2009-03-30 CC Minutes Joint ISD885ST. MICHAEL — ALBERTVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICT 885
CITIES OF ALBERTVILLE AND ST. MICHAEL
MARCH 30, 2009 — JOINT SPECIAL MEETING
The St. Michael -Albertville School Board met in a joint session with officials from the City of
Albertville and City of St. Michael on Monday, March 30, 2009, at 6:00 p.m. in the Senior High
Board Room.
School Board Members present: Chair Charles Lefebvre, Members Drew Scherber, Carol
Steffens, Douglas Birk, Gayle Weber, and Jeanne Holland. Representing the City of Albertville:
Mayor Ron Klecker, Councilors Dan Wagner, Tom Fay, John Vetsch, and Larry Sorenson.
Representing the City of St. Michael: Mayor Jerry Zachman, Councilors Dean Eggert, Joe
Hagerty, Kevin Kasel, City Administrator Bob Derus, City Engineer Steve Bot, and Community
Development Director Marc Weigle. Also present were Superintendent Marcia Ziegler, Paul
Youngquist from ARY Architects Rego and Youngquist, Mary Ellen Barthel and Marie Moore
from the STMA Community Education, Aaron Brom of the Crow River News, and St. Michael
City Clerk Diana Berning. Chair Lefebvre opened the meeting, and the Pledge of Allegiance was
said. Lefebvre welcomed those present, including the many parents and children present to
support the expansion of the STMA Ice Arena.
Superintendent Ziegler added discussion regarding the 2009 tax statement for the land purchased
by the School District for the expansion of the Ice Arena to the agenda. The agenda was set as
amended.
New Library — Funding and Construction
St. Michael Community Development Director Weigle provided the group with a concept plan of
the new Library/Community Center/St. Michael City Hall facility. He reported there have been
several meetings with the Library committee to get their feedback about the plan. He also
explained the recent addition of the Community Center/Senior Center portion to the building.
The city received a $400,000 grant from the state for the library portion. Requirements for the
grant state construction must be started within six months of receiving the grant and completed
within five years. The St. Michael Council will decide soon whether to move forward with the
building design. If it is decided to keep moving forward, then site improvements (including the
parking lot and utilities) would be completed this summer to secure the grant. The proposed size
of the library is approximately three times larger than the current library. Weigle reviewed
expansion areas, noting the City Hall portion could be phased in at a later time if the St. Michael
Council decides to move forward with only the Library and Community Center portions. The
Library portion will cost approximately $3 million; although, that cost could decrease if
competitive construction bids are received. It was noted that Albertville and Hanover have
representatives on the library committee, and that there is expected to be some cost participation
by those cities.
Update on STMA Arena Expansion
Paul Youngquist, with ARY Architects Rego and Youngquist, was present to discuss the
proposed Ice Arena expansion with the city/school board officials and over 100 parents and
children present to support the arena expansion. He provided detailed drawings showing the
expansion area, as well as a projected cost estimate and preliminary budget comparison. The
expansion would include a second sheet of ice, seating for 817 spectators, and four additional
locker rooms. He noted the original design was estimated to cost roughly $6.2 million, although
this current plan has been simplified to reduce the cost to $4.9 million. He understands that no
arena is able to cash -flow well enough to cover the capital cost of the facility, but once it is built,
Joint STMA, Albertville, St. Michael Meeting 03-30-09 — Page 2
it should be able to pay for the operational costs. Youngquist reviewed specifics of the plan and
explained the possibilities for expansion and shared utilities between the two sheets of ice.
The land for the expansion has already been purchased by the School District using the $500,000
from the bond referendum passed in 2004; although, there is still a small piece of land that would
need to be acquired from the City of Albertville that would not affect the baseball field.
Albertville Council Member Vetsch requested additional funding from the school district for the
expansion, especially in regard to the cost of bleachers, since the arena could be built much
smaller if it was not used for High School varsity games. Lefebvre asked about the cost sharing
and how that would work for this facility. The Hockey Association has been working on securing
some funding/grants for the arena expansion.
