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9.a Scandia veteran memorialSCANDIA Staff Report Date of Meeting: September 20, 2016 To: City Council From: Neil Soltis, Administrator Re: Scandia Veterans Memorial Background: The City approved the site plan and design concept of the Scandia Veteran's Memorial to be placed in Lilleskogen Park on July 15, 2015. The approved design concept called for the memorial to be located in a 12' x 12' area north of the parking lot. (See the attached except from the minutes of the Council meeting) The Veteran's Memorial Agreement approved on June 22, 2016 includes a provision that no party shall construct or place additional objects or monuments in addition to what is identified in the original site plan and design concept without the express written consent of all parties. The Veterans Memorial Committee is seeking to modify the plan which results in an increase in the size of the memorial. The proposed design would include a circular patio area that is 24' in diameter (452 s.f.) and a 46'x5' (230 s.f.) concrete sidewalk from the monument area to the parking area. At the September 7, 2016 Council Work Session action was deferred to provide the Parks & Recreation Committee to meet to make a recommendation on the project. Under the PRC bylaws only the Chair or Vice -Chair may call a special meeting and neither called a meeting. Members of the PRC were requested to share their thoughts on the memorial. Those are provided below. Issue: Should the revised Veterans Memorial Plan be approved? Proposal Details: Sketches of the modified plan are attached. Once the design is approved, the Committee will need to apply for a building permit for the construction. Fiscal Impact: Depending on the area to be filled through the project, adjacent areas in the park near the parking lot should also be brought up to grade. Under the terms of the Veterans Memorial Agreement the SMLF shall oversee any and all costs associated with capital maintenance and improvements deemed necessary to secure the safety and good repair of the Memorial and Premises. Such improvements include but are not limited to general upkeep of the Premises and minor repairs of the Memorial and the surrounding area. Further, the City shall be responsible for general maintenance of the park property outside of the perimeter of the Memorial. The change in the area of the memorial design will have no financial impact on the City. Options: 1. Approve the revised design, 2. Recommend modification to the revised design, 3. Defer the decisions until review by the Parks & Recreation Committee, 4. Reject the request to revise the design. COMMENTS SUBMITTED VIA EMAIL BY RYAN JINKS, PRC CHAIR I do not support a special meeting on this timeline since I will not be back in Scandia until September 22nd. The Veteran's Memorial Committee is setting an artificial deadline; they should restrict the design to what was reviewed and approved previously or plan to revisit this at our next regular meeting in October. It is my opinion that expanding the footprint of the memorial by 3x does not fit with the character or intent of plan we have established for Lilleskogen. Lilleskogen is not intended to be a Veteran's park, but one that serves all citizens of Scandia. A large memorial will dominate the park and cannot integrate with the features originally planned for that space. COMMENTS SUBMITTED VIA EMAIL BY DUSTIN HEGLAND, PRC I have been giving the memorial expansion some thought and had explored the idea of a possible compromise. Due to the memorial being a little larger than planned and potentially taking up space that had already been planned for, could the Veteran's Memorial group assist the Butterfly Garden in getting started? This could be achieved during construction of the Memorial, by bringing extra top soil to the butterfly garden as well as assisting in providing seeds for planting. I think the compromise may be good for both sides, since many believe that the butterfly is a symbol of resurrection, hope and life. This contribution of soil and seeds will also be a helpful support to help the garden, due to the current lack of funds to proceed with the project. I believe that each group could support each other while providing our community with a peaceful and serene place to acknowledge those who have served our country, while observing nature and life. My hope is that each group could improve relations through a common interest by building community. COMMENTS SUBMITTED VIA EMAIL BY TERRY GORHAM, PRC I am no landscape designer, but proportionally, I think the larger design 'fits' nicely. I paced it off from the west most edge of the circle formed by the new base, west to the street and got the same rough measurement pacing it off from the south side of the circle to the parking lot. Seems a good symmetrical fit. And, there seemed like plenty of room to put in additional butterfly garden vegetation, acknowledging that this would require some redo of the total square footage for that work. I didn't see comments from Dustin, but I thought he had a great idea to ask the Lions to include the top soil, but Dave thought that was already covered. My recollection was this funding was still an open item. This could go back to committee. If it goes back to PRC on our regular cycle, it could very likely mean it wouldn't get going this year. I'd hate to see further delay. Yes, there was a design change but my vote would be it still fits, it wouldn't change the character of the park, and it behooves us to partner with the Lions rather than take this thing back to the drawing board. My opinion only of course, but this would give some additional attention to the park and that wouldn't hurt as we continue with plans to develop it. COMMENTS SUBMITTED VIA EMAIL BY JODI FELDMAN, PRC All - as a quick summary of my visit, I'm in agreement with Terry. From my perspective, I didn't view the Veteran's Memorial footprint as an overwhelming area and there is still plenty of space remaining which we can work with given the revision.