HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-24CITY OF LAKEVILLE
PARK BOND REFERENDUM TASK FORCE MINUTES
MARCH 24, 1994
Task Force Chair Kevin Illa called the meeting to order at 7 :00 PM . The
minutes of the March 10, 1994 meeting were discussed. There were no
additions or corrections .
Chair Ilia spoke to the members about some disparities in the various
subcommittees' rankings of projects at the last meeting. These items were
singled out and comnuttee members had a chance to state their reasons for
grading the project as they had. Other considerations were also. raised:
* The ballfield renovation project at McGuire Junior High was discussed.
This project may not be possible as a joint venture with the school
this year as their budget will not allow it. There is a possibility
that the project could be done in 1995 with park dedication funds.
* There were two subcommittees who had .requested the addition of a
building at Ritter Farm Park for the project list. It is their o inion
that , .good environmental education ro rams could exist i~ the
facihttes were adequate. The current ~L~ is limited to its size and
feel that an appropriate sized building would hold 80-100 persons.
Staff roughly estimated the cost of a 3,000 square foot building at
$300,000.
• * Existing park needs: Discussion involved spending funds in areas where
there already are parks, as opposed to areas where there are no parks
or trails.
* Community Park Acquisition and Development: Subcommittee #4 had rated
all these projects low and stated they would ,rate them higher if it was
only acquisition with no development . at this time. Staff stated that
land is needed to build fields unmediately. Subcommittee #3 stated
that a lot of work has just been done at Valley Lake Park and they felt
that there are other areas which haven't had any recent attention.
* Community park paving needs were rated low by all subcommittees.
* Park system playground needs: Committees felt that additional play
structures are needed where there are none before upgrades are done at
existing parks .
* Cedar Highlands and Goose Lake Conservation Areas: One subcommittee
had ranked each of these protects as a " 1 " on the basis of low
benefited population and stated these projects may have a higher
priority after the respective areas are more heavily developed.
* The last item which was discussed was to explore the possibility of a
teen/community center.
The group then broke down into their subcommittees for a period of internal
discussion concerning the above projects.
Park Bond Referendum Task Force Minutes
March 24, 1994
Subcommittees spent about an hour focusing on the above issues to reach a
consensus. Following their discussions the large group reconvened at which
time the ensuing comments were made:
* Remove uigley-Sime property acquisition (home) and baseball field
fencing. ~emove McGuire and JFK athletic facility development as it
may be able to be done in 1995 with park dedication funds.
* Add $300,000 to be used for an environmental education building at
Ritter Farm Park.
* Remove hockey and pleasure skating facilities and lighting upgrades.
* Allow Bunker Hill tennis court reconstruction.
* West Park acquisition and development (Orchard Lake area): Remove
$30,000 from budget for paved parking; allow the remainder.
* Cherry View Park acquisition and development: Remove paving from
parking; allow the remainder.
* Goodview Estates neighborhood park: Remove paving; allow remainder.
* Allow Meadow Brook school/park acquisition and development.
• * Under item 2. B . , committees removed the restroom/shelter buildin and
paving at Dakota Heights; removed the shelter/restroom building at
Rolling Oaks Park but kept the hockey rink and lights; removed the
shelter/restroom building at Meadows Park but ke t the hockey rink and
lights; and removed the shelter/restroom building at~unker Hill Park.
* Under item 3, the northeast sector community park acquisition was
removed as it will be funded from another source. Concerning the
Valley Lake Park development, Pat Messinger ,stated she was afraid that
task force members may be under the perception that a school complex
will be built across 160th Street from the ark and that may be
affectingg their ranking of this project. Staffppointed out that there
would be a 4-lane highway between the two so facilities on the north
side would not be easily accessible for that neighborhood. Messinger
also commented that certain issues will drive the passage of a bond
referendum and benefits to the Valley Park area would enhance the
possibility of positive votes from those residents. Subcommittee #4
increased its ranking of this project from a " 1 " to a "2.5" . This item
was allowed in the budget.
* Allow the West Lake Marion acquisition. It was suggested that this
could be offered as a second question on the ballot.
* Allow the Antlers Park shelter/restroom renovation.
