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<br />ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - JULY 16, 2007 <br /> <br />3 <br /> <br />Parks and Recreation Manager Olson stated that if developing this type of fund is the direction <br />Council would like to pursue, staff has prepared rough estimates on the construction and seal <br />coating of trails in order to facilitate discussion on a specific yearly allotment. <br /> <br />Parks and Recreation Manager Olson discussed short term and long term plans to establish a <br />dedicated fund for park and trail enhancement (renewal, development, maintenance, and <br />purchase of park and trail amenities). She stated the PTRC would continue to pursue grants, <br />cooperative agreements, and sponsorships. Also, she stated that if the PTRC decides that a <br />specific proj ect could utilize bonding/referendum, they would be in favor of that form of funding. <br /> <br /> <br />Councihnember Grant pointed out the numerous things that have been accomplished during his <br />tenure on the City Council. He stated that well over a million dollars have been spent and it <br />speaks well of the progress done. He stated he is saddened to hear the PTRC feels not much has <br />been done. <br /> <br />Mayor Harpstead stated he would like to continue going forward and recognized there are gaps in <br />the trails. He pointed out the City has not yet accomplished what it set out to do. He commented <br />he is interested in possible solutions and on-going maintenance. <br /> <br />Mayor Harpstead asked about new programs and strategies and stated some have a higher priority <br />than others. <br /> <br />Parks and Recreation Manager Olson replied the PTRC did not want to assign a priority number <br />to projects. <br /> <br />Mr. Henry stated the question is what could the City afford to do and when. <br /> <br />Mr. Crassweller stated there is money in the Park Fund. He stressed that all the pieces of the <br />trails have similar priorities because there are no north/south or east/west connections. <br /> <br />Mayor Harpstead asked what dollar amount is required. <br /> <br />Parks and Recreation Manager Olson stated they did not have that number. <br /> <br />Mr. Crassweller stated he thought the amount was about $20 million over 20 years. <br /> <br />Mayor Harpstead asked what Council thought the residents would say if the City said they <br />needed to come up with $20 million for trails. <br /> <br />Mr. Henry commented they tried to focus on arterial trails for nortb/south and east/ west <br />connections. He mentioned he did not believe it was $20 million. He stated the two bottle necks <br />are the CP Rail Bridge and the County Road E bridge. <br /> <br />Mayor Harpstead asked the group for a sense of how the community would accept the concept. <br />