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7ity of <br /> <br />River <br /> <br />MEMOIL&NDUM <br /> <br />Item # <br /> <br />TO: <br /> <br />FROM: <br /> <br />DATE: <br /> <br />SUBJECT: <br /> <br />Mayor & City Council <br /> <br />Pat Klaers, City Admi ~n~?'a/t~ <br />February 14, 2000 <br /> <br />Capital Improvement Program (CIP) <br /> <br />At the January 24, 2000, joint meeting of the School District Board and the <br />City Council, discussion took place regarding a possible joint facility. A shared <br />facility may mean different things to different people, but the goals of the <br />School Board seemed clear in that the facility had to address their Community <br />Education, Early Childhood, and Special Education needs. The term "family <br />center" was used during the discussion and Administrator of Community <br />Education Charlie Blesener indicated that, on a preliminary basis, their needs <br />involved somewhere between 30-40,000 square feet. By way of comparison the <br />City Council should note that the City Hall complex (including the police <br />station, garage, and open/group space) is a total of approximately 28,000 <br />square feet. In 1992-93, the facility, including capitalized interest expenses, <br />approached $2.9 million and the FF&E was almost $400,000. <br /> <br />One fact needs to be clearly stated before discussion on a joint facility begins. <br />This fact is that if both the city and the school want a joint facility to become <br />reality, then it can happen. However, it should also be made very clear that <br />completing any type of shared facility is a very long, and quite possibly very <br />difficult, process planning and funding. <br /> <br />It seems that the first order of business for the City Council in discussing this <br />issue is to make a decision regarding the city goals for a facility. By this I <br />mean the city should decide what is truly needed to be constructed in the near <br />future versus identifying what type of facilities would be "nice to have," but <br />are not on the immediate horizon because of funding. By way of background, <br />attached is some material from about ten years ago when the first Community <br />Center Task Force worked on a proposal. <br /> <br />From my point of view, the number one issue that the city needs to address is <br />space for large and small meetings. An auditorium sized facility that would <br /> <br />13065 Orono Parkway · P.O. Box 490 · Elk River, MN 55330 · TDD & Phone: (612) 441-7420 · Fax: (612) 441-7425 <br /> <br /> <br />