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City Council Minutes Page 4 <br />October 16, 2017 <br />----------------------------- <br />Councilmember Olsen concurred with Mayor Dietz. He noted the property tax was a <br />common concern heard among seniors during the referendum. He stated this may be <br />a better solution and seniors may be more open to accepting it. <br /> <br />Councilmember Westgaard stated he didn't realize the sales tax could bring in this <br />amount of money and felt it was substantial enough that Council should evaluate it. <br /> <br />Councilmember Ovall questioned if the city is at the point where it has approved <br />spending $25 million to complete the arena project. He stated he hasn’t received any <br />positive feedback for remodeling the arena from any constituents. He noted he gets a <br />lot of comments from people thanking him for not voting for it. He expressed <br />concerns with continuing to move forward when the city does not have a funding <br />source established yet. <br /> <br />Councilmember Olsen discussed the urgency needed for planning purposes of the <br />arena noting all the past band-aid expenditures to keep it running. <br /> <br />Mayor Dietz stated Council decided to move forward with the arena remodel at its <br />last meeting. <br /> <br />Mr. Portner discussed the history of how the Council got to today’s decisions <br />regarding the arena remodel. He stated Council reviewed the arena issues many years <br />ago and consensus then was to replace the facility. He noted the task force was <br />charged, by Council, to look into different levels of replacement for the arena. He <br />discussed the process and decisions of the original task force. He stated the task <br />force’s recommendation, after much community input recommended a multipurpose <br />facility that would encompass all of the city’s park building needs at the same time in <br />order to save money. He discussed the second recommended task force option to <br />look at a hybrid project which included arena replacement and adding as much of the <br />community needs that could fit into the project. He stated Council was asked, this <br />past January, if they wanted to move forward with the second recommendation and <br />they stated yes. <br /> <br />Councilmember Ovall noted he was lacking the historical background on this <br />project. <br /> <br />Councilmember Westgaard noted the arena has been nearing the end of its lifecycle <br />and been discussed by Council as far back as 2006. He noted Council did nothing <br />regarding the long-term planning of the arena at the time and the issues were <br />brought back again in 2012 as well as discussions about other facility needs. He <br />stated the city is at the point where it has to act now. He noted the Council needed a <br />backup plan if there was a referendum failure. He stated if Council wants to keep <br />operating an arena, it needs to move forward with long-term planning for the facility, <br />similar to how most other city projects require a master plan. <br /> <br />Councilmember Wagner stated the arena project should have a larger scope and <br />include other items if the city pursues the sales tax option. She discussed community <br /> <br />