At the May 7 meeting, the Fountain Council welcomed Kent Skaar, Natural Resources Program Consultant, and Louise Thompson, from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), State Parks and Trails Division.
The discussion centered on making Americans with Disabilities Act access at the city park, at the Fountain trail head for the Root River State Trail, particularly creating fully-accessible restrooms. The DNR was asked if they could financially assist in creating an access. But, the challenge of making things ADA-accessible lies with the parking lot.
“Right now … this would bring us to a parking lot in an area that’s not compliant anyway, so you really wouldn’t be addressing the basic concern,” said Skaar. “In order to do that, it is a reconstruction of the parking lot itself, move the ADA-compliant parking to that side of the lot, and make it accessible.”
Another sticking point is that the parking lot is owned by the state, while the city owns the park. There is funding for the state trail, but it can’t be applied to improvements at a city-run facility, even if they’re adjacent. The restroom is unique because of the DNR’s participation in the parking lot with an agreement between them and the city 30 years ago.
“There’s a little room for us to work within that existing relationship,” said Skaar. “The challenge for you would become once we step in and do that, the balance of your park is subject to that same kind of concern and potential criticism. We make an improvement to get folks from the parking lot to the restroom, but the restroom serves the balance of your park as well and all of a sudden, the balance of the park is no longer accessible. If we don’t touch it, in the short-term, we’re fine. I’m not suggesting we don’t, because accessibility is a top priority for us. But, it does broaden issues, there’s no question.”
Mayor Ron Reisner questioned whether something could be done in the short term to aid accessibility. He suggested eliminating a parking area and potentially using non-hard surface groundwork, such as tamped fine gravel or cedar planking, to make a path and the park restrooms accessible. However, the way the existing parking lot slopes, this is a further challenge.
While the city could create a single parking stall, it’s a pretty dramatic drop off both sides of that stall. Temporarily, compliance can be done without hard-surface, but there are additional challenges and land use circumstances. Furthermore, Skaar noted the department simply doesn’t have manpower to do any design and implementation right now.
“There’s where we will be challenged,” said Skaar. “One just in terms of actual design time, but also the funding.”
The cost of a full reconstruction of a parking lot this size, roughly 125 by nearly 300 feet, is estimated at $200,000-250,000 according to Skaar. There are grant sources for funding, including Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) who makes recommendations to the legislature for special environment and natural resource projects. Both the city and DNR are eligible for the LCCMR resources.
“It’s the primary source for this kind of entity,” noted Skaar. “This kind of project fits quite well. The department’s commitment, however, comes at a 75/25, so the department would need to come up with that 25%.”
The first opportunity to apply to LCCMR is next year for the 2027 legislative session. If the project is applied for, it would be for a full reconstruction.
Reisner further asked whether funding could be found to address the issue temporarily. Skaar noted an Outdoor Recreation Grant Program that may be able to help.
“We’re here because of your interest,” acknowledged Skaar. “So that is enough for us to continue the conversation and vision. But, as you think about the larger park, there’s an opportunity to use what we hope to advance to support an application for you and for the park or for at least components of the park that might be affected.
“If you were interested in grading a path, it’s just challenging to maintain. If it’s considered temporary and you have an interest in grading that end from the parking lot, we can certainly provide support for that and essentially redo the agreement that was done 30 years ago. I have to admit, it is the most abbreviated document I’ve ever seen in 30 years and it predates me. It essentially did very little except allow us to give you $10,000.
“It’s certainly an opportunity for us to sit down and look at those and really define what that relationship is going forward,” added Skaar.
In other news, the council unanimously approved modifying the Conditional Use Permit of Jody Wiza/Beaver Bottoms Saloon to no longer require the business to hire additional police presence at their concert events. Wiza noted she is in fairly constant contact with Preston Police Chief Blaise Sass, with whom the city contracts for police protection, and it makes sense for them to come around as part of their normal city surveillance, but that it’s taking away their already limited manpower to be hired for her events. She also noted she personally hires between five and eight bouncers to maintain peace at events.
The council has also approved a $15,275 estimate from BYO Recreation for a new playground structure. The original price was $48,886, but the city was given a $33,611 discount. The cost does not include removal of the existing structure or assembly or installation of the new one. City Clerk Mary Tjepkes will contact the company about those costs. If too high, the city will utilize the fire department and volunteers for the project installation.
Lastly, following a petition at the last meeting requesting that speed bumps no longer be installed on Cedar Street, the council approved that request in a 4:1 roll call vote with Reisner as the lone vote in favor of the speed bump installation.