Minutes - Council Work Session - 09/25/2012

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Councilmember Strommen agreed it is legitimate to consider trails a priority if they can be funded. Councilmember Wise stated he had the same question and asked if it would be practical to consider extremely expensive trails as a lower priority and smaller easily completed urban projects that provide a lot of "bang for the buck" as a higher priority. Parks and Assistant Public Works Superintendent Riverblood stated he is asking for feedback on how to determine priorities, noting it is difficult to list trails since none are easy and there is no funding. City Administrator Ulrich stated Parks and Assistant Public Works Superintendent Riverblood has done a good job of laying out four priority areas. He stated resident comments are most often that they only need a short section of trail completed to provide safe passage to another trail. A high priority is also to complete the interloop trail, which provides a lot of "bang for the buck" since it connects to miles of trails and sometimes only short sections are needed. City Administrator Ulrich reviewed the location of several trail sections that had been completed and asked whether staff should vigorously pursue a Highway 10 overpass. Councilmember McGlone stated it all comes back to needs being greater than available revenue in this category. In addition, he felt the Council should also address trail reconstruction since it may be possible to combine those sections with construction of new segments. Councilmember McGlone noted another factor is whether there are grant or partnership opportunities. Parks and Assistant Public Works Superintendent Riverblood stated he is not recommending this option, but other communities pursue a referendum where residents decide how important trails are to them. The trail projects can then be combined for greater economy of scale and that option allows residents to determine what a priority is. Councilmember Strommen stated this topic will require additional discussion and at this point she is unclear of the categories for priority, which will need to be addressed, and criteria in how decisions are made. Councilmember Elvig noted surrounding communities have a representative at LUAC meetings and have found that neighborhood gardens are wildly popular and people even come from a distance to take advantage of that program. He suggested consideration of trails as a linear park, perhaps incorporating a neighborhood garden program. Councilmember Elvig asked whether the University of Minnesota or Greenways would be a resource. City Administrator Ulrich indicated staff will objectify the list of projects and create a ranking system, similar to that used by funding agencies. In addition, the Park and Recreation Commission will be asked for its recommendation for City Council consideration at a future meeting. 2.02: Update on Process and Progress of the Mississippi Skyway City Council Work Session / September 25, 2012 Page 4 of 8