07-10-1995 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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I I I I To the City Council and Citizens of the City of Orono May 17. 1995 The City Council has given conceptual approval to a joint project with Hennepin Parks to construct a bike/hike trail on Old Crystal Bay Road connecting two regional park facilities — the Luce Line Trail and Baker Park. This trail will also serve the new City facilities and the Orono school campus Funding for the trail will be shared equally between the City and Hennepin Parks. In response to the purchase of a residential lakeshore property by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for a proposed public boat launch, Orono took action to cause the DNR to rethink its priKedures related to the provision of public access. Orono urged the DNR to take a wider and longer range view of the provision of public access to prevent a piecemeal approach to the provision of public access. In response, the DNR stopped all activity related to the initial site and has purchased an existing marina for conversion to a public boat launch. This will provide for public access needs without expanding commercial uses on the lake and without forcing public boat launching facilities into the City's residential areas. This was an outstanding example of a cooperative effort between two governmental jurisdictions to find a mutually beneficial solution to a difficult problem. Orono is currently working in a cooperative effort with the cities of Long Lake and Medina and the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District to accomplish a major water quality imprmement project on Ltmg Lake, a lake contiguous to both the cities of Long Lake and Orono. This project is to be funded by the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District. A School Liaison Officer Program was initiated through a cooperative agreement with the school district. Through this program a police officer works with school administrative and counseling staff, and builds positive relationships with the students, to enable them to assist in addressing and preventing problems, and to assist in intersening with "at risk" students. This program is fully funded by the .school district. The City entered into a cot>perative arrangement with the .schot)! district and the Oron»i Baseball Association (OBA), a private organization that coordinates a youth baseball program, for the construction of two youth ba.seball fields. The school district provided the property through a lease to the City, and the OBA provided for the construction of the ball fields. The City's role was to coordinate the proce.ss and to contribute $20,000 toward the construction of the ball field. The City is currently involved with a group of 14 cities ItKated adjacent to Lake Minnetonka in an efbirt to identify new' opportunities for cooperative service delivery to enable improved .services and increa.sed efficiency. Water and Sewfk Fi nd Oi*frati (»ns In response to a very substantial increase in charges paid to the Metropolitan Waste Control Cc'mmission for sewer treatment, the City took action in 1993 to increase sewer rates by approximately 30% effective in 1994 to ensure that the Sewer Fund remains in solid financial condition. In conjunction w'ith the increased sewer rates, the City initiated a program to reduce the amount of ground water and stirmwater entering the .sanitary sewer sy.stem with the purpo.se of reducing sewage treatment co.sts. The program includes a sump pump inspection program to ensure that residential sump pumps are not discharging into the sanitary sewer system, and a manhole and lift .station sealing program. The initial goal of the program is to address tho.se problems that are both significant and relatively inexpensive to address. The savings generated by these efforts will then be put toward addressing the next level of problems. This program will be o..j,.'ing. -5-