7.1. SR 04-10-1995 - Laserfiche WebLink

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ITEM 7.1. MEMORANDUM ver TO: Mayor & City Council FROM: Pat Klaers, City trato DATE: April 10, 1995 SUBJECT: Review Inventory of City Property At the last City Council CIP Worksession on 2/20/95, the Council requested to review the inventory of City owned property. A concern identified an 2/20 was making sure that the City did not own land that would not be needed or used in the future and a desire to identify parcels of property that could be sold if they are not needed. As most of our City owned property is park land, it was decided to put this item on this joint meeting agenda rather than wait until the 4/24/95 CIP Worksession. With regards to parks and open spaces, the philosophy of the City Council, Park and Recreation Commission and staff has been to purchase or obtain key parcels of land now before development takes place so that we can better • serve our community in the future. The goal is to be "ahead of the curve" rather than always trying to catch up and obtain property after development has taken place. We are only a community of 13,000, and we may well be a community of over 30,000 at some time in the future and it is imperative for good planning to take place now so that the right park and open space parcels are available to our community in the future. Parks and trails are typically identified with a high quality of life and this is something that has been reinforced by our citizens in community surveys. In general terms, at this time the Commission and staff is not overly concerned about the development of our City parks and open space areas. This is also true for our trails. (The one development concern that does exist is for active youth recreation fields.) The City can develop park areas slowly over time as money becomes available. Additionally, most communities at some time get voter approval for at least one park and recreation and open space bond issue in order to fmance facilities. We have not tried for such a public bond issue in Elk River, but we may look at this in the future. The Council should also note that many parks are obtained through the park dedication and platting process. This park land is very difficult to dispose of. In some cases it takes a judicial order to dispose of this property. For • example, when the City talked about disposing of the Tot Park property in 13065 Orono Parkway • P.O. Box 490 • Elk River, MN 55330 • (612) 441-7420 • Fax: (612) 441-7425