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area. He was somewhat concerned about of a swimming hole, and was not sure what type of <br />bridges they are looking at, but he would like to see some type of maintenance free operation. <br />He also thought that a skating area on the water areas was a neat family idea, but he did not <br />know if it would draw the people or not. <br />Mr. Jacobsen noted that having special skating nights with a bon fire tends to draw a lot of <br />people. <br />Mayor Gamec stated that the key is going to be what they are going to do, who is going to pay <br />for it, and what the costs will be. <br />Mr. Jacobsen stated that they have talked about the maintenance costs and issues. Some of the <br />landscapes will be required to be full wetland landscapes and other areas will be derivate native <br />areas. <br />Councilmember Elvig stated that the amenities of parks will truly draw an interest to the <br />commercial sector, but cautioned that they "paint the picture" properly. Is there a way to phase <br />what people might see in the way of parks based on certain amount of development. <br />Assistant Director of Public Works Olson stated that they have made a lot of progress in the last <br />few months with the north park, central park and south park. A couple of issues that will need <br />to be addressed is liability issues with a skate park, such as should it be City owned park or <br />privately owned. The center park and the skate park are probably the next two areas they will <br />focus on. The next biggest issue they have before them is when DR Horton comes in for final <br />plat what park dedication do they pay if any. In addition they are coming up to the 90-day period <br />required in the development agreement for presenting a park plan. <br />Mr. Engen stated that they would like to be able to move forward. They want to cross the hurdle <br />with parks and come up with an agreement on park dedication and trail fees. They have 57.6 <br />acres of green space and open space. Based on current City Ordinance 43.98 acres are not <br />qualified for parks because they are plat formed on easements or wetlands. They want to build <br />the parks demonstrated, but they don't have the money to build the parks and pay all of the park <br />and trail fees. If any developer comes in and takes a huge area and reconditions it to turf and <br />puts in all the amenities they think it is fair to ask for credit for those amenities. With the great <br />plan they all love there is only 13.90 acres of qualifying parks. <br />Assistant Director of Public Works Olson stated that there was no question that any of the <br />improvements would be credit eligible. <br />Mr. Engen stated that the Ramsey Town Center, LLC wants to do everything that was presented, <br />but they need to make sure it is credit eligible first. They as developers want to make the offer to <br />build the north park, south park and the entire "swoosh" park, subject to changes and details <br />following future meetings, at an estimated cost of 3.5 to 4 million dollars. They will be able to <br />demonstrate that all of the trail requirements will be met. They will also demonstrate to the City <br />of Ramsey lien waivers for every dollar they spend up to 4 million along with a schedule of <br />when those parks will be completed. The Charter school park and picnic area would probably be <br />City Council/December 4, 2003 <br />Page 4 of 7 <br />