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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO PARK COMMISSION <br />Monday, November 4, 2019 <br />6:30 o'clock p.m. <br />Carter indicated he would be fine with that. <br />Johnson stated they should have looked at the fund as having a fixed amount of money and that he would <br />be cautious of spending all of the money. Johnson noted the City never had a discussion for what they <br />envisioned long-term for Summit Beach and now they have been forced into having that discussion. <br />Ruegemer stated it was her impression that Summit Beach would basically stay the way it is, and that the <br />proposal by the rowing club totally changes the park for everybody. Ruegemer stated a 9,000 square foot <br />building is huge and takes over the park. <br />Hudson commented they did a better job at explaining what would be available for the public at the <br />workshop. <br />Roath noted the Park Commission talked about doing a long-term planning session for the park, but that <br />has not been done. <br />Edwards stated the strategic plan was done a year ago, which is a 10 -year planning document and is <br />included in the Comprehensive Plan. <br />Johnson stated they have not had a brain -storming session in the past few years on what they envision for <br />the City going into the future, which would be very helpful. <br />Roath stated if there is going to be another source of funding for the parks, that would change the plan. <br />Carter stated they did that to some extent with the trails but not the rest of the parks. <br />Berg commented things change as the community changes, which also needs to be taken into <br />consideration. <br />Johnson noted the Trails Committee has as its top priority doing the trail construction along North Arm <br />Drive, which was originally proposed in 2016. There was a safety component added to it, which is <br />needed now more than ever. When the Park Commission did the prioritization, it was based on both <br />safety and doing it with the road improvement project, which has been delayed now to 2023. <br />Johnson stated he never thought they should be spending that much money on the North Arm trail for <br />what they wanted to accomplish, and that they should look at that trail as a second imperative. The City <br />already had a study done by Bolton & Menk to arrive at this number and the Park Commission felt the <br />scope of the project was over what was needed and not necessarily meeting that safety component. <br />Johnson stated he would like to allocate some amount of money to take another look at that and just <br />leaving it in the CIP as a placeholder. If it going to be tied to a road improvement, the road improvement <br />should perhaps be moved up since the trail provides a safety path to a park and eliminates the need for <br />people to walk on the road. Johnson stated he would like to put on the record that the Park Commission <br />should allocate some money to have Bolton & Menk relook at it. <br />Edwards noted the Park Commission meeting is in January and that is typically when they set their <br />priorities for what they would like to accomplish in 2020. <br />Page 13 of 15 <br />