Lake Elmo City Council — Transcript
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Clydes Park Playground Renovation and Park Enhancements
Parks Commission Goals and Representative for City Goal Setting
Votes (2)
Clydes Playground Set Review and Update
Staff presented a plan for renovating the Clydes Park playground, which is 31 years old and has exceeded its recommended lifespan. Key proposals included moving the playground to a more central, visible location within the park, incorporating ADA-compliant access, installing 45 new trees for shade, and adding benches and picnic tables. The discussion also focused on making playground equipment suitable for a wider age range (5-12 years), including accessible features, and reintroducing swings. Commissioners debated the future of the underutilized ball field, with suggestions to convert it to soccer fields or other unique amenities. The financial scope was tied to the existing $65,000 CIP budget, with the possibility of expanding through park dedication funds for additional features.
Selection of Parks Commission Representative for City Goal Setting Meeting
Moved by Pat Barrett [~07:10] · Seconded by Mike Elum [~07:10]
The Commission discussed the selection of a representative for the city's goal-setting meeting on January 15th, acknowledging that this person would need to present 2024 progress and three key challenges. The commissioners collaboratively identified the challenges as: 1) the urgent need for a Parks Director, 2) establishing a sustainable future funding model for the park system, and 3) implementing proactive planning and prioritization for park development and trail connectivity. Commissioner Ellen Ash expressed interest and was nominated.
Notable Quotes (10)
the C playground was initially placed in in 1993 it's exceeded that 25 year lifespan that we've kind of set that we've set forth to try to uh to to manage throughout the throughout our playground sets
staff is uh considering a a trail... this would be one way that I think we could could do that is implementing a trail uh with a ramp from the road all the way down to the parking or to our um playground set
has have you your other staff ever looked into like accessible play equipment So Not only would the place structure be accessible via Ada but also uh like more accessible playground equipment itself
I recognize that it's already there and people don't like to have things taken away I'm of the perspective we have something like 9 to 11 recreational ball fields and part of our master plan is to have unique uh items um at different locations
I am in favor of as wide of age range as possible but um sort of veering towards older rather than really young if that makes sense
getting a Parks director
future funding of the park system
what's the city's plan for a pin wheel type you know Park and what's the timeline Associated that what do we need need to do how do we integrate what they're doing with what we need to be doing to create some synergies there
I would also like to see more proactivity um in working generally with the staff in just agenda setting and steering how what we do month to month
I agree that proactivity is really important both for the park layout and and the trails and our current Trails you know to to keep that I hear that all the time at the city um light up the city thing I was helping people across the street and so many people said you know we need more crosss we need more connected trails and things like that
Ordinances & Resolutions (3)
A planning document that recommended the replacement of the Clydes Park playground and guides park development.
A survey in which 90% of respondents recommended replacement for the Clydes Park playground.
Capital Improvement Plan budget limit of $65,000 for the Clydes Park playground project.