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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br />Monday, September 27, 2021 <br />6:00 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br /> <br />Page 2 of 5 <br /> <br />PUBLIC COMMENTS – Continued <br /> <br />a new non-profit organization, Stand Up for Property Rights, Big Woods, and Wetlands. We are not only <br />the Bederwood and Lowry Woods Nature Conservation area neighbors, we are the people that care about <br />what happens in all neighborhoods in Orono and Hennepin County. Right now, we are asking for change. <br />We are here tonight to advise all of Hennepin County, our local communities, and the media that our <br />private and public property rights have been deprived. We are here to ask for transparency, public and <br />timely property notices, and an equal voice in what happens to our public lands and how private land use <br />is regulated. How did it come to be that the Orono advisory-only Park Commission gave the rights to use <br />public land for niche entertainment that predictably led to trespassing on private property? This <br />trespassing has gone on for months and months without stopping. How did it come to be that the Orono <br />advisory-only Park Commission gave approval to carve up our Bederwood Park and our Lowry Woods <br />Conservation Area without public notice? <br /> <br />Mayor Walsh asked according to whom? <br /> <br />Ms. Schmidt replied she cannot take any questions and said the City Council must refer to the City’s legal <br />counsel. <br /> <br />Mayor Walsh asked if Ms. Schmidt is the one taking pictures and videos of children in the woods? <br /> <br />Ms. Schmidt continued to read: <br /> <br />This degradation occurred for months and months. How did it come to be that the Orono advisory-only <br />Park Commission gave approval to go against our standing ordinance of no bikes in parks Section 22-93 <br />by approving public mountain bike trails for niche entertainment? This degradation and frankly, <br />disruptive park activity has occurred for months and months without public notice. Our organization has <br />gathered over 100 signatures on a petition for an Environmental Worksheet (EAW) to review the existing <br />and continuing damage which has gone on to Bederwood Park and the Lowry Woods Nature <br />Conservation Area. The City of Orono did not order the EAW, even though we were told there would be <br />further degradation to Bederwood woods and the construction of bridges over the Bederwood stream, <br />specifically in June of 2021. <br /> <br />Mayor Walsh stated that is not true either. If Ms. Schmidt speaks falsehoods, he will correct her. <br /> <br />In May of 2021, we were told there wasn’t a plan for the Lowry Woods Nature Conservation Area yet a <br />Capital Improvement Project (CIP) is proposed for $100,000 according to the plan reviewed at the Park <br />Commission meeting on September 7, 2021. To be clear, we do not want bikes in Orono parks except for <br />travel to and from parks. We do not want mountain bike trails in Orono parks. We do not want mountain <br />bike courses in our Orono parks. We do not want the advisory-only Park Commission making further <br />decisions without giving public notice and adequate opportunity to comment from our neighborhoods. <br />Accordingly, we are demanding that you dissolve the unlawful enacted resolution for the mountain bike <br />courses in Bederwood Park. We are also demanding that you conserve our Big Woods and Lowry Nature <br />Conservation Area and extend our existing tree ordinance to include protection to these old growth forest