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3-9-a®1(p P*'`"* <br />We are here tonight to express our extreme disappointment with the decisions that Michael <br />Hecker and Tim Sevcik have made in the last several months, and in the direction they are <br />headed with the City Parks and Hillside specifically. <br />Ten years ago, the DirtWirx crew began the process of taking an abandoned mountain bike trail <br />and turning it into a major attraction for the City of Elk River, and according to City staff and <br />documentation, we brought in approximately $34,000 of income directly to the City in a five <br />year period, and much more than that to the local businesses of this community. All of the <br />DirtWirx crew labor was provided at NO COST at all to the City, we have a perfect ten year <br />safety record, and the public opinion of the park is that we have created an exceptional and <br />unique mountain bike venue that stands out in this entire region of the United States. <br />At the last Park Commission meeting, several of you directly voiced your concerns to Mike and <br />Tim that they should make more of an effort to communicate with us. Since that meeting a <br />month ago, neither of them has made one single attempt to communicate with us in any way <br />whatsoever. <br />It is consistent behavior like this that has forced to us to form the following opinion: Mike and <br />Tim have decided that volunteers are no longer needed to maintain Hillside Park to keep it safe <br />and enjoyable. We believe this is a huge mistake. Even though we care for the park like it is our <br />own, we know that the City ultimately controls its destiny. Good or bad. <br />We regret to inform you that we are formally resigning from the position of Hillside Park Trail <br />Stewards. Here are all the keys from the five core crew members. We have cancelled all future <br />events, and will be informing all of our loyal and supportive sponsors of our resignation. We <br />will be requesting a meeting with the Mayor as soon as possible to try to provide any <br />constructive information or advice we can that may help Hillside's future. We have a number of <br />concerns and details we could provide you with tonight, but we do not feel it would be <br />productive to express them in this venue. If you are interested in these details, you have our <br />contact information. We request that the City immediately remove all references to DirtWirx <br />from Hillside Park. The condition of the park now rests squarely on the shoulders of the Parks <br />Department. <br />Sue Seeger <br />Pseudosu64@gmail.com <br />Rich Omdahl <br />rich.omdahl @ gmail .com <br />