04-25-2011 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, April 25, 2011 7:00 o'clock p.m. (4. THREE RIVERS PARK DISTRICT - DAKOTA RAIL TRAIL PARKING, Continued) summer. Meyers stated the City will need to provide more than six parking spots given the number of users. Bremer asked how many spots would fit in that area. Meyers stated in his opinion there are three to five acres available in that area, which would easily provide 50 to 100 parking spaces. Meyers encouraged the City Council and Three Rivers to think on a bigger scale rather than six or fewer. Bremer commented if the parking lot is filled up, people will still park near his house. Meyers noted Minnetonka Beach has erected signage saying no trail parking and that the same thing could be done in Orono if necessary. Orono has done a tremendous amount of work to help make this trail come to fruition and that the residents of Orono should not be punished with people parking in residential areas. Bremer noted the area where Spring Park starts and Orono ends was also discussed as an option for parking. • Meyers stated there is a road right -of -way that runs from Spring Park to that flat area, which would keep them off the city streets and out of the municipal parking lots. Meyers stated there also are not enough . trash containers and doggie bag dispensers along the trail. Terry Morse, 2080 Spates Avenue, indicated he has resided in this area for approximately 31 years and that he is very supportive of the trail. The trail has changed their environment because of the traffic. Within one block there are two major intersections of cars and trail, which are located at Spates and County Road 51. They also have the parking situation that has been created because of the trail. The intersections are getting better but there are still some concerns. The field used for soccer has also been getting busier and busier. Unless no parking signs are erected in their neighborhood, trail users will continue to park there. Morse suggested looking at the area north of the basketball court, which would help direct the traffic from the problem areas. Morse indicated he had also heard from last year's discussions that they were looking at Railroad Avenue: If that is the case, a substantial amount of grading would be needed to create a level parking area. Morse reiterated that the Council should look at the area north of the basketball court. McMillan noted that Crystal Bay Park is considered a neighborhood park and is not designed for a substantial number of people. McMillan indicated one of her concerns with trying to add more parking to an area like Crystal Bay is that it is a residential area and not designed to handle people coming in from outside the immediate area. McMillan stated in her view the trail parking belongs more m commercial areas so that people who come in from the outside would have access to other facilities. She added that if you announce there is trail parking available in the Crystal Bay area for the greater community, the neighbors will have a number of people coming into their neighborhood and that needs to be carefully considered. Sherry Evans, 1380 Railroad Avenue, asked why parking was not considered when the trail was being • initially discussed. A significant number of residents of Railroad Avenue are here tonight because they Page 6 of 25