Steven Gapinski, President of the Hockey Association, was present to discuss the expansion with
the board and councils. He said this community needs more ice. When the first sheet of ice was
built, there were 125 kids in hockey. Since that time the program has more than doubled to 350
kids, plus the High School has added a girl's hockey team and there are adult leagues. The arena
is over capacity right now and the Youth Hockey Association is buying ice elsewhere to get
sufficient ice time. Young kids are practicing at 9:45 — 10:45 p.m., the only time when the ice is
available, and he said it is affecting their grades at school. He also said soon STMA will become
a AA School, and the current sheet of ice is not sufficient for those kind of games. There is also
the potential for use by community education, broomball leagues, figure skating events, and
other tournaments. In the off-season, the facility could be used for soccer or baseball teams as
well. Lefebvre recommended the Hockey Association pursue additional funding from the State
of MN through a bonding bill. He also expressed concern with assuming the new arena would
be able to cash flow well enough to cover some of the debt of the new facility. In 1997, when
the first sheet was built it was also thought revenues from the arena would be able to pay off
some of the debt service; however, the school recent wrote off the debt from that first sheet since
the arena was never able to profit enough to cover the debt.
Gapinski asked what each entity was willing to contribute for a second sheet. It was suggested
the Hockey Board should discuss reasonable options for expansion and report back to each of
their boards/councils. There was additional discussion regarding the building of a new Library
and Senior Center. St. Michael Council Member Kasel explained the city is currently paying rent
for a Library and Senior Center and both are too small and overused. The total additional cost
for a new Library and Senior Center would be less than the additional amount St. Michael would
have to pay for a second sheet of ice. There has also been a lot of support from residents of the
community for a new Library and Senior Center. He suggested the parents and supporters of
hockey work to convince their neighbors and friends that a second sheet of ice is necessary.
There was discussion on the concept plan and whether this was sufficient for the needs.
Gapinski said it should work for another ten years. There is enough seating for varsity High
School games. He also said an additional sheet of ice would allow STMA to host more
tournaments, which would generate additional business for the community. School Board
Member Birk suggested the Youth Hockey Association begin by petitioning the two
representatives for this area (Emmer and Koch) to include hockey arenas in the state's bonding
bill next year. He noted the last bonding bill included funding for 80 hockey arenas in
Minnesota. Once the entities involved are presented with a timeline for the state's process and a
possible estimate of what could be expected from the state, the boards and councils can begin to
look at options for an expansion. Gapinski also asked if the Youth Hockey Association would
ever be able to be considered a part owner in the arena. That is something the Hockey Board
should discuss and look at what other facilities have done. Lefebvre thanked everyone present
for being respectful and for showing support. The Youth Hockey Association will continue to
work with the state to see if there is some possible funding available.
Joint STMA, Albertville, St. Michael Meeting 03-30-09 — Page 3
Jamison Avenue NE Street/Intersection Improvement Project
St. Michael City Engineer Bot reported the city has been working on the final Mn/Dot and
FHWA plan approval needed to bid for the Jamison Avenue NE Street Improvement Project.
These final approvals are needed due the state and federal funding of the project which has
enabled the project to happen for the City. Bot reported he anticipates road restrictions will go
off around May 121h, and the project will likely begin soon after. The project will be on a tight
timeline, but should be substantially completed by August I". The St. Michael Council may need
to convene a special meeting to approve the bids and consider extending the construction hours
for this project to ensure it is completed in time. It was stated the traffic light on CR 18 will also
be installed and working before the first day of school. A trail will be installed along the east side
of Jamison Avenue as part of the project and St. Michael will maintain the trail. There was
additional discussion regarding access to the school during the project and the order of
construction.
Pedestrian Safety alone Main Avenue
The group briefly discussed pedestrian safety along Main Avenue in Albertville for those
children who will be walking to the new Middle School next year. An Albertville resident was
present to express concern with his daughter walking to school along Main Avenue and asked if
the busses could stop along Main Avenue and pick up kids to bring them to school.
