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MCC Advisory Board Minutes 04-29-2004COMMUNITY CENTER ADVISOR Y BOARD REGULAR MEETING MINUTES APRIL 29, 2004 - 4:30 P.M. ACADEMY ROOM Board Members Present: Harvey Kendall -Chair, Richard Quick -Vice Chair, Sandra Theros and Bruce Thielen Staff Members Present: Jeff O'Neill -Deputy Administrator and Kitty Baltos-Director Guests Present: Scott Ziessman, Owner Fantastic Sams Meeting called to order by Harvey Kendall at 4:35 p.m. 2. ITEM 7 moved up to first item: Consideration of allowing partnerships with businesses as sponsors of departments of the Community Center and defining policies or parameter for such ventures. Scott Ziessman, Fantastic Sams Owner, shared the idea that he approached Kitty Baltos with; the Community Center would present a coupon for dollars off Fantastic Sam's services and as they were turned into the business, Scott would pay a dollar for dollar donation to the Community Center for their programming department. Mr. Ziessman noted that he has just begun this program with the Elk River Park and Recreation Department, however, it is not a nationwide Fantastic Sam's promotion. Kitty Baltos expressed concern about favoring one business over another. Harvey Kendall expressed to Mr. Ziessman that we would not be able to promise exclusive privileges to Fantastic Sam's if another business requested to do a similar promotion. Sandra Theros questioned who's responsibility it would be to copy or print the coupons. Mr Ziessman noted that the City would most likely be able to produce the coupons on a copier for significantly cheaper than he can have them printed and said that he would gladly reimburse the cost back to the City. MOTION by Bruce Thielen to run the program for six (6) months to enable the Community Center to determine if there might be any problems or community concerns about this practice and that Fantastic Sam's would not be promised exclusivity for this program, SECOND by Richard Quick, MOTION PASSED. 3. Consideration of adding items to the agenda. Kitty Baltos added the February 2004 meeting minutes for approval. She inadvertently left them off the agenda. 4. Presentation from Jeff O'Neill on the proposed movement of the Old Methodist Church to the west end of the Community Center parking lot. Mr. O'Neill provided a brief history of the Methodist Church; a. it's been of the chopping block for a number of years b. it is currently owned by Sunny Fresh Foods who is hoping to have it moved C. it was built in 1957 and is on the National Registry, it will be torn down and lost if not moved, d. The Monticello Arts Board investigated the possibility of moving it and using it but abandoned the idea due to funding shortages, e. The Swan River Montessori School stepped forward with a proposal to have the building moved and use the main portion of the church as an assembly area and build classrooms around the church. f. Mr. O'Neill felt that the proposal fit with the City's comprehensive plan, would be available for rentals for the Community Center evenings and weekends with the revenue going to MCC. g. Bruce Thielen said that their were concerns expressed about the City providing land to a public school. If the school did not succeed, would the City still own the land. Mr. O'Neill stated that this is one of the issue that is still being worked on. The mechanics of the move would be Sunny Fresh providing $200,000 for the move and to include closing up the remaining building, however, the City feels that this should be responsibility of Sunny Fresh. The City will move the building, Swan River will obtain Charter status from the state which will in turn make monies available to the school for repayment to the City for expenses. There is a concern about asbestos in the building. The State Health Department provides that the building can be move without asbestos clean up as long as the asbestos is not disturbed. Fred Patch, City's Chief Building Official, is hiring a structural engineer to our ability to move the building. Dick Quick gave information on the asbestos in the walls as a past church member and volunteer. A concern expressed is that the City is supporting a school that could possibly take students away from the public schools. Has the School District been talked to? It is believed that the school will lose no more than 20% of it's students to this new school and that the Charter school will draw from a larger area and possibly bring families to the Monticello area. The school would be students through sixth grade and house approximately 120 students. Other thoughts and concerns expressed by the Board: Dick Quick - Who would locally approve the Charter School and who would supervise their