Agenda - Council - 05/08/2018 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Parks and Assistant Public Works Superintendent Riverblood stated that the Parks System Plan is intended to measure all those priorities with an eye towards equity. He stated that as the greenway corridor becomes a larger feature, trails also remain a focus. He stated that the Parks Capital Improvements approved tonight included diversity in funding for improvements in Central Park and expanded use of the fishing and kayaking at Sunfish Lake Park. Motion by Councilmember Shryock, seconded by Councilmember Johns, to Approve Bolton & Menk's proposal to perform a preliminary grading and drainage plan for the two remaining park spaces in The COR, at a not to exceed amount of $30,080. Motion carried. Voting Yes: Mayor Strommen, Councilmembers Shryock, Johns, Kuzma, LeTourneau, and Riley. Voting No: None. 7.08: Status Update on the Mississippi Skyway; and Authorization to Prepare a Grant Application to Metropolitan Council for the Mississippi Skyway Parks and Assistant Public Works Superintendent Riverblood reviewed the staff report and recommendation to authorize preparation of a grant application concurrently with pursuing an Agreement with Anoka County to apply for the grant and identifying options for the required 20% of local share. Councilmember Kuzma stated that while this would be nice, he asked for information on funding. Parks and Assistant Public Works Superintendent Riverblood noted that Federal projects typically require a local match of 20 percent. He noted that one element is to ask Anoka County to partner on the project and identify the full pallet of options for the local cost -share. He stated that the final authorization to apply for the grant would come back to the Council later this summer with the full array of local cost -share options. He noted that the project cost has been reduced from the original estimate. Councilmember Kuzma stated that his concern is that there is the park plan, skyway, public works campus, and roads that need financing. He was unsure how all of that can be done in the next few years and has reservations taking all of this on at the same time. Parks and Assistant Public Works Superintendent Riverblood noted that the increased development brings additional park dedication funding, which can only be used for park and trail improvements. He stated that this connection would provide a lot of value. He noted a recent survey which asked users if they would take a skyway connection over the highway to reach the regional park/trail system. He noted that 60 percent of users stated that they would use that connection while another portion of users were not even aware of a regional park/trail system on that side of the City. Mayor Strommen stated that no one is questioning the value to the public but as to how far the City can extend on this. She stated that it would be worth it to take this next step to determine City Council / April 24, 2018 Page 9 of 11