06-25-2001 CC MIN - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

City Council Minutes June 25, 2001 5.4. Nuisance Complaint Update Page 3 This item was continued until the July 9 meeting. 5.5. Discussion on Community Recreation City Administrator Pat Kdaers provided some background information on the status of the community recreation organization. It was noted that the City of Otsego and Hassan Township have recently with&awn from the Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) and the only remaining participants are the City of Rogers, Elk River, and the School District. If a new budget was put together then Elk River would be then be responsible for 84% of the expenditures. It was recommended that the city with&aw from the JPA, pursue the hiring of the community recreation staff as city recreation employees, and that the city establish its own city recreation program. Councilmember Motin offered some observations of the community recreation organization over the past 30 months that he has been on the board. Issues the board has had difficulty dealing with included language for a revised JPA and continuing to try to keep costs low in order to retain membership. Councilrnember Motin indicated that he believed there was little benefit for the city to remain a member of the JPA. Non-resident fees for participating in Elk River programs and the possibility of contracting with neighboring communities to provide recreation programs were discussed. Councilmember Dietz strongly encouraged a significant increase in non-resident fees to cover our expenses and so that it would not be cost effective for the communities that withdrew to simply participate in Elk River programs. The Council concurred with this comment. The Council also indicated its support to provide recreation programs to the City of Rogers on a contract basis but to not offer contracted services to the communities that have with&awn from the JPA. The city's relationship with youth associations was discussed as was the scheduling of fields for these various youth groups. There was discussion on the need for a cooperative agreement between the school district and the city for the use of facilities. Concern was expressed over the increased cost to the city for providing recreation services. Analysis of the finances has not taken place, but the city administrator noted that some of the increased cost would be offset by additional non-resident fees and by the potential contracting for services with the City of Rogers. The concept of a city park and recreation department was briefly discussed. The city administrator noted that when city hall expansion is completed in 2004 it is likely to include space for a park and recreation department (director and support staff) and that recreation programming would be a division within the park and recreation department. Councilmember Kuester briefly reviewed efforts of the tree preservation task force and stated that, regardless of the recommendation from the task force, it is expected that additional staffing would be needed to adequately ad&ess tree preservation and that this could fall within the park and recreation department. COUNCILMEMBER DIETZ MOVED TO WITHDRAW FROM THE COMMUNITY RECREATION JOINT POWERS AGREEMENT AND THAT THE SIX-MONTH NOTICE SHOULD BE SENT IMMEDIATELY. COUNCILMEMBER TVEITE SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 4-0-1. COUNCILMEMBER MOTIN ABSTAINED.