Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout#13 - Wildflower Park Naming STAFF REPORT DATE: September 3rd, 2019 FROM: Ben Prchal, City Planner AGENDA ITEM: Naming of Park in Wildflower and Village Preserve REVIEWED BY: Ken Roberts, Planning Director Marty Powers, Public Works Director Parks Commission BACKGROUND: The Parks Commission made it a priority to develop the new city park that is shared between Wildflower and Village Preserve. Being that this park is new and unnamed it was appropriate for Staff to reach out to the community for name suggestions to bring to the Parks Commission. There were many name suggestions that came forward and Staff has done their best to organize the suggested names to assist with the selection process. The Parks Commission did provide a ranking of three names for the City Council to choose from. ISSUE BEFORE CITY COUNCIL: Which name would the City Council like to approve for the new city park between Wildflower and Village Preserve? ANALYSIS: The City received many suggestions for the park and Staff has done their best to group them into four different categories Miscellaneous, Animals, People, and Vegetation. Staff has provided an explanation for some of the suggestions if it was believed to provide extra value for the Commission and City Council. People: Rosalie Wahl: Attached is some information that Staff found to support the existence of Miss Wahl in Lake Elmo. In summary she lived in Lake Elmo, was active with the library(s), and was a big advocate for woman’s rights. She was a resident of Lake Elmo and the first female Minnesota Supreme Court Justice. She was also instrumental in starting the Washington County Library system. Stickney Park: Bass Lake, the original name of Lake Elmo, was noted for its fresh water and good fishing. Both the lake and village were renamed to Lake Elmo in 1879 by railroad promoter and St. Paul businessman, Alpheus B. Stickney, as being more pleasing. Cypher's Park: First to settle in the area in 1848 were Virginians Bernard B. “Bun” Cyphers and his wife Maria, who built a hotel, tavern, and stage stop, known as the Lake House, on Sunfish Lake. Moscrip (Added Recommendation by the Parks Commission) Miscellaneous Animals People Vegetation Creamery Park Butterfly Meadow Family Park Field Park North Park Butterfly Park Kids Time Park Flower Slope Park Play Slope Park Crooking Pond Park Rosalie Wahl Lavender Park Rainbow Park Dragonfly Meadow Park Settlers Park Prairie Pond Park Sparky McPark Face Dragonfly Park Stickney Park Treetop Park Spielplatz Firefly Meadow Park Cypher's Park Valley Brook Frog Pond Park Moscrip Park Village Flower Park Honey Bee Park Wild Preserve Painted Turtle Park Wild Preserve Park In Lake Elmo the Moscrip name was very well known especially in the farming industry. The Farm specifically focused on raising Holstein cattle which seems to fall in line with the number of creameries in the area. It has also been stated that William Moscrip was chosen to be in the top 100 greatest men in Minnesota in 1949. Staff would like the Council to know approval or notification from the next of kin was not provided along with the suggestion for the park. A write up on the individuals has been provided for the Commission to review. Staff would defer to the Parks Commission on determining which individual is more suited to name the park after. Miscellaneous Creamery Park: Lake Elmo had multiple creameries in the early 1900’s. Spielplatz: This German word translated into English is play area, playground, etc. This suggestion would be a reference back to Lake Elmo’s German settlers. Sparky McPark Face: Waynesboro sought suggestions from their residents and Parky McPark Face was a popular vote for the community. A quote from the Virginian newspaper read “…Teasville Park,” recognizes the name the area was known by before it became Waynesboro in 1791. “Parky McParkface” was also suggested, a nod to “Boaty McBoatface,” the wildly popular name that went viral earlier this year after it was entered in a contest to name a new British polar research vessel. “Boaty McBoatface” actually won the public vote, but the British government vetoed the winning vote, and quietly selected a more traditional moniker — the “RRS Sir David Attenborough…” Staff would not seriously suggest this name but thought it was worth including for the humor of it. PARKS COMMISSION AND STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Parks Commission: The Parks Commission voted to reduce the list of suggested names down to three names for the City Council to choose from. The recommended names were ranked in the following order by the Parks Commission by a 4-0 vote: 1.) Firefly Park 2.) Moscrip Park 3.) Rosalie Wahl Park Staffs opinion is that no one name stood out more than the others. However, there did seem to be more of a trend in the “Animal” category. Simply going off of a perceived trend there was a larger interest in dragonflies, butterflies, fireflies, etc. Because of this Staff would say one of these names might be more