SR 05-23-2002 - Laserfiche WebLink

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e e e I'm not sure what is being requested under this agenda topic but ultimately I think we can expect a financial request from either the school or the Arts Alliance. This financial request xvill either be to assist in the ongoing operating expenses and/or part of the capital expenses to renovate the school into an arts or community facility. School Dedication Fees This is also a School Board issue. By law the city cannot charge school dedication fees. Special legislation and a new law would be necessary in order for this to take place. The city is supportive of this type of fee but at this time cannot legally collect a fee for schools. YMCA Update It is appropriate for the Mayor to update everyone on the status of the YMCA pro}ect in Elk River. City Recreation This issue relates to the youth association's use of school facilities and the role of city recreation with this situation. Previously with community recreation, this organization scheduled and arranged for maintenance of all city and school fields within the school district. Since this organization has disbanded city recreation has taken over this identical role and responsibility within the Elk River city limits. It seems more appropriate for the city to schedule and maintain only its facilities (Oak I~noll, YAC, and the softball complex) and then have the school (community education) schedule and maintain their own facilities. The school currently does the scheduling of school facilities outside of Elk River so this would not be an additional responsibility. Collecting fees from the youth associations and arranging for school maintenance of school facilities would be new but was done by the school prior to community recreation being established in 1992. The city does not want to get into the situation ~vhere it would maintain, groom, and line fields when it does not collect the fee and schedule/coordinate the facilities, as the city would be losing some control over its maintenance commitments and communication becomes much more difficult when it is a three party situation. Additionally, by no longer maintaining school facilities the city street/park department would have more time to get to some of the routine maintenance work that seems to get neglected occasionally because of the work load and also to schedule some special park projects that have been on the Park and Recreation Commission's work list for a while. If the school can schedule and maintain their facilities, this would be a welcome change for the city. (See attached sheet listing the fields in Elk River.)