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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO PARK COMMISSION <br />Tuesday, March 13, 2018 <br />6:30 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br /> <br />Page 1 of 8 <br /> <br />ROLL CALL <br /> <br />The Orono Park Commission met on the above-mentioned date with the following members present: <br />Acting Chair Jan Berg, Commissioners Rick Carter, Brenda Johnson, Brian Roath, and Natalie Williams. <br />Representing Staff were Public Works Director/City Engineer Adam Edwards, and Recorder Jackie <br />Young. Mayor Walsh arrived at 7:13 p.m. <br /> <br />Acting Chair Berg called the meeting to order at 6:34 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. <br /> <br />APPROVAL OF MINUTES <br /> <br />1. JANUARY 2, 2018, PARK COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES <br /> <br />There were no corrections to the minutes. <br /> <br />Due to a lack of a quorum, this item will be voted on at the May meeting. <br /> <br />PUBLIC COMMENT <br /> <br />None <br /> <br />CHAIRMAN’S REPORT <br /> <br />2. BIG ISLAND MASTER PLAN <br /> <br />Edwards stated before the Park Commission tonight is the master plan for Big Island. Edwards provided <br />a brief outline of the history of the park, noting that the City procured the park on Big Island <br />approximately ten years ago in partnership with the State, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, the <br />veterans, and other private donors. There is an easement covering the entire park that is administered by <br />the Watershed District. That easement is broken into a very restrictive conservation easement and then an <br />easement over the active recreational portions of the park. <br /> <br />Edwards noted early last year some issues with Big Island arose when there was some discussion about <br />removing the docks, which led to the creation of the Big Island Committee as well as a subcommittee <br />steering committee. One of the goals of the two committees was to come up with a plan for <br />improvements at the park. Last fall the City Council agreed to engage Bolton and Menk to assist the City <br />in creating a mini master plan for the park. The idea was that the plan would help provide structure as <br />those improvements are contemplated. The other task to be performed by Bolton and Menk is that they <br />will produce the requisite grant documents. The main components of the master plan revolve around <br />security, accessibility, and facility amenities on Big Island. The top priority of the steering committee <br />was accessibility, followed by security. <br /> <br />Edwards displayed a map of Big Island, noting that the yellow dotted line represents the existing trail <br />network. The orange depicts the trails that are being considered for upgrades and the trail that is marked <br />in orange and highlighted in green does not exist and is of a lower priority. The red dotted circles <br />represent some areas are for increased amenities, interpretative signage, directional signage at the <br />overlook, a picnic shelter with tables, and a restroom. On the north side of Big Island is being <br />contemplated for some sitting stones. The southern blue center is the existing visitor center, and in the