09-24-97 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL SEPTEMBER 24,1997 existing bathrooms should be looked at irrespective of the Historical Society Addition issue. Fahey noted the Historical Society has an opportunity to obtain a French Canadian genealogy collection, and would like additional room to house this collection as well as their existing collection. Pedersen stated that he had reservations about the City building an addition to house the Historical Society. Pedersen questioned the construction of an addition to house records that are significant to a small portion of the City's population. Pedersen indicated that nothing has changed since the previous discussion of the issue to change his mind that an addition would be a good use of City funds. Pedersen felt the issue merited a lot of discussion before getting into details such as bathrooms. Scalze asked about costs for new bathrooms versus upgrading existing bathrooms. Morelan felt that the City needed to find a permanent home far the Historical Society. Morelan stated that he has been open to different alternatives; however, no feasible alternatives have been presented. 7ean Donovan, president of the Historical Society, reported that the Society is continuing to grow. Donovan pointed out that the City's welcome signs acknowledge the City's history pointing out that the City was settled in 1844. Donovan also reported the Historical Society can no longer have groups into the Old Fire Hall to look at their collection, because the Hall does not meet Code for assembly purposes. There are also concerns about the security of the collection in that facility. Donovan reported that the Historical Society has been working on genealogy because it has no room to display artifacts. The main focus of the Historical Society has been the history of Little Canada. Donovan also acknowledged that once the Historical Society can become involved in charitable gambling it can help defray the cost of the addition. Donovan asked that the Council act on the issue during the 1998 Budget process. Fahey asked for a clarification of why the Historical Society could not continue to display its collection at the Old Fire Hall. The City Administrator recalled that because of the occupancy classification in doing this, an elevator would have had to be put in the buiiding to provide access between the two floors. It was pointed out that the cost of an elevator was very expensive, and close to the cost of building an addition onto the City Center. 14