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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br />Monday, April 8, 2013 <br />7:00 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br />  <br />   Page 6 of 21    <br />(5. LAKE MINNETONKA ASSOCIATION (LMA) FUNDING REQUEST, Continued) <br /> <br />McMillan noted they do the areas that are matted. <br /> <br />Lowe stated the LMCD’s program for harvesting is for navigation and not for recreation. The LMCD is <br />not going to harvest in the center of the bay where people boat or canoe. The LMCD harvests along the <br />shoreline. Lowe commented the amount of harvesting done on Carman Bay would be less than a quarter <br />of the bay. <br /> <br />Osgood stated the LMCD harvesting program harvests, plus or minus, 250 to 300 acres per year in the <br />whole lake, so it is unlikely they would dedicate a third of that to one bay. As it was pointed out, the <br />objective of the harvesting program is to facilitate navigation to the open water of the lake or bay. <br /> <br />Lowe noted the LMCD’s charter says nothing about harvesting for the recreational use of the bay and is <br />simply for navigation. As far as public financing the DNR is using public financing for all of their grants <br />that are going out throughout the state. They have determined that treating milfoil is a public resource. <br /> <br />McMillan noted the DNR also provides for the harvesting. <br /> <br />Lowe noted he does not use Baker Park but that he pays for it. A lake is a public resource. Herbicide <br />treatment is highly regulated since it is considered public property. <br /> <br />Mary Tucker noted Big Island is difficult to get to due to the milfoil. <br /> <br />McMillan noted Big Island is a permanent resource. <br /> <br />Lowe indicated it is not accessible by anything but boat. Lowe asked what the difference is. <br /> <br />McMillan indicated it is an island park. <br /> <br />Lowe stated their bay is accessible by boat just as Big Island. <br /> <br />McMillan stated buying that piece of land is a permanent resource and has always been in the City’s <br />comprehensive plan to be a park if and when the veterans decided that they no longer wanted to maintain <br />it. The purchase of the park was not a spontaneous decision by the Council to go in that direction. Big <br />Island is also a resource for the whole lake community as well. <br /> <br />McMillan indicated she does not want to pit this particular maintenance situation to something as <br />permanent as Big Island Park and that she does not want to spend time discussing that tonight. The whole <br />decision to purchase the land was to create a park, but it also allowed the veterans to sell their property <br />and have access to it. In addition to creating a 57-acre park, the veterans have public access to it and the <br />funds were placed into trust from which they gain income. Orono’s citizens have been very, very <br />generous to the lake community and also to the veterans by providing an income stream for future <br />projects in the state. McMillan stated Big Island is a separate item. <br /> <br />Lowe stated Orono is in the minority when they call a lake a private resource and that Carman Bay is a <br />public resource. <br /> <br />Item #02 - CC Agenda - 04/22/2013 <br />Approval of Council Minutes 04/08/2013 <br />[Page 6 of 21]