4.0. SR 11-25-2002 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Elk River · Dayton · Otsego · Ramsey · ROgers · Zimmerman ........ , ........ ...... .., ......... ' '- .._ Plan to build YMCA proposed Sheriff suggests jail revenues could help pay off bonds to buy 10 acres of land, build Y Chad Lanners (far right) of the YMCA spoke to.Sherburne County commissioners at left as Sheriff Bruce Anderson and Mayor stephanie Klinzing listened. (Photo by Jim Boyle) by Joni Astrup Associate editor Sherburne County Sheriff Bruce Anderson has pro- posed ~ plan to finance and build a YMCA in Elk River. He envisions Sherburne County partnering with the city of Elk River to make the YMCA a reality, with the county putting jail prof- its into the deal.' He would like to see the Y built on 10 acres of land along Highway 10 just west of the Sherburne County Government Center. The parcel is owned by the Wilson family. The sheriff presented his ideas to the Sherburne · The Center for Community Committee makes recommenda- tion to use Handke.- page 2. County Board of Commissioners last week. "I think the time is now," he told the board. "The com- munity is growing. The county is growing. Land is at a premium and hard .to get." With him in support of the plan were Elk River Mayor Stephanie Klinzing, Sherburne County Social Services Director Ken Ebel and Chad Lanners of the YMCA. The next step will be for county commissioners and the Elk River City Council to meet together to discuss the matter. Commissioners appear supportive of the idea. "This is just downright exciting," Commissioner Betsy Wergin of Baldwin Township said. Commissioner Arne Engstrom of Elk River said: "The Y has been doing this for 150 years and they've come out in the black. They know the game better than anyone in town. We don't'want to YMCA continued to page 15 YMcA: The organization is Continued from page 1 experiment on our kids ... Let's do it." While details are still pre- liminary, here's how the county's involvement in the. plan could work: · Bonds could be sold to buy the land and finance the YMCA building. Profits from housing federal prisoners at the county jail in Elk Rivet' could be used to make the bond payments until the YMCA is on its feet. · In return for putting nroney into the project, the county's approximately 500 employees could receive discounted Y memberships. Because of that wellness program for' employees, Anderson estimates the county could save signifi- cantly on its health insur- . ance premium. The county and its elnployees paid $2.2 mil- lion in health insurance premiums in 2002, accord- ing to Roxanne Chmielewski, county human resources director. still going strong, after 151 years 'The location that the Sheriff is talk~ lng about is an excellent location for the YMCA.' -Mayor Stephanie Klinzing oners at the county jail in Elk River have been higher than anticipated and are expected to continue to rose. The county is under, con- tract to house 162 federal inmates at $75 each per day. Anderson said they have been running at about 220 to 230 inmates, and federal officials are inter- ested in sending even nmre prisoners to the jail. At full capacity, the jail 'can hold 536 inmates. The YMCA, meanwhile, has been considering two city-owned sites for a Y in Elk River. One is about five acres by the water tower near Lake That is going up 31 percent in January, partly due to utilization, she said. "If we can hold down costs, which proactive wellness programs tend to do, then we can keep premiums down, keep down the cost to employees and the cost to the taxpayers," she said. The sheriff's department has a fitness room for its employees, but is running out of room, Anderson said. And, other county employ- ees do. not have access to that fitness room. Anderson said he has been approached by his staff about building a fitness facility on the government center site. "I thought, 'What better way of maybe doing this is to team up with the YMCA and put up a building somewhere close to this government center where it benefits not only the coun- ty, but the community, the city of Elk River and county residents.'" Anderson said revenues fi~om housing federal pris- Orono. "There's SOlne con- cern about whether or not it's large enough." Mayor' Stephanie Klinzing said. The other site is in eastern Elk River, just south of Home Depot. K]inzing said in talking to council members and city staff about the Wilson land. "the location that the sheriff is talking about is an excel- lent location for the YMCA." She said when the YMCA first approached the city about a partnership, the city knew it had land available. "The partnership to begin with was exactly the land," Klinzing said. "We under- stand, though, that with the sheriff's proposal, that that might change." She said a local YMCA wonld be a great thing fro' the city and county. The YMCA has been around for 151 years and, she said, "they know what they're doing." ('Staff writer Susan M.A. Larson contributed to this report.)