Parks commission backs $227,120 bid to rebuild Reid Park parking lot and trail

The Lake Elmo Parks Commission voted to recommend that the City Council accept a bid from Miller Excavating to reconstruct the parking lot and trail at Reid Park, with a not-to-exceed amount of $227,120.

City staff described the planned work and answered commissioners’ questions about crosswalk placement, curb types, drainage and timing. "Survey of the area, in cost, associated with the engineering department. So, we're right in line with that 227,000, with the bids that we received," a City staff member said while presenting the project and asking for questions.

The presenter said the parking lot surface will be replaced (current asphalt) and edged with new concrete curb, with a mix of high back curb on the radius and drive-over curb on other sections. Stormwater will continue to flow to an existing stormwater pond west of the parking lot; a center line in the design was described as the divider directing flows to left and right toward existing catch basins. The presenter also said the crosswalk is part of the city's overall crosswalk policy and that the crosswalk at Thirtieth Street may be delayed until the opposite side driveway and mailbox area can be addressed.

On schedule, staff said the commission's recommendation will go to the City Council at its next meeting at the end of June, and construction is expected in late summer, with an August–September window chosen to coordinate around summer and fall baseball uses. "So city council will review this, at their next meeting... We weren't looking till late fall on this project to begin with, so August. That way, it correlates with our summer baseball and spring fall baseball," the presenter said.

A commissioner moved to recommend approval of the Miller Excavating bid and another commissioner seconded. The motion passed on a voice vote after the chair called for ayes; no negatives were recorded.

The commission discussed some minor design and operations points during the vote: extending the north-side sidewalk about 25 feet to avoid a driveway/mailbox area, painting or re-striping parking stalls, and the possibility of signage to keep the 24-foot entrance clear during busy park use. Staff noted the city does not routinely route parking-lot plans to the fire marshal for review; the parking design followed the city's engineering specifications.

The commission also discussed potential future park improvements tied to the same area, including a smaller pavilion site near ADA parking as a long-range possibility.

The commission's recommendation does not approve work itself; final contract approval rests with the Lake Elmo City Council.