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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemos HERITAGE 1891 COMMUNITY 1991 1J.!TJ.s?JK 2Q91 MEMORANDUM TO: FROM: RE: DATE: Parks Advisory Committee Bill Mangan, Director of Parks and Recreation STATUS OF THE McDONALD GRANT (GRAINWOOD CROSSING) March 9, 1992 On Tuesday, February l8, 1992, staff received confirmation from the Minnesota De~artment of Trade and Economic Development that the grant applicat10n for the purchase of the Grainwood Crossing site (Bill McDonald parcel) had received preliminary approval for funding. The amount of the grant would be $90,000. Of this amount, $70,000 would be from a State Grant and $20,000 would come from the National Park Service. The appraised value of the property, as completed by Frank wicker, was $290,000. Preliminary discussions with Mr. McDonald indicates that he will hold to his original offer to the City of a purchase of the property for $245,000. There are three options that need discussion on this proposed acquisition: 1. Purchase the property for $245,000 as per Mr. McDonald's letter of intent. This would result in the $100,000 gift from McDonald; $90,000 in grant funding: and $55,000 in City dollars. with the grant program, the money has to be expended up front, then re-imbursed by both the State and Federal Governments. The City's portion would come from the General Fund Balance. 2. Purchase the property for $245,000 from McDonald. He would give a gift of $145,000 (based on the appraisal): the City would put $lOO,OOO down and have a Contract for Deed for the $45,000 for a two year period at 8% interest. This is the option McDonald and staff have agreed upon in negotiations. The City's portion would come from the General Fund Balance and the capital Improvement Budget 3. Do not accept the grant and decline McDonald's gift which means that Grainwood Crossing would not be purchased. Based on the newly revised Comprehensive Plan, Grainwood Crossing is a critical acquisition for the City of Prior Lake. This parcel would become part of the Waterfront Passage which would begin at Hwy. 13 and C.R. 21 and end at C.R. 21 and C.R. 42. Along this route, people would be able to view the pond by City Hall, both upper and lower Prior Lake from the new bridge, and the Jeffers' ponds along C.R. 21, hence the name Waterfront Passage. The Grainwood Crossing parcel would provide a stopping place 4629 Dakota St. S.E., Prior Lake, Minnesota 55372 / Ph. (612) 447-4230 / Fax (612) 447-4245 MEMORANDUM GRAINWOOD CROSSING Page 2 to view these vistas both to the north and the south. It is the geographic center of the City and, as such, provides for a meeting place, gathering spot, historical stopping place, and access to the lake. As a result of negotiations with McDonald, staff has reached agreement as to terms on the purchase. For that reason, staff is recommending option #2: PURCHASE THE PROPERTY UTILIZING THE GRANT AND A CONTRACT FOR DEED FOR TWO YEARS. McDonald is not interested in "cashing out" of the ~roperty due to tax liabilities. The City would pay an addit10nal $5,500 in interest over a two year period making the total City cost of $60,500. In addition, taxes for 1992 have not been agreed upon as to responsibility. Generally, the seller is responsible for the first half and the buyer the second half. Staff recommendation would to proceed with Option #2: continue negotiations with Mr. McDonald on the acquisition of Grainwood Crossing utilizing the gift from McDonald, $90,000 in grant funds, and the balance from the General Fund. MEMORANDUM TO: FROM: SUBJECT: DATE: PARKS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS BILL MANGAN, DIRECTOR OF PARKS & RECREATION JULY, 1992 PARKS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING JULY 6, 1992 The July l3, 1992 Parks Advisory Committee meeting has been cancelled due to vacation schedules. The next meeting will be held on Monday, Au~ust 10, 1992. An agenda will be mailed to you prior to that meet1ng. 4629 Dakota St. S.E., Prior Lake, Minnesota 55372 / Ph. (612) 447-4230 / Fax (612) 447-4245 AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPlDYER Staff P~by Jerry Holt ~ <.- n wal ~!!!!~.."t'6'.yodbamKnoIJ'ParlrinEd.ifPralrj'-;but ~~ryone'l a fan. Some luburban residents say organized sports are overtaxing their Imall neighborhood parks. It'~i; alt,happell\iB9 at the park SuWrbs cite 2lQc-hed~~11t~abeut everyone wants to play ball :~,,,.,,,,_,_';:"''''_'.iC-''''''---.-'''---' -. _ ~ .~~' it By NOI'IIIb Draper orange uniforms .re up to hat park this spring. The parking lot StaffWrifer .. against the blues. l<\,Wlze!l o~so., often overflows. Evenings have . , spectators have seltlcO iDlo I"wn:' gotten noisier, and neighborhood This could be a $liburban idyll. chairs for the best. i, tht \' kids have been replaced on the ball i :' house, risht behina IIIi bilck.op. 1\ diamond by uniformed strangers, It's a wanD summer evening in;' i -'i- , Eden Praine. Sol\lewhere among But to some neish~rs, thi: tli!:lleau!) The ~tory is sim~ar in manr other the well-kliPt horries a lawn mower at Wyndham KnoR Park appears ~'. . growlD.lI.. OlJ.t,eJ.'cDna..TwlD Ciues is whirrin" In th~, neishborhood m~~ Rr.Qblem-tblm-att.i~yll; , -~'r-"s~buibS: t;arle community parks park, whic~.u......