2014-12-02_PR Comm Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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DRAFT Regular City Council Meeting Monday, November 17, 2014 Page 7 1 of Maplewood offering lifetime memberships for initial contributors in building 2 the facility, and asked that options such as that be included by the Commission as 3 well. 4 5 Cedarholm Golf Course and Clubhouse 6 Chair Hold noted that the current clubhouse had been placed on the site in the late 7 1950’s, and had more than exceeded its useful life. Chair Holt noted the need to 8 determine how to plan for its replacement, as it seemed to be valued by the com- 9 munity. In consideration of the City’s overall budgeting, Chair Holt sought City 10 Council input on how they wanted the Commission to approach this major issue 11 and the information they wanted provided for their decision-making, whether the 12 Golf Course remained as an Enterprise Fund or was funded similar to the OVAL. 13 14 Councilmember Laliberte opined that Cedarholm was an asset to the community, 15 while expressing varying degrees of willingness to pursue building a facility or 16 making major repairs on the existing building given its age and condition. Coun- 17 cilmember Laliberte expressed her interest in receiving the facilities utilization 18 data, age, and demographics compared to state and national levels, whether pri- 19 vate or public facilities. Councilmember Laliberte recognized the ebbs and flows 20 of the industry, but sought additional information on where the Golf Course was 21 on that bell curve of utilization compared to other trends and nationwide utiliza- 22 tion. Moving forward, Councilmember Laliberte questioned if the Commission 23 would feel comfortable developing a plan for how to continue promoting the fa- 24 cility and expand or increase use beyond the status quo. 25 26 Councilmember McGehee opined that she considered this a capital improvement 27 program (CIP) issue versus an Enterprise Fund issue. Councilmember McGehee 28 expressed her frustration with the Commission being fully aware of this need, as 29 well as that of the skating center, and not including those needs as part of the sub- 30 stantial amount of money allotted for CIP needs, but instead choosing to spend the 31 money elsewhere. Therefore, Councilmember McGehee stated that she wasn’t 32 feeling very good about this issue, since she felt good about the existing park fa- 33 cilities, and it was her understanding that those facilities would be improved and 34 maintained; and further stated that she was hearing that from the community as 35 well, that the new facilities being constructed were not what they had in mind ei- 36 ther. Councilmember McGehee sought information on whether fees could be 37 raised at the golf course to make the operation sustainable; and recognizing that 38 the City of Edina recently closed a golf course, and not wanting that to happen 39 here, she supported it as a good course for young kids and the elderly in the com- 40 munity who were not semi-pros, but simply seeking a local community golf 41 course. Councilmember McGehee noted the desire of the public to see the course 42 well-maintained, and questioned why one of the park buildings could not have 43 been located on the site to replace the club house and serve various functions. 44 However, Councilmember McGehee opined that the Commission had not come to 45 ask about any of that and had therefore failed to set priorities. Councilmember