appropriate. The Park Commission selected Firefly Park as their number first recommendation. Staff believes this would be a good name for the park as well. Staff recommends the City Council adopt Resolution 2019-__ approving the name for the new park with the following motion: “Move to adopt Resolution 2019-065 approving the name “________________” for the new City park that is shared between Wildflower and Village Preserve Additions” ATTACHMENTS: o Park Naming Policy o Write up on Rosalie Wahl o Write up on Stickney’s and Cyphers o Write up for Moscrip family (Also mentioned in the Stickney and Cyphers write up) o Park Naming Resolution – Res. 2019 -065 CITY OF LAKE ELMO WASHINGTON COUNTY STATE OF MINNESOTA RESOLUTION NO. 2019-065 RESOLUTION APPROVING THE NAME FOR THE NEW CITY PARK BETWEEN THE VILLAGE PRESERVE AND WILDFLOWER DEVELOPMENTS. WHEREAS, the City of Lake Elmo Parks Commission is an appointed body established to advise the Mayor and City Council on Parks and Recreation; and WHEREAS, the City owns a property listed as LOT E of Village Preserve and LOT K of Wildflower; and WHEREAS, this new park was developed by the City in 2019 and needs a formal name; and WHEREAS, the City would like to install signage that reflects an official name for the park and is used on City maps and location reference materials; and WHEREAS, the Parks Commission has reviewed and recommended names according to the criteria set forth in the Lake Elmo Park Naming Policy, and WHEREAS, the City Council has selected the name, “____________________________”, as the name of the newly developed park; and NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Lake Elmo City Council has selected the name, “____________________________”, as the name of the newly developed park between the mentioned developments. ADOPTED, by the Lake Elmo City Council on the 3rd day of September, 2019. ______________________________ Mike Pearson Mayor ATTEST: __________________________________ Julie Johnson City Clerk City of Lake Elmo Policy and Procedure for Naming City Parks, Trails, Recreational Areas, and Facilities Purpose: The purpose of this policy is to establish a standard procedure for the naming and renaming of parks, trails, recreational areas and facilities owned and/or operated by the City of Lake Elmo. This policy will guide name recognition and establish a uniform process. The Parks Commission shall be responsible for providing a recommended name to the City Council. The City Council will have the final say for the approved name. Objectives: • To name City parks, trails, recreational areas and facilities with the intent of enhancing the community by provoking a sense of place. • Ensure that parks and recreational areas are easily identified and located with names that are consistent with the values and characteristics of the City of Lake Elmo. • Assure the quality of the title/name, so that it will serve the purpose of the City in a permanent manner. • Encourage public participation and input in order to fully represent the best interest of the community. Criteria for Submitting a Name: When a proposed name is presented for review, City Staff will first vet the name against the criteria listed below. If a name does not fall into one of the categories listed below or is deemed to be derogatory or offensive in nature, the consideration will be thrown out. It should also be known that the City will not consider names that are directly named after a specific neighborhood or subdivision. The Park name shall not: • Park Names shall not be duplicated. • The City will not name parks directly after a development. • For example, the park within Wildflower shall not be called Wildflower Park. However, rose park, fox glove park, etc. would be acceptable. Categories for potential park Names: • An outstanding feature of the area. (example: hill, river, vegetation) • Geographical location of the park such as a street name. • Naming after an individual (living or non-living) or organization. The City may require additional information to further enforce that the individual has significantly contributed to the improvement of the Lake Elmo Parks system. • A person (living or non-living) or group who significantly contributed to the acquisition or development of park/facilities, who provided an exceptional service in the interest of the park system, or for the community as a whole. When naming after a person or persons, written documentation of approval by next of kin is required (if available/possible) as part of the proposal. • A standard for significant contribution shall consist of providing at least 50% of the cost to develop or acquire the land. • The City understands there are other categories that a name could be pulled from and would not exclude its consideration. Procedure: The City has created a process that will provide consistency for naming or re-naming City Parks. In general a submission will come in, go through staff review and approval, undergo a Parks Commission review, and end with final approval or denial