10-22-1990 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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ORONO COUNCIL MEETING HELD OCTOBER 22, 1990 CITY FACILITIES CONTINUED Mayor Grabek said, "It is prudent for the Council to question and identify what the City needs in terms of a facility. That has been done on a preliminary basis. A needs study was done to help us determine what our needs may be in the future. At some point in time, Council will have to make a decision as to where the appropriate site will be. There is no reason why that could not be determined this evening. We should target our direction as where the facility should be. I think it would be dragging our feet to delay that decision any further. We have been talking about sites for over a year. It was moved by Grabek, seconded by Nettles for purposes of discussion, to identify the more preferred site, that being the option land. of 14 acres off of Old Crystal Bay Road, as the targeted site for the new facility. This would enable the City to identify the land and the type of structure that could be constructed on that site. The process of reviewing alternate funding sources could then begin, which would enable us to provide more information to the public. This motion does not include exercising the option at this time. Nettles stated that the reason he agrees with the Mayor's motion is because he believes Council is taking the next necessary step, which the public has indicated that they want Council to do. He said, "It will then be possible to provide the public with some concrete information. It was my understanding that there was a 900 • consensus among the Citizen's Committee in favor of the Highway 12 site. I am being guided heavily by that recommendation. I started out in this process believing that this site or the sewer plant site would be more appropriate. If the Council does not target in on a particular site, it is not clear to me how we would provide any additional, realistic information to the public. Peterson stated that it was her understanding that there had been a 70% consensus of the Citizen's Committee in favor of this site. Marsha Rokke stated that 70% represented the minimum required for a consensus, but that more than 70% agreed with the recommendation for the Highway 12 site. Callahan stated that the Committee Report included a recommendation for four sites. He said, "It turned out that three of the four sites were not available. Thus by process of elimination, this Highway 12 site was chosen. I am not convinced that the Citizen's Committee chose that site based on other factors. I also believe that the Highway 12 project could have a negative impact on this site." Bernhardson stated that there had been an earlier report, in June; from the Citizen's Committee, which indicated that the Highway 12 area was most preferable among the other sites being considered. Goetten indicated that it may be appropriate to delay a decision until the results of the upcoming election are known. Peterson stated that she did not believe the election was a factor in this process. She said, " I would not vote for the option because there are too many unanswered questions. The majority of Orono citizens reside south of Fox Street. I prefer 10 - 13 -