7.1 PRSR 06-10-2020 - Laserfiche WebLink

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May 20th, 2020 Attention: City of Elk River Parks and Recreation Commission, This year has proven to be a year for the history books, no event in recent history will compare to the global pandemic that we have seen so far in 2020. The impact on the families of Elk River and surrounding communities will be a lasting one, and we hope that all of you on the commission are staying safe and healthy. As you can imagine the early results of this pandemic have created a tough situation for Elk River Youth Lacrosse Association as well as many other youth sports associations. There are several issues that have made a major impact on our association so far in 2020. These issues are beginning to cause a hardship and a potential major budget shortfall for our association. To give you some details behind our situation we will briefly describe these events. • Homegrown Lacrosse League canceled the entire 2020 Spring indoor box lacrosse season. We refunded approximately 40 player registrations in March for teams at the 10U, 12U and 14U levels. Several pre-paid costs (indoor practice rental space, equipment, processing fees, etc.) were unable to be reclaimed. • We have been contacted by MSLax (Minnesota Schoolgirls Lacrosse Association) and the entire girls Summer Lacrosse program has been cancelled. We have refunded all registrations for girls on the 8U, 10U, 12U and 14U teams. Again, some pre-paid costs were unable to be recouped. • Overall registrations have dropped significantly. Last year we had around 200 players between boys and girls, this year we had a grand total of only 129 players. Some families have requested to cancel their registrations, and we are refunding more players as time goes on. • The boy’s season was supposed to begin in April with indoor practice times and try-outs, we have not held a single team practice due to the Stay at Home order. YLM (Youth Lacrosse of Minnesota) has pushed back the start of the season several times, we are hoping for a July season start with a truncated season. Some are predicting the entire season will be canceled. Due to these unprecedented conditions our association’s bank balance is dipping below our comfort levels and we are humbly asking the Parks and Recreation Commission for a payment deferral in 2020. The deferral we are requesting is for the Oak Knoll capital lighting improvement project. We are committed to improving the city’s resources and want to pursue projects with the city for many years to come. If possible, we would request to skip a payment in 2020 and add an additional year to the end of the term. Sincerely, Brian M. Lambertz President Elk River Youth Lacrosse Association