from the City Council. The City would like to encourage residents to stay interested and voice their opinions during the meetings when the name is being considered. Step 1) At the time that the City is ready to name or rename a park, notification will be put in the Fresh, City Facebook, and or use other measures as appropriate. The City will seek name suggestions from the City Council or Commissions, City residents, Community leaders or organizations interested in proposing a name for a park, trail, recreational area or facility. The applicant should either request a Naming Policy form from the City Clerk or download the form from the City Website on the Parks page. After the form has been filled out it will need to be submitted to the City Planner to review against the criteria. Once the timeframe for receiving names has closed, Staff will begin the review process. Step 2) Staff will notify the applicant if the proposed name has or has not met the requirements. After a proposed name has been approved by Staff, the applicant will be informed when the name is going to be discussed by the Parks Commission. After the Commission discussion, the recommendation(s) will move onto the City Council for final approval or denial. Step 3) Once the City Council votes to approve a name, the name of the park shall be confirmed by passing a resolution. Renaming: The intent of naming is for permanent recognition, the renaming of parks and facilities is discouraged. Though, the City understands that renaming a park, trail, or facility may be necessary to create more cohesiveness throughout the City. It is recommended that efforts to change a name become subject to crucial examination so as not to diminish the original justification for the name or discount the value of the prior contributors. Renaming a park will follow the same procedure stated above. The Stillwater Gazette In rural Lake Elmo in 1960, books were one of the few forms on entertainment for children, and as a mother of four small children, to Rosalie Wahl they were invaluable. She would constantly drive to the Stillwater Library to check out books for herself and for her children, but for many of her neighbors the distance was prohibitive. The libraries in Minneapolis and St. Paul had been organizing bookmobiles to bring books to their smaller rural neighbors since the 1920s, but Stillwater had long thought that their duty was to those living in city limits and rural residents were the duty of the county. Wahl and her neighbor, future Stillwater School Board member Jean Lundquist, beat the pavement and won — a bookmobile would stop once a month at the end of the Wahl’s driveway in rural Lake Elmo. Not ready to stop there, Wahl worked with other rural mothers in Washington County, gathering material and information, working with librarians and community members to petition the government for a county-wide library system, with Stillwater as its hub. After discovering that the county was running on a surplus and the project would not increase taxes, the group put together a proposal and brought it to the all-male Washington County Board. There were no open meeting laws in Minnesota until 1973. Wahl and the other mothers were escorted from the meeting, and the board began to discuss the proposal. After all their hard work and meetings with board members, Wahl waited in the hallway as the final decision was made. All they were told was that their proposal was rejected. Wahl was later told that a local foundation feared that an expanded library would be a rival for county-controlled grant money. It wasn’t until later that the Washington County Library system was born, thanks in part to the groundwork laid down by the group led by Wahl. In a recently released biography by Lori Sturdevant, “Her Honor: Rosalie Wahl and the Minnesota Women’s Movement,” Wahl describes that moment as the catalyst for her decision to go to law school, a path that would take her to be named the first female Minnesota Supreme Court justice. The book begins during her childhood in Dustbowl Kansas during the Great Depression. Her mother died when she was a child, and Wahl was ultimately raised by her grandmother and an unmarried aunt. “Rosalie was raised by two women that shaped who she was,” Sturdevant said. “Her grandmother was a very capable women who never missed an election after earning the right in 1920, but was confined to the gender roles of that time. Her Aunt Sara was unmarried, went to college for nursing at the University of Kansas and later to get her masters at the University of Chicago. Now we think of nursing as a more female occupation, but back then a woman would not have done that.” Sturdevant credits this upbringing with Wahl’s decision to go to law school at the age of 38. Wahl graduated at the top of her class at William Mitchell Law School, with a daughter born during her second year. Sturdevant spends large sections of the book discussing Wahl’s interactions with other legislative and judicial women of the time period, and at times leaves