07-16-07 Item 2A, PTRC Funding Discussion

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City Council Parks, Trails, and Recreation Funding Discussion 4 As part of the Blue Cross, Blue Shield Grant, several workshops have been held to promote active healthy lifestyles. Several of these meetings have been attended by City Staff and PTRC Members. A strong message from these workshops was that trails should no longer be looked at simply as a recreational benefit but should also be considered an alternative safe mode of transportation. The PTRC feels that it is important that the City Council commit to the concept of promoting active living. In order to accomplish this, the PTRC believes that annual financial contributions should be considered. This would in turn accelerate the development of the missing segments of trails, as they relate to transportation in the City of Arden Hills. If developing this type of fund is a direction the City Council would like to pursue, below are cost estimates to construct and seal coat a one mile section of pathway: CONSTRUCT: Eight foot Bituminous cost/mile = $110,000 Eight foot Concrete cost/mile = $150,000 SEALCOAT: Eight foot trail cost/mile = $3,000 The listed costs are strictly material costs and do not include the following: Retaining walls, utility relocations, drainage fixes, signs, striping, driveway reconstruction, ADA pedestrian ramps, easements, labor and engineering. These estimates are included to facilitate a discussion on a specific amount that could be allotted each year to the Park Improvement Fund. The PTRC Strategies for Parks, Trails, and Community Building that were approved in 2006 are included for your review (Attachment C). RECOMMENDATION The PTRC recommends the following to the City Council: Short-TermlLong-Term: Establish a dedicated fund for park and trail enhancement (renewal, development, maintenance and purchase of park and trail amenities). A specific amount would be allocated to this Park Improvement Fund each year. Specific projects would then be presented to the City Council from a priority list by the PTRC and staff. As a way to accelerate development of the missing trail segments within the City system, a Park Referendum or Bonding could be considered as potential funding sources. Continuous: Grants, Cooperative Agreements, and Sponsorships should be pursued whenever possible. Grant funds tend to be project specific and cannot be considered a replacement to a continuous funding stream, but they are a needed supplement. \\Metro-it~et.us\ardenhi11s\PR&PW\Parks\Memos\Council Memos\Memo to CC regarding Park Funding Discussion with PTRC07-4.doc