things like dust control right um if you look to the

[49:40] north there's a number of pools right so really helping and inform the Neighbors about like when they're doing things how

[49:46] often um you know the The Firm we're most likely going to recommend kind of had a 543 model um I think it was you

[49:54] know what's happening the next 5 days the next four weeks the next three months um to really kind of engage and

[49:59] help through that off um some of the um um more um like the finch and the Fred

[50:07] are interested in like hosting um them as well to provide updates within you know so they could come in and talk to

[50:14] them about what kind of things are happening um they would also help us um

[50:19] you know um our kind of goals to them is keeping the Regional Trail open right keeping people through there we've heard

[50:24] it's a high commuter route we not have heard we know um anytime anything happens so whether that's flagging for

[50:31] hauling whether that's building us an alternate route around but keeping pedestrians moving and safely within how

[50:37] this is all going to happen so they're a real critical partner to this

[50:44] project so I who is jgl I couldn't even tell you what the

[50:49] acronym sounds for but they specialize in food services and they're based out of Florida and we look for everyone in

[50:56] anyway found one in New Jersey mhm and one in Florida yep that was the only

[51:01] ones we could find that do this kind of work

[51:06] W if the houses along the north Edge

[51:12] um and I can't it's been a while since I've walked there and I know some of them have fencing up but there's going

[51:19] to be due diligence making sure that we're not assuming the fencing is the

[51:25] end of the lot that it could go beyond that yeah yeah okay you mean up on the neck Julie or

[51:32] over on Kellog um not the neck the there's West Shore

[51:38] Drive and Sedum Lane and so both locations for us we would kind of survey the property line and not just assume a

[51:44] fence at the end of the property line okay cuz some people may not put their fence at the end of the property line

[51:50] some people may have their fence on our property like but we'll find that out when we survey that okay kind of say

[51:55] here's the limits and what that is CU we're dealing with that with a different project and I just want to make sure

[52:01] that it's not happening here we don't want to encroach either way assume we don't want people encroaching on and we

[52:07] also don't want to encroach right okay so is this big lawn envisioned for

[52:14] any kind of um Festival use or music outdoor music venue and is that building

[52:22] going to be able to serve if something like that occurs or kite flying or kite flying

[52:27] yes um it could yes to all in the of what it won't support and what we kind

[52:33] of I think that commitment was made during the master planning process and continued is organized Athletics yes so

[52:40] you're not going to see any field striping put on you're not going to see us Reserve that for a practice of any

[52:45] sort now that doesn't mean people could come and pick up and play and do it casually um but not but yeah it really

[52:51] could be you know no lighting yeah no Athletic Field lighting either yeah

[52:56] right but if you wanted to put up a PA system or something a temporary PA system would do that definitely

[53:02] something like that yep yeah and we've built in um the ability to support you

[53:07] know food trucks coming in at different locations too um we also have electrical outlets at um at different locations

[53:14] throughout so that if we needed to do something like that um and specifically not even just the that large lawn but

[53:20] that smaller lawn area too um that could support smaller um musical performances

[53:26] as well yog could be Tai could

[53:32] be I'm lost now in where we're at so we just spun it on you y so we' spun it on

[53:39] you completely so you are looking southon it's going to be on the left

[53:45] side of your screen so this but a little bit further goes all the way back up to like the Children's Park play area

[53:53] correct yep and what you don't see is um is it

[53:58] 7600 you don't see the finch you don't see the Fred but that would be on the top of the screen that way correct okay

[54:05] thank you so kind of just wanted to highlight again some of these amenities um and um

[54:13] some of the design accommodations so really looking this is pickle ball quarts um we've actually looked to add

[54:19] Ada accessible pickleball courts CU typically actually a traditional sized

[54:24] um pickleball court is not Ada access so we've added multiple Ada accessible courts um again looking at areas and

[54:31] opportunity for shade um areas to gather too in addition to just playing the pickle ball can you educate me on what

[54:38] an ADA Compliant pickle ball court would look like it's just wider it's about

[54:43] clearances so it's more clearances outside of your um your lines so they

[54:49] really end up just being deeper and wider so are the lines still the same y

[54:54] okay and it's just like almost like more buffer area okay thank you what about the

