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<br />. <br /> <br />It is recommended that the city of Elk River provide the Community <br />Recreation Board its six month written notice to withdraw from the <br />association as per the JPA. It is possible, but somewhat unlikely, that the <br />remaining communities would continue with the community recreation <br />organization and employ the current staff. Assuming this does not happen, <br />the city should plan on hiring Michelle Bergh and RaeAnn Gardner (they are <br />technically already city employees) plus any additional part time <br />programmers that are necessary to meet our needs. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />If we withdraw, then in the next 6-12 months we will have to evaluate how <br />the city park and recreation needs can be met and whether or not we need to <br />hire a park and recreation director. Right now the city park and recreation <br />"department" has three divisions. Community recreation does the recreation <br />programming and field scheduling, the street/park department does the park <br />and field maintenance (and some park development), and the planning <br />department does the subdivision reviews for park needs and park planning. <br />All three attend the city Park and Recreation Commission meetings. The <br />office space issue also needs to be part of this discussion. In the short term it <br />is expected that Michelle and RaeAnn will stay located at Community <br />Education (even if we have to pay rent), but ultimately they need to move to <br />City Hall. <br /> <br />Please see the attached material regarding the community recreation <br />program. Included in this material is the City of Elk River budget and the <br />Community Recreation budget. Total 1999 expenditures for the community <br />recreation program are anticipated to be $123,000, but the real figure to look <br />at is the revenue from communities. As noted earlier, this gap between the <br />total and the Elk River amount is about $40,500 plus some of the non- <br />resident and program surcharge amount. The total gap is approximately <br />$47,000 more than what is in the city budget, however, it is expected that the <br />net impact will be much less than this amount as we will have lower wages to <br />pay while we evaluate the need for a park and recreation director. We will <br />also be receiving more revenues as there will be more non-resident fees being <br />received and/or possibly some contracts entered into for services with other <br />communities. This may be slightly offset by some rental expenses for office <br />space, but this is unknown at this time. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Benefits to the city for being on its own include more control over <br />programming and staffing levels, allowing the staff to be more productive and <br />less involved in political debates, and allowing the city to better respond to <br />the recreational desires and needs of our residents. The biggest concern with <br />going on our own is continuing to work with the youth associations and <br />assisting them in scheduling fields for games and practices throughout the <br />