Comp Parks/Open Space Plan '91 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Survey Residents' Needs With limited funds available for park development, it is important that improvements that are made respond to the public's needs. The City should periodically (suggested at least every five years) conduct a survey of the residents to ascertain their needs rather than simply reacting to specific user groups on an adhoc basis. This approach should result in a system which balances available funds with the overall recreation needs of the City. When necessary, the survey can also be used to evaluate specific concerns such as willingness to support proposed facilities through user fees, bond issues or alternative financing. Task: Conduct survey of residents' recreation needs in 1991 and at least every five years thereafter. Prepare Base Maps & Conceptual Development Plans In general, the City has base map information on only a few of the developed parks (Central Park, River's Bend, Titterud, portion of Autumn Heights). In recent years, base information has been requested from developers for all new land proposed as parks. However, the fact remains that the City has few base maps which provide a scaled map of boundaries, topography, existing development and location of physical features (e.g. woodlands, wetlands, etc.) Task: The City should generate base maps of existing conditions of all developable parks within the City's system. Conceptual plans could then be developed with input from residents so that general development of the park can be made known. Interim development can then be undertaken which complements ultimate development and more accurate cost estimates can be prepared for long range capital improvement programs. Trott Brook Trail Alignment Under the current policy of acquiring park land only through dedication, a number of disjointed parks have been acquired making it difficult to provide a cohesive park system. This can be even more pronounced along Trott Brook where a continuous corridor is desired. Several advantages could be realized by development of a more detailed plan. These include assuring that the City obtains the land it needs to develop the trail at a reasonable cost, possibly obtaining voluntary easements on parcels at minimal costs from interested parties, determining more accurate costs of trail development and providing landowners with information regarding the proposed alignment. Task: The City should undertake a more detailed study of the probable alignments for trail treadways along the Trott Brook corridor. This should take into account land ownership, parcels which may be received through dedication or easements, physical features, topography, stream and road crossings, support facilities and trail connections. 23