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5. a Chair reportPRC Chair report – for December 7, 2020 December 2, 2020 City Council Work Meeting Greg Zauner and I attended the Dec 2 City Council work session, where the issue of rink advertising was discussed. The tourism committee (TC) reviewed the issue and recommended that in order to maintain the look of the area and as it is developed to enhance the Swedish heritage, that no advertising be allowed at the rink. There is a valid concern regarding the degree of advertising and its’ impact on the feel of the area. Additionally, the TC stated that there are other ways advertise the vendors and services in the area, such as bulletin boards in the warming house, brochures distributed in Scandia and surrounding communities, and social media and websites. The PRC has recommended that this advertising be allowed, per the 2018 discussion and approval by the council. While revenues will be limited, additional funding will help for regular maintenance, even though the general fund could be used for these kinds of repairs. Additionally, the extra visibility of the vendors is another way to help the local businesses. In addition, since the contracts are limited to a three-year term, the advertising could be removed if future development in the area warranted yet another review of the policy. The council voted 3-2 to continue to allow the advertising. Several items are needed for follow up discussion: Administrator Cammilleri stated that the funds would be available as needed. Hawkinson may seek a specific amount for allocation. While this isn’t necessarily a PRC item, is the cost substantial such that a line item is needed? Because of the age of the rink, a replacement line item should be added to the long-term capital plan, targeted possibly in the 2024 to 2026 timeframe. There is information available on how vendors can advertise at the rink. To leverage this decision, can the city do more to raise the awareness and promote the advertising, thus making the financial benefit more significant? Early Bird Migration project recap Olivia Niebauer submitted a recap of her project. She may seek some additional funding in the spring of 2021, both to fill in any needed areas at the two locations or to replace any plants may survive the first winter. Olivia and Ann Rinkenberger acknowledged the utility of the new portable / trailer-able watering tank, without which the gardens would have been very difficult to maintain post-planting. Respectfully submitted, Terry Gorham PRC Chair Summary of the Improving the Environment for Early-Migrating Birds By Olivia Nienaber September 22, 2020 Preparation Adam Hawkinson sprayed both of the sites at the Wayne Erickson Memorial Ball Park and Hay Lake Park. About two weeks later, Dan Lee tilled the Hay Lake Park site and Janie O’Connor tilled the Wayne Erickson Memorial Ball Park site. Adam also secured the trailer, tank, hose, battery, and pump to create a watering tank system that can be used by the City of Scandia employees as well as volunteers. On August 21st, 2020, Terry Gorham, Ann Rinkenberger, Sophia Nienaber, and I met at Green Value Nursey in Hugo to pick up some of the plants. We then went to Prairie Restorations and Abrahamson’s Nursery in Scandia to pick up the rest of the plants. To prevent the theft of plants, we chose to not leave them at the planting sites on Friday evening. Plants that were to be planted at Wayne Erickson Memorial Ball Park were kept by Terry overnight, and plants that were to be planted at Hay Lake were kept at Dan’s home. Planting Day On August 22nd, 2020, Mayor Christine Maefsky kicked off the planting day with the reading of a letter of support from her on behalf of the City Council and the City of Scandia for my project. There were 13 people who volunteered to help plant at both the Wayne Erickson Memorial Ball Park and Hay Lake Park. We started at Wayne Erickson since that was the easier of the two plantings. While volunteers were finishing at Wayne Erickson, Janie, Terry, and I went to Hay Lake to transfer all the plants from Dan’s home to the park. We began placing them in the garden and finished that when the rest of the volunteers joined us. Volunteers worked hard in the sun and high heat. We took a break at Hay Lake for volunteers to rest and refresh with snacks and cold drinks. We finished planting and spreading mulch. There was quite a bit of mulch leftover at both sites. The City of Scandia picked up the mulch the following week after the planting and brought it to the garage behind Scandia Fire & Rescue. The volunteers came from a wide range of places. We had volunteers from Scandia, Marine on St. Croix, East Bethel, and Minneapolis. We had members of the Scandia-Marine Lions Club and a Master Gardner help with the plantings. There was a wide age range of volunteers from the oldest being in their late-80s to the youngest being 17 years old. Maintenance The water tank that the City of Scandia purchased was and has been a great help with watering the gardens. The gardens were watered after being planted on August 23rd. Thereafter, my mother has driven me to get the water tank and fill it, and then water the plants at both sites. The plants have done very well and there has been no plant loss. Although the River Birch lost the majority of its leaves, a couple of small branches were cut off and they were still green. We talked with Abrahamson’s Nursery about the River Birch and they said the watering schedule we were doing was good and that the tree should pull through next Spring. If not, Abrahamson’s will replace it. In the Spring, I will assess if any plants did not make it over the winter. Abrahamson’s will replace plants at no charge. However, Green Value and Prairie Restorations will not. So, I plan to use any leftover grant funds to replace plants that did not make it. Also, there are some areas at both gardens that I would like to add more plants in Spring 2021. This will fill in these areas and add some color in the Spring to the gardens. Again, any leftover grant funds will be used for additional plants. Finances Green Value’s rates are at a wholesale level. I asked Abrahamson’s Nursery if they could offer the City of Scandia a wholesale rate as well and they said they would. This should greatly reduce the cost of the project. Green Value, Prairie Restorations, and Abrahamson’s Nursery all billed the City of Scandia directly. If the amount comes in less than anticipated, the grant funds from Tropical Wings will need to be adjusted accordingly (less funds would be needed and could be applied to purchasing and planting flowers in the Spring). I owe the City of Scandia $16.58 for a Red-twigged Dogwood that Green Value Nursery billed them (it was planted at the Town of May – not in Scandia). Press I still need to send photos and a press release about the gardens to The Country Messenger. The Star Tribune interviewed me in August about my project which included gardens at my home, the two funded by the City of Scandia, one at Gammelgarden Museum, two in Marine on St. Croix, and one in the Town of May. The article about my project will be featured in either November or December as part of the “Most Beautiful Gardens” series. I am hoping that the reporter includes information about the gardens in Scandia. Thank You Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do my project at the Wayne Erickson Memorial Ball Park and Hay Lake Park. I am happy with how both gardens look, the number of volunteers who helped make the project happen, and the positive feedback I’ve received about the gardens.