06-08-1998 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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I ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES FOR JUNE 8,1998 i B. RESCHEDULE ASSESSMENT HEARING - RESOLUTION NO. 4090 Peterson moved, Goetten seconded, to adopt Resolution No. 4090, rescheduling the public hearing on the proposed assessment for the Shoreline/Heritage sanitary sewer project to June 29, 1998 at 7:00 p.m. Vote: Ayes 5, Nays 0. Kelley questioned why the hearing was scheduled for June 29, 1998 at a special meeting instead of at the regular June 22 meeting. Jabbour responded that the June 22 meeting would not meet the publication requirements. Gappa added that the City would like to award the contract before July so would like to reschedule the hearing earlier than the regular meeting of July 13. Jabbour suggested a joint work session with Planning Commission prior to the public hearing. ( #2) SAGA HILL PARK ACCESS INFORMATION MEETING Jabbour explained the purpose of the meeting was to discuss acquiring access to the park. He gave a brief history of the project. The neighbors requested that the City acquire a tax forfeit parcel in the area for a park. At the same time, there were several parcels of land for sale that the neighbors felt they could acquire by fund raising and potential grants from the DNR. Several months later, Mayor Jabbour and Park Commissioner McMillan met with the neighbors to explain the status of the • project. As a result of the meeting, the City actively pursued the purchase of the tax forfeit property and acquired it from Hennepin County. At the time the City Council decided to move ahead to acquire the tax forfeit parcel, the Council made it clear that the property could be used in a more active way than a natural area. The neighbors then successfully raised two - thirds of the cost of the other parcels, and these were acquired also. There were deed restrictions on the parcels acquired with the DNR grant, which three of the Council Members were concerned about. The neighbors recently asked the City to endorse a second grant request from the DNR. A condition of that grant request was that access to the park be resolved. Mayor Jabbour and Council Member Flint have met with members of the Church to discuss access issues. The City felt a good option for park access was through the Church property. However, the Church does not want to be put in a position which would conflict with any of the neighbors. Moorse presented several alternatives for accessing the park. 1. Construct a road that uses the Garden Lane right -of -way, with a parking lot on the park property. Advantages are that a public right -of -way would be used and the parking lot would be placed on existing public land. Disadvantages include construction of an expensive roadway that would change the character of the area; it could encourage development that may not happen without the City building the roadway. Also, existing park land would be used for a parking lot. The estimated cost of the roadway is $100,000. . P