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May 4, 1992 9765 - 45th St N Lake Elmo, MN 55042 City of Lake Elmo Randy Thoreson, Chairman, Parks Commission /e'dvid Johnson, Mayor, City Council Subj: Mountain Biking at Sunfish Park Dear Chairman Thoreson and Mayor Johnson: I am a resident of Lake Elmo and a frequent user of Sunfish Park. I walk the park in the summer and cross-country ski it in the winter. Since my family owns land which abuts Sunfish on its entire north side and my private home is within that woods, I am very familiar with the usage of this park. Because I believe in opening the park to as many usages as possible, our first priority is to keep the park in the best possible shape. The bikers come in the wet springtime before the ground is firm and the vegetation has a chance to take hold. They rut the park trails loosening the soils for springtime rains which cause heavy erosion. The rest of the season the trails become a powdered mess and further erode at each rainfall. The reason for this is the terrain. This is a very ridgy wooded park. The bikers frequently show little consideration for the safety of walkers in that they careen down the trails over the many blind ridges. My son who is physically challenged walks these trails with a walker and cannot move out of the way quickly enough if an out -of -control biker comes flying over the hills. I have had to jump out of the way for bikers barely missing collision. We are in control when we walk. The burden of care does not rest on us. There is a liability issue for the City. The ruts that are being created are costing taxpayers money. Erosion strategies have been implemented consisting of diagonally placed wooden runnoff channels. These are usually leaf -filled and hence do not do the job. The main deterrent to successful erosion control is the continous damage done by the mountain bikers. Immediate action is necessary to stop this damage. Sunfish is a beautiful, wooded, natural park which deserves respectful treatment. It is a real gift to our community. Please add this issue to the City Council agenda for May 19th. Before any vote is made in favor of continuing mountain biking at Sunfish Park I request that each voting member be required to walk the trails in the park so that an informed decision can be made. I also encourage you to empower your appointed Park Commission representatives by heeding their recommendations.