[54:59] sighting of the pickle ball courts relative to the location of the apartment building because you hear that

[55:05] story nationally now that people living in multif family dwellings getting sick

[55:10] and tired of the dink doink doink sound of pickle ball day and night got didn't

[55:17] know that was concern it's a big issue it's a big alth I've seen it more in neighborhoods and not not so much in apartments but but Apartments too

[55:24] probably huh so we are trying to figure out how to mitigate that obviously um so

[55:31] if you kind of see maybe this is a better orientation right good now is as

[55:36] the the edge of the park on the South Side kind of then curves back North and then goes back East again um is

[55:44] admittedly because of those Wetland boundaries um Wetland restrictions um the heart of that park has gone North

[55:51] and a little bit to the east so um we are um working with it's currently the

[55:57] bank is there right now um in that location kind of that edge out um I

[56:04] can't remember the name of the bank um Fidelity I be Fidelity but I don't think it's Fidelity scale scale yeah

[56:12] might be I thought it s of yeah right in that area is how how can we better

[56:18] buffer that edge right right now it's a bank um I would imagine eventually it

[56:23] will convert we don't know when and we don't know to what right and I think that's the struggle we have you know um

[56:30] if we knew um first floor garage or first floor commercial residential

[56:36] starts on the third floor we could look at sound attenuation sound Acoustics but we don't know that um so you know there

[56:44] might be a portion where we just say you know in the future we're going to have to buffer in this area um but but it is

[56:51] a real thing um do you want to talk about the surface yep so the the piece P that we

[56:57] were easily able to integrate were um the surfacing so we have a cushion

[57:03] surfacing that helps with some of that sound mitigation and then around the actual fence itself we have a padded

[57:09] screen that helps to absorb some of that sound um pickle ball it's just kind of a

[57:14] tough tough one to fully new paddles are converting from original to like a

[57:21] softer paddle so to also help to reduce sound um I think eventually that'll be

[57:27] the standard of what they sell um I think if you talk to any pick baller they don't want to offend Everyone by

[57:33] the sound of it but that's just kind of what is occurring and I think eventually it'll convert over to those um you know

[57:40] I don't know if we would have a mechanism where we would have to require that here if we did get complaints um

[57:45] we're very fortunate The Moody pickle ball course because it's right next to crossone right in a great place yeah y

[57:52] but these are pretty good too when you think about there looks like they were beh commercial properties as opposed to

[57:57] residential it's a still a way to park Lon and the apartments over there and they're pretty much removed from the

[58:03] Fred defense so it should be a correct to De batement should be pretty decent

[58:08] yeah of existing conditions right I think it's what is it in the future and then how do you address that into the

[58:14] future there is an apartment building right there though too to to the east on

[58:20] the other side yeah yeah that's that's a good distance away it's the one that's

[58:25] closer okay I do appreciate um having that ghosted

[58:31] imagery you know that shows what is surrounding the park and you know I just

[58:38] yay you for doing that and I'm looking at a map right now but it just so often we get you know images or plans and

[58:46] sites and you don't get it's like in a vacuum cliff and so yeah um that's very

[58:54] helpful so that little tail to the South it's the new road coming in from the from

[59:01] 77th correct yeah that'll be the new primary access and and are we thinking

[59:07] that we will not use that during construction and bring them in the backway not beat up that new

[59:13] roadway yep and and this has a culvert system so we'll have to build that

[59:18] bridge too so that portion so we'll probably be looking at you know hauling

[59:24] and alternate routes and that's something again that that construction manager can really help us with so we can limit you know how many trucks are

[59:31] coming in on different roads um so that we don't impact um the neighbors and then also the users of the roads in that

[59:38] area there will be material that will need to be hauled off

[59:46] site I'm just going to jump back thought about sorry Julie go ahead it it's just

[59:52] such I remember walking and you sort of bounce as you walk on the par you know cuz it is so mushy um and just thinking

[1:00:00] where all the heavy material is going to be staged is interesting so some of it

[1:00:07] we're using um for there's like a sleding hill portion that we're doing some of it we're actually using for

[1:00:12] surcharge material so because again that that soil is so bouncy under those pickle ball carts we actually need more

