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<br />Many expressed a need for audio/visual equipment within meeting rooms of a conference center. <br />It appeared that there was also a desire to have high tech equipment, such as wireless internet, <br />throughout the facility. Finally, it was suggested that this could be an opporhmity to secure a post <br />office within the City. . <br /> <br />Fin~ncil1i <br /> <br />Again, there were a wide variety of responses in terms of suggestions of how to finance this <br />project. User fees, private investment, public/private partnership, other partnerships, and lease <br />revenues were just a few of the responses. Another high priority was to seek grant opportunities <br />to assist with financing of the project. <br /> <br />Constant through each of the focus groups was the desire to have some sort of community survey <br />or referendum. It was also stated that this question needed to be carefully drafted and include <br />exactly how much each household would expect to pay if public money was to be used. <br /> <br />Representatives ti'om PACT Charter School attended one of the Focus Groups -and expressed <br />interest in participating in the project and guaranteeing a number of hours of use in the facility. <br />PACT has expressed that they are in need of more physical education facilities and simply do not <br />have the amount of space to expand at this. time at their current location. <br /> <br />One interesting concept that staff would like to relay to Council was the idea of a Common Area <br />Maintenance. In this concept, the City would control the common area and CQuld operate much <br />llke an indoor shopping mall. Tenants, such as a fitness center, hotel, or pool, c,Ould then <br />construct or lease a facility attached to the common area. <br /> <br />Oth~r CommuniJ:)' l'riQrities <br /> <br />The Community Center Focus Groups were also an opportunity to see what other community <br />priorities existed within the community. Some of the highest ranking priorities included <br />transportation, Ramsey Town Center, parks and trails, rural character, and City finances. Public <br />safety and Northstar also surface as high priorities. One individual called to provide a comment <br />to state that schools in the City are more important than a Community Center. It appears that a <br />Comm~lI1ity Center would rank as a mid-level priority based on the responses of the focus groups. <br /> <br />Staff notes that an errOI' is seen in the first focus group, as a community center was not listed as a <br />community priority. Based on this, it is difficult to discern how a community center would be <br />ranked by that group. <br /> <br />Attendance was average size or Just shy ot' desired numbers tor a typical focus group session (average six) . <br />for a majority of the sessions. However, a couple of the sessions had very little to no turnout. The <br />daytime sessions typically saw lower turnout. <br /> <br />As Council may recall. the WorkP~an included provisions for establishing a Task Force to serve as an <br />advisory board to the City Counc.il and possibly work with an architect/consultant through design phases <br />of the possible project, Staff would like direction on whether or not Council desires to proceed with the <br />next phase of the Work Plan. During the Focus Groups, several individuals expressed interest in <br />participating in the Task Force. ' <br /> <br />Staff has recently met with representatives from Flagship Fitness, a private group interested in developing <br />within Ramsey Town Center and currently negotiating with PSD, LLC for possible land acquisition. The <br /> <br />-46- <br />