~-- j '..', " WIth multtple baseball dIamonds homes' ba' ya~, youngsters in They noticed the c~anges ~t t~e \ and playing fields are booked up. park staffs are improvising to handle rising demand, and prospects for relief are uncertain. worse every year and. at Wyndhar. Knoll Park, some think the park h, been lost to the whims of organize baseball. "The demands for all sorts of recreational facilities and activities is just outstripping a community's ability to provide them," said Bob Svehla, Coon Rapids city manager. Eden Prairie officials sympathize, but they're in a quandary. Organized youth baseball teams have mushroomed. and all those :~ :\ In Eden Prairie, the pressure gets Park continued on page 5B Park! ~~"d is squeezing suburbs \ l! lj. COlltinued r- pale 18 outstnppmg park Iesources. Eagan MaKmg me situauon more . also has felt the crunch. uncomfortable for cities with kIds have to play somewhere. But crowded parks is the hue and cry for park resources haven't grown enough Kenneth Vraa, Eagan parks and more services. to meet the need,so games must be recreation director, said there are 29 scheduled for small neighborhood more organized youth sports teams parks that were never intended to in the city this year than last year. but handle them. no new fields have been added. That's because the city grew 129 percent in the I 980s, far more than anticipated, and because ofthe boom in organized youth sports. "What we found historically is that kids didn't start playing soccer till the fourth grade," Vraa said. "Now they've moved those programs down to the first- and second-grade levels." "It's a no-win deal at this point," said Bob Lambert, Eden Prairie director of parks. recreation and natural resources. In 1986, 550 kids played on organized baseball teams. Lambert said. This year, 1,700 Eden Prairie youths participate in organized baseball. One hundred more were turned away. Enrollment could exceed 3,000 by 1995, Lambert said. The city has had to draft Wyndham Knoll Park as the site for games several nights a week and on Saturdays for part of the summer. Many of the park's neishbors don't like it. "What's vexing to us is the park is no longer available to the people for whom it was intended, which is the neighborhood kids," said Andrea Bez, whose property abuts the park. Irked by the added noise and traffic, neighbors petitioned the City Council to Testrict youth games at the park. That position didn't get much sympathy from Ken Foote, a director on the board of the Eden Prairie Baseball Association. ----..., "My question to these people is, if this is your park, where is my park?" Foote said. "I don't live on a park. . .. We're asking for use of the park only 19 percent ofthe time." Rastricting use of the site, Foote said, would force the association to cut p!rticipation in the program. The council declined to restrict games at Wyndham Knoll Park, Lambert said, but it also assigned the city's park staff a daunting task: filure out a way to accommodate all the city's organized sports. Eilen Prairie is not the only suburb faced with demand that's ".--., _.. ..-.. ~-".-I.' In Apple Valley, the demand for playing fields has grown to the point where "it couldn't get much tighter, n said Randy Johnson, Apple Valley parks and recreation director. Apple Valley officials dream of building a 6O-acre complex of multiple-use fields to accommodate soccer, baseball, softball and football. But the facility's $3 million cost makes the city reluctant to go to the voters for the money. "We don't want to raise taxes, obviously," Johnson said. Neishboring Burnsville is in a similar pickle, but parks and recreation director Randy Oppelt said the city probably will try a referendum for more money in 1992 or 1993. Even some communities with steady or declining populations - Minneapolis and Roseville, for instance - find their resources being taxed by greater demand. That demand isn't restricted to city parks. Althoush its more rural parks still aren't being used much, overall use of Hennepin County regional parks doubled during the 19805. That creates a greater need for swimming beaches, trails and picnic areas in its suburban parks. Hennepin Parks adopted several marketing strategies last year to draw visitors away from its crowded suburban parks toward the rural parks. Those include lower fees for picnic site reservations, and discount . coupons. Eagan's Vraa said that when he attends his son's baseball games. parents recognize him and pester him for more playing fields. In Eden Prairie. Lambert said. the hockey association and figure skating association want a second ice rink. and the swimming club wants more time at the city pool. About once a month. he said. there's a petition for new trails. Not all metro area suburbs are in dire straits. Plymouth built six athletic complexes in 1980 and recently broke ground on two more. enough to keep up with the need. said Eric BI/lnk. the city's parks and recreation director. Woodbury community development director Dwight Picah said Woodbury parks have been able to keep up with the demand. But unlike some other communities. Woodbury planned for its neighborhood parks to accommodate organized sports. In Eden Prairie, planners are pinning their hopes on a new park that will hold four softball diamonds. five baseball diamonds and six fields for soccer and football. But the cost is $3.5 million. and getting the money means winning voter approval through a referendum, probably next year. Two park proposals were defeated in referendums in recent years. although both lost by narrow margins. . ~_..._... .......d ~_ ~........ ". ~.... ........ ~_ ".,. . Ii r Even if voters approve, Lambert said, the park wouldn't open until 1994. That, he said. means the 'neishbors of Wyndham Knoll Park probably will have to put up with noise, traffic and all those uniformed kids for some time. "Quite frankly, they're going to have to get used to the noise and the traffic," Lambert said. "Because we don't see any way around that for a long time to come." .-._. ......... . -.......---...-..-.........'-.-.....--r--......---........-....'. M E M 0 RAN DUM TO: FROM: SUBJECT: DATE: PARKS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS BILL MANGAN, DIRECTOR OF PARKS & RECREATION DECEMBER, 1992 PARKS ADVISORY MEETING DECEMBER 9, 1992 This is to inform you that the December 14, 1992 Parks Advisory Committee meeting has been cancelled due to holiday conflicts. The next meeting will be held on Monday, January 11, 1993 and will include the election of officers. An agenda will be mailed to you prior to that meeting. The Parks & Recreation staff would like to wish you and your family a very happy hOliday. 4629 Dakota St. S.E., Prior Lake, Minnesota 55372 / Ph. (612) 447-4230 / Fax (612) 447-4245 AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPWYER ----.----1