01-23-2023 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING January 9, 2023 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 9 of 10 Mayor Walsh informed Mr. Erickson he had had his three minutes and the microphone was turned off and remained off for about two minutes. Janie Delaney, 1315 Woodhill Ave. said she was there to talk about development of historic land in Orono. She said the proposed project targets public land in Orono that has been dedicated to public golf since 1924. Orono Public Golf has the oldest golf league in Minnesota formed in 1948 and still active and was the first course in the state to have grass greens. The course is located in a quiet residential neighborhood. There has been no direct engagement strategy deployed by the City to enlist feedback from the neighborhood, golf community or the citizens other than the two scheduled open houses announced on Jan. 3. The project will decrease City open spaces and increase traffic and noise levels. Noise levels will go from seasonal golf and pedestrian sports to year-round noise levels of high-impact sports. Pickleball has been the subject of lawsuits across the country. Because it is a fast-growing sport courts have been built without adequate consideration for community impact. It is becoming increasingly known that pickleball construction is a project with serious community impacts when built in the wrong location. Already there is not enough parking at the golf course on league nights or busy days. Currently within 6 to 12 miles of Orono there are 85-plus public pickleball courts so it is already well-supported in the community and surrounding area. In 2019 the Orono Activity Center was built and has opened pickleball for the community. Communities around the metro area are looking into retro-fitting tennis courts and making better use of infrastructure that already exists. Casco Point is three miles away and has a skating rink used by youth hockey. A need for youth hockey ice time cannot drive City-wide spending. MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT Benson stated in her first council that “it is an incredible honor to sit before you tonight as a member of the Orono City Council and the privilege is one of great responsibility and inspires both humility and gratitude. I was elected to serve as a representative of the people of Orono. It is important to acknowledge this position required continuous support and guidance and many people I want to acknowledge Orono City staff who has been welcoming and generous with their assistance from the moment I was a council member-elect.” She noted that she had participated in an orientation and thanked staff members individually. She added she plans to attend the League of Cities elected officials training the next month. She mentioned the importance of interpersonal relationships in city government. She said she would commit to listening and learning and treat with great care the trust that has been placed in her by the community and thanked everyone watching the meeting in person or on video. Seals said they have been working on the needs assessment for fire to get a fuller picture of what’s happening and get it out to the public. Thanks to DJ and the team because they had a lot of snow and the roads were better in the City than they were in the County. Johnson noted he and Seals had attended a future fire services meeting the previous week. There was talk of hiring another consultant but there didn’t seem to be a lot of interest in that. He said his recommendation is that the City not send any more staff to these meetings as there isn’t any real progress occurring. That could change but it’s general conversations you could get off the agenda. He thanked the community for re-electing him. He encouraged the public to continue to come, ask questions and read packets.