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MINUTES - UNAPPROVED
OWATONNA PARK AND RECREATION
REGULAR PARK BOARD MEETING
MARCH 13, 2023
4:30 PM
Members Present:
Chair: Jon Thiel
Vice Chair: Gina McGuire
Board Members: Tyler Cochran, Sara Baird
Members Absent: Greg Posch, Jonathan Douglas, Kara Perry
Staff Present:
Jenna Tuma, Parks, Recreation and Facilities Director
Eric Anderson: Recreation Manager
Tricia Fisher: Administrative Specialist
MJ Knudson: Administrative Specialist
Council Member: Doug Voss
LOCATION: City Hall, Council Chambers
OPENING BUSINESS
A. Call to Order at 4:30 pm
B. Roll Call:
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
Motion by Gina McGuire, to approve the March 13, 2023, Park Board Meeting Agenda
and second by Tyler Cochran. All members voted aye.
APPROVAL OF THE FEBRUARY 13, 2023, MINUTES
Motion by Tyler Cochran to approve February 13, 2023, Park Board Meeting Minutes
and second by Gina McGuire. All members voted aye.
PERSONS WISHING TO APPEAR
Gary Jones – a resident who lives nearby Mineral Springs Park expressed his concerns
with the deer management program.
He provided handouts and walked through the packet

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NEW BUSINESS
a. Master Park Plan update
Andy Masterpole and Anna Smith from WSB gave a presentation on Owatonna Parks
Master Plans. Please refer to slides in packet for visuals and recommendations.
Motion to present this to the council for recommendation for approval:
Tyler made a motion, Sara Baird will second the motion. We approve the motion to
move it forward to city council.
b. Council Chambers Groundbreaking event April 4, 4:30 p.m.
This is our last meeting in Council Chambers before the remodel.
OLD BUSINESS
a. United Way Learning Trail
a. Follow up from a few meetings ago. MJ sent Stephanie a message and
asked her for a map, Parks and Recreation would do the installation, and
draft Memo of Understanding, just waiting to hear back from her.
PARK PERMITS
a. Corky’s Early Bird Tournament with event details
a. Met with Loren and figured details out, Corky’s Early Bird Tournament
brings a lot of teams to Owatonna every year, there are fees and direct
expenses to support that, the grand total is about $30,000 for contributed
services, the labor cost is about $15,000, amenities are about $15,000.
They bring about 300 teams to town. The City is waiving the fees.
b. Wedding, Kaplan’s Woods October 28 – want to use the area over the bridge
about 75 people, no fee.
MEMORIALS AND DONATIONS
c. Kathy Broughten, bench at Morehouse/Cashman Crossing
d. Kathaleen Hasert, bench at Mineral Springs Park Trail
SENIOR DATE
a. In packet
6. COMMUNICATIONS
a. Director’s Report – Jenna: noted that Jonathan Douglas, current Park
Board member, his first term is up in 2023, we will follow up with him to
see if he plans to stay on. Next month the Council Chambers will be under
remodeling. The next meeting will take place in Faribault at 6 p.m.
We have a booth at the Home Show in Owatonna featuring Brooktree.
Brooktree is also wrapping up the bar that was built in-house. Staff are

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working hard at onboarding, hiring, and training new seasonal staff. Jenna
noted that we had good luck with the community rink this year and hopes
to add another skating pond next year, we are even looking into putting a
skating pond at Brooktree.
Doug Voss, City Council Member, wanted to know how Morehouse
skating went this winter, people went to great lengths to keep river skating,
and was wondering if we had any statistics on it. Eric Anderson mentioned
the reports with this information are in the packet.
b. Staff report:
Eric Anderson: River Springs Water Park filtration system is in there, they
are waiting on 5-6 pumps, everything is on track for May 1st to wrap up this
project.
MJ Knutson: Noted at Kaplan’s, they are going to start pulling trees
tomorrow, the ash trees, there will also be a news release coming out on
this.
c. Board Member Report
Gina McGuire: None
Tyler Cochran: Commented that he signed his kids up for soccer and t-
ball and that went well. His suggestion for the activity guide is to put the
scholarship portion in a more prominent place in the guide.
Jonathan Thiel: Asked if we are ready for spring/summer, and how is the
hiring going. Jenna commented that we hire about 150 seasonal staff
including maintenance, golf, program leads, and guest services. We offer
a good place to work, so if you know someone, please encourage them to
apply!
Sara Baird: None
Announcements
 In the News
1. Weekly Owatonna People’s Press articles:
http://ci.owatonna.mn.us/Blog.aspx?CID=3
2. Owatonna Live Straight Talk Straight Talk
(owatonnalive.com)
 Actions Requested from past meetings
ADJOURNMENT:
Motion by Tyler Cochran, and second Gina McGuire to adjourn the Park Board Meeting
at 6:09 p.m. All members present voted aye.
The next board meeting is a joint meeting with the Faribault Park board and will be held
on Wednesday, April 26, at 6 p.m. Buckham West, 15 W Division St. Faribault