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Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee – September 16, 2025 Page 8 <br /> <br /> <br />Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said it would be helpful to have those things. <br /> <br />Chair Dietz said there is a lot of communication between the volunteer group working at Floral <br />Park and Public Works Superintendent Frid. He shared a plan with Staff for planting and upgrading <br />gardens in Floral Park. We don’t want to turn any volunteers away, but it’s good for the groups to <br />provide a plan. <br /> <br />5. NEW BUSINESS <br /> <br />A. 2026 Tree Trust <br /> <br />Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said we will be participating in the Tree Trust next <br />year. We will have 75 trees. This event is confirmed and will happen in 2026. <br /> <br />Committee Member Johnson said it was helpful to have the information on what different cities <br />are doing. <br /> <br />Committee Member Jacobson asked if the Council agreed to fund the event. <br /> <br />Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky confirmed. <br /> <br />Committee Member Jacobson said she attended a few different events and they really emphasize <br />the use of trees in landscape for pollinators. Trees are the first things to bloom. There are a lot of <br />benefits to planting trees, and she thought that was one you don’t hear about often. <br /> <br />6. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES <br /> <br />A. Rain Gardens Work Group Updates <br /> <br />Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky asked if there is a list of rain gardens that exist in the <br />City, outside of the GIS map. <br /> <br />Committee Member Jacobson said she and Committee Member Johnson compiled an inventory <br />of the entire City. They drove every road. That information was provided to Public Works <br />Director/City Engineer Swearingen. He said he would enter the information. There are six large <br />rain gardens in her neighborhood. They were a mess and were completely cleared out. They will <br />be replanted in the spring of 2026. That is a City project. Two of the longest rain gardens are along <br />the college boulevard. The college is willing and has students who maintain that boulevard. They <br />don’t know what to do. If there were a maintenance plan for them to implement, those rain gardens <br />will be maintained by those students. The rain gardens take in a lot of water. <br /> <br />Committee Member Johnson said the main thing she learned about rain gardens is that once they <br />are replanted, we need to make sure there is a maintenance schedule and a plan to complete that <br />maintenance. <br /> <br />Committee Member Jacobson said southern Arden Hills is older and there are a lot of rain <br />gardens. The neighborhoods to the north were built with basins and people didn’t have rain <br />gardens.