A group of emboldened residents have decided to begin attending Big Lake city meetings to voice their opinion about the removal of all the playground equipment at Mitchell Farms Park because it was deemed unsafe. The city has decided to not immediately replace that equipment, even as it has decided to remove and replace aging equipment at three other area parks.
The city’s reasons are well documented. Patriot reporter Andrew Diemand first covered this story in his October 4, 2025 article titled Big Lake Making Park Improvements and he clearly explained the city’s position. This reporter has been following this story beginning with the October 8, 2025 Big Lake City Council Meeting where residents first began to show up and speak out.
They’ve since attended two more meetings, the October 22, 2025 meeting of the council and the most recent October 27 meeting of the Parks Advisory Committee. It was near the end of that meeting, after the PAC had a lengthy discussion about Mitchell Farms Park, that this reporter was able to get resident’s reactions about the meetings they have attended.
“It doesn’t seem like we’re actually moving toward getting a playground,” Emy Mammenga said. “It seems as far as the city council goes, they’re trying to boil the frog and keep pushing on until people stop complaining and stop causing a ruckus.”
That sentiment was shared by the others who attended the parks meeting.
“I don’t think they listen to us at all, to be honest, and I think the residents of Big Lake just feel like we’re not heard anyway, so showing up is just a waste of time,” said Celine Woods.
The Parks Board discussed creating a survey to get citizen’s input. Woods reacted, “It’s a waste of money.”
Mammenga noted that she has already submitted a petition with 121 signatures and has an online petition with over 137, but conceded, if the city decides to do a survey, she is willing to ask neighbors to take it.
“I think it’s a waste of time and money,” said Shawn Dunkel about the idea of doing a survey. “I think they’ve heard from the community, but the fact is, they’re not particularly good at listening. This is a park in the middle of a community.”
The Park Board discussed the possibility of the park being used for purposes that go beyond the neighborhood, but Mammenga argued against that idea.
“That’s what made it so nice. It was a nice, cozy, little tuck-in park for the immediate vicinity,” Mammenga said.
Charlie West agreed saying that most of the traffic was local from grandparents taking their grandchildren to the park and even a couple local daycares coming to the park so the kids could play.
“We don’t need a survey, we need a similar park like the one that just got ripped out,” he said.
The residents from Mitchell Farms were upset that they were not notified before the park was torn out, a mistake acknowledged by City Administrator Hanna Klimmek, who gave an official statement from the city.
“The city acknowledges that communication with residents should have been stronger prior to the recent removal of park equipment,” she said. “We understand this caused frustration and concern within the community. We are human, and at times, things don’t go as perfectly as we intend.”
Klimmek went on the say that in this instance, the city recognizes that they missed an important opportunity to inform and engage residents before action was taken.
“The city has learned from this experience and is taking steps to improve how we communicate about future park projects and changes.” she said. “We value the community’s input and appreciate the grace and understanding of our residents as we work to always do better.”
