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LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OCTOBER 1, 2013 Page 8 of 10 ITEM 4: AUTHORIZE CERTIFICATION TO WASHINGTON COUNTY AUDITOR FOR THE UNPAID STORM WATER UTILITY BILLS; RES. 2013-79 – (CONTINUED) No discussion. MOTION: Council Member Smith moved TO APPROVE CERTIFICATION TO WASHINGTON COUNTY AUDITOR FOR THE UNPAID SURFACE WATER UTILITY BILLS. Council Member Nelson seconded the motion. Ms. Bendel asked if Mr. Springborn was going to be included. Ms. Smith said no, and that council members will be looking at process. Mayor Pearson said that this year is done, but that the Council will review the policy. MOTION PASSED 3-1 (BLOYER –NAY). ITEM 16: APPROVE SUNFISH LAKE PARK NAME CHANGE – SUNFISH LAKE NATURE PRESERVE; RES. 2013-87 Parks Commissioner Pam Hartley urged council to change the name. The park is subject to the terms of conservation easement with the MN Land Trust. Not like any other park. The Parks Commission thinks that changing the name would better reflect the intended use. Council Member Bloyer asked how the park came about. Council Member Smith explained her opposition to the name change: the easement was supposed to include a 5 acres in Area 2 with greater use. Ms. Hartley said the Parks Commission is creating a task force to discuss the use within the easement. Mayor Pearson wants to know more about how it was purchased. He would like to postpone taking action to see what is proposed by the Parks Commission. Ms. Hartley asserted that mountain biking is specifically not allowed under the easement. Mr. Bloyer asked about scope of the item before the Council. City Administrator Zuleger said it is limited to the proposed name change. He noted that the Parks Commission is serious at looking at the park and its use. MOTION: Council Member Bloyer moved TO DIRECT THE STAFF TO LOOK INTO HOW TO REMOVE THE LAND TRUST CONSERVATION EASEMENT. Council Member Nelson seconded the motion. Ms. Smith has spent 9 years working on park. She was part of keeping the water tower out. She also kept the ball fields out. Carol Kriegler understood her desire to have Area 2 and its additional uses. Ms. Smith wants to know where it went and what happened. Parks Commissioner Sarah Hietpas said the commission is willing to look at suggestions, but that is not relevant to the name change. Ms. Smith said the name does matter as the use will be further limited by changing the park to a nature preserve. Council discussed the conservation easement vis-à-vis the park. Opinions differ on whether the public land should even be in the Land Trust and whether removing the easement is required. City Clerk Bell confirmed that his research thus far has found that the easements are written to be permanent and difficult to remove. Mr. Zuleger explained that Ms. Smith is correct in her beliefs of what was agreed to, but somehow those items did not get into the easement. The issue of using eminent domain was discussed. Because the City already owns the land, that option is not Ms. Smith wants to work with the Parks Commission and the Land Trust to find a solution to use Area 2. Mayor Pearson prefers to not change the name. He wants to work with the Land Trust to see what can be done to expand use. Council Member Nelson is troubled that a public park was put in the easement. He thinks that it is reasonable to ask and negotiate. Mr. Zuleger’s opinion is that working within the easement is probably more likely to be successful than removing the easement. It was noted that legal costs alone would not be cheap.