08-13-2020 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, July 27, 2020 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 13 of 21 Summit Beach. Her kids are 21, 17, 9, and two 8-year-olds, and they have many memories every summer about the beach. What makes Summit Beach different is the rope swing, which is by far one of the most exciting things about the beach. She wishes her 5-year-old grandson can have the opportunity to go to the beach like her five children did. Being a mother and grandmother, Summit Beach allowed them to have something her children could enjoy and at the same time exercise and be children without having to worry. She asked the City Council from the bottom of her heart not to take the beach from them. Summit Beach holds a special place in their hearts. She is pretty sure she is not the only family that has memories of birthday parties or friends that meet there or just having an amazing time at Summit Beach. Ms. Alisa Benson, 1220 Lyman Avenue, said what people are hearing is a lot of emotion because it is a wonderful community and, unfortunately, sometimes we as a community forget to partner with each other. We bring to Council things and sometimes ask the Council to solve/resolve things when maybe they need to talk to themselves. She stated she does not have anger as she approaches the City Council; she feels sadness. The stories being told are emotionally touching and she feels gratitude that there are individuals who put community ed classes out there and said she has taken rowing in community ed and it was amazing. What she is hearing is a lot of brain power, passion, and energy in the room and she has not been engaged with the individuals bringing this proposal forward. There is an Orono athletic center that was just built that presumably has rowing machines, or it could. What Orono does not need is lakefront property for rowing machines. She said she has a good wingspan, and there are mature trees in the park that she can't get her arms around. She spent a couple of hours at the park the previous day, and she hasn't heard any talk yet about partnering with residents and communities. There are business owners and citizens that have good ideas. She is not anti-rowing or anti-storage sheds. She thinks sometimes in Orono people lose sight of needs versus wants. She indicated she was not present to disparage the sport or equipment. She is not into spreading misinformation or treating people poorly; it's not okay. However, a need versus a want are two very different things. The proposals she has read and sketches she has seen look to be wants, not needs. If storage sheds are a priority, maybe the wonderful community could help make that happen, but not on lakefront property and not where the City would be ruining stuff. She noticed the trees are not diseased or rotten and there is a lot of wildlife out there. There were probably about 20 kids out on the beach. Residents are enjoying the park fully. Nature does not need Orono’s help; it does really well on its own. She noted it would be great to find a solution for LLRC, but not at the expense of nature which, in the vision statement of Orono, is to be the residential community of choice and remain widely recognized for its preservation of natural rural beauty, quality of life, and recreational assets. She thinks Orono can have both and a solution can be figured out, but not on that property. She said she comes from California where beachfront property is always public. In Orono there are two public beaches; the rest are privately owned. She asked wouldn't it be wonderful if some of those private owners would sell their land at a discount to a non-profit. She suggested talking about those things because she is into solutions, not into complaints. She is not into disparaging community non-profits. She asked to please engage Orono’s citizens and listen to them and their ideas because they want to help. Walsh said it had been about a half hour and asked Mr. Burrell if he wanted to respond to anything. Mr. Burrell said he would not respond to everything that's on the record; it is their right to come up and speak. He stated LLRC has always said they are interested in looking at what is possible for the club to build a permanent home. He wants to be crystal clear that they are not taking away the beach; it has never been their intent. They know it's a park that will have multiple uses; it's going to continue to have that. They are not building on the beach; they are not taking away things that go on the beach. That is not going to happen at this park with anything that will be proposed going forward.