PRECA 11-12-1980 - Laserfiche WebLink

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r .,~ November 6, 1980 Tos Dennis S. Zyl~.a, Cit~'y Ma/Wager From: Maurice H. Andersoi~'%~5cor Park and Recreation Res Ramsey County Proposal Regarding Purchase of Long Lake Park Property I have received and reviewed the staf# proposal from the Ramsey County Park and Recreation Department to the Ramsey County Soard. I cannot agree with Mr. Crews statement that they cannot ask Metro Council for funds to develop land they do not own. zn fact, .Ramsey County Hoard on August 5, 1974 approved a preliminary de- velopment plan for the ..Long Lake site and authorized submission of a joint application (Ramsey County/New Brighton) to the Metro- politan Council for development of the.-site. I generally support the County staff's recommended action plan. However, one of the basic concerns expressed over the years by citizens, Park Board and Council has been that if Ramsey County operates .and maintains the park that their maintenance operation standards will not allow maximum use and protection of the site. This concern is not addressed in the aGtiorz plan. .The foremost question to be addressed at this. time is what is our next step? My recommendation is that we inform the Ramsey County staff that we, as city staff, generally support the action. plan with .the exception I noted, attend their meetings to get a sense of how the Ramsey County Hoard reacts to the proposal and reserve further comment or involvement until. a formal proposal is made by the County Hoard. I must reiterate my position that once we_have reached a proposal that staff, Park Board and Council are comfortable with,. we should submit the question to the voters via a referendum. The referendum would ask for an amount;of money necessary to develop this park at a-less than regional standard and also would ask author- ization for a permanent one mill levy for maintenance and operation. I realize that this will delay the process somewhat but given the ten years already spent, I don't believe that an additional couple of months is significant. On the plus side, this puts the issue squarely up to the residents-of the City.