Meeting via long distance virtual means the night of Wednesday November 18 at 5:15 p.m., the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board chaired by Patricia LaRue with Sean Down as Council Representative covered many topics.

After otherwise routine call to order and approval of the September meeting minutes, LaRue acknowledge the City’s Hydro Electric would be celebrating 120 years as of November 29, 1900. From there it was into the DeSanctis SchoolHouse, which the board reviewed with an update by Maintenance Supervisor Tom Schwalen.

In regards to the schoolhouse to be used for family gathering and school groups history use, the question of whether there should be a sink in the classroom came before the board, with the suggestion that if there was room for one in the main entrance that matched the time period it wouldn’t disturb the schoolhouse. It was decided that Schwalen do some research and get the information to Recreation Manager Cindi Danke.

Shifting from the old schoolhouse to an old playground, the Board heard that Staff had removed a 40-year-old playground past its prime in Brandon Park that had been installed by a neighbor, rather than by the City. Brandon’s Park was really an entrance in to the Kinni trail system going behind the houses. It was decided that Staff would develop a survey to help determine the need of the neighborhood, with the possibility of an old set being moved to Brandon Park.

Meanwhile in camping matters at Hoffman Park and Dump Station rules, the Parks and Recreation Board discussed the cost of an area dump station, as well as the question of whether there was a need to raise the fee to dump at the site. As of the meeting, campers were allowed to dump with their camping fee. Pursuant to a 7-0 Board vote and beginning with the 2021 camping season, the dump station cost could increase from $2.00 to $5.00. Staff would draft a rule for Board review at the next meeting.

At the same time as it considered increasing the dump station fee, the need to update camping rules for an additional 16 days in October to meet fall event needs was discussed. Dependent on the weather, it was decided through a unanimous vote to keep the park open 16 more days, from April 15th all the way to October 31st. The previous end date for camping was October 15th. Weather might still affect the open and close dates for water and the dump station, however.

Following upon the camping discussion, a playground donation worth approximately $29,000 was brought up in the Board meeting. The donation, which would be for an approved project to have a significant impact” on said project, and would be funded through a Pass Shareholder of the River Falls Golf Club. Being that it needed to go through City Council first, no final decision was made, though it could potentially work as a donation restricted to a specific use. The Board recommended that it be sent to Council, meaning it might soon be a reality.

From the playground donation, talk at the Parks and Recreation Board meeting moved into an update on the Sterling Ponds Disc Golf Area, with Assistant City Administrator Jason Stroud present to discuss the project. In short, the disc golf project showed promise but had run into a few obstacles on the path to realization. Most pertinent was that due to the way the area was zoned it would need to go back to the Planning Commission to be rezoned for outdoor play use. From there a stewardship prohibiting the area to all but nature-based recreation came into play, which Staff contended fits with disc golf use. The DNR differed and the Staff had put the disc golf project on hold pending word from the Department of Natural Resources, which had not come at meeting time. As part of the project, however, invasive buckthorn was being removed and the area would eb open for hiking and snowshoeing as well. It was decided that the Board would need to revisit the Disc Golf Project in the future.

There being no old meeting business, adjournment followed at 6:00 p.m., a unanimous vote being made in favor.