Superintendent Ziegler said the busses are full, and additional busses would be needed to make
those stops. Typically, the school has tried to stay under a mile for older kids walking to school
and under six -tenths of a mile for the smaller kids walking to school. If they stopped along Main
Avenue they would have to change their policy for all schools, which would increase bussing
costs. There was additional discussion on patrols, crosswalks, and whether kids could be picked
up at the Albertville Primary, since that area is more familiar to them than walking up to 50th
Street. Due to the different start times of the schools, that would not be an option. Albertville
Administrator Kruse has been working on solutions for safety, including installing sidewalks
along Main Avenue. Concern was expressed about both the age of the walkers and the distance
they would walk, which would not be addressed by adding a sidewalk. Dr. Ziegler and Kruse
will continue working on a safe solution for the children walking to school.
Public Access to New High School Facilities
Marie Moore, from the Community Education, presented the group with a preliminary
spreadsheet of what annual memberships would cost for access to the gym, upper walking track,
fitness center, and pool at the new High School. She also reviewed possible hours for when the
facilities could be open to the public. Security is the biggest issue right now in determining
whether it can be available during school hours or not. There was also discussion on high school
intramurals, which this new facility should be able to accommodate. Albertville Mayor Klecker
expressed some concern that this would affect other private gyms/health clubs in the area. The
residents of the community have supported the facility, and the school board is trying to find a
balance to make those resources available to the community. Klecker also asked about a
couple's rate for use of the upper track. Community Education personnel will continue working
on finalizing the schedule of hours and dollar amounts for each use.
FYCC Update
City Administrator Derus explained federal funding for FYCC will be running out soon, and the
cities of Albertville and St. Michael have been meeting to discuss options to keep either FYCC
going or at least a park and rec. program. Options that have been discussed include: keeping
FYCC as it is, decreasing it to only a park and rec. program, or moving everything under
Community Education. Staff has also been researching what other cities do for their park and rec
Joint STMA, Albertville, St. Michael Meeting 03-30-09 — Page 4
departments. Moving everything to Community Education could be an option, but would result
in decreasing the salary for an employee. Albertville Council Member Wagner asked what the
amount needed would be and whether this could be a contract service. He suggested a contract
could be entered into for a year, which would give more time to come up with a solution. St.
Michael Council Member Kasel also suggested this be a contract service for the park and rec.
aspect for both cities, and any other additional programming on top of the traditional park and
rec. program would be a bonus. If the services were on a contract basis, the issue of liability
insurance would need to be addressed. It has always been difficult to understand where the
FYCC program fits under and whether there is overlap with what the school does. Lefebvre
suggested that some of what FYCC does could be done by Community Education. Derus noted
FYCC reaches approximately 7,000 people a year. There are a lot of hours involved, including
nights and weekends. Last year, FYCC also received an award in innovation and efficiency from
the Hubert Humphrey Institute. It was also expressed that FYCC does not cap any of their
programs and always makes room for anyone interested, which is a great asset for the
community. The entities involved will continue to work together on an acceptable solution for a
park and rec. department.
Property Tax Statement for 2009
Superintendent Zeigler provided the group with a tax statement for the land in Albertville
purchased by the School District for a future Ice Arena expansion. The total due was $30,470, of
which $20,930.98 was for special assessments. Zeigler called Wright County to have the
property classified as exempt; however, since the closing of the property was after June 30, 2008,
the exempt status will not go into effect until the year 2010. Tina Lannes from Albertville is
working on removing the special assessment amounts, which were supposed to be taken care of
at closing. The remaining $9,539.02 would need to be paid this year. The consensus of the
group was for the School Board to pay the amount that will ultimately be returned to them
($3,116.67) and the City of Albertville pay the amount to be returned to them ($1,905.19), and
the remaining balance of $4,517.16 could be paid by the Hockey Board.
The next joint meeting was set for Monday, August 31, 2009, at the new High School at 6:00
p.m.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:49 p.m.
Attest:
City Clerk
St. Michael Mayor