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Chairperson Johns stated they were designating a specific portion of park dollars to this <br />maintenance fund. Councilmember Strommen stated these are surplus funds at the end of the <br />year. She stated currently they do not have anything for park maintenance. <br />Discussion ensued in regards to how this idea was brought up in the City Council and how the <br />fund could be used along with possible park user fees. <br />Councilmember Elvig asked if they had an issue with a cap on this fund. Finance Officer Lund <br />stated she did not know of any cap because the State lumps all of the money together. <br />Mayor Gamec stated he had some of his own ideas and he has been working with other cities on <br />how they maintain their parks and he thought the youth in the City needed up to date parks. <br />Councilmember Strommen stated that if they are going to go forward with this and the Mayor has <br />other ideas, they should possibly discuss this. <br />Mayor Gamcc discussed his idea with the City Council and Park Commission. <br />Commissioner Ostrum stated he cannot see any difference between the current fund and the extra <br />fund for maintenance, why not let the parks use the current fund the way they want. Finance <br />Officer Lund stated the current fund is restrictive and it cannot be used for maintenance. <br />Commissioner Cook stated whenever they take money from a developer, they have to show how <br />this benefits their development and maintenance of the parks would not be considered a benefit <br />to the developments. <br />Councilmember Elvig stated they talk about using the funds but he sees this as something that <br />continues to grow over the next ten to fifteen years without touching it except for the interest <br />earned. Chairperson Johns stated she agreed with the concept and thought on the whole is in the <br />right direction. <br />Councilmember Elvig wanted to propose they have x number of years where they do not touch <br />the fund and he wanted to try to wrap some language around it. Councilmember Cook asked if <br />there was a way to accept donations into this fund. Finance Officer Lund stated it would be <br />listed as part of this. <br />Councilmember Elvig proposed an initial three to four millions for a cap before they can use the <br />fund. Councilmember Cook thought they would need to use the money for park maintenance <br />before they would accumulate that much money into the fund. <br />