11/04/2002 Park Board Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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A. The only commitment for indoor facility use from the School District is gym space at the Middle School five nights per week starting at 6:00 p.m. The School District has completely removed our priority use of gym space at Rice Lake Elementary School. Therefore, the City is expected to fund the maintenance of the outdoor facilities at the Centennial Middle School, Rice Lake Elementary School, and Blue Heron Elementary School in exchange for one gym per night at the Centennial Middle School. The School District is proposing the City to maintain more athletic fields, yet utilize less gym space! B. "The District shall provide maintenance of the irrigation systems at Rice Lake Elementary and Blue Heron Elementary at no cost to the City." The City currently maintains the Rice Lake Elementary School irrigation system. The School District maintains the Centennial Middle School irrigation system that is in very poor condition. Again, how can the School District in good faith suggest the City take over maintenance of a problematic irrigation system (Centennial Middle School) in exchange for maintaining the irrigation system at Rice Lake Elementary School which is in good condition since we have provided proper preventative maintenance and inspections? The proposed site agreement indicates to me that the School District has no desire to address our past concerns. To expect the City of Lino Lakes to maintain additional outdoor facilities while reducing the available use of indoor facilities is unreasonable. Poor Communication by Community Service Department (CSD) Staff CSD staff has demonstrated a lack of communication and effort in several instances, which has created ill will for everyone involved. The most recent example of lack of communication dealt with the School Board adoption of a new school use policy. On August 23, 2002, city staff received a memo from Ms. Wyland dated August 21, 2002. The memo indicated the revised facility use policy prevents adult programs from being held prior to 8:00 p.m. The memo also indicated that the School Board was scheduled to have the first reading of the new policy on August 26, 2002. At this time our Fall Recreation Brochure was already printed and being mailed to all Lino Lakes residents. Since the revised policy dramatically affects our programs, some effort of CSD staff warning us in advance was warranted. It should be noted that the facility use application forms were sent to the CSD staff several months ago. Therefore, the School District was well aware of the programs that would be affected by the new facility use policy. Since we were given no advance warning about the new policy, several programs held at the Rice Lake Elementary School have been in limbo. City staff was unable to answer questions from registered participants whether we would be allowed to conduct the classes as advertised in the Recreation brochure. This uncertainty with the general public certainly did not place the Parks and Recreation Department in a favorable light. The subsequent passage of this new policy and actions (and inactions) of CSD staff has created a lot of turmoil for city staff and our program participants. For example, the city has conducted an aerobics /yoga program at Rice Lake Elementary School on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the past 10 years. The School District informed us that the aerobics program needed to be relocated to an alternate location. The first suggestion by the CSD staff was the Centennial Middle School Wrestling Room. The rubber matting is not conducive for an aerobics program. The CSD staff then suggested Golden Lake Elementary School Cafeteria. Based on our approximate 40 participants per class attendance and its location outside of Lino Lakes, we indicated that this alternative was not acceptable. The CSD staff then determined that the most suitable location for the aerobics program was at the Centennial Middle School Gymnasium. This decision not only 3