02-14-2022 City Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,February 14,2022 6:00 o'clock p.m. Fred Winston, 765 Spring Hill Road, stated Bruce Dayton was his closest neighbor for 45 years before his death and was a close friend.Mr.Winston is concerned about the City Council's numerous mentions on January 24,2022 meeting that Orono parks need active events or facilities in order to appease idle teens and make parks functional.Orono has beautiful parks that are passive and provide walking and hiking opportunities in nature.The last Orono Citizen Survey in 2008 showed results that a super-majority of 89%responded that they wanted passive parks,open space,and natural areas to be a top priority.Mr. Winston noted only 9%wanted to develop active park facilities such as ballfields. Deborah Krump,25 North Stubbs Bay Road, asked regarding the bike trails that are planned,is there a list of parks the City is planning on using and is Bederwood Park one of them. Mayor Walsh noted Ms.Krump can contact the City Administrator and he will email the information and answer any questions she has. Jay Nygard, 1386 Rest Point Road,was not going to say anything until the Park Commissioner spoke and felt he was a bit disingenuous with his comments in that there was no need to be fearful.It was obvious to Mr.Nygard that there was a track and something was going to happen in a park that was going to give a large area to a private entity and Orono would lose control over that.Not only that,Ms. Seals admitted this did not follow the process,went out of bounds,and needs to get back on track.There were issues and real reasons for people to be concerned. What is concerning to Mr.Nygard regarding Mr. Roath's comments and what Ms. Seals has said is that it is time to take back the narrative.To him,that means silence your opposition and that is what Mr.Nygard is hearing here. Richie Anderson,3205 Crystal Bay Road, spoke with Police Chief Corey Farniok regarding a picture of him on the 4th of July with the water patrol,and during the conversation Mr.Farniok stated it would be nice to have the Coast Guard-approved lifejacket in every police car so when water patrol needs the police department they do not have to look around for a lifejacket.Mr.Anderson would like to donate 14 of these lifejackets,one for each patrol car in Orono. Walsh moved,Crosby seconded,to accept the donation of 14 lifejackets.VOTE: Ayes 5,Nays 0. Seals clarified regarding the LLRC proposal, she did say the City should bring the conversation back and take back the narrative;however,that was not to silence the community but was actually at the request of residents who said they were not hearing anything from the City Council. She noted it was quiet for two years during the pandemic and then the item popped up at the Planning Commission. She envisions from the resident's seats it is probably scary and they are thinking"what has been happening behind closed doors?" Seals said if they want to interpret that as silencing people,by all means they can.Contrary to some people's belief it was not to take power away from the Park Commission but she wanted to bring them back into the conversation.The City Council had given feedback previously to the LLRC that the City needed the building stripped back and they needed to see a public benefit.The LLRC plan came back to Planning Commission and had not changed given the feedback from the Council. Seals has talked to the Planning Commission and the Park Commission and said there is no plan for the LLRC to come back. She thinks the LLRC knows that there is not a good route to get what they want and what they proposed. Seals is punting it back to the Park Commission because they talk about a park's master plan and she is asking for several public open houses which would be the forum to share feedback on ideas such as a natural playground,an ice rink on the lake,etc. She does not know the outcome as it goes Page 4 of 6