10-03-2011 Council Minutes (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION October 3, 2011 APPROVED CITY OF LINO LAKES 2 MINUTES 3 4 DATE : October 3, 2011 5 TIME STARTED : 5:50 p.m. 6 TIME ENDED : 7:45 p.m. 7 MEMBERS PRESENT : Councilmember Gallup, O'Donnell, 8 Rafferty, Roeser and Mayor Reinert 9 MEMBERS ABSENT : None 10 11 12 Staff members present: City Administrator Jeff Karlson; Community Development 13 Director Michael Grochala; Director of Public Safety John Swenson; Public Services 14 Director Rick DeGardner; City Clerk Julie Bartell 15 16 1. City Hall Skate Park Closure (from 9/26 Open Mike)—Public Services Director 17 DeGardner reviewed his memorandum outlining the reasons for closure of the skate park. 18 Problems, including incidents of vandalism, have occurred about the skate park and 19 despite efforts to curb problems and gain information on those involved, the problems 20 continued. Therefore the Park Board voted unanimously to close the facility. He 21 acknowledges that it could be a small percentage of the people using the facility that are 22 causing the damages however, unless they can be stopped he recommends that the facility 23 remain closed. 24 Mayor Reinert remarked that the skate park came to fruition when he was a member of 25 the Park Board and he's sad to see it go because it is the type of thing that kids really 26 want now. 27 Zac Hoppe, Lino Lakes resident, noted that he supports keeping the park open. He 28 suggested that graffiti is really a part of nature of a skate park and it's going to happen. 29 The City of Centerville has installed cameras to monitor their skate park facility. Mr. 30 DeGardner responded that graffiti isn't something that all park users can tolerate; the city 31 cannot tolerate $4,000 in damages as those done to the park facilities. 32 Mayor Reinert noted that the skate park equipment is mobile and he wonders if it could 33 be moved to a more visible location. He wouldn't recommend an area close to residences 34 but perhaps some place where it could be watched better. Mr. Hoppe concurred with that 35 suggestion. 36 A council member questioned if vandalism is always met with closing of facilities. He 37 also noted that he spoke with a skate boarding neighbor who explained that there is an 38 element of art/attitude involved with the sport. He concurs with the idea of finding 39 another location for the facility—without it, the skateboarders will find other less 40 appropriate spots to board. He suggests that staff take a look at what other cities are 41 doing as well as involving the skateboarders in the discussion. The mayor suggested that 1