05-10-2021 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, April 26, 2020 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 3 of 10 12. PARKS COMMISSION CHAIRMAN’S UPDATE Chair Brian Roath gave an update regarding the Parks Commission. He thanked the Council for their continued support for the Commission in their advisory role. There are seven people on the Commission right now with varying interests, expertise, and experiences and they are working well together. He noted they do not have alternates so if there is interest from anyone, they would like to get that in the pipeline. Chair Roath noted Lurton Park, Navarre Park, and Saga Hill have been completed in recent years and the Commission has a full plate of things they are working on and planning for in the next five years, and have identified some major projects beyond five years. They are finishing up the soccer fields at Bederwood Park and Councilmember Seals is planning a great event on May 22, 2021. Orono is partnering with the Orono Westonka Soccer Club to have a grand opening on that day. Chair Roath shared the Commission has spent a lot of time and effort on Big Island and is finally coming to fruition and that ribbon cutting is planned for August 7, 2021. They are also starting the process of a connector trail between the Dakota Trail and Navarre and have recently finished final touches on the East Long Lake Trail. Mayor Walsh noted these are not small projects but are pretty major; it has been amazing. Chair Roath said five years out are some other major projects. Crystal Bay Park is in the pre-planning process and Commissioners are assigned and starting to identify key stakeholders to work on developing a plan for feedback and input. This park is the “storefront” of the City when considering how many people go down the Dakota Trail every year and the Commission thinks it has great opportunity to develop something that connects the trail and serves the neighborhood as well as Orono residents. Hackberry is the biggest project in the next 10 years and will be redeveloped, including tearing down the house and moving a lot of soil. The Commission may contact the Baseball Association as they use that park and as their needs grow it may be a good location for the City to support the growth of those activities. Trails in general are important to the Commission, building trails, connecting trails, and so forth. Chair Roath said the Commission is approaching the golf course in two ways, they see the golf course as a business in the summer and as a park in winter. There are people involved in both of those groups and the timelines are different, but either way it is something on the radar for the next five years. Lakeview Legacy Trail is the first priority on the list and he understands the Council had a workshop earlier talking about road improvement priorities. The development of that trail probably makes sense to dovetail in with the resurfacing of that road. Mayor Walsh stated the road probably would not be done until at least 2024. Chair Roath noted that gives the Commission time to plan and have more discussion on it. Summit Park has been talked about a lot in the last year and regardless of what happens with the Rowing Club (as their plans would not interfere) it would be a great opportunity to put a new play area and they have been engaging with a vendor and getting ideas. Chair Roath noted the Commission is attuned to the funding and availability for all of the projects; Big Island has drawn down a lot of the Park funds and Hackberry Park in 5+ years is another one where they need to start building reserves if they want to move forward on it. He stated there are a lot of small and medium projects in between.