L~
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Park Bond Referendum Task Force Minutes
March 24, 1994
* Under park system playground needs, .allow Antlers Park playground
update and new playground at Casperson Park; remove playground updates
at Independence, Oak Shores, Kenmore and Dodd Trail Parks.
* Environmental/Conservation/Preservations: There were no changes in the
rankings. It was decided to allow the Ritter Farm Park development
project and remove the Cedar Highlands and Goose Lake projects.
* Trail construction and lighting projects:
Remove the. two County Road 46 trail lighting projects. Allow the
remainder of the projects to stay in the proposed budget.
* Allow ADA improvements for the Senior Center and park system in the
amount of $25 000. Reject the proposal of one subcommittee to
construct an outdoor pool.
Other areas were explored for further reducing the amount proposed. It had
been discussed that paving would, only be done where erosion would be a
problem. Staff pointed out that it would be prudent to have a small area
near .the building of the youth athletic complex paved for ease in building
accessibility. Committee suggested that m addition to erosion control,
paving be done in high traffic areas and where accessibility .would be a
problem, especially handicapped accessibility. Parking lot issues could
• also be addressed as part of the ADA requirements.
The task force discussed the possibility of having the acquisition of the
West Lake Marion plus the associated trail as a second question. on the
ballot. If the ma'orrty of projects are placed as the first question and
were passed, then ~e second question could be considered.
The issue of putting .shelter/restroom buildings at neighborhood parks was
again discussed. It was suggested to remove the shelter/restroom buildings
from West Park, Cherry View Park and Goodview Park which would save
$375,000. Other comments were that facilities are needed in older parks as
well as in new ones and there should be as much equality as possible. It
was also mentioned that West Park does not fall into the same category as
the other two as it would be the only facility in the Orchard Lake area and
is badly needed.
Wally Potter stated that a short time ago there seemed to be a consensus of
the task force that the entire project list was worthy of being considered
for the bond referendum budget. He would still like to see the task force
make that recommendation to the City Council as he feels it would include
something for everyone in the community. He suggested this pared down
budget be a first question with the remainder of the projects being a
second question.
Chair Ilia stated that on a $100,000 house, the cost is about $7.00-8.00
per million and at some point people will reject the entire issue if the
• cost is too high.
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Park Bond Referendum Task Force Minutes
March 24, 1994
•
Staff stated he would rather see no buildings at the neighborhood parks
than to "pick and choose" . A building can certainly be an asset at a
neighborhood park but is more appropriate , for a community park. It was
further suggested to remove these three buildings from the bud et and put
in warming houses where there is a rink, similar to current facilities at
other parks such as Meadows and Dakota Heights. A vote by a show of hands
indicated a large majority in favor of this concept.
Wally Potter suggested this budget be recommended as an absolute minimum.
He feels the task force is a good cross section of the community and there
will be good public support. Clem Czerniak is confident of the support of
the baseballparents who are well aware of the needs. Chair Ilia commented
that the task force has acted responsibly in prioritizing the projects and
removing those which were determined to be low priority from the budget.
The issue of one or two questions on the ballot was again discussed. Some
members felt that dividing the projects would be unfair to those people who
are most interested in environmental issues, placing their priorities
secondary to others' .
The City Council will also be made .aware that there is interest in building
a teen/community center within the City.
Motion was made by Wally Potter to recommend a preliminary bond referendum
budget of $5.3 million to the City Council.
Motion did not pass.
A motion was made by Wally Potter, seconded by Pat Messinger to recommend a
park bond referendum budget of $3.9 million to City Council and to combine
all proposed projects into one question. The Task Force further recommends
that the referendum be held as soon as feasible, with a possible date of
June 28, 1994.
Motion passed by a very large majority, approximately 20 to 4. Four nay
votes represented task force members supporting a split question as opposed
to a single question.
A group of Task Force members was selected to attend the City Council work
session on March 31, 1994 to present the proposal; These members will be
Wally Potter, Jeff LaFavre, Clem Czermak, Mary Liz Holberg and Kevin Illa.
There will be one more meeting of the Park Bond Referendum Task Force on
April 14, 1994.
Meeting adjourned at 10:10 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Ju i an, Recor Secretary