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MINUTES OF THE <br /> ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br /> Monday,June 20,2016 <br /> 6:30 o'clock p.m. <br /> Leskinen stated the dog park can still be reasonably used if the fence is pulled away from the lake. <br /> Leskinen stated if there is no other way to use that finger-shaped area, she has less issue with that portion <br /> of it, but that she does have an issue with the area higher up along the lake. Leskinen stated as a whole it <br /> is an awful lot to fence in for a dog park. <br /> Barnhart stated the idea here is that there is some investment in time and energy already made with the <br /> clearing of the trails and trees. Barnhart stated the City does not want to have to duplicate that up the hill, <br /> which is part of the rationale for the location of the fence. Barnhart stated some other improvements have <br /> already been made that they are trying to incorporate into it. <br /> Thiesse asked if there is some way to add a gate to access the trails on the east side. <br /> Barnhart stated he is sure the Park Commission and City Council would take any advice the Planning <br /> Commission would like to offer. <br /> Schoenzeit stated he was at the Council meeting when the family donated the land to the City and the <br /> discussion centered around controlled burns and re-establishing the prairie. Schoenzeit stated fencing it <br /> in and charging money to park was completely outside the scope of the plan. Schoenzeit stated there is <br /> also the lack of transparency of the planning process and the fact that the City actually wants to push this <br /> through without a public hearing. <br /> Thiesse noted that is not true and that the public hearing would have taken place at the City Council if it <br /> had not been referred back to the Planning Commission. <br /> Schoenzeit stated it also appears they are using City privilege to shortcut the survey process and the <br /> wetland delineation. Schoenzeit stated it is a great example of bad government and that he is strongly <br /> opposed to putting a fence on the property. <br /> O(son stated without having all the information, in his view they can still do the dog park without <br /> granting the variances. Olson noted someone else is going to decide if there is going to be a dog park and <br /> that the Planning Commission will not be deciding that. Olson stated in his view the City can get to that <br /> end result without granting the variances and that he has not seen a very substantial hardship <br /> demonstrated. <br /> Lemke stated he is in agreement with Commissioner Schoenzeit and that he does not see much thought <br /> having gone into the concept of a dog park. <br /> Leskinen stated she would be okay with the variance on the smaller portion that is not accessible without <br /> it, but that along the larger section, she is having trouble seeing enough practical difficulty to be able to <br /> grant the variance. <br /> Schoenzeit stated by granting the variance,they are giving the City permission to spend $150,000 to get <br /> into the dog park business. Schoenzeit stated he hears all the time how the City does not have the <br /> resources to do various things, and that anything the Planning Commission can do to slow that down <br /> would be their duty. <br /> Page . _ _ . . <br /> __- __ __ <br /> __ _. <br /> _ _ .._ __ _ <br /> 20 <br />