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to salvage a few trees. They are screening the salt dome with evergreen type material. Along the brick <br />site wall that runs through the site, they will have earth mounding so there will be a change in elevation <br />and the plantings to soften the wall area. They added landscape pockets up in the front to break down the <br />long street frontage and added some landscaping around the detention basin. Mr. Yager asked if they are <br />mounds. Mr. Hunsicker said they are not mounded but they may have natural mounding from the soil <br />coming in. Mayor Musial asked for the height of the pole there. Mr. Hunsicker indicated he is not certain <br />but added that their concern, when talking with the landscape architect, was they wanted to step up the <br />foliage as you approach the building. A couple of things they did to augment safety concerns in the <br />children's area is adding landscaping to give a soft barrier because there is a hard wall there. They have <br />talked with the electrical engineers about the parking lot lighting and how it works with the trees that have <br />been selected for the middle. Both the landscape architect and the electrical engineer feel very <br />comfortable with each other's selection in that area. The tree type they chose is one that holds its shape <br />tighter and it is thinner and a less dense type of foliage. Mr. Zergott asked what will be left by the <br />abutting properties. W. Hunsicker said they did a study concerning that area. He referred to the plan and <br />said they will be leaving the brush along the driveway of the one house. The majority of it is on the <br />homeowner's property. Their intention is to leave as much of that in tact. They are adding in lawn space <br />where the drive used to be. He pointed out that the Planning Commission asked them to go back and look <br />at possibly adding material there. He indicated he spoke with the landscape architect about it. They can <br />add something like evergreens and something that will grow under that. If the homeowner decides he <br />wants a fence, he would end up ripping up a lot of natural vegetation. He said on the other side they will <br />augment with some landscaping along the property line. They have planted to a budget level and they can <br />move plants around to that area. It is a very dense planting plan and they can loosen it up and move <br />material up to the front. It is an easy fix. It is also a good gesture to both sides. Mr. Zergott said he'd like <br />to offer a suggestion on the walking path. He said he doesn't know what trees will be left but he said they <br />should definitely try to sprinkle more trees around the path because otherwise people will be out in the hot <br />sun. He would also add more seating areas. Mr. Hunsicker said there are a few. There is one on either <br />side of the track. They will have seating areas coming down the pathway but they can add somewhere <br />around.the circuit. Mr. Yager said they may want to offset the walkway from the parking area and the <br />drive area. He said along Lorain there is a 5 foot buffer between the walk and the drive. He would think <br />they would want to do that in the back. It will be as busy a drive and they should safeguard people back <br />there. If someone fell back there, they need some protection. Mr. Hunsicker indicated they can put a <br />grass space in there. W. Yager added they can do the same thing with the spaces along the back parking <br />lot because they will be dealing with car bumpers and there may be only 2 feet of actual walkway. W. <br />Hunsicker said these are easy suggestions. Mr. Zergott mentioned the detention and wondered if it can be <br />made more of an aesthetic piece rather than just a functional hole. He has seen a number of them that are <br />used like the proposed basin, in that they fill up and then they drain. He said the whole time it is down it <br />is more of an eye sore than anything. He said why not let it hold water and put a fountain or something <br />there. W. Hunsicker said their concern with doing that is the safety issues they will run into. They <br />would then need a fence around it. It was a safety concern as they were designing it. Mrs. Creadon <br />pointed out they spent a lot of time on that issue with the project team, architect, and the construction <br />manager. They looked at the aesthetics, maintenance, the liability, safety, whether or not to have a fence, <br />and not wanting "cattail city". They looked at all sorts of variables. They don't want it to be unattractive, <br />or too attractive because the highlight is supposed to be the structure. Mr. Yager said the structure is just <br />one aspect and its part of a community center that you are ultimately creating here. The idea of it having <br />the cattails, and part of that is maintenance, the other part is it's a natural thing. If it's a rainy season you <br />cannot maintain it. You will have some of the less than ideal look created by what was designed. He said <br />from his perspective, this has been on the table since the day they came into the city and it remains <br />exactly the same. It sounds like the designers considered it and chose to go with this route. He is <br />disappointed because he thinks it's a real benefit to the city and can certainly show people how you can do <br />retention. He said since we require it of any applicant that develops any parking lot, any building, or <br />11