Wahl’s storyline completely but, according the Sturdevant, this is what Wahl would have wanted. “She rode the wave of the women’s movement that started in 1965,” Sturdevant said. “When she became a judge, she accelerated that wave. She would often say that she was not who she was without the women’s movement around her.” Donning her Supreme Court judicial robes on Oct. 3, 1977, Wahl led the charge for gender equality in the workplace for Minnesota women, and also heard many cases for the promotion of racial equality in the state. Sturdevant’s book is peppered with Wahl’s poems from the time period, giving a unique insight to her feelings during difficult decisions. Wahl, a founding member of the St. Croix Society of Quakers, was deeply connected to her community, living in Lake Elmo until 2008 when she could no longer live on her own. “That was her community,” Sturdevant said. “As I interviewed family and friends for the book, they always asked to include her Quaker faith, and her sense of community.” Sturdevant will speak about the book and about Wahl, as well as signing books at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 1, at the Lake Elmo Library. The biography of the longtime Lake Elmo resident was published in March by the Minnesota Historical Society Press. Rosalie Wahl Obituary • Wahl, Rosalie Erwin age 88, died peacefully surrounded by family on July 22, 2013. She was born Sara Rosalie Erwin on August 27, 1924 to Gertrude Patterson Erwin and Claude Erwin in Gordon, Kansas. After the death of her mother when Rosalie was 3, she and her younger brother Billy went to live with her grandparents in the small rural community of Birch Creek in Southeastern Kansas. They were raised there together through the years of the Depression until her grandfather and younger brother were killed by a train in 1932. Rosalie and her grandmother lived on alone in "the Old Stone House" until moving to Caney, Kansas for Rosalie to attend high school. She was heavily influenced by the two strong women in her life: her Grandma Effie and her Aunt Sara, a professor of nursing at the University of Kansas [KU]. She became engaged after high school, but her fiancé was killed in a training exercise in World War II. She went on to get her BA degree in journalism at KU in 1946. While at the university, Rosalie was editor of the school newspaper, and, as president of KU's YWCA branch, started the first interracial student housing on campus. She met and married Roswell Wahl after he returned from the European front in World War II, and moved to Minnesota where they raised four children. A life-long lover of poetry, books and reading, she was instrumental in the development of the county library system while raising her children. In 1962 she began law school at William Mitchell School of Law. Halfway through law school, she gave birth to her fifth child, and graduated in 1967. She then worked for the State Public Defender's Office arguing appeals before the Minnesota Supreme Court, and developed William Mitchell's criminal law clinic program, the first of its kind in the nation, before being appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court by Governor Rudy Perpich in 1977. She was instrumental in establishing the importance of, and standards for, clinical programs in law schools throughout the country through the American Bar Association. While on the Supreme Court, she led the Court's Commission on Mental Health, the Gender Bias Task Force, and the Racial Bias Task Force. She retired from the Supreme Court in 1994. Rosalie was highly respected within the legal community, and was a role model and inspiration in many ways for all women, particularly for those entering the legal profession. She encouraged women to spread their wings and pursue their dreams and fields of interest. She was passionate about providing access to, and equal justice for, all people. Despite the considerable adversity she experienced in her life, Rosalie was always positive, optimistic and hopeful of a better world, always with a song in her heart. She was a very loving person, non-judgmental and compassionate, giving much of herself. She was also very feisty, with a determined, steely resolve. Rosalie was a deeply spiritual person and was active in the Friends (Quaker) community throughout her adult life. She has left a piece of herself in the hearts of each of us. We will miss her dearly. She is survived by her children, Chris, Sara (Michael Davis), Tim (Carol), Mark, and Jenny Blaine (Patrick); grandchildren, Sean Wahl, Michael II and Alex Davis, Abigail, Turner and Henry Wahl; great-grandchildren, Alina and Rosalie Ramirez, Jevonne Woodson, Elizabeth and Isaac Wahl; by sister, Mary Drake of Grand Junction, Colorado; cousin Delores Fields of Bartlesville, Oklahoma; and by many cousins, nieces and nephews, grand-nieces and grand- nephews. A private memorial service has been scheduled. A public memorial service will be held on September 21, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. at Central Lutheran Church, 333 South 12th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55404 (downtown Minneapolis). Parking is available on the south side of the church. