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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLaurel Revitalization League City of Laurel P.O. Box 10 Laurel, MT 59044 Laurel Revitalization League P.O. Box 395 LAUREL, MONTANA 59044 (406) 628-8105 MINUTES OFTHE MEETFNG HELD APRIL 13, 2000 The Laurel Revitalization League held a meeting on Thursday, April 13, 2000 at Western Security Bunk from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. Those in attendance were Chairperson, Debbie Ricci, Committee Members, Judy Goldsby, Donna Podolak, Jeanne Stabelfaldt, David Rasmussen, Commissioner Jim Reno, Gay Easton, Gary Temple, Smokey Staudinger, Dean Rankin, Steven Kops and guest (son of the lady from Germuny who owns Orchid Cleaners), and representatives from the Herbsffest Comm itttee, Lynette Perkins, Jeanne Stabelfeldt, Paul Wagner and Art ?. Debbie Ricci called the meeting to order and thanked the representatives fi-om the Herbstfest Committee for attending this meeting. Debbie explained that the Herbsffest means a great deal to the community of Laurel. She stated that two months ago she was asked to get involved with the Western Heritage Center in their efforts to create a dfrectory listing the events of the area as well as the artists. As par/: of this, she was invited to travel to West Virginia and North Carolina to speak with people from Handmade America. She was very impressed with their whole program and what they have accomplished. While speaking with these people, it was stressed that the Herbsffest celebration is a great celebration of heritage and very important to the community. Debbie stated that there is a great need for other groups like the Laurel Revitalization League to work with the Herbstfest in order to bring it beck to Laurel as a part of Laurel's heritage. Debbie also stated that in the past, muny things have been said and she feels that this could be the beginning of a partnership between the two groups. She also stated that she has alteriur motives in the fact that the Hcrbsffest am'acts people to Lat~el and helps to fill the Laurel stores. Debbie asked what the group could do to help. Debbie explained that the LRL was notified recently that permission is granted to block off a sweet in order to hold Farmers Markets. The Farmers Markets will begin on July I5~ and run through October 7th with one being held each Saturday fi'om 3 a.m. to noon. The Herbsffest celebration will follow and tie in to the whole idea of the celebration of harvest. Booth spaces at the Farmers Markets will be available to the Herbsfiest in order to sell tickets. Debbie said that she is aware that the problem facing the Herbstfest is where to hold the celebration. She stated that there are grants available to help with the costs. Lynette Perkins said that it might be too late into the season to start applying for grant money. Debbie also said that there are tents available and added that Rob Harris has one that can be used for a very minimal amoant of money. Lynette said that she spoke to Rob about this and they found that the tent was too small. David Rasmussen stated that he has heard comments from people in Red Lodge as well as Billings about the celebration being held at Oscar's Pa&. Most are unhappy that it is being held so far from Laurel. Debbie stated that she has researched the history of the celebrations and most that are held in Germany are held outside in either tents or town squares and asked if that would be possible in Laurel. Jeanne Stabelfeldt asked if held outside, where would people dance. David suggested the sweet dance theme. A member of the committee said that people would not like dancing on the street and would refuse to do so. Another member said that the people from Laarel do not attend that celebration. Debbie said that this needs to be addressed in order to regenerate an interest on the part of the Laurel penpie. David said that he couldn't imagine people from Laurel not attending if it were held here. Debbie said that the Farmes's Market poses a great opportunity for the group to promote the Herbstfest with tickets. Donna Pedolak stated that there is also a need to get more people to sell German food. Debbie said that she would like to see this turned into a win/win situation by making the celebration more attractive to families, the elderly and the businesses of Laurel. She asked how to get this to be a positive thing again since it is a part of Laurel's identity. She also stated that if it is found that the event has to be totally redone, there are resources to do that. David stated that the group spoke to Jim McAdoo at the Horse Palace and was told that the rent of the building would be $1,000.00 per day. Early setup would not be allowed and the whole thing would have to be tom down in one day. Jeanne said that Linda Wedel spoke to Jim McAdoo and got him to agree to rent the building for two days at $1,000.00 per day and not charge for set up time. Judy Goldsby stated that $1,000.00 per day would go a long way in getting the celebration held elsewhere. The committee could make a lot of money if the event were held in the street. It was stated that holding the event in the strect would pose a security problem and came parking problems. Another item to conside=' ' with holding it in the street is where to charge for admission. Do you charge for each thing like dancing, booths, and common area? Debbie cautioned not to reinvent the wheel. lfsomething works well, go for it. Debbie also stated that