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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION – JUNE 20, 2022 2 <br /> <br />Councilmember Holmes asked if the Recreation Supervisor kept detailed track of what he buys <br />to know what was popular and what wasn’t. <br /> <br />Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said he buys per event but there are some <br />prizes that can be extended out to other events. Staff hasn’t broken it down to how many prizes <br />per event. <br /> <br />Councilmember Holmes suggested that the Recreation Supervisor should keep better track of his <br />budget so they don’t have overruns. <br /> <br />Councilmember Holmes felt the Bark and Rec event hasn’t been very successful lately. It was <br />more successful the first time, but last time there was hardly anyone there, and it was in the <br />middle of July. New Brighton’s event was in the fall and had over 100 people there. They have <br />police canine at the event, take a picture with your dog, and vendor booths, and it was a much <br />more popular event then ours. Their event wasn’t at a dog park like ours would be. She had <br />previously discussed this with staff but from what she can tell Bark and Rec will be the same this <br />year as before. <br /> <br />Councilmember Scott said the Halloween event this year was a new format and he wouldn’t <br />expect us to make a profit the first year, but he thought it was enthusiastically received by <br />attendees. The Egg Hunt remains popular and they are even recycling some of the plastic egg <br />containers. He was disappointed with last year’s Bark and Rec, noting there were more sponsors <br />pre-COVID. <br /> <br />Councilmember Holmes asked if they had thought about charging non-residents more than <br />residents for the Egg Hunt. <br /> <br />Councilmember Holden felt 45% wasn’t good. If we could get our numbers up they could offer <br />a lot of others things for free, like an obstacle course where we provide water and ribbons. She <br />agreed that Bark and Rec should be changed. She would like to have a grand opening at the dog <br />park when the new seating is put in. She would also like to see non-residents charged more than <br />residents for the Egg Hunt. Staff should bring tissues to the event. She felt the registration lines <br />could be changed and staff should ask for volunteers to help at the event. <br /> <br />Mayor Grant arrived at 5:14 p.m. <br /> <br />Councilmember Holden continued by saying she didn’t like the tiny toys in the two-year old’s <br />eggs, and they didn’t need to put so much inside the eggs. She would like to see staff plan a free <br />event once a month. <br /> <br />Mayor Grant would like to see us work with neighboring communities on events other than <br />sports. <br /> <br />City Administrator Perrault noted that a few years ago Council took a look at the programs and <br />felt revenues were not covering expenditures sufficiently. Staff has been hesitant to schedule <br />much free programming since then. If they are hitting the 95%-105% goal and could look at <br />trying to raise the 45% number, is Council interested in offering more free programming?