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Southern Law Poverty Center, the William Mitchell College of Law Rosalie Wahl Law Clinic Fund, or to a charity of your choice. Published on July 28, 2013 Washington County Historical Society Lake Elmo Main Street in 1906. Indexes Lake Elmo was part of Oakdale Township until 1951 when the township separated into Oakdale and East Oakdale. In 1925 the small commercial district incorporated as a village and in 1972 the village and East Oakdale Township joined to become the City of Lake Elmo. First to settle in the area in 1848 were Virginians Bernard B. “Bun” Cyphers and his wife Maria, who built a hotel, tavern, and stage stop, known as the Lake House, south of Sunfish Lake on the first road to be surveyed through the township. By 1850 the Stillwater Road, corresponding more to less to Highway 5, had been constructed. It was used for many years by the Willoughby & Powers stage coaches taking passengers between St. Paul and Stillwater. In 1876 a post office was established at Bass Lake Station, now known as Lake Elmo village. The Lake House became the town meeting site in the 1860s, and was also used as the District 12 school. Bass Lake, the original name of the lake, was noted for its fresh water and good fishing. Both lake and village were renamed Lake Elmo in 1879 by railroad promoter and St. Paul businessman, Alpheus B. Stickney, as being more euphonious. Lake Elmo became a popular summer resort. There were many livery stables in St. Paul and Stillwater and a large part of their business was taking people out to Lake Elmo. In 1872 the St. Paul, Stillwater & Taylor’s Falls Railroad (later the Omaha Road) passed through Lake Elmo, making it easy for tourists from St. Paul to reach the lake. A. B. Stickney was presumably acting for the railroad when he purchased the land between the railroad tracks and the lake. There he built an “elegant and spacious” 58-room lake hotel. Probably Stickney’s influence caused the county fair grounds to be built on land he owned at Lake Elmo in 1875. In 1876 at the fair, baseball was the game and there were matches every day. Unfortunately in 1877, a tornado hit the fairgrounds and the fair was moved to Stillwater. Lake Elmo enjoyed a decade of solid success with its well-publicized resort hotel, but attempts to build a cottage community around the lake generally did not succeed. The most ambitious was the Elmo Residence Park, platted in 1884 around the eastern side of the lake. Several cottages, a bandstand, and clubhouse were completed. By the early 1890s streetcar companies were extending their lines to lakes close to the cities. Unfortunately for Lake Elmo, the streetcar line to Stillwater was run through Mahtomedi, which became the new pleasure grounds. Lake Elmo, which had to depend upon railroads and stage coaches, lost popularity as a resort. In the early days, the Lake Elmo commercial center, which grew up around the railroad station, boasted a store, saloon, a “flat” grain house where farmers could unload wagons directly onto the trains, a blacksmith, and a wagon repair shop. In 1888 the Iowa Land Company bought Stickney’s property and the adjoining Lohmann farm, platted the area and laid it out into lots. By the 1920s the Stillwater Road had been paved and the village was established as a substantial shipping point and dairy center that boasted a creamery, grain elevator, two grocery stores, hardware and implement stores, a private hospital, a bank, a garage, and even a roller skating rink. The downtown area was platted as Lake Elmo Village in 1925, the year a second creamery, the Twin City Milk Company plant, was built. Many of the early farmers were Germans, and there were several Irish families, but there were few of the Yankees so prevalent on the St. Croix River. Several farmers specialized in Jersey and Holstein cattle and Yorkshire swine. Among these was William Moscrip, who developed a modern dairy facility now known as North Star Farms east of Sunfish Lake, which he sold in 1948 to Leo Shiltgen. Lake Elmo gradually lost its importance as an agricultural center, but began to see residential growth as suburban development moved eastward from St. Paul. One of the most ambitious projects of the 1960s was Cimarron, a planned community of manufactured homes next to a golf course south of the village. The construction of Lake Elmo Airport (actually in Baytown) in 1952 kept the city on the map. Today much of the city is taken up by Lake Elmo Regional Park Reserve, on the western shore of Lake Elmo. In general, Lake Elmo has elected to remain rural, limiting the typical suburban development overtaking much of the rest of the county. Its population growth, from 5,900 to 7,900 in 2005, has been contained. However, Lake Elmo is planning for strong growth over the next two decades, including development of the Historic Old Village area.