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City Council Minutes October 7, 2019 Page 12 Councilmember Christianson disagreed believing red should be for social, active parks and a natural color for passive parks. Mayor Dietz stated he is open to all colors and noted three Councilmembers would like to have the red roof; thereby reaching a consensus of the Council. 10.8 Senior Activity Membership Fees Mr. Benoit presented the staff report. Council believed non-residents should pay a higher membership fee. Councilmember Christianson questioned if the city is not enforcing membership for residents currently and everyone is paying sales tax and property taxes, why charge a membership fee. Mr. Portner stated the sales tax is for building construction and not the operation, noting the goal is to have the operation pay for itself. He stated this is a Special Revenue Fund and taxpayers only pay for major capital items such as a roof replacement. Mayor Dietz noted seniors stated they would be willing to pay a fee in order to get a new facility. Councilmember Westgaard stated residents are paying for operations through their property taxes and questioned if the separation between resident and non-resident fees is enough to make up for those not paying property taxes. He also noted the fee recovery doesn't offset the full operational expense difference. Mr. Portner noted there will be some tax savings due to less staff being needed onsite so the operational costs are expected to decrease. He also noted the user demographics may change accounting for more fees or program changes. Councilmember Wagner stated the annual fee seems reasonable and questioned he tolerance threshold before people decide it's not worth it. Council consensus is to start the new fees in January 2021 allowing for a free trial period for 4th quarter of 2020 once the facility opens up. II. Adjournment There being no further business, Mayor Dietz adjourned the meeting of the Elk River City Council at 11:21 p.m. � 0 W E 8 E I IY NATURE