11-24-2014 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, November 24, 2014 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 5 of 21 (7. #14-3691 SOURCE LAND CAPITAL, LAKEVIEW PROPERTY, 405 NORTH ARM DRIVE – PRELIMINARY PLAT WITH PRD OVERLAY, continued) the other item from the last meeting focused on the trees, especially evergreens, and that he had asked the Council whether they could look at possibly removing some of the junipers and Black Hills spruce on the site. Simenson indicated a number of them are starting to decline in health and that they are spaced all over the site. Simenson stated those type of trees tend to be a problem for a prairie because they are difficult to manage and junipers are prolific seeders. Simenson stated he would like to reduce the number of junipers to help with management costs going into the future. Simenson indicated he visited the site approximately one week ago and went through all the areas. Simenson stated one of the questions centers on the fact that he is proposing to take out a number of Black Hills spruce trees and red cedars in certain areas but not from the entire site. Simenson indicated he is attempting to be conscious of retaining some screening and that it would also be impossible to eliminate all the different trees in the neighborhood. Simenson stated he has attempted to condense some of the areas of the Black Hills spruce and the junipers. Simenson noted on the west side of the parcel, there is a large number of Colorado blue spruce and the majority of those are not proposed to be removed since they do provide some screening. Simenson stated removal of some of the evergreens will help keep the costs down and allows the prairie to thrive better. Simenson stated he marked 132 trees, which added a little over a 1,000 inches of tree removal. Simenson stated even if the additional removal of trees, there will still be a tremendous amount of trees on the site but the tree removal will help the prairie immensely. Hiller stated Staff’s report focuses on basically five bullet points. The first bullet point deals with the trails and their request is to create a connectively from the neighborhood into the park. Hiller stated there would be an easement over some of the private lots that the homeowners association would maintain. Hiller stated the trails would create an easy walking path for everyone. The plan will continue to be that the homeowners association will be in charge of the ongoing maintenance of the prairie areas, the private road system, and the walking trails. The association dues will need to be sufficient to address all of those needs. Hiller stated his role as a developer is to set everything up properly and that he is not sure how to respond to the questions about the future relating to that. Mattick stated Staff and the Council have discussed the pros and cons of private roads in the past and that the decision was made that this development would have a private road with the various cul-de-sacs. There was also a question about the trails discussed with the Council. The trails will be privately owned and maintained but open to the public, which is a nice amenity. The conservation easements will also be under the control of the homeowners association. Mattick stated the proposal is nice in theory on all three parts. Mattick stated the issue is to make sure the City Council is aware that when the trails are created and the public begins to use them, because they are open to the public, that when there are problems or maintenance issues, that will be a homeowners association issue to deal with. In addition, when the road starts to show wear and needs to be replaced, that will be the homeowners association. Policing the conservation easements will also be the responsibility of the homeowners association.