[1:00:19] material to to weigh down that system so that we're able to um install over it so

[1:00:26] some of the material will be also just be loading some of our other areas like floaty bouncy pickle just one

[1:00:34] of the things that kind of threw feedback um if you look kind of the pickle ball cord in the upper left so

[1:00:41] kind of the top middle of the screen just to the west of that is kind of like an observation bench kind of built into

[1:00:47] that buffer there and that like even though we don't run tournaments like that could be your Championship Court you could actually have some Spectators

[1:00:53] there or something so um so it's just kind of a little continual feedback loops of users giving us you know ideas

[1:00:59] to incorporate and um we did actually get um Matthew helped to get us a a

[1:01:06] grant for some of these shade structures so we're actually awarded a grant for these it was actually one for climate

[1:01:12] resilience which helped us with some of the shade area so some of these structures are going to be paid for with

[1:01:17] that grant funding um we're still looking at this might not be the the final layout of the look of this

[1:01:23] structure um because we really want to link the look of this structure with the look of the new building too so we're

[1:01:29] looking at you know how do we tie those two together but we're really excited to get that Grant so the food uh the food would be

[1:01:38] in the existing old Clubhouse building the food would be in the new building the new

[1:01:43] building so the old Clubhouse would just be for programming so similar to like a park building so it would have kind of

[1:01:49] an open community room there'd be bathrooms it'd have some trail head amenities like water bottle filling map

[1:01:56] and things like that and then that new building is where we would have a food and beverage service there's a lot of um

[1:02:03] outdoor spaces around it both that can be linked to that building but also separate from that building so if you

[1:02:09] want to go there and picnic without using the food and beverage service it will be completely welcoming for

[1:02:14] everyone and then we'll have outdoor access to restrooms in addition to the indoor restrooms provided for food and

[1:02:20] beverage and what about at one point in time we talked about that being a place you could also do some bike repair work

[1:02:27] we have a bike repair shop y yeah that's where we'll have the yeah bike repair stations we'll probably we're actually

[1:02:33] looking to it possibility of a plugin for ebikes um and and a safe spot to

[1:02:38] store an ebike as well I never did idea I like the idea

[1:02:44] from a food beverage standpoint of you know like supporting some of our own like uh you know seems like our little

[1:02:49] brute Pub like wooden Hill would be a great little type of fast casual with a little

[1:02:55] local emphasis that and right now we're also kind of looking at the option of you know even an outdoor window so if

[1:03:01] you didn't want to go in the building for food and beverage you know the opportunity for almost concession style or a takeaway um so you could go to

[1:03:08] those outdoor spaces and enjoy them and that's something that jgl will help us with is actually tap into like the local

[1:03:15] market and actually try to go get feedback from nearby people you know not just you know their experience their

[1:03:21] model but you know interested partners that eventually turned into kind of a request proposal for people to submit

[1:03:29] on so this is a nice again we're on that north side again looking through this is pickle ball here um oh sorry pickle ball

[1:03:37] here uh basketball court here this is that Great Lawn so really an open space for Gathering but also small nodes for

[1:03:44] gathering around it so looking at addition of some swinging benches um there's also a small shade structure

[1:03:50] area around there too um you can see there's um chairs for lounging

[1:03:56] little pockets and takeaways that Great Lawn is kind of on the high elevation point for the whole

[1:04:02] park isn't it correct that doesn't see that seem seems fairly solid over there to the point Julie was making but some

[1:04:08] of it being kind of spongy and we're actually looking at so it is still partially in the flood plane

[1:04:15] or part of it is in the flood plane but we're also looking at you know um creating rain gardens around it um so

[1:04:22] that we're able to manage the water in that area so it if we did get a large event and there was any sort of flooding

[1:04:29] it would be kind of capped to help with the drainage and would dry out pretty

[1:04:34] quickly um another piece that I wanted to talk about a little bit is that food Forest idea it's kind of a goofy one

[1:04:41] where what is that really um so it's more of a if you're actually passing by

[1:04:47] it you might not even necessarily know it's a food Forest because it's going to be using a lot of native plants and take

[1:04:53] foraging truly to that um level um so using a lot of native plants that

