HomeMy WebLinkAboutMeeting Minutes 9-30-13
City of Oshkosh
South Park
SITE MASTER PLAN MEETING MINUTES
Public Input Meeting
September 30, 2013
6:30-8:00 P.M.
DATE: September 30, 2013
PROJECT: South Park – Site Master Plan Study
Public Input Meeting
PRESENT: Ray Maurer, Parks Director
Bill Sturm, Landscape Operations Manager
Steve Gohde, Asst. City Engineer
Jeff Bahling, Rettler Corporation
Rebecca Ramirez, Rettler Corporation
Councilor Sean Fitzgerald
Councilor Kyle Clark
Advisory Park Board Chair, Bill Gogolewski
Interested citizens
A meeting was held at the City of Oshkosh Senior Center regarding the above stated project.
Jeff Bahling introduced the South Park Master Plan process and listed several main points for
discussion:
The addition of a large inclusive playground at South Park
Storm water issues- improvement to both water quality and quantity
Restrooms and Shelters- need updating and ADA accessibility
Ash trees affected by Emerald Ash Borer
Park trails getting older
Erosion along lagoons
Additional Parking
He then went over the User Group Survey results and opened the floor for comment. The
following input was provided by city residents unless indicated otherwise:
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1. One resident suffers from the flooding issues on Ohio and 11 Street and felt his
concerns were not being taken into consideration. There was some agreement
among the crowd on this point.
2. Are you going to dredge the lagoons? (Potentially yes.)
3. One citizen stated that the City has been looking at the Stringham Creek Flood
improvement issue and preliminary analysis indicates the problem is larger than the
park. In fact the city would have to turn the entire South Park into a lagoon to solve
the issue.
4. Are the lagoons fed from the quarry? (Yes.)
5. I’ve heard that Vulcan will close in five years. Can we send storm water that way?
(Steve said that was an option)
6. Is there any way to shut off flow into the lagoons during a rain? (Probably not. That
would flood the quarry)
7. As a father of two young children, I want to say thank you for looking at updating
play equipment in the park. That is also quite important.
8. There is concern about the many geese and ducks in the park. Their droppings are
a public health hazard.
9. There was agreement that the geese migrate in the spring and fall, but the ducks
are always there.
10. How effective are geese management techniques? (Mixed.)
11. Shelter #3 has no restrooms or parking. (one solution is moving it)
12. Will you expand the splash pad? (That is a little up in the air. Some people think it
should be expanded, others think the current size is just right.)
13. More seating is needed at the splash pad.
14. Is there a reason for the road loop? Is it possible to remove the remnants of the
road and leave the parking at the edges? (Vehicular access will still be needed to
some interior points)
15. I would like the ball diamond improved.
16. There is a problem with people bringing dogs into the park and into the splash pad.
17. Is it possible to move the bathrooms to a more central point? (If the bathrooms are
rebuilt, the will be placed in a more central location)
18. Has the city talked about shelter usages? I’ve rarely seen all three shelters in use at
one time. (Ray Maurer said he will get hard numbers for shelter usage)
19. I live across from Ohio Street Shelter and see it occupied about every other
Saturday for weddings.
20. Another neighbor is concerned with bathrooms and ducks. Unsavory activities in the
bathrooms and the ducks look in her windows.
21. Ray Maurer on shelter use: the two main shelters are used every weekend. Shelter
#3 is generally used two full weekends out of every month.
22. Shelter #3 may only be used less because of the lack of parking and utilities.
23. Has there been any structural review done on the historic bridge? (Not in this study.
It will be reviewed in the storm water study however because of erosion)
24. There was flooding this year, and then someone sprayed around the ponds and
killed all the grass this year. Both of these items contributed to increased erosion
around the lagoons.
25. The city should take care of the watershed first before planning the park. The city is
putting the cart before the horse and going around the problem.
26. I want to hear more about the Emerald Ash Borer. (Bill: Emerald Ash Borer was
found within 1.5 miles from city limits. South Park contains some Ash trees that
have been declining due to age and insects for some time now. We will assess
those trees and some removal is planned. We have not planted Ash for seven
years now and are working on diversifying trees. We will lose some trees and are
planning to fill those gaps in advance.)
27. Will the fence that separates the park and residences along the north side be
replaced? And will homeowners be charged for that? (Ray Maurer: the fence
protects the privacy of the homeowners. There will be no additional cost to
homeowners for the replacement of that fence. Rettler Corp will estimate the cost of
that replacement.)
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28. Ray Maurer: there will be a park board meeting October 14 in which we will take
input from tonight along with input from engineers and create concepts for the
November/December meeting with final master plans scheduled for the beginning
of next year.