the City is working to ereate mere parking downtown by putting in diagonal parking. The City has been very cooperative with working with the different groups. Lynette said that street dances have been held in the past by the Yellowstone Bank and this area is blocked off. Debbie suggested opening this up for the other groups around Laurel and try to get all to work together to bring the Herbstfest back. Lynette stated that the group does not have any start-up money and confirmation of the location needs to be done now. She stated that last year $4,000.00 was spent on one band. Debbie said that grant f~mding is available aRer July 1". Jeanne said that a big expense was the rental of tables and chairs. If the event were held in Laurel, many the local churches probably would be able to donate the use of the tables and chairs. Paul said that a location would have to be big enough to hold the 30 x 70 wooden dance floor, which would mean an area of 2,100 feet. Rob Harris' tent measures 40 x 60 and would not work for this. Paul also said that they have looked at several options. Debbie suggested Frontier Town as a location. She said that the owners have worked with the DEQ and are in the process of creating a septic system. This could be under water, though. Priscilla, the owner, has offered tours of the location. Another area that Debbie suggested is Wood's Pow'r Grip. Only land and no buildings would be available for use. It was stated that people are setting up $25,000.00 worth of equipment and would not be able to do this because of the security if held outdoors. David suggested hiring midnight security for this. Lynette said that in the past, they have hired security at a cost of $1,500.00 per day. David stated that Newall, Minnesota holds a huge Octobeffest with the major part of the celebration outside and the other parts held in the civic center, businesses, and museum. They close off about 8 blocks and end up getting a crowd of around 20,000 people in attendance. Another suggestion was made to use the concrete banker of Fibervision's since this would allow the children of the attendees to have access to the skating rink, Smokey suggested Riverside Park and using the buildings as well as tents. It was stated that this are does not have the parking capabilities. It was also stated that there is a great deal of expense for the event. About $10,000,00 is spent on bands, $2,000.00 for the facility, and other costs. The group is open to keeping the event in Laurel, but a~er much research, has found that the best location at this Cane is Oscar's since they have ample parking and building space with ample room for dancing. Last year, they did receive less traffic, but it was also very poor weather for the event. Debbie stated that if tents were use&, the Laurel Posse could be reenaete& Debbie also stated that she would like to see these meetings to be kept going between the two groups and will work on getting a roundtable meeting set up with all of the groups in Laurel in the next few weeks. She will put this together end will try to get at least two representatives from each group. Lynette stated that the Laurel businesses need to start welcoming penpie to town. Dean Rankin stated that it is not the businesses fault that people are not welcomed to town. He and others offer their window fronts to all athletic groups for decorating and they try to promote the different events. Debbie said that the LRL is working to create a Business Improvement District tax that could possibly provide funding for things. She stated that once there is money to work with, it might come down to having a community pot that could be drawn out of by each of the groups. It was also stated that the Laurel Outlook needs to get more involved with the groups in order to get the word out. Debbie thanked all for attending and promised to help them get the event back to Laurel. Debbie presented all present a quote from Spring Creek Landscaping Co. for the town square park. This quote is $49,775.00 for the completion of the park with volunteer labor not being added in. Debbie stated that they recently met with the Yellowstone Bank and landscaper to go over the plans and found that they like the plans just the way that they are presented. The plans do not show the elevations, half mils, partial wails, or that the area is visible all of the way to the back of the park. Since there are security issues, more lighting will be added. Debbie stated that the landscaper took the plans back in order to bid this as if it were a complete project with no room for donated labor. The total amount of the project is needed for applying for grant funding. The landscaper does require $20,000.00 down payment. Since this is a serious step, the LRL will need to go back to the Yellowstone Bank to see what they will dn. Debbie asked if anyone had questions. Donna asked if the plants and trees will be able to be donated or if they had to be done through the landscaper. Debbie said that they could be donated. Steven Kops asked if the Yellowstone Bank is ready to work with the LRL on this project. Debbie stated that she is not sore and added that they paid $70,000.00 for the land and that is a lot ofmoney in itselE She said that onee the .,I numbers are in, grant writing could be done for the money needed. The first step in this process is to make a presentation to Big Sky Economic Development Organization and Tom Kazerski of the Beartooth RC&D. Debbie said that Ty Elkin is the representative through the Yellowstone Bank. . ' Debbie stated that the Laurel Volunteer Fire Department contacted her about getting some help with tti~ cleaning of the underpass on April 26m at 7:00 p.m. They need help with traffic control and to k th '~ '~: gate closed. Debbie stated that the Chamber has orange vests that they would gladly let the volunteers ~.