[1:04:59] attract birds as well um not the formalized orchard look or a community

[1:05:04] garden that you would normally see um but really great opportunities for Education um and signage

[1:05:11] um also opportunities for classes um maybe working with um Three Rivers on

[1:05:17] some Maple tapping or things like that where we can really teach people about um local food sources and um Native food

[1:05:24] sources as well are those like raspberry bushes where I can just go and take a

[1:05:29] raspberry so the one piece about this is that we will have to make some sort of ordinance change because right now

[1:05:36] you're not allowed to pick in Parks so this is one that we're going to have to find um a way to do an exception for

[1:05:42] this um but again you know even even highlighting on a seasonal level of this

[1:05:49] is what's In Bloom you know and this is where it's located in the park so maybe go you know go take a nibble um

[1:05:55] raspberries could be blueberries could be grapes could be know but then to tie it back and I think that's the exciting thing is you know having maple trees

[1:06:02] that you could teach a maple syrup in class on right you know we're not going to have our own enough to do like our own EO maple syrup but you know we

[1:06:09] create you know how to make grape jams at home like do a class on it and like kind of help evolve those those tie-ins

[1:06:16] I can also see a way where then like you inspire people for their homes too of oh

[1:06:22] I didn't realize this could grow here I'm plant a little mini garden and then that kind of unlocks some of that um

[1:06:29] know I had a sugar maple and now I can do it there be other like um sumac and

[1:06:36] juniper berry okay and and then the other neat thing about it too and I think another opportunity for us too is

[1:06:43] you know a lot of these native plants um also can be used for dyes and things

[1:06:48] like that so the opportunity to do some art classes with some of these materials um is out there as well great potential

[1:06:56] I think your story about uh or your warning about the ordinance saying

[1:07:02] you can't pick or cut flowers makes me think of years ago when the Wolves first bought the Vikings and the story was

[1:07:09] that Ziggy wolf was over at Aron acres and one of the people from the garden Council was cutting some flowers for

[1:07:15] some event and he walked up to her and said can you cut flowers in the park and

[1:07:20] he no not really but this event we can I guess they can

[1:07:27] you can't we but it really because it was actually a really good opportunity in because um I don't think anybody was

[1:07:33] really crazy about the pump park or the pump action park and as it came on board at the same time kind of as the mountain

[1:07:39] biking trail system and there were those opportunities and we felt like we do believe like there is a need for pump

[1:07:45] Park but not in this location right you know that's more of that destination thing and we didn't want to put a destination level activity in that

[1:07:53] Panhandle this became a really good alter when did you make that call I just am

[1:07:58] interested in the process I think it was a good one but yeah it was before 30% um it's kind of like after

[1:08:05] re-engaging the neighborhood prior to prior to 30% okay

[1:08:11] yeah yeah once we knew mountain biking was funded it kind of opened up yeah a

[1:08:17] window so another piece that I kind of really wanted to focus on and something that our Consultants have been doing an

[1:08:23] amazing job on is the um nature playground um so they kind of had a

[1:08:29] pretty big challenge um so they really wanted to fully Embrace an inclusive playground but also bring in the nature

[1:08:36] play components and sometimes those battle each other um so really a balancing act of you know capturing what

[1:08:43] those critical parts of nature play are and then incorporating that into an inclusive

[1:08:49] piece so they really um inclus the the definition of inclusive play has kind of

[1:08:55] changed changed throughout the years um so they really looked at you know how can we keep advancing from from what

[1:09:03] those natural definitions are so again looking at you know adjacencies and

[1:09:09] opportunities through all of this um we had the great chance to work with a A

[1:09:14] large group of community members um on our on a work group session uh we

[1:09:20] engaged them really early on to kind of gauge what would make this project a

[1:09:25] success um so what what would make this welcoming for everyone to come to so

[1:09:31] what are components of other um other playgrounds that you don't feel welcome

[1:09:38] at um so really getting you know an early gauge of what is going to make

[1:09:43] this fully successful uh I think they were excited about the project but a

[1:09:48] little hesitant because they've been engaged numerous times on projects um

[1:09:53] even just initially and and a lot of what they've said doesn't end up happening um so they were really

