12-02-2020 Park Board Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Park Board December 2, 2020 Page 4 APPROVED MINUTES Huelman said that he could lend his support to the “Tower Park” project and knows that there is a lot of development going on in the city and that area. He stated that it’s a good use of the space over there and it answers some of the recreation needs for the city. He stated that there are lots of positives in developing it with the money that the city has. Huelman then stated that he has one question regarding the park. He noticed there were a lot of parking spaces listed. He thought that maybe the city was over investing a bit with regards to the parking lot where maybe if they cut parking by 1/3 they could get a basketball court. DeGardner stated that Huelman brought up a good point and it’s one that he himself has brought up and been discussing with Community Development. DeGardner stated that he was informed there was a code that says you must have six parking spaces per hard court surface. Looking at the map, with the 36 spaces shown they would not be in compliance. DeGardner stated that if/when the City Council commits to the project City Staff would dive into more details about what they can do to reduce cost and still remain compliant. Gooder stated that he understood why there might be a need for the parking spaces as there could be 5 on 5 at the basketball court and playing doubles at the tennis court and such. The parking spots would start to fill up as there isn’t an easy way to get to (“Tower Park”) by biking or walking. Plus with the land over there they could expand the park. Park Board Member Jensen agreed that parking spaces should not be overlooked and would be needed. Gooder continued that the Park Board needs to be aggressive when asking for funds from the City Council to upgrade the parks and playgrounds around the City. He stated that updating two or three parks a year wasn’t going to cut it. They wouldn’t catch-up. He agreed that they need to continue to upgrade and invest in the smaller parks like Stacy Joyer had mentioned that add value to their community and we can’t overlook that. DeGardner stated he wanted to comment and go back to the parking situation. Depending on what there is funding for they may not get the basketball court at “Tower Park” right away, however this may cut down on the number of parking spaces needed and as such, things that are added would then add to the needed parking and vice versa (like the basketball court and open air park shelter) so things, including some of the parking spaces, will be able to be done in phases. Kusterman asked DeGardner to make a clarification for him. He stated that he thought the 2021 budget originally had $70,000 set aside and then it was taken away. He emailed the council member and the mayor regarding his concern with that money being “taken away”. He received an email from Council Member Dale Stoesz that stated what Rick had just said, that the money was going to be used for a larger park structure. He is wondering if we are still at the point, where that money will be going for 2021 and that there is no general fund dollars designated for parks, so that there is no 2021 dollars that will go to anything other than that structure (“Tower Park”). DeGardner helped to clarify by stating that they are discussing different funding sources. The hard court surface project by the fire station (Tower Park), is strictly a combination of the money that was designated back in 2018 and the dedicated park funding from Nadeau Acres. In 2019 and 2020 the Council allocated $90,000 the Park & Trail Fund and the money was and is to be used for Park & Trail Improvements but this funding is not available in 2021.