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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, February 08, 2010 Page 11 ^ We do a nice job of maintaining the green space we currently have ^ Gymnasiums are at a premium, especially from the perspective of a coach; A legitimate concern for the community is that additional facilities are needed for practices, and a surge in basketball gyms is needed ^ Some facilities in the wider metropolitan area are wonderful. Is that some- thing we need to hold our community up to? While we've added here and there, we're falling short with our competitive communities ^ How to safely access and connect with the many amenities offered at Central Park, heard as an often repeated and common theme Councilmember Ihlan comments: ^ At the top of my list is to speak for trees; to support preserving and expanding our forests as part of our park lands, with trees having many environmental benefits aside from reducing air pollution and reducing CO2 and preserving water quality; people connect with trees as feeling a part of nature. Trees also provide an economic value in city parks, and in raising surrounding property values. Councilmember Ihlan hoped that that was a sincere outcome of the planning process: to preserve both in actively planting them and preserving undeveloped areas with existing trees, while recognizing that funding needs to go along with that. ^ Preserving and expanding open space and natural habitats in the park system as well; with some city parks currently providing natural habitat areas, with those needing identification and making sure that they're preserved and pro- moted. (example: Langton Lake Park documented as a corridor for many spe- cies of birds and their migration patterns ^ Acquiring more open space, and advocacy/planning for that with funding strategies, not just for programming or creating new parks, but taking advan- tage of acquiring some undeveloped land and keeping it undeveloped ^ In previous discussions related to "micro parks," this may be a good time to acquire undeveloped land with current market values or through conservation easements or development rights. Councilmember Ihlan offered to send via to the CAT an article she used for reference that provided the economic value of open space and showed strategies for funding mechanisms. ^ Support for Oasis Park community garden; important use and other commu- nity garden spots in other parts of town through use of undeveloped land Councilmember Pust comments: ^ Councilmember Pust recognized her own family's changing dynamics as they've aged and no longer use the parks as much as they used to. This brought to her attention the need to address how all segments of the commu- nity use the parks, and how to facilitate citizens not having children in pro- grams, but still wanting/needing to utilize the parks (i.e., connections and ga- thering places). How to make parks and the system accessible; what activities are there for all demographic groups in neighborhood parks versus the multi- ple options available in Central park; linkages needed through dedicated