29. When will construction start on the inclusive playground? (Ray Maurer: fundraising
is going on. The City has committed $100,000 and is hoping the community will
raise matching funds. Probably nothing else substantial before 2015/2016. If you
have comments, please send them to me.)
30. I see dogs in the park all the time. Maybe we should make South Park as a dog
park.
31. Some emphatic negatives to making South Park a dog park. Some residents were
alright with designating part of it as dog-friendly.
32. Are the bathrooms locked up at night? I always see people in there at 1am. (Ray
Maurer: we have automatic timers on the doors of all new bathrooms that shut at
park closing time. We would install those in any new facilities in South Park as well)
33. Will bathrooms be replaced or added? (That is part of today’s discussion)
34. Ray Maurer: we will come up with three concepts for South Park. We will start
identifying two restroom facilities. There is a need for one in the central park area.
35. Want more police presence.
36. Want more lighting. Parts of the park very dark. (Ray Maurer: Jeff Bahling and an
electrician will take a look at lighting on all new facilities.)
37. Horseshoe lighting is sometimes on at 1am. (Ray Maurer: we are working on that
with an electrician.)
38. Want more volleyball courts and benches. Also add benches around splash pad.
39. Want new shelter between road, horseshoes, and grove of trees in northwest part
of park.
40. I want to say thank you for giving attention to South Park. It is a beautiful park. I
would also like attention paid to the trees and willows as they are a big part of bird
migration. We have a blue heron living in the park right now. We used to have a
pair that nested in the willows. It is such a beautiful park. People from Appleton
travel down to Oshkosh to enjoy our beautiful parks.
41. Now that the willow trees are gone we have more geese. It is probably because of
the longer flyways to land and take off. Also this year they sprayed. Need more
trees in the park, though grow time will be a problem.
42. I’ve lived on South Park for 44 years and there were no goose problems then.
43. Is there a possibility of putting a road in off Ohio Street to access Shelter #3 that
connects to the park loop? (Ohio Street is a state highway. The DOT might allow,
but would need permitting)
44. There was some concern with the point above as noon hour traffic will cut through
the park to escape congestion. This would be bad for the children and elderly. A
better idea would be to move Shelter #3 farther in and closer to the existing loop.
(Ray Maurer also suggested replacing Shelter #3 with an open air gazebo)
45. Can we flip the tennis courts and Shelter #3, or put the shelter where the tennis
courts are? Cost concerns.
46. Regarding the Ohio Street Pavilion (Shelter #3), can we add an entrance/exist with
bathrooms and parking, but no through access? (we will look at the permitting)
47. Someone suggested an arc-shaped road connecting Ohio Street to South Park
Avenue.
48. How often are the tennis courts used? (Ray Maurer: quite often) The original
speaker disagreed with this assessment, but others supported it.
49. Basketball is used very often. There was general agreement with this.
50. I love the stone bridge and want to see it stay.
51. If the stone bridge can hold cars, can we make the path a road? There was some
disagreement with this as many wedding pictures are taken there.
52. Jeff Bahling asked if people often conduct weddings in the park. The answer was
an emphatic yes.
53. There used to be a house in the middle of the park that sold ice cream and candy.
54. When I lived there as a child one fellow took care of the entire park and it was
better maintained then than now. The park needs a lot more care.
55. The park is beautiful just the way it is. Don’t add too much here like what happened
at Menominee Park.
56. Some of the large trees seem to be in danger of falling into the lagoon. Can we do
something to help them?
57. I want to confirm the need for baseball. I live across from the South Park Middle
School and their fields are used constantly. (Ray Maurer: we must consider the
proximity to houses and streets in that location. We are working with groups to find
better locations for ball fields and I’m not sure this is it.)
58. Where is the funding for this project coming from? (The master plan covers a 20-25
year time frame. Not sure where all the funding will eventually come from over that
range. Still earmarking money for South Park improvements in the CIP)
59. Regarding the Inclusive Playground, I hope it’s not like Menominee Park where you
can lose your children in the playground. (Jeff Bahling observed that Stevens Point
has a barrier free playground and it is rather open)
60. I don’t think we need that playground. We have existing playgrounds and the
children are playing and happy there. Why are our tax dollars going toward another
playground instead of the watershed problem?
61. Are the plans for any more parks in Oshkosh? (Ray Maurer: None in the works now.
However our ordinances require that as new developments take place, parkland
must be dedicated or a fee paid in lieu of parkland dedication)
Jeff Bahling reminded everyone to fill out their comments papers and turn them in to Ray
Maurer. The meeting then closed.
The aforementioned constitutes my understanding of the observed and discussed items. If
any of the above items have been misinterpreted or omitted please contact our office as soon
as possible.
Sincerely,
(Rebecca Ramirez, for)
Jeff Bahling, ASLA Senior Landscape Architect