[1:10:00] hesitant no not with us they were really hesitant early on um again they wanted

[1:10:05] to share with us but I think that they were holding back a little bit um but we kind of engaged them through this whole

[1:10:11] process um do you want to talk about like who some of those folks were oh yeah sure um so we kind of pulled a

[1:10:16] panel from a bunch of different um Avenue so we we reached out to

[1:10:22] Children's Hospital and both worked with clinicians and then also pulled in people who work for um inclusive play

[1:10:28] advocacy um we also worked with Edina schools we worked with the special education not just the organizers but

[1:10:35] also some of the therapists um and then we've also pulled in some parents and Resident Advocates that have worked on

[1:10:41] some of our other playground projects um and have also helped to design some of the school's playgrounds um we also put

[1:10:48] pulled in from uh the autism Action Network um and then we have some of our

[1:10:54] Park Commissioners also on the board um Adina staff we pulled in the programmers

[1:10:59] who work um with programming our playgrounds and then also some of our playground inspectors to look at the the

[1:11:05] long-term maintenance and the safety of the areas so it was a really good large group of people from a lot of expertise

[1:11:13] um we kind of ended up just sitting down and saying you know you're the experts you tell us you know that this is what

[1:11:19] you know more than what we know um and it really has a great benefit and Confluence took all of their feedback

[1:11:25] and ran with it and just kept on developing it so um this is kind of uh

[1:11:31] an again a layout layout from the top we're looking towards the parking lot um

[1:11:37] the new building you can kind of see is just a massing there um and then to the

[1:11:42] far right is the existing wellhouse and Clubhouse area so is that the is that the Great Lawn there to the top that's

[1:11:49] the mini lawn that's the small lawn the Great Lawn is up here okay

[1:11:55] how does that part compare sizewise with the Great

[1:12:01] Lawn um it's probably about a quarter size of the Great Lawn yeah maybe a quarter and the reason it's a mini lawn

[1:12:07] is actually underneath there is the water treatment tanks so we can't build over those so looks just a great

[1:12:13] inclusive Park and then blending in that nature play aspect of it it's really

[1:12:18] something special it's going to be that'll be popular for people from all over the

[1:12:24] Metro think so Confluence kind of worked through not just working at just

[1:12:30] accessibility but working at completely enhancing experiences so not just you

[1:12:36] know can we get to this but is it fully something that's going to engage everyone so looking through these

[1:12:42] different zones and looking through um really optimizing all of the senses in

[1:12:47] these spaces so you know taking each feature and figuring out you know what is this going to Target for learning for

[1:12:53] for children and also um how they interpret the

[1:12:59] space so with that I've got a nice fly through that they did for us um so

[1:13:04] you'll be able to see some of the so this is coming at the water treatment

[1:13:10] plant is here to our left there are two entrances to the

[1:13:16] inclusive playground um we found it important to have one large main entrance but then also a more quiet

[1:13:23] entrance for those who don't don't necess who would be overwhelmed by those large entrances so we're actually

[1:13:29] entering in in our quiet space um so it actually enters into more of a peaceful

[1:13:34] space um less activity um this salt end also has our water feature and our water

[1:13:40] play um it's nice that this this placement is nice because if you're a parent who doesn't want your kids

[1:13:46] necessarily getting wet it's an area you can kind of avoid um or keep your kids to the North

[1:13:53] End is it complet complely enclosed it is it's completely fenced those kids are

[1:13:59] sneaky yep so a combination you know of safety

[1:14:07] surfacing there are some concrete Pathways just for accessibility kind of that upper area is concrete um and then

[1:14:15] these natural soft spaces um so areas to congregate and um to sit and watch and

[1:14:21] observe um areas to interact with other kids

[1:14:27] an area of music play as

[1:14:35] well um and then we actually do have a small picnic seating area within the pl

[1:14:41] space itself um one comment that we got was um to add more shade structures so

[1:14:47] um comp is actually working on updating and adding more shade areas um for those who are going to just sit and observe

[1:14:58] so just a lot of different play opportunities um you may be kind of able to tell but even the surfacing is

[1:15:05] different colors in here they're more muted colors um um but they also

[1:15:10] designate um what age groups the play is is for um so that purple color is um is

