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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes May 26, 2009 Page 7 1 the parking lot, the hill going up, the fire station, and the concession stand blocks a lot of the 2 field, He stated from his perspective from the west side the signs are basically not very visible 3 from the rest of the park. On the north end a lot of the residents have vegetation growing up on 4 their fences. There were limited properties on the north end that would see the signs and it would 5 likely be minimal from that distance, It is a similar situation on the east end and to the south is 6 the school and skateboard park. He stated his support of adopting the first reading with signs 7 limited to the baseball park in order to further explore some of the options. He will not 8 necessarily vote in support with the plan that is presented if the first reading is adopted, 10 Councilmember Gray stated his support of the ordinance amendment. He stated everyone is 11 struggling for funding. The School District may come back and request sign placement at the 12 football field, but it comes down to where the money comes from. Upkeep needs to be provided 13 on the fields, and this is a creative way of doing it where it does not involve public money and 14 tax money. The businesses are putting money in to help with the upkeep of the fields, and in turn 15 they receive advertising. 16 17 Mayor Faust stated the City already maintains the park; this is for enhancements at the park. He 18 did not think much of the idea in the beginning and thinks less of it now. This is classified as 19 recreational open space; not cluttered space. It is located in a residential area in the heart of the 20 City that gets a lot of visibility. He stated there are ways they can find $8,000 to do what the 21 School District wants to do. lir regards to the comments in the letter from the School 22 Superintendent about the non-users in the park, he suggested raising the fees. He stated his 23 position that the signage will destroy the community park atmosphere and the School District 24 will be back requesting signage for the football field, hockey rink, and tennis courts. 25 26 Councilmember Roth expressed concern with the use of the word "temporary". Ile suggested 27 timing the period for the signage to the state high school athletic season. He commented that he 28 agrees that there seems to be a need for money, but he also feels it is a public place and keeping 29 the area without advertising is something to be desirable. He stated his position that this is 30 somewhat of a hybrid park with the high school as well as non -high school events being held 31 there. He stated growing up in his hometown the baseball team played at the public park and it 32 was lined with advertising. His struggle is how to control it so that it does not get out of hand. 33 34 Councilmember Stille pointed out that while the high school season is over in the next couple of 35 weeks there will be teams playing through August or September. He stated if the first reading 36 passes he encourages the Council to tour the Minnetonka park. 37 38 Councilmember Gray commented that it would be a reasonable adjustment to make the signage 39 in line with the seasons. If the season is limited to high school and youth seasons it would likely 40 be done by the end of July. 41 42 A friendly amendment was made to amend condition nos. 3 and 4 included in the text 43 amendment as follows: 44 3. Signs may be erected only within the confines of Patin Field. 45 4. Signs may be displayed for a period from April I" through July 31 ". 46