Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 09/03/1992 - Memo

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Thc City is ma,kin~.noticeable progress in accommodating donations and involving volunteers in park maintenanceiand improvements. These are rewarding ways to make progress. As of this writing, we hale six Eagle Scout projects at various stages and an hour before Tuesday's meeting, we received confirmation of a donation of new playground equipment for Peltzer Park. However, because the pa?tiCjpants are not park professionals, we need experienced people to work with them, again, mOtiV4ited full-time Staff. To summm'ize, the:hours designated for Parks and Utilities in the balanced budget proposal will get us through the year 1993. However, negative deviation from hours detailed will impact our service delivery a~d potentially cause unnecessary expenditures in subsequent years. Cul)it~ll E(!ui@ment Turf aerator- t~is item would improve the quality of Ramsey's athletic fields and heavily traveled areas. Renting,or borrowing will require additional Staff hours over owning. Dropping this item is accel)table. (:apitai Imm'~vements for 1993 I believe the memorandum, dated August 7, 1992, to the Budget Committee on behalf of the Park a lei Rccreationl COmmission, adequately describes the rationale behind the requests. Worthy of l'Citcrat~on is the fact that w~th the excepnon of Central Park's paving, there has not been much in thc way of parl~ improvements since the construction of two softball fields and two soccer/football I'iclds in 1990.i ~hat has occurred was primarily accomplished with in-house labor. As an adj u net, all the imp.,'ovements in the Commission's request except Lake Itasca/Ermine District are also i)lanned for i~i, house. All tff the 1993~reqt, ests are legitimate and are not "padded". It may seem logical to scrutinize the largest item in ;the Commission's request, improvements to Lake Itasca/Ermine District, as an exorbitant neighborhood project. I strongly urge in, clusion of this improvement in the 1993 budget. It will: haue major significance for Ramsey s identity as well as benefitting the most residents et' anyl project the City could reasonably accommodate. 'l'hc mtil will be it low operational cost resource for bikers, joggers, walkers, parents with toddlers, adults, disabled, folks, nature observers, people desiring to ride horseback in Ramsey, and cross- country skiing land snow shoeing. Winter recreation activities are currently limited and there continues to be bess available land for this purpose, much less diverse, scenic public land. Thc western on~-third of Ramsey is relatively devoid of any recreational opportunities. The trail will reduce trmisp0rtation congestion and air and noise pollution. The trail not only is a major missing compoj~erlt of the City's recreational infrastructure, it will reduce the need to replicate neighborhood pl4rk'.facilities in the western portion of Ramsey, in a sense, paying for itself. Thc City's 1987 survey indicates that trails were overwhelmingly the most desired park improvement. COritact with residents support that finding.