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r-Q <br /> \4 <br /> t1k y O River j i-Li )-1 <br /> May 16, 2000 <br /> Kelsie Ford <br /> 19089 Carson Street <br /> Elk River MN 55330 <br /> Dear Ms. Ford: <br /> Thank you for your letter regarding Deerfield 4 Park (the park with the big red slide). <br /> I appreciate your interest in your neighborhood and in the plans for the park. <br /> You asked several questions regarding the park and I hope to be able to answer <br /> them for you. The park was built because the City has decided that when homes are <br /> constructed, having a place for neighborhood kids to play is a good thing. Whenever <br /> we have many homes constructed in an area, the City seeks to have land given to it <br /> for parks. This gives kids in the neighborhood a safe place to play. <br /> As you can see, the improvements that have been made to the park include: the <br /> playground area, the large slide, the retaining walls to prevent the dirt from sliding <br /> • down the hill, and in 1999, new grass was seeded for the play areas. I hope that you <br /> have received the map I sent you. This shows the additional improvements that we <br /> are proposing for the park. These improvements include repairing the play structure, <br /> adding additional landscaping, changing the half-court basketball to a full-court <br /> basketball area, and to determine if a fence or landscaping will help in the winter to <br /> keep kids from sliding into Dodge Street. <br /> The way changes are made in the parks is that staff proposes improvements to the <br /> Park and Recreation Commission, they review these suggestions, and make <br /> comments to staff, or add additional changes. We then try to have a neighborhood <br /> meeting so that we can get suggestions from the surrounding neighbors before any <br /> changes are made to the park. Once these changes are agreed to by the <br /> Commission and the neighborhood, the changes are recommended to the City <br /> Council, who makes the final decision. <br /> You asked where the money comes from to pay for the changes. We have two <br /> sources of money. The first source is the general fund budget. This is money that is <br /> obtained from property taxes and each year, the City budgets for park maintenance <br /> which covers a number of minor park improvements, like replacing landscaping, <br /> doing repairs, etc. The other source of funds is the park dedication fund. For each <br /> development that occurs, developers are required to either give the City land for <br /> parks, or to pay a fee for parks. Depending upon the type of development that <br /> occurs, the fees are different. For residential development for each home site that is <br /> • created, the City receives $1,400. For commercial lots, the amount of money <br /> 13065 Orono Parkway • P.O. Box 490 •Elk River, MN 55330 • TDD&Phone: (612)441-7420 • Fax: (612)441-7425 <br />