Agenda - Council Work Session - 07/20/2010

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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION Topic Report: Creating a Memorial Park in Ramsey Town Center By: Jessica L. Hendricks, Management Intern Background: At the July 29, 2008 Work Session, City Council discussed the idea of a memorial park commemorating a building explosion in which three people lost their lives. At this time, Marty Fisher, the owner of the building that exploded, presented his concept for a memorial statue commemorating the victims of the explosion. The matter was also discussed at the March 30, 2010 Work Session with Mr. Fischer and Bonnie Thompson, representing the Ramsey Rotary Club. Mr. Fisher has been working with the Ramsey Rotary to raise money for the statue. The statue will be funded with a combination of donations and the sale of commemorative brick pavers. At last estimate, total cost for the project was $200,000. At the time of the discussion, it was thought that the Town Center area would be an ideal location for the memorial statue. Discussion: As a result of the Work Session discussion, a number of issues were raised, including cost of the pavers, a policy for selling the pavers, what sort of message is appropriate, and maintenance of the statue and pavers. Staff contacted nearby cities with memorial parks regarding their policies for selling and maintaining the pavers. A summary sheet is attached for Council review. Of the cities contacted, the City of Maple Grove's Arboretum Park is the closest to what has been envisioned for a Ramsey Memorial Park. Arboretum Park is a memorial park with the Angel of Hope Statue, dedicated to children who have passed on, memorial pavers, and memorial tree sponsors. The City of Maple Grove maintains the park, but a local nonprofit, Friends of the Angel, volunteers to clean up and beautify the park. At Arboretum Park, only memorial messages are allowed, there are no commercial messages included in the park. Of all of the cities that were contacted, a majority of them were ultimately responsible for maintenance and care of the park. Revenue generated from the pavers funded a portion of that maintenance. Three of the cities contacted included commercial and commemorative messages in their parks. The commercial messages tended to be a business name and logo, while commemorative ranged from birthday to anniversary messages. Of the cities contacted, only Minneapolis reserved the right to require how the message be worded. Marty Fisher of Premier Commercial Properties and the Ramsey Rotary will also be at the meeting to discuss the progress that has been made on the project.