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1 <br />Mayor Stille explained Director Urdahl talked with the Council in their Worksession regarding 2 <br />the history of the field and the drainage and he asked for Director Urdahl to address that again 3 <br />because of the reason for doing this is to fix the drainage problem on the field. 4 <br /> 5 <br />Director Urdahl reviewed the history of the field and drainage problems due to sand and drain 6 <br />tile issues. 7 <br /> 8 <br />City Manager Casey read the following emails to the City Council: 9 <br /> 10 <br />Ms. Karen Weibert, 3409 36th Ave NE: “I would like to speak to the track/football project at the 11 <br />high school/Central Park. I would like to see the track brought up to a competitive standard, and 12 <br />be available for residents, and students to access. I believe this is a good investment, especially if 13 <br />students are being transported to Spring Lake Park. I would like to know how many and how 14 <br />often. I do not believe the 10-million-dollar investment in AstroTurf for the football field is a 15 <br />good investment. I think a minimum number of students / residents will actually benefit from its 16 <br />installation. I would like to see a schedule of how that field would be used, as well as where the 17 <br />numbers of participants come from. 18 <br />The argument of being short of land for a new school is invalid. We are not planning a new 19 <br />school, are we? .The entire community do not support this as they do not even know about it. As 20 <br />I talk with neighbors and friends, people who do not have children in sports, they are very 21 <br />surprised to hear about it. Will there be a similar investments in other extra- curricular activities? 22 <br />There is little explanation on the District website. In this time of pandemic and unknown costs, I 23 <br />would like to have more detail, and get more community input. With the size of our community, 24 <br />this is a major investment for a few, especially if fences reduce the availability for everyday 25 <br />use.” 26 <br /> 27 <br />Director Urdahl indicated they were extremely excited about the expanded use and availability 28 <br />for the project. He indicated the use and accessibility will be improved with this project and in 29 <br />the future this will be an open facility where in the past it was locked. He believed there may 30 <br />have been a ten-million-dollar number associated with this and the actual cost of the synthetic 31 <br />turf would be about a tenth of that. He indicated a new school is not in the plans. 32 <br /> 33 <br />Ms. Lona Doolan, 3511 Harding St NE: “I will not be able to attend tonight's meeting, and 34 <br />would like to submit the following: 35 <br /> 36 <br />Regarding the Stadium Turf funding under consideration by City Council, I have a few questions 37 <br />and comments: 38 <br /> 39 <br />1) I would like to know more about how the proposed reduction in leasing revenue fits into the 40 <br />annual city budget and what expense(s) you are looking at to offset the loss in revenue? 41 <br /> 42 <br />2) How do we know this is a priority for most residents? What outreach has the city done to 43 <br />confirm this is a priority worth cutting other services or raising taxes for? 44 <br /> 45 <br />3) Has an environmental impact been done? I have read that turf surface can get too hot to play 46 <br />3