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Council votes <br />to stay in area <br />recreation pact <br />City could still drop out in 1997 <br /> <br />by Tracie Wivoda <br />Staff writer <br /> The Zln~merman City <br />Council recently voted !*to <br />continue <br />participa- <br />tion for 1996 <br />in the seven- <br />community <br />joint powers <br />recreation <br />systen~ . <br /> "It was no <br />mystery that <br />they (the Jeff A~fahl. <br />'council) had <br />some concern as to the value <br />of the program to the com- <br />munity,". - Community <br />Recreation Director Jeff'. <br />As£ahl said. ~I was happy <br />that they decided to continue <br />for 1996, anal see it as an <br />oppor0mity for us tn contin- <br />ue to prove tn them that they <br />are getting good value .for <br />their money." <br /> Although council members <br />voted to mainfaln the agre~ <br />ment for 1996, they also <br />voted tn make a decision by. <br />June i in order to give prop: <br />er notification if the agree- <br />ment will not be continued <br />for 1997. <br /> The council instructed <br />Clerk Nelda Remus to look <br />into the cost of alternatives. <br />In addition, they asked <br />As£ahl to provide 1997 pro- <br />jections for community recre- <br />ation- These reports are tn be <br />presented in May for a deci- <br />sion regarding the continu- <br />ing of the agreement for <br />1997. <br /> Council Member Dick Lenz <br />said at the meeting that he <br />feels the cost of the program <br />is rising at an alarming rate. <br /> Asfahl reported that the <br />increases in the past have <br />been 3 to 5 percent annually, <br />with the exception of 1996 <br />which saw a significant <br />increase. He reported that <br />the Community Recreation <br />Board felt that the direction <br />they wanted to go jus~fied <br />the increase. <br /> <br /> In addition, Asfahl told <br />council members that he <br />could not change the partici- <br />pation figures to make them <br />look different. The budget for <br />the Community Recreation <br />Board is set by the board <br />members, and .is based on <br />their belief in the program <br />and the benefits received <br />from it. He said that of the <br />eight participants in the. <br />joint powers agreement, <br />seven of them give their full <br />support to the progranL <br /> Asfahl also reported that <br />the personnel commit-tee put <br />in place a strategy so that no <br />community Would have that. <br />large an increase again. He <br />reported t. hat he has learned <br />through conferences t. hat <br />research has shown that for <br />the value of the <br />spent, the dollars go a long <br />way. He also said that the <br />department is a clearing- <br />house for. other activities <br />within the community. - <br />The Community <br />Recreation Program provides <br />a r~creation director for the <br />area comprised of Elk River, <br />Otsego, Dayton, Rogers, <br />Zirnmerman plus Livonia <br />and Hassan townships. <br /> "All of the cities and tewn- <br />ships participating have <br />investigated what it fakes tn <br />have a professional depart- <br />ment provide and administer <br />a recreation program and <br />know f. hat the joint powers <br />agreement is a good value for <br />their money, and thags why <br />they're participaflng in the <br />agreement," Asfahi said. <br />"itYs beneficial for communi- <br />ties to work together and <br />coordinate recreation needs. <br />Each community has the <br />same concern.., by doing it <br />jointly, it's much cheaper <br />than doing it on their own. <br /> "I feel it would be unafford- <br />able for Zimmermau to pro- <br />vide recreation on their own, <br />and unwise because of the <br /> <br />Recreation tv page 2 <br /> <br /> <br />