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Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee – January 20, 2026 Page 4 Committee Member Johnson confirmed. She said there are a lot of different entities including the County and surrounding cities. If we can get our thoughts in, at the front end of design, before anything is decided they may consider our ideas. Park and Recreation Manager Skalicky said the end goal of her questions is to know how PTRC will identify this, along with knowing the steps we can take, in the Work Plan. She agrees that being ahead of the game can help incorporate these ideas into something real. Committee Member Johnson noted that knowing the Public Works schedules for maintenance will be effective in helping us make sure our trails are connected. If we are ahead of the game knowing what sections of trail need to be connected, we can help inform that process. Committee Member Loosbrock said if this trail is happening this year, we may want to put that Hamline trail in there, to see if it’s feasible. Committee Member Johnson said she believes it is Bethel property. We would need to know how to connect with someone at Bethel to discuss creating this trail connection. Committee Member Hilding thinks we could have an item that supports people volunteering to do garbage pickup for a couple hours on a weekend. That could be a special project. It wouldn’t be an ongoing commitment, but we can meet once a year at a certain park and make a little bit of a difference. He thinks the core elements are all similar. He asked if the new Recreation Annual Report will create a lot of work for the Recreation staff. He is hesitant to add a new task, without thinking through what additional work it will create for Staff. Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky said it may create more work, but it is a basic, best practice task that a Recreation Department should be doing. It will be done, whether or not it’s on the PTRC Work Plan. Committee Member Hilding thinks the parks tour is a good idea. Committee Member Olson said the parks tour is usually done in July. She thinks it’s helpful because we usually visit the parks that are scheduled for improvements the following year. She would like to see it be a parks and trails tour. If we’re at a park that has a trail connection, we should take a walk down the trail. We could make note of connections. During the tour we can think about how residents use the trails to get to the parks. She said another item that has been a desire for a while is an Earth Day Event. The first year can be inviting people to pick up trash. It is hard to plan because Earth Day is in April and we often still have snow. Committee Member Johnson said she signed up to be a Lions Club volunteer. She will be the connection between the Lions and Arden Hills. The Lions hosts an amazing annual community picnic. She said Rotary has done amazing things at Floral Park, however there aren’t any Arden Hills residents in the Rotary. She doesn’t think she has the time to be a part of both. She would love to figure out a way to have Arden Hills represented with the Rotary. Both of these organizations do a lot of great work here and she wants to make sure they both feel the appreciation. Chair Julius said we can invite the Lions Club and Rotary to PTRC meetings to explain what they do and advocate for themselves. That’s an easy goal and it would inform us on their projects and could inform future work plans. It will help put faces to names and improve the partnerships.