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Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee – May 20, 2025 Page 9 Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky did not know the answer to that. She asked the consultant who is working on the Parks Master Plan if recreation will be a part of the Park Master Plan. He said they will touch on it a little bit but the Park Plan is for parks. She shared that the consultant worked for a city previously. He established a small budget to hold community events. They built on that through sponsorships and were able to grow the special events. That is her plan for Arden Hills. Committee Member Hilding thinks events are a one time hit, of two or three hours of a public event. A new fence at a playground would be a longer return on the investment. He thinks $15,000 would be better used on tangible things and then work with Staff and Council to try to establish a community event budget. Chair Dietz said in the past Council has said they would like to see PTRC focus on the recreation side of things. He asked for further discussion. Committee Member Olson said we are making a recommendation to City Council. They occasionally don’t take our recommendations and do what they want. Committee Member Hilding would like to see the motion amended to include $5,000 for an event and the rest to the basketball hoops and something else. Committee Member Olson would like to add the push button for the lights at Hazelnut Park. Committee Member Ahmed asked if the lights are LED. If not, it wouldn’t make sense to install this button on a lighting system that may be updated in the next few years. Discussion ensued regarding the kind of lighting at the parks. Committee Member Olson asked where the picnic tables need to be replaced. Recreation Supervisor Johnson said they were super outdated. There are two next to the warming house that are wood. Discussion ensued regarding the items on the list and what could be purchased from the list. Recreation Supervisor Johnson outlined how much the existing events cost and suggested the money could be allocated to make the existing events free. It could also be used for promotional materials for events. Committee Member Johnson said since we do these events already, there should be a line item in the budget. Recreation Supervisor Johnson said we charge attendees for the events. That’s how we pay for them. Committee Member Olson thinks focusing on the outdated picnic tables is a good use of the money. If we improve those parks but then leave the old picnic tables there, people will not be happy.