Mitchell parks board hears memorial-rock request, reviews rentals and vendor-permit options; approves financials

The Mitchell Parks and Recreation Board opened its meeting by swearing in Sean Davis to the board, then turned to public comment and routine business. The board approved the meeting agenda and prior minutes, and later approved the financial report with one abstention.

Joe Kral, speaking for the Palace City Peddlers, asked the board to permit placement of two memorial rocks on Lake Mitchell trails to honor founding volunteers Bill Platts, Dwight Scott and John O'Connell. "We're just asking permission to place them in two places on the trail," Kral said, and he told the board the club would formally place the item on the agenda next month for approval.

Board members reviewed the financial reports and raised concerns about low rental revenue for park equipment. Staff and members discussed options to increase utilization: bundled packages with the Chamber of Commerce, simplified seasonal passes, and targeted social media marketing. The board noted that rentals (pontoon, paddle boats, bicycles) are heavily seasonal in June–July and that staffing limits and overtime costs constrain weekend and evening rental availability. The transcript shows a rubber safety surface cost of a little more than $30,000 and wood chips priced at about $5,000 per semi truckload (roughly $10,000 total in-place estimate); those figures were discussed by staff and board members while considering surfacing at Pat Young playground.

Staff also announced a new maintenance hire: "His name is Sean Lacknick and he is from Alexandria," a staff speaker said, and reported sewer-line relining recently completed with another contractor scheduled to finish a main in the parking lot.

On vendor policies, staff presented neighboring-city models: Brookings issues single-event permits; Sioux Falls requires a permit for any person selling or offering items in parks and typically requires 14 days' advance submission. Board members discussed single-event permits versus seasonal or location‑specific permits and flagged a standing Pepsi contract that restricts available bottled or canned products for vendors in parkland. As one board member put it, the Pepsi contract "has to be Pepsi product," tying vendor options to that contract. Clifford Chamberlain, a concession vendor in the audience, asked for a simplified application that could list multiple dates to serve entire sports seasons.

Members asked staff to return with draft language, sample fee structures and a list of locations that would be off-limits for vendors to avoid conflicts with existing concession contracts. The board set its next regular meeting for Nov. 14 and adjourned.