[1:15:19] the younger ages the green is all ages and then that blue is the the the 5 to

[1:15:24] 12 what is that material so it's going to be the pour and place the rubberized

[1:15:30] material rubber it's not crumb rubber it's like a buy surfacing

[1:15:38] solid uh Roslin has the turf um it's I'm trying to think if

[1:15:43] we've got one uh Court Countryside Countryside has it Countryside has the

[1:15:50] rubberized but it's a a ported place and it drains through mhm but it's not like anything someone's G to come back later

[1:15:57] and go oh this was toxic like the kids won't turn into Smurfs that was the early

[1:16:03] thing you had like blue crumb Rubber and they'd come out and they be all blue it's not that stuff

[1:16:09] okay um and then we do actually also have some nodes of play outside of the play structure so this is actually a

[1:16:16] really nice one that's right outside of the play structure and this is um a bouldering

[1:16:23] piece so it's actually um one side is Ada accessible um and then this one you

[1:16:30] can kind of change um the layouts and the way you climb it so it's kind of

[1:16:36] adaptable and then this is that Great Lawn so it leads out onto the great lawn

[1:16:41] there's the new building the new Pavilion um again some of those outdoor eating spaces um where people will feel

[1:16:48] welcome to bring their own food um or they can bring out some of the food and beverage as well

[1:16:59] um and then here's again just kind of a closeup on of that climbing wall area play is important for adults too so

[1:17:08] um and the addition again of some of those swinging benches and areas um

[1:17:14] throughout What's the timing like for everything for that one for construction

[1:17:20] yeah so construction would be starting later this year so we're probably looking at August September um once

[1:17:26] again that construction manager is on board they'll be able to give us a more defined timeline um but we're looking at

[1:17:32] probably 2027 open up Spring spring summer so you know if you were a

[1:17:39] legislator wondering about local option sales tax and how to use it to enhance a

[1:17:44] regional asset this is unbelievable in terms of this video to show people what

[1:17:50] you can do with local option sales taxs really ex help a broad range people MH I

[1:17:56] mean the the banking that we're doing more broadly the food area of the forge

[1:18:03] I forget don't quote me on these things right but the where you can walk and grab a raspberry like all of that is so

[1:18:11] unique and that you're able to tie it all together into one cohesive

[1:18:16] collective experience is I think exactly what we're looking

[1:18:21] for it's taking us a while to get to this spot yes yeah well it takes time to

[1:18:27] really think things through and and enhance the product yeah my only concern

[1:18:32] is the rubber um and I don't know enough about the product or I don't I don't know

[1:18:38] anything about the product but just knowing that there are concerns about toxicity and so being prepared for that

[1:18:44] and also um heat mapping over rubber playground surfaces so um all cied and

[1:18:55] IP Mis certified and there's no issues with heat [Music]

[1:19:02] Builder colors in y um adding in those shade stru as well okay um you may have

[1:19:09] noticed in here um you may have not so I'll point it out is that um some of the

[1:19:14] metal slides are making a comeback um from from way back when and they were gone and now they're back

[1:19:21] you'll see they're more enclosed so the bottom of the slide isn't heating up that is

[1:19:27] um um a really big feature for inclusive Play Because kids that are um normally

[1:19:33] on the autism spectrum um traditionally um prefer to wear

[1:19:39] synthetic clothing and synthetic clothing on a traditionally plastic slide is going to

[1:19:45] generate static electricity and make them even more uncomfortable so going to more of these natural things because

[1:19:51] they're traditionally wear synthetic fibers more of the natural product helps alleviate that makes them more

[1:19:57] comfortable allows them to be more included in play you also go down a metal slide really

[1:20:04] fast hopefully nobody brings like suntan lotion in there and really gets the speed going we don't want the Boston

[1:20:10] police officer scenario want to also say to like the the rubber component is we can only make

[1:20:17] the best decision with the information we have at this time and who knows what additional information or knowledge

[1:20:23] we'll have in 20 years and if in 20 years we need to replace it then we will but I I trust we're making the best

[1:20:30] informed decision we can right now okay yeah fantastic work thank you

[1:20:40] and we stand a journ