Charter? A structural engineer stated 20 years ago that the building would need to be destroyed in 20 years. Their were concerns about paint adhering to the siding due to the insulation. Harvey Kendall - Did Swan River look at other possible sites? Bruce Thielen informed that their costs would rise significantly if the building has to be moved farther. Questioned who would be responsible for the set up and clean up in the school if MCC uses? Would they have janitors and maintenance. Would MCC need to reimburse for heat and electricity? Harvey expressed concern about the appearance of the City doing more for another school especially during difficult budget times for the public school. Did Swan River look into renting Eastview? Jeff O'Neill said that he hopes that Swan River will have enough space to install an outdoor play area that could be used by the general public, however, Bruce Thielen expressed concern about an unsupervised attraction. He felt that there could be concerns about who the users of this park might be after school hours. The move is planned for June 1, 2004. No action is required from the Advisory Board at this time. This was informational only. 5. Update Items: a. Wheel Park opening and planned competition: The wheel Parks opened two nice weekends in April and will open after school and weekends in May. Kitty reported that she added a piece of equipment, a pyramid, to the skate park this year with the money not used for the ATM machine. This was a suggestion from the park users. MCC is sponsoring a board team with Nendsa Bike Shop this year. They will do demos for us and for other communities wearing MCC t-shirts. Kitty gave free season passes to our three board team members. MCC is planning to do a competition in the Parks on Saturday of RiverFest weekend. This will be a judged event run by The Third Lair. The RiverFest committee has been notified and approves of this addition. b. Seim Lessons and pool closures for the summer: MCC for the past two summers has closed the pool during summer swim lessons to be able to offer the maximum number of lessons and will be doing so again this year. They are planning to do a direct mail newsletter informing members and posting notices prominently to reduce any confusion. C. Financial and membership update: Kitty Baltos provided revenue and expenses through February 2004 and membership information through March 2004 as information for the Board. d. Mississippi Room Patio Fence: Kitty reported that footings will be dug any day and the fence should be done by the end of May. 6. Consideration of approving the minutes from the January 22, 2004 even though there was not a quorum from that meeting at the current meeting. MOTION by Sandra Theros to approve the minutes as presented, SECOND by Harvey Kendall, ABSTAINING Richard Quick and Bruce Thielen as they were not present at the meeting and Tom Neumann is no longer on the Advisory Board. MOTION PASSED with a two person quorum. 7. Consideration of approving the minutes from the February 26,2004 regular meeting. MOTION by Richard Quick to approve, SECOND by Sandra Theros, MOTION PASSED. 8. Consideration of accepting Bob Grabinski as a Board member to replace the position vacated by Tom Neumann. This term would expire on December 31, 2004. MOTION by Harvey Kendall to approve Bob Grabinski as a Board member, SECOND by Richard Quick, MOTION PASSED. 9. Consideration of making the Community Center a smoke or tobacco free facility, exempting the Mississippi Room patio, based on recommendations made by TATU (Teens Against Tobacco Use) at the Parks Commission on April 22, 2004. Bruce Thielen was at the Parks Commission meeting and informed that Coon Rapids just made this change exempting their City owned golf course. Harvey Kendall expressed concern that smoking might become a government issue and that the rights of the smokers need to be considered. Richard Quick expressed that MCC is a family facility and except for the weddings this would be a good fit for the facility. The Board asked that Kitty Baltos follow up with other communities and with the Parks Commission and report back at the next meeting. 10. Consideration of allowing the Community Center to use collection agencies for certain accounts and defining a policy as to when this would be initiated. Kitty Baltos reported that this is not a significant problem, however, after a number of calls with no response or broken promises from the customer, her only recourse is to write the item off. The Board agreed without a motion that it would be okay to use collections agencies if absolutely necessary. 11. MOTION by Richard Quick to adjourn the meeting at 6:00 p.m., SECOND by Sandra Theros, MOTION PASSED meeting adjourned.