Entries Tagged 'Sioux Falls Parks and Rec' ↓

I had to laugh today as I cruised by the Spencer Dog Park, The Sioux Falls Headliner predicted this back in May. I have often felt this was one of the dumbest places to put this park. It’s central location is OK, but this area has flooded almost every year since it has been there. It’s almost like the Parks department wanted to put it there so they have something to cleanup after.

I asked a city official yesterday why it takes over a week to post the minutes and video of the Parks Board meetings. We were promised more transparency of the meetings by recording not only audio but visual, yet it takes over a week to post it. What is even more troubling is that it takes that long to produce minutes from the meeting. Why?

Maybe the person in charge of the minutes is also in charge of the NO MOW list and they have conveniently lost them, until they conveniently found them. I suspect they will magically show up by the end of the day.

I first want to say that Nancy Halverson and crew knocked it out of the park. I think only 2 concerts had to be completely cancelled, and a couple, including Friday night’s show had to end early due to weather. We expected that.

While they planned on 30 concerts this year, they plan to have 50 next year, I’m excited about it.

Here are some changes I would like to see made next year to make Levitt even better;

• Allowing people to bring their own beer or wine. I think it should be limited to that and NOT liquor. I also think that if people bring their own, they should have to get an ID badge. While JJ’s did a fine job, I think the city council could change the very simple ordinance that says Falls Park West (where the Levitt resides) to allow this. It really is as simple as an ordinance change.

• Put in permanent bike racks. I think they could be easily be put in along the sidewalk on the West side of the restroom. I do know that FAB is working with the city to do something better and I appreciate it.

• Plant more shade trees around the grounds. I also think that they should get a sponsor to put an awning coming off the restroom to the East.

• Take down bag search signs. You can’t search people’s bags without a warrant of probable cause. Maybe a sign that says “Suspicious bags subject to search.”

• No pets allowed. This of course would require a city ordinance that basically says pets are not allowed to the Levitt grounds area. JazzFest has NOT allowed pets for years. It’s not good for their health and they don’t want to be there anyway.

• Have Friday and Saturday night concerts from 8-10 PM. It was disappointing to see a concert end at 9 PM right when the sun was going down. As I understand it noise ordinance is 11 PM.

• Move the restroom drinking fountains to the Eastside of the building. Those fountains sit in the sun ALL day long, I have never gotten a cold drink of water from them, at best tepid.

• Don’t bring a lawn chair if you don’t need to. This of course will be something people who are attending will have to do on their own. I never sat in a chair all season long and only sat on the ground a few times. Dance and enjoy yourself.

I think with some minor tweaks (I think Levitt will propose some of their own) the 2020 season will be fantastic.

Kory & the Fireflies played the last show of the season last night.

Here are the results to the Parks Survey: DOCUMENT

While we still really haven’t heard what caused the Elmwood golf shed to burn to the ground (even though there has been conflicting stories about a completed investigation) I have heard what the ‘possible’ cause could be.

Apparently there have been problems with the battery chargers overheating with the particular models that Elmwood was using. Sometimes it’s installation, sometimes it is just a bad charger. I guess on these carts the battery chargers are a separate unit that have to be manually attached to the battery to charge them (unlike an electric car, like a Tesla, that has an onboard charger). If an overheating occurs, it is most likely the CHARGER not the BATTERY.

It will be interesting to see ‘IF’ we ever get a straight answer on what caused the fire. I’m sure the final paperwork will be filed with the Parks ‘No Mow’ list and Councilor Neitzert’s text message meme’s of Stehly.

Before we get to the recommendations of animal health experts on the topic, I want to clarify, I love dogs. I had one for several years. I would take him on walks regularly and had a fenced in backyard for his outdoor enjoyment. Dogs make great companions and we love to show them off. Unfortunately I think that is the main reason why people bring them to outdoor concerts.

I wasn’t going to say anything about it until I came to a boiling point on Saturday. Two teenage girls decided to bring their very large, black, pit bull mix dog to the Levitt and sit directly in the sun. He was NOT a happy camper. He was visibly uncomfortable and panting at a very high rate. I politely asked them to first get him some water and take him home. I informed them that his high rate of panting was a sign of dehydration and heat exhaustion. They did move to the shade, and then I think they eventually left.

Besides this example, animal health experts have warned about bringing your dog to outdoor concerts for several ‘common sense’ reasons;

It’s Extremely Loud

Worst Place for Socialization

Your Dog Will Get Hurt

Food on the Ground

And as I mentioned above, depending on the weather, it can be extremely uncomfortable for them. While you may be very proud of your St. Charles you had to take a 2nd mortgage out to afford to buy him, in the future if you want to show them off to me, keep some cute pictures on your phone to show me, and let your dog relax at home while you enjoy the concert.

At the last Neighborhood Summit the previous mayor held (PTH has not held one yet) Mayoral candidate David Zokaites suggested that the bike trail be 24/7 and not close at 10 PM since it actually a commuter trail for many cyclists and NOT just recreational. The pushback from the city is they may not be able to parole it at night. Even with proper lighting on your bicycle it could still be dangerous to ride at night. I have suggested installing solar lighting in the darker areas to accommodate that. I know that the cycling community is starting to discuss this idea. I fully support making our bike trail 24/7 and many communities across the country have done it.

What do you think?

While this survey doesn’t ask for your name (unless you want to leave comments) it does ask for some pretty important information to complete the survey like address and zip code. It also asks for your gender, age, and RACE.

While there may be some importance in asking your age, your street address, gender and race should not matter.

I still wonder why the city thinks they need all this personal data when asking about our parks. While it does contain some good questions about how you use the parks (or don’t) I think the only real criteria should be ‘are you a Sioux Falls resident’.

I’m still waiting to hear back from the administration as to why they are using these surveys to data mine citizens. If it helps to get an answer, for the record, I’m white.

The Skate Park Association wants to use the NorthEast corner of Nelson Park (Cliff Ave & 10th Street) for a new skate park. The city did offer them the homeless camp land behind the farmers market, but I think they felt there wouldn’t be a lot of skaters going to the Silver Moon after a day of skating 🙂 Press release below;

A public meeting to discuss the Nelson Park Master Plan will be held on Tuesday, June 25, 2019, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in Meeting Room A at the Downtown Library, 200 North Dakota Avenue.

An update to the Nelson Park Master Plan was prompted from the idea of adding a skate plaza to the park. Nelson Park has been home to a modular skatepark for many years, but the local skate boarding community desires to create a new and exciting experience for all skaters. The Sioux Falls Skatepark Association has been investigating the possibilities of creating a skate plaza in downtown Sioux Falls, and will be sharing information about their findings. Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation will be presenting an updated concept plan for Nelson Park and would love for you to come and share any ideas you may have.

The master planning process allows the neighborhood and the community at‑large to provide feedback that will be used to develop the final master plan. Projects identified as part of the master plan can then be considered for future development of the City’s Parks and Recreation system.

In the April(?) parks board meeting, Parks Director Don Kearney told the board that the Elmwood golf course shed fire investigation was ‘closed’.

I asked a city councilor if I could see this ‘closed’ investigation report.

Officials from the fire department told them that the investigation is still open.

I find it a little strange that Don said 2 months ago that the investigation was closed and I think the insurance company has completed it’s review. So is the investigation complete? If so, is it filed with the non-mow list?