Minutes - Parks and Recreation Commission - 06/12/2008 - Joint with CC

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Motion carried. Voting Yes: Chairperson Johns, Commissioners Erickson, Barr, Hansen, LaMere, and Shryock. Voting No: None. Absent: Commissioner Backous. COMMISSION BUSINESS Case #1: Sunfish Lake Park - Master Plan Parks Supervisor Riverblood gave a brief overview of the process the Commissioner had gone through to get to this point with the planning of the park. He advised that after the discussion last month regarding the access point and parking area they had looked more into having the access from Sunwood Drive instead of Sunfish Lake Boulevard, and then moving the parking to the southern portion of the park. He advised that not only would this move the more active things like parking to the south of the park but it would also not require the City to get into a discussion with the County on the logistics of having an entrance to the park on Sunfish Lake Boulevard. He advised that they had let the Fire Department bum down the old houses that had been on the park property and reported that the 160 year old oak trees were not damaged in this process and have recovered to the point where you could not even tell that the burning had occurred. He advised that both the future Sunfish Lake Park and Alpine Park relate to each other but yet still have different primary uses. He thought that they could have groomed ski trails that connect the parks for winter activities. Jeff Schombauer advised that the most important consideration to focus on now is the context of the park and the wetland. He advised that they did include the notion of a continuing trail in a park like setting that would connect the park to the elementary school, future developments, and also other area parks. He advised that the success of the Sunfish Lake Park would stand on its own no matter which way the Commission decides to go with the concepts on the park. He advised that trails would enhance the level of use for the park and pursuing collaboration with surrounding landowners and developers would increase the public value of the park. He advised that the current landowner has not shown any interest in cooperating with the City to achieve a trail around the lake, but advised that future developers may be willing to cooperate and help the City achieve this outcome. He encouraged the City to achieve the trail around the lake and also focus on high value amenities that are currently popular when looking at the next phase of planning for the park. He encouraged the Commission to keep the park setting natural and not to over develop the area, but to also focus on the connection of the park to other area parks. He advised that they should keep the footprint of development to a minimum in the park. He advised that they had brought the parking area in from the south to avoid the issues with the County. He stated that they had kept the parking area small, and it would fit about eight cars. He stated that also included in the master plan for the park would be a picnic pavilion, a dock, a canoe rack and launch, and also wooden benches and interpretive stations throughout the park. He advised that although the design of the park was simple and straightforward, it could also be quite appealing if it was designed correctly. Chairperson Johns commented that what he had pointed out was consistent with what the Commission had previously discussed and thought it was an accurate description of the park. Park and Recreation Commission/June 12,2008 Page 2 of 11