City of North Mankato Parks Master Plan 2015 Citizen Input

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Bennett Collins
5 years ago
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1 Date/Name What park do you visit most? Why? 1/23/15 Bluff and King Arthur 1/23/15 Reserve - It is the closest park to our house and the only park we have access to if we want to walk on a sidewalk/trail on the way there. 1/25/15 Forest Heights Park - I, and MANY of the residents in the area, walk dogs on the sidewalks around the park What amenities do you use at the park that you visit most frequently? Bluff Walking Trails KA Playground, tennis courts and skating rink in winter The playground equipment, pavilion and open green space. We, and many of our neighbors use the trash barrels. However, the barrel that used to be along Parkside Lane was removed by one of your city worke rs. I have left notes for him to call, but no response. My neighbors keep asking me where the barrel is. There are people City of North Mankato Parks Master Plan 2015 Citizen Input Are the amenities well maintained? Please put the barrel back!!!!!! Do you have a vision for any of the parks in the system? Bluff - Be nice if there would an equipment in there for children to play at while parents are "walking" - LOVE the idea of making more walking trails connecting with lower north. KA - would be nice to have additional benches. The Reserve is a rapidly-growing neighborhood. Many of the households have children under the age of 10. The current playground equipment is intended for older kids and not safe for children under the age of 8 or 10 without an adult standing right there guiding and holding the child. Several of us would like to see the City consider adding additional child-safe/friendly playground equipment geared toward children from ages 2 to 6 years old. You do a great job of providing attractive and functional parks in our area. Keep up the good work General Comments Good Plan I was very pleased to see that a trail connection running along Lor Ray Drive out to The Reserve is in the plans. That is much needed as many of us walk and jog along that stretch of road between Timm Road and The Reserve on the gravel shoulder and it seems dangerous when cars pass. It would be great to see that project date placed higher on the priority and moved up from Thank you for considering comments from the citizens! Maybe at a later time.

2 1/26/15 Pleasant View Park - My family lives very close to this park. We are on Balsam Drive. The kiddos love the wide open space and playground equipment. 1/31/15 Bluff Park - I love that it has been left natural. It's a great place to walk and enjoy a feeling of leaving the city behind. who eat lunch in their cars there, and pizza boxes, etc. were left in the barrel, before it was removed. We NEED that barrel back also for dog feces. My family uses the playground equipment and wide open space. Trails and view from gazebo, The city does a great job maintaining this park. Buckthorn needs to be removed and controlled. It s taking over the park. It's great to see in the park plan the proposed addition of restroom. What I think is missing is the addition of off-street dedicated parking for this park. This park hosts numerous events from the early spring through late fall not to mention the daily use by the residents that live in the area. On street parking works on Pleasant View drive because it has been built wide and accommodates on-street parking just fine. Onstreet parking becomes a real problem on Willow, Balsam, and Raymond especially when cars are parked on both sides of these streets and that is most of the time. The streets become extremely narrow and are very hard for two cars to meet at the same time when a car is parked on both side of the street. Benson Park -- My vision is that the city will complete the plan the Parks and Green Spaces Committee created. Bluff -- get rid of the turf lawn in the middle. Create a prairie to support the pollinators and butterflies that are being decimated by monoculture. Overall I think the plan is looking very good. The plan reflects the work of the Parks Committee which is great. (But it's time to get Benson completed.) EXCEPT -- the Caswell multi-sport complex does NOT fit with this plan. That is not a PARK. It's a sports facility and should be removed from the parks plan. It needs a plan of its own although I don't see how NM can even afford it. I do NOT want to see my property taxes skyrocket because the city is committed to supporting a sports facility. I will move out of the city if I see rising property taxes as a potential consequence of undertaking this

3 project. 2/9/15 Spring Lake Park Nearest to my home. Has lake and birds 2/9/15 Spring Lake Park Close by and is our best park; water is the most attractive asset to any park. 2/10/15 Forest Heights Park- Location, closest to our house Trails, Picnic Structures and tables I d like the trees and bushes replaced on the west side of Spring Lake. I liked the feeling of being in an area surrounded by natural environment. I d like to see things that the Parks a Committee recommended be implemented as much as feasible. Walking/Biking trails I think so Not really; Make sure they re connected Increase the density around parks to get the most out of them. Playground, baseball field, tennis court and open space I really hope someday there will be a splash pad at one of the parks in Mankato or North Mankato. We have visited one is St. Cloud and our kids love it. I just tried to open the park plan file on this website and my computer won't open the file. I will try again later and see if I can review it. I will have my husband submit any further info if we have more comments after reviewing it 2/16/15 Storybook and Spring Lake- Close to house and walking distance, great for my niece to walk to and play 2/18/15 Spring Lake, Hiniker Path- Walk around in the evenings and weekend, Spring Lake Park Pool Benson- Nice long trails to walk and bike. The size and Playgrounds and trails Make dog friendly, at least on leash. Especially because Spring Lake had trails throughout it to get to other parts of the town Walk path, swings by water, water fountain, swimming pool Trails, in most cases Would like to see an area of pool be deeper and with large water slide. Would like to see a bigger finished look out area at Bluff park and repair road. More walking areas in parks for pets to walk with you on paths. As a member of the Parks Commission, our group during 2008 and 2009 was involved and worked with a consulting group to devise a comprehensive master Very happy we are putting money towards active activity and being outdoors. Great for kids and family. Would love to take another step further to be dog friendly on trails and at parks. The city is many years behind in implementing the Benson Park development project. It would be a great service to our

