HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Works Committee Minutes 09.13.2004DRAFT
MINUTES
PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE
SEPTEMBER 13, 2004 5:00 PM
COUNCIL CHAMBERS
MEMBERS PRESENT:
OTHERS PRESENT:
Gay Easton
Smokey Staudinger
Mark Mace
Marvin Carter
John Oakes
Dave Siljestrom
Lorraine Craig
Dan Dart Cheryll Lund
Public Input
None.
City Park Leases
Chairman Gay Easton requested that the committee keep in mind that there are issues both inside and
outside of the buildings that need to be addressed, mainly in Riverside Park.
The buildings at Riverside were originally designated as club meeting halls. Now the clubs are sub-
leasing the buildings out for various gatherings.
There are no water meters in the buildings, which means no accountability for the water or sewer. The
minimum charge for a water/sewer bill per month would be $35. The clubs are only paying $1.00 a year
to lease the buildings. The city is also paying electric bills for those buildings. So, the public is
subsidizing those buildings and yet unable to use them unless they rent them from the different clubs.
The outside use at the parks includes the Thomson Park baseball fields and the shooting ranges down at
Riverside.
Gay turned the meeting over to Dave Siljestrom, chair of the sub-committee studying the leases.
There were several key questions from Elk River Law Firm that the group discussed. They are as
follows:
1. Water meters should be installed in each building.
2. Leases should be for a minimum of 3 years and reviewed each year.
3. Leases will state what piece of land and/or building organization is leasing.
4. Liability insurance needs to be raised to $1,000,000.
5. A current list of current repair and replacement cost should be done.
6. Subleasing cannot be done without city's permission and the city should be given 25% of that
fee.
7. City should be named as receiver for any check that is received from the insurance company for
damage. The city will then pay the club back when damage is repaired.
8. Annual rent should be raised from $1.00 a year to a price that is more in line with the property
and/or land is worth.
9. The city should know who is using the buildings and/or land and what they are using the
buildings and/or land for. The city council should then decide if the use is appropriate or not.
10. Control on the age of kids working in the Thomson Park concession is a concern due to liability
issues. This needs to be addressed.
11. A list of the club directors should be given to the city, for emergency contact. And insurance
policy/renewal papers should be given to the city on an annual basis.
Gay suggests that these items be prioritized and looked at in-depth.
Discussion on use of Riverside Park.
There were concerns regarding having the Oktoberfest in Riverside Park (without notification to the
city); safety issue when combining campers and shooting ranges; noise from the shooting range; non-
existence of upkeep on the buildings, and lack of landscaping; and, policing of the park.
Mark Mace stated that he feds that the organizations that are leasing the parks should be asked to come
to a meeting so they can voice concerns and needs. He also feels that it may be time to look at asking
the gun clubs to re-locate in the near future.
Discussion on the possibility of selling some of the "open space" parks and using the money to go
towards the developed parks.
There was also a suggestion that the city considers not taking any more parkland, and asks developers to
donate cash to a park fund instead.
Gay stated that there has been a suggestion made of creating a Park Maintenance District, however that
would be hard to do because the public is not allowed to use all the park facilities in Laurel.
Dan Dart suggested that the committee get the leases revised first and then look at the liability issue
concerning the shooting ranges.
Dave Siljestrom suggested that the city put a clause in the leases that let's the city review them on a
yearly basis so that they can determine ifa particular use is inappropriate at a city park. As a taxpayer
he has a hard time allowing people with guns in a city park where there are campers.
Gay stated that when it becomes a safety issue with public lives involved that it needs to he looked at.
John Oakes stated that the clubs have been down there for many years, and should have a big bank roll
built up. He'd like to give them a year's notice. He wants the city to do something about this now.
Smokey Staudinger stated that he has been a member of the Rod and Gun Club since the 1950's and he
has never seen or heard of an injury or accident caused by a gun.
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