-'7:~ For this. Smokey Staudinger stated that the Auxilliary Police l)epar~nefit has so many hoors that they[rove to contribute before they are allowed to work. He suggested contacting them. Debbie said that Kim would handle this issue. Dean Rankin stated that Ace Hardware has decided to donate 15 gallons of paint towards this project. The total amount needed is about 30 gnllons and the store will sell the remaining 15 gallons at cost to the LRL. He was not sure ifa primer or sealer would be needed and that depends on the condition of the cement. He offered to get with Debbie tomorrow to test a spot with the color. If this spot stays, then primer and sealer will not be needed. Dean explained that masonry primer acts as filler and holds the paint better. Even if some areas have to be primed, not all of the underpass should have to have primer applied. The cost of primer is about $I2.00 per gallon. He stated that some of the areas are still in good condition, but the whole underpass really needs to be power washed. Debbie asked if color was a problem became it has been decided to go with tetra cotta for the color. Dean said that the color is not a problem. Tri County Rental may provide help with the scaffolding. Debbie encooraged all to show up on April 29a' with rollers to get this project completed. Debbie stated that Scott Montgomery of the Laorel Middle School contacted her about having 50 kids clean up Laurel doring school hoors on April 26m through 28th. These students will be grouped by 12 in each group and are looking for areas around town that work. Scott asked Debbie if the LRL would pick up the garbage and get these to the dump areas. Debbie said that she could provide a flatbed trailer if anyone would be willing to pick up the garbages. Smoke'5, said that he would pick up the garbages on Friday. Debbie said that is the reason for painting the underpass. It was decided to paint it on the 29th in conjunction with Bright and Beautiful week. The Public Works Committee agreed to allowing the LRL to paint the underpass as well as close of the area doring that time. The Highway Department also gave permission for this, Discussion was held on the trees in the business district of Laurel. These trees were planted by the Chamber years ago. The Chamber sent a letter to the City requesting they take the responsibility of the urees over. The City wrote a letter back advising that the business owner will handle the trees in front of their businesses. Steven Kops's building and sidewalk area is being mined due to the wee. He asked the LRL if help could be provided with removing this tree. Gary Temple stated that it is very good to know that the business owners have the right to tell people who post signs on the trees that they cannot do this. Debbie stated that the LRL could provide sweat, hauling, chopping, etc. but cannot provide the funds for removal of the trees. If an exception is made for one business owner, then all will expect this out of the LRL. Gary. asked if the trees are going to be changed once the streetscape design is chosen. Debbie said that there is no way of knowing this at this time. Gary also stated that there would be a problem with the property line where some trees are p Ionted in front of two different businesses. Who is liable for the repair of the sidewalk? Steven was asked about how much money was quoted for the removal of the tree. He stated that he was quoted a price of anywqhere between $225.00 and $300.00. Debbie suggested that all that is really needed is a chainsaw. Steven said that there would still be a problem with the rents tmless a special solution is applied to the roots. He also is concerned about the power lines if the tree is not professionally removed. Debbie said that she would do more investigative work into this matter and see what the LPL can do to help. Debbie reported that the Farmer's Market had to change its name. A man by the name of Craig Johnson already has Laorel Farmer's Market registered with the state. The name chosen is LRL Farmers Square. Bob Wiens is working to get this name registered with the state. The posters for this will be done next week. Debbie said that a budget has to be set for this, R~gisWation forms ore also being sent out There a lot of interest on behalf of the vendors. The markets should ~d up being very successful. Jan's IGA has given the group pennission to paint an advertisement for the markets on the silo by Hardee~ A specisl meeting ws3 held to see if the grain elevator was sound. This elevator'v~S bulit i~! '1967 ~':;. a huge foundation, The engine~ who judged the soundness of the elevator slated ~it is ~mb foot'~ff but'~ acceptab~e~fanelevat~r~s3feet~p~um~the~itwarrantsdem~i~e~.~Lm~;M~r~[-~s~d~i~ five years. Debbie stated that it would be ~great to s~e something done 'with en~ ~l~a{or~kx&' a '~'~ hi~t~ri, part of Laurel. Judy stated that she has talked to people about this issue and they have told her that they would like to see the elevator kept but are not vAlling to pay any money to have it stay. Debbie reported that YMCA's fundraiser was a great success. The group raised $18,000.00 at this The meeting was adjourned.