07-27-2020 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PARK COMMISSION Monday, March 2nd, 2020 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 6 of 14 Klaahsen said she thought all the docks would be on the grassy part by the building and asked why there is a need for a dock right by the beach. Mr. Burrell said they can be flexible but thought if they come out of the boathouse and go through where it says “Summit Beach Park” and around to avoid the beach, it might be a place to have the launch dock. Hudson asked Mr. Burrell to comment on plans/lack of plans regarding public access to the amenities that are already available at the beach and if they have any plans for the actual beach itself. Mr. Burrell said to his knowledge they do not. They are encouraging people to use the park for whatever they want to use it for. They will not be using the beach in terms of launching boats/boats coming in. He mentioned some of the junior rowers may want to hang out at the beach after practice or rowing activities. Hudson asked Mr. Burrell to explain why they are no longer working with Birch’s. Mr. Burrell stated Birch’s has been an amazing partner, but in th eir view the partnership is not long-term nor ideal in terms of wear -and-tear on their equipment, which sits outside in the elements from late April until late October. Despite their best efforts to keep everything safe, people slip every season on the hill. At some point they need to get their equipment inside, and if the building is open all year, it is a big part of getting more people in the community involved in rowing in the off-season and offering community education. The fire station has limited roo m and limited hours available. They appreciate the access they have, but they can’t have any more than that. Roath indicated he heard two completely opposing thoughts regarding the possibility of coexisting at the park. He has read a lot of comments about privatizing the park and the beach and people not being able to use it versus Mr. Burrell saying it basically is not a big deal, they are only there a little bit of time. He asked Mr. Burrell to reconcile the matter and asked for more detail such as when they would be there, what does it look like when they are there, are the boats on the lawn, is the equipment on the dock, etc. Mr. Burrell said the boats would be in the boathouse and people would gather a little early to practice. During the summer, they have two morning practices for the boys’ and girls’ youth program, and in the afternoon, there is one combined practice for the more experienced rowers. There are three early-morning practices for the adult program: one is Saturday morning; the other two are during the week. There are also two nights a week where adults are rowing, Mondays and Wednesdays. At practice, most of the activity is going on inside the building. Rowers get their oars and set them down by a spot by the launch dock along with possib ly a water bottle, etc. If it is a four-person boat, four people would go back up and get their boat off the rack, walk it down, drop it in the water next to the dock, grab their oars, get in the boat, and they are off the dock and gone. It takes 15-20 minutes to get everybody off during a practice because multiple boats would be launched at one time. In an entire week, it is a short period of time that boats are being taken to the dock and launched. On the way back the same process happens: they get to the dock, come out, take off their oars, put them on the lawn, the boat goes back in, they go back and get their oars and put them away. After that, the activity would be going on inside the building. Roath asked how he would be impacted if he had his kids a t the beach. Mr. Burrell said he would not be impacted because they would not be accessing the beach because they would be using a different route.