Eagan Advisory Parks Commission Meeting - April 20, 2026
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Eagan Advisory Parks Commission Meeting - April 20, 2026
The Advisory Parks Commission met on Monday, April 20, 2026, at Moonshine Park. The meeting included a presentation from the Eagan Community Center division, a presentation on the 2026 Parks and Recreation Master Plan with a recommendation to the City Council, and department updates. The commission approved the agenda and the February 23, 2026 meeting minutes, and unanimously recommended approval of the 2026 Master Plan.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the meeting agenda as presented.
- Approved the Advisory Parks Commission meeting minutes from February 23, 2026.
Presentations
Eagan Community Center Division Update
- Facility Supervisor Lindsey Rague and staff (fitness coordinator Tani, program coordinator Erica, and rentals coordinator Michael Maverick) presented 2025 results during the construction/reinvestment project.
- 2025 operating revenues grew by approximately $309,000 from 2024. Fitness membership revenue grew 6.5%, exceeding projections by $43,000. Recreation programming revenue came in over $61,000 above 2024 totals. Room and facility rental revenue decreased by $61,000 as anticipated, with 10 fewer weddings.
- Fitness: Insurance-based memberships now account for 79% of memberships; prepaid memberships hit 983, surpassing the goal of 880. Specialty class revenue grew 24.6% and personal training revenue grew 36.8% (from a team of five trainers). GLP-1 workshop attracted 19 participants. 50+ health and wellness programming runs 14 weekly on-site programs and six off-site programs.
- Youth programming: The city brought several contracted programs in-house, including basketball training and non-school day camps. Camp ECC (summer all-day program) grew 112% in three years and expanded from 60 to 80 participants.
- 50+ seniors: 505 members; membership requirements for free programs contributed to growth. The Lone Oak Room reopened at the Community Center on April 13 after construction.
- Rentals: Weddings decreased due to construction but still surpassed 2023 levels. Six recurring $10,000 weekend events are held annually, and 21 groups rebook on a recurring basis through 2028. The center is also becoming a hub for regional/state conferences.
- Blast indoor playground: Revenue was down slightly in 2025 due to closure for one quarter, but is projected to reach $69,000–$75,000 in 2026. A $5 Friday promotion brought in almost $3,000.
Commissioners asked about missed goals and the value of the ECC compared to private fitness centers. Staff cited construction deadlines were missed early, but operational goals were met. They emphasized building cleanliness, customer service, and flexibility; 70%–75% of the 5,500 members are Eagan residents, with members also coming from nearby suburbs.
2026 Parks and Recreation Master Plan
- Parks and Recreation Director Andrew Pimental introduced the plan, developed with consultant HKGi (spelled HKGA in the transcript). The plan is intended to guide park investments for the next 10 years.
- Consultant Kevin Clark highlighted key recommendations: (1) Increase playground replacements from 1–2 per year to 3–4 per year to address aging infrastructure; (2) plan for playground variety (e.g., nature play, accessible features) as replacements occur; (3) secure athletic fields and open green spaces as the city is fully developed and relies on school/private lands; and (4) improve trail connectivity, particularly along the High Line Trail, aligning with Dakota County’s greenway network.
- Commissioners discussed a philosophical shift from uniform neighborhood parks to a prime/support park model, with more "destination" facilities and varied playgrounds. They asked about rising public expectations; staff noted the need for balance and cost efficiencies while maintaining inclusive service areas. Splash pads were noted as popular drive-to facilities.
Discussion Items
- No new business was brought before the commission.
- Round table: Commissioners praised the presentations and noted that parks are greening up and activities are beginning. They thanked staff for field turnover.
- Staff reports: Andrew Pimental and Jared Flewellen reported on winter successes: 41 skating days at outdoor rinks; 499 art class registrations at the Art House; summer camp registration exceeded 2,000 children on February 5; remaining summer class registration opens May 7. Civic Arena activities included a Lego convention with over 2,400 attendees, 9,000 open skate participants, and 657 skate school participants (an 18% increase). The Goat Hill rink received 900 panels of artificial turf for year-round use. The Community Center construction is in its final phase, with the tree lighting event planned as a grand reopening. The city is taking over operations of the Woodhaven (Mount Calvary) community garden after Open Door stepped back; volunteers will help run it this season.
Key Outcomes
- Approved the agenda and February 23, 2026 minutes.
- Unanimously passed a motion to recommend approval of the 2026 Parks and Recreation Master Plan to the City Council.
- Recognized and thanked outgoing Commissioners Nasvik and Hassan.
- Noted the city will operate the Woodhaven community garden for the 2026 season.
- No other formal votes were taken.
Meeting Transcript
All right. Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the City of Eagans advisory parks and recreation and commission meeting for Monday, April 20th. If we could please all stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Thanks, everyone. Um are there for tonight's agenda? Are there any updates? Hearing none. Do I have a recommendation or nomination? I move we approve the agenda. All right, all those in favor? Thank you. All right, next on the agenda is the approval of the meeting minutes from February twenty-third. Any updates? Do I have our recommendation to approve? So moved. Second. Second. All those in favor? All right. Thank you. All right. Moving on for visitors to be heard. So next on our agenda, we are hearing lucky us from the Egan Community Center. Jared. Thank you so much. Um tonight we have the Egan Community Center Division here tonight to present. And some people say they don't have their favorite children. But in the parks and recreation department, since I would get to work so closely with these crew. Some of us may say I have some favorite people. And these are definitely my people. Um they're led by the Egan Community Center supervisor, Lindsay Ray Goo. So Lindsay, if you want to step up and talk more about all the fun things that we've been doing last year. Yes, it is. Our youth camps and programs, and then that beautiful new fitness center that we have up and running now. Just says uh kind of where we left you last year into how we were uh our mentality going into this year. We really, as a team sat down and kind of dove into four main questions here that surrounded this reinvestment project, which was how do we maintain um current service levels uh that we've been able to provide over the the course of the last few years? How do we keep as many amenities open as possible throughout this process? How do we implement new revenue revenue generating opportunities throughout the project? And then how do we ensure that we continue to provide exceptional customer service uh throughout the project, knowing um, especially with that last one that patrons, community members, members of our facility, uh there was no doubt going to be some frustration, um, some pinch points there, and how do we um mitigate our own internally and then help them through that on the public side uh on a very high level here? This is a busy slide, so I'll I'll attempt to um soften it up here. Uh, in 2025 operating revenues grew by roughly 309,000 uh from revenue levels that were experienced in 2024. And how did we get that done? There's a hundred thousand reasons how we got that done, but I think the biggest one is um the relight the relationships that we have with our um outside user groups really paid off. Uh we figured we would lose a lot of our big main events, kind of our staple events, our foundational events at the ECC. Uh, and that just wasn't the case for us. Um, there were a lot more conversations, a lot more meetings, a lot more planning that went into it. But uh over the course of the last couple of years, our team as a whole, uh especially led by Michael and at that point, Seth, uh, have really done a nice job fine-tuning those relationships, and they trusted us to be able to still uh put on the same successful events for them, even with limited abilities within the building. So the fact that they didn't just walk away and say, hey, we'll be back in 26 or 27, um, that really helped us out a lot. Uh, in 2025, our fitness uh membership revenue grew 6.5% from 2024, uh, which exceeded by 43,000.
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