Title
Amending the 2014 Capital Improvement Budget by adding $50,000 from the Neighborhood STAR Year-Round Program Funds (STAR Tracking Number 15-320, Project Code 212-10545) for Dickerman Park Improvements.
Body
WHEREAS, the Property bounded by Fairview on the west, Aldine on the east, private property approximately 100 feet north of University Avenue on the north, and University Avenue on the south, was donated to the City in 1909 for park and parkway purposes; and
WHEREAS, buildings were constructed up to the lot line in the early 1900s and the 1950s and parking was allowed on park land in 1957 with another lot constructed in 1976 contributing to the lack of visibility and viability of the land as a park; and
WHEREAS, the City’s ownership of the land was inadvertently omitted from parkland inventory and planning until the 1990s when the Dickerman Family approached the City expressing their desire to ensure that the donated land fulfilled the use intended by the donors; and
WHEREAS, since that time, the development of Dickerman Park has been a goal of the City of Saint Paul, the Department of Parks and Recreation, and Ward 4, and also included in the City’s Comprehensive Plan, the City’s Central Corridor Development Strategy, Central Corridor Station Area Plans, and the City’s Parks and Recreation Vision Plan; and
WHEREAS, the Green Line opened in June 2014 and there is a strong community desire to demonstrate progress on the development of Dickerman Park and a need to provide quality open space to attract economic development along the corridor; and
WHEREAS, a long term barrier to the establishment of Dickerman Park has been the presence of surface parking and other encroachments within the park; and
WHEREAS, Ward 4 has worked with the Mayor’s Office and the Department of Parks and Recreation to devise a plan to achieve the next steps toward development of Dickerman Park and associated financing; and
WHEREAS, by CF 15-2238, $50,000 was granted from Neighborhood STAR Year-Round Program Funds for Dickerman Park; and
WHEREAS, Ward 4 has used Central Corridor Parking Program funds to cover the cost to reconfigure the existing parking lot north of Dickerman Park to provide sufficient parking for neighboring businesses within their property limits; and
WHEREAS, the provision of the aforementioned parking for adjacent businesses allowed the city to remove the existing encroachments from the park, establish turf, and update a viable vision for the park with community input; and
WHEREAS, it is the desire of the Department of Parks and Recreation and Ward 4 to amend the financing and spending budget to include $50,000 to help enhance the amenities the City is able to provide in the construction of the western half of the park; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, by the City Council of the City of Saint Paul, upon recommendation of the Mayor, and the advice of the Long Range Capital Improvement Budget Committee, that $50,000 is available for appropriation in the 2014 Capital Improvement Budget, and said 2014 budget, is heretofore amended by the Council as indicated in the attached financial analysis.
Financial Analysis
See Attachment
CIB Recommendation
The CIB Committee did not meet quorum at the July, 2016 meeting. A non-binding vote was taking of members present and the resolution was recommended for approval.