Minutes - 1999/03/22 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mounds View City Council March 22, 1999 Regular Meeting Page 10 if the Council was not comfortable with the amount of discussion at the last Work Session, perhaps other questions pertaining to the overall picture of the finances at the golf course could be addressed at an upcoming Work Session. City Administrator Whiting pointed out that two additional questions had come forward regarding how this consideration relates to other City trucks, particularly those in the Public Works Department, and whether or not there is a truck which could be utilized for this purpose. He indicated there was also the matter of the personal use of vehicles, which has come forward on occasion, and possibly warrants discussion as well. He stated he had not seen anything of concern in this regard. He noted that through speaking with Mr. Hammerschmidt, and based upon the location of his residence, it would appear to be cost effective to take a truck home, in order to pick up a load on the way to the golf course, or to have the vehicle maintained. Mayor Coughlin advised that the discussion should be germane to the postponement. Mayor Coughlin stated in light of the Staff Report, and the fact that they were beginning to see 50-degree temperatures, it was simply a matter of time before the frost would be off the ground, and the golf course could be opened. He advised that the sooner this occurs, the better, adding that the better the quality of the golf course, the more it would be utilized, and people would be willing to pay their hard-earned cash to do so. He stated the Staff Report had provided answers to the majority of questions he had in this regard, and for this reason, he would oppose the postponement. • Council Member Stigney inquired how postponing the decision until after the April 5 Work Session would be detrimental to anything they were proposing to do at the golf course, and why this could not be resolved in conjunction with utilizing a vehicle from the Public Works Department. Mr. Hammerschmidt indicated he was not clear regarding the Public Works Department schedule, in terms of available vehicles. He advised that the previous Council had discussed how the golf course could do a quid quo pro with other departments, when the golf course is an enterprise unit. He explained that in the past, as the Golf Course Director, he has performed certain tasks such as spraying the parks, and has used Parks and Recreation Department equipment at the golf course, which was the nature of this agreement. He pointed out that previous Council's have directed the golf course to be certain they remain separate, and not utilize City-owned or other City facilities to make the golf course successful. Mr. Hammerschmidt stated the Public Works Department has no tracking method by which to charge for equipment, and even if there was a Public Works truck available for the year, there was an issue regarding how the charges would be calculated, and who would set the price. He indicated he had discussed this matter with Director of Public Works Ulrich, who advised that during the same period of time they become busy, the workers for both the parks the streets are utilizing the vehicles, therefore, it was his understanding that no vehicle would be available. Mr. Hammerschmidt stated he could not schedule the use of a truck, because he did not know in advance when they could proceed with the project. He explained that much this would relate to the timing between the busy morning crowd, and busy leagues. He indicated that oftentimes there is an hour and a half window, between noon and 1:30 p.m. during which the work can be done, however, that maybe all they are able to accomplish on that particular day. He stated that