03/11/1969 - Advisory Parks & Recreation Commission
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EAGAN 'T'OWNSHIP PARK ~BOAH.D REPORT - March 11, 1969
As those of you who have consistently attended township meetings
know, Parks and Park plans have been heatedly discussed and have
subsequently fallen by the wayside. We are trailing other communities
in Park planning and must catch up if this Township is to have a
Parks System, or residential and commercial development will over-
whelm us and there will be no open land per se.
At the behest of the Town Board, the Park Board was revamped
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and revitalized by the appointment of new members to the Board at
the beginning of the year. The "Old Board" was composed of five
members, some of whom have moved out of the Community and some who
have dropped out because of lack of interest. The present Board has
ten members. Mr. Richard Thorpe, who is the acting chairman, and
John Consoer° are "Old Board" members. The new members are Mrs. Helen
Scott, Paul Allison, Mrs. Charlotte McPherson, Al Shadduck, Neil Coates,
Bob Ferguson, Joe Harrison, and myself, Loren Maxfield. These
members, we feel, give us a geographic representation of the Township.
The Park Board has set up three working committees to speed up
the action and to channel our activities into three avenues:
Commi.t;kee This Committee wi.11 primarily deal with
lilt, ctorioept, taint ~i;ol. 111) t,trlns. Short:.-Pang
Comirtl l l ee: Th.i. Commlt t,ee wilt `Ie rl with Ammedlat,e needs such as
uni-piing ho iioos, Ln,,,(,,L)aII diamonds, t-ind maintenance of present parks.
finance Committee: This Committee's title speaks for itself
monies. This Committee will deal. with the finances necessary to
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i_mpleuient t,1te Long; and. Short-Flange plans.
We in the Park Board feel that the residents of this township
ar.'e enjoyin„ the beauty and tranquility of the land around them and
t!' oy iirus r, accept the res~.>onsibility of preserving some of this beauty
Col. futtirc ;r-oricr""lt.'t,oris. We 1_t.7 the Fark. 1:3oard are very much in favor
of a more defittit(, and more cnforcr,able local ordinance requiring
land. developers to set aside a certain percentage of their land for
parks, and we do not mean just swamp land or other unusable land. If
not, then funds must be set aside specifically for park land acqui-
sition. We feel that the industrial centers should set aside quiet
areas for people working in those areas to have a place to relax and
have lunch park benches, picnic tables, trees and shrubs. We will
recommend a local ordinance defining the Park Board's responsibilities,
and to insure that land designated as such will remain park land
forever. The Park Board has set itself a goal of one year for plan
completion and perhaps next year at this time we will be able to give
you a report on the completed plans and the bonding issue, if not
sooner sooner we hope!
There is a fund of $4,000. set aside for land acquisition, and
al'ter thor~()i,igh study we will move to buy options so as to freeze
cr~rtrain 1:1114s Col. ~)at~lt_ ptlrPos(.-e;. All action. will naturally be subject
to Hie rIlpp:,,)v: t ol, 1.1re 'i'Own;hip ~~1~}~a~rvisors, and urider present laws,
trit ie'ti wi th I1ie '1'o wri ,1'l:tnrilrt<r 1~ont.d.
I h'(1 1 1 1w T(( iii 'Pw:wd :a vcl.y iriod.i:: t bud.,~rct. t,Yte
1 , 1 ( o I ' w P it k I',,,:If.d w111 ti"w :111 1'r1o1 11 1 1c.; :tvrtl.lttlilr~, ,;1,,],1,o,
1~'etli~r^t I :irid lok''.t 1 , "old 8~ap~ :t1)1wov:i I Ot' 11'ie 'I'owa Hoard w111 o(t ok
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a State or Federal grant for comprehensive planning under the Urban
Planning Association Program authorized by Section 701 of the Housing
Act of 1954 as amended. We will take into consideration the present
State and County Parks in their present form when making plans.
Presently we have Park Board members who are serving on the Dakot
County Zoo Committee and also on the Ft. Snelling Park Committee.
We solicit all criticism, constructive and otherwise. All we
ask is that it be put in writing and given to Park Board members for
our perusal..
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We of H "C' Pr111°k Uout' thank you for your support and. we will be
cousultin~; You Ind aski.r~t; you for, your assistance when necessary.
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Respectfully submitted,
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Loren Maxfield
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