HomeMy WebLinkAbout#07 - Mountian Bike Trail DevelopmentSTAFF REPORT
DATE: January 2, 2018
CONSENT
AGENDA ITEM: Mountain Bike Trail Development
TO: Mayor and City Council
SUBMITTED BY: Ben Prchal, City Planner
BACKGROUND: The Parks Commission has been in the process of determining which of the Lake Elmo Parks would be best suited for the development of mountain bike trails. Staff provided information to the
Minnesota Off Road Cyclists (MORC) Trail Committee and Tim Wegner who is a trail developer. They both uniformly agreed that Sunfish was the strongest candidate and Reid Park fell into second place. None of the other parks had adequate space for trails. Tim had presented at the December Parks Commission meeting, providing information about the development process and best practices
for being multiple users, design, and being environmentally aware during the construction. Tim had stated he would construct a preliminary line drawing for Sunfish Park. After some deliberation Tim had stated he would also do a drawing for Reid Park, the total to do both parks was set at $1,500. ISSUE BEFORE COMMISSION: Would the council like to approve the expenditure of $1,500 for Trail Source to develop a line drawing for mountain bike trails in Sunfish and Reid Park? FISCAL IMPACT: At this point the fiscal impact would be $1,500 to be taken out of park dedication funds. Further cost will come with the actual construction of the trials. It was stated that cost would range close to $35,000 a mile. If the City would like to continue forward with the development we should start preparing for that investment.
OPTIONS: 1) Approve the Parks Commission request to contract with Trail Source to develop a line drawing trial map for Sunfish and Reid Park. 2) Deny the Parks Commissions Request.
RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that Council approve as part of tonight’s Consent Agenda the Parks Commission Request to approve the expenditure of $1,500 of park dedication funds to develop a line drawing trail
map for Sunfish and Reid Park for mountain bike trails. If removed from the Consent Agenda, the recommended motion is as follows:
“Motion to approve the Parks Commissions request to approve the expenditure of $1,500 of park dedication funds to develop a line drawing trail map for Sunfish and Reid Park for mountain bike trails.”