HomeMy WebLinkAboutPark Board Minutes 03.02.2017 City of Laurel
Park Board Minutes
Thursday, March 2, 2017
In attendance were Park Board Members: Chuck Dickerson, Scott Stokes,Amy Pollock; and
Public Works Director, Kurt Markegard,and Matt Wheeler.Absent was Iry Wilke, LuAnne
Engh.
Others in attendance: Bruce McGee,Council Member; Matt Wheeler, Maintenance Shop
Supervisor; Kathleen Guilly, Laurel Outlook; Curtis Lord &James Eastman, Laurel Rod &Gun
Club.
1. Public Comment: None
2. Reviewed and approved minutes from February 2, 2017,meeting. Chuck moved to
accept,Amy seconded. Unanimously approved-3-o.
3. Combining Boards—Chuck&Scot talked to Tom Nelson from the Cemetery Board, and
will be meeting soon and with Sam Painter, our City Attorney. They are looking into what
needs to be done legally if that is the recommendation.They will talk and organize a meeting
for the three boards to meet and discuss whether to move forward. However, there are
currently no members in town from the Tree Board.
4. Board Membership— We are currently down two members,one Council Member and
one community member. (We lost Bruce McGee and Gretchen Paulson.) Phyllis Bromgard may
have submitted a letter of interest to the mayor,but we believe he has put it on hold until we
figure out what is going on with the combining of the boards. Kathleen Guilly,from the
Outlook,said that she could possibly do an article in Outlook looking for people interested in
Public Service.Although,if Phyllis has truly sent in the letter of interest,we may not have a
position open for an additional citizen member.Also, not sure if there is a Council Member
interested in serving to fill that position.
5. Update on funds from Department of Justice: Kurt informed us that he visited with
Alicia Stickney of the Natural Resource Damage Program, Mt Dept of Justice.They discussed
who should sit on the board,when it will start, when money will be allocated, etc. Currently,
much is unknown because the Advisory Group still isn't set up.The Mayor has asked Ken
Olson to represent Laurel as a member of the Advisory Group that recommends how to allocate
the funds.
Kurt&Alicia acknowledged we would be competing against Yellowstone County, City of
Billings, and possibly non-profit organizations (such as the Lion's Club who incurred damage
by having increased fishing at South Pond since the river was unavailable). They discussed
having a form to identify projects and then having the group look at those. In order to "level the
playing field"for smaller communities who don't have the resources for grant writing, etc.that
Billings has,Alicia said they will look into making help available.
In addition, Kurt asked Alicia if we went ahead and used some of our reserved funds to go
forward with a Master Plan for Riverside Park, if we could possibly be reimbursed for the
amount the City pays.Alicia thought that would be an option,but could not guarantee as that is
an Advisory Group decision. (The Governor actually has the ultimate decision as he CAN veto
and not take their recommendations.)
Kurt brought samples from Great Western of other Master Plans for parks throughout the
state. The Board discussed moving forward with the Master Plan and hope that we will be
reimbursed for our portion of the match. Chuck mentioned there was a resolution to be
introduced at the next business meeting on March 7, 2017,which would allocate our portion of
the cost to put together a Master Plan. (We would spend up to $25,000 and Big Sky Trust Fund
would match us up to that amount.)
Other items Kurt discussed was the possibility of the boat ramp and bathrooms NOT being the
request of the City of Laurel. Possibly the MT Fish &Game could sponsor the boat ramp and a
combined effort for the bathrooms.
6. Lease Negotiations: Gifting the Laurel Rod &Gun Club building—It was mentioned that
we were still waiting on city attorney to weigh in on the item. Curtis Lord of the Laurel Rod and
Gun Club expressed frustration at the length of time it is taking to get this resolved.An article
was published in the Laurel Rod &Gun Club Newsletter that was referred to at a City Council
meeting. Chuck expressed his concern that it came with a lot of negativity. However, Mr. Lords
said he was told in January of 2015 that Heidi would get back to him after she returned from
vacation,but the group has heard nothing. He said they have provided the information
concerning the condition of the building and all information had been given to Heidi 6/2/15.
Chuck mentioned the Park Board is still waiting for direction from Heidi and the City Attorney
in order to know what we can do.
Amy aired her frustrations as Mr. Lord said Heidi said she was waiting on direction from the
Park Board.Amy said we recommended over a year ago that the building be gifted to the
Laurel Rod and Gun Club and that we have been waiting for a decision from the City Attorney
ever since.
Lease for Laurel Rifle Club: As far as the leases go,the Park Board has been given the "go
ahead"from Heidi to submit suggested leases for her and the City Attorney to review. Bruce
McGee,former Park Board meeting suggested it's time for the Park Board to take on the leases.
The authorization is in the code and the Park Board needs to move forward. Bruce suggested
talking to the organizations such as the Laurel Rifle Club and make conditions such as we are
willing to lease this to you for X amount of dollars IF you fix the fan system,bathrooms, etc up
to code with it understood that there will be no use until it's fixed.
8. Other items: Kurt will not be here for the next meeting as he will be on medical leave. Matt
Wheeler will be here in his place and/or we may be able to Skype. Need to add Matt
Wheeler to our emails.
Meeting was adjourned at 6:45Pm
Respectfully submitted by
Amy Pollock, Park Board Member