09-28-1988 - Agenda Packet City Council - regular meeting

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-8- 4. Establishment of a regional park will resolve the issue of public access to Zone 5 of Lake Minnetonka. As a result the Minnesota DNR has indicated that they will abandon their access site on Kings Point Road and in turn should make it available to Minnetrista for local park purposes. S. A total of $124,000 of outstanding special assessments exist against the three properties being considered for immediate acquisition. These assessment& are for utility systems installed by the City of Minnetrista. In some cases the assessments have been deferred completely because the property is an agricultural preserve, or other holding zoning which makes it exempt from assessments. All special assessments could be paid at the time of purchase. There is a need to realign Lotus Drive directly to Highway 7 cn the west side of the park property rather than bisecting the property in the current east -west alignment to County Road 44. In early discussion regarding the proposed park, the Blanch property was being proposed for immediate acquisition eliminating the need for this road, except to serve the homes along Lake Minnetonka west of the Pauls' property. Under the current proposal, acquisition of the Blanch property is designated as a desirable future acquisition. However, traffic on Lotus Drive must be eliminated in order to achieve the desire to have one access point to the park so that it can be carefully managed, particularly related to the number of boats launching through the park. Realignment of this road should be accomplished at the time of initial park development, and access to the Blanch property should be proposed from County Road 44. During the course of the eight public meetings regarding this issue, the one item most often mentioned was the need for some kind of regulations governing the use of the surface of Lake Minnetonka. The Lake Minnetonka Conservation District is established specifically to address this concern among other matters relative to the Lake. Hennepin Parks cannot take steps to govern the use of the Lake except within 300 feet of the adjoining park property. Hennepin Parks would propose to manage the 300 feet as necessary to accomplish the recreational use as anticipated (i.e., beach, shore fishing, etc.). LMCD has indicated that they will seek funding for a major study to determine appropriate regulations for the use of the Lake. Hennepin Parks supports the concept of this study. Hennepin Parks can take no steps to otherwise address this issue. Another issue for consideration 1s the potential location of a satellite station for the Sheriff's Water Patrol within the Regional Park. Hennepin Parks feels this would be compatible with the park concept and will pursue it further with the Sheriff's department. A final major issue regarding regional park facilities on Lake Minnetonka still unresolved is the Big Island Veterans Camp. Hennepin Parks has communicated with the Board of Governors regarding its interest in acquiring the camp for park use. To date, the Board of Governors is unwilling to sell. Discussions are continuing. Potential sites for the staging area have been identified and are under review, pending negotiations with the Board of Governors.