4 many features especially the water ways. plan for Benson Park that was then approved by the city council.. With the resulting plans, we had a defined plan to follow that would accomplish our visions. citizens to see Benson Park come to full completion. We then set up a Initial Five Year Plan of Implementation Program: Listed below in order of priority Woodland Habitat-rolling hills prairie. 2. Playgrounds and lighting. 3. Main building and parking. 4. Picnic area and site furnishings. 2/24/2015 Spring Lake Park- Proximity to my home and walking path around lake. 2/28/2015 Spring Lake Park- Reside near by Volleyball nets walking trail picnic shelters Sand could be better quality Beyond the present park system, the city should continue to pursue an Indoor pool/outdoor water park in conjunction with the School District. More accepting of dogs on leashes. Spring Lake Park has sidewalks on three sides of the park. The south along Lakeview Ave has no sidewalk. Children pedestrian traffic to the park is heavy on Lakeview Ave. There are cars parked all day on both sides of the street so kids have to walk down the center of the street to get to and from the park. The city should put in a sidewalk at least on one side of Lakeview Ave!!! The same goes for school children. They have to walk in the street to get to Overall I m very happy with the plan. Sidewalks should be added to the park system plan

5 3/1/2015 Wheeler/Sprin g Lake/Bluff- Close to home and to take the dog on a walk 3/1/2015 Spring Lake Park- Walking Path 3/1/2015 Bluff Park- It's dog-friendly with nicely maintained trails in a nature setting and out of the wind (unlike the openness of Benson Park). Since we live on Coventry, we have to drive to a park. their bus stop that is on Sherman St. Walking trail around Somewhat I would love to see more access to dogs at I appreciated the plan you sent out for Spring Lake and these parks. Leash citizens to review. It was fun to see Bluff. Dog trash laws are a must, but Why not put in the boundaries of the parks in the random bins/bags at Bluff. trash/bag bins at Spring Lake and park (Lee Blvd...) I truly Skating rink at Wheeler. Lower North is a family appreciate all the city does to make North Wheeler. Bball courts community and there are many dogs. I see Mankato a wonderful place to live at Wheeler. Tennis so and raise my son. Thank you for continuing courts at Wheeler. many families walking down Belgrade with to keep its residents aware of Playground at their pooches. It'd be great for plans to our community. Wheeler. them and their family if they could enjoy a walk without all the cars zooming by, and instead walk with the family (that includes their loved pups)in their neighborhood park. Thank you. The path No Too many tax payer dollars spent Trails (dog-friendly). Appendix F outlines a possible future park that would be an ideal location for the Coventry Heights and Green Acres neighborhoods. The park could incorporate the ravines by including hiking trails that continue through the park. We would also propose that tennis courts are included in the design, along with a playground and simple ball field. Additionally, we would propose increasing the width of the retention pond that runs adjacent to Coventry Lane to provide some additional separation from the houses along the pond and to increase the space We agree with the proposal to re-establish a trail from Bluff Park to Park Lane that would join up with Spring Lake Park. However, since Bluff Park is dog-friendly, we would like to suggest that Spring Lake Park is also made dog-friendly, especially since no other park in Lower North is currently dog-friendly. Overall, the plan is very well presented and the vision for the city's parks and trails is admirable. We are happy to support the ongoing maintenance and future plans.

6 3/2/2015 Spring Lake Park- The trails are nice for walking and biking with little ones. The fishing, sledding, swimming, playgrounds. The washrooms, drinking fountains and picnic tables. if the pool is an amenity, that also. The lighted trail is quite a bonus, Thank you! For the most part, yes. between the power lines and the usable park space. Lastly, we would propose that the park is dog-friendly. The pool at Spring Lake to get a concrete bottom so the water isn't so murky all the time. The long range plan exceeds my expectations. Realizing it's a slow process and everything can't be done at once, I am very pleased to see the work in progress. It is also exciting to see what will be happening. Good job all around.

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