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<br />construction cost estimates, then the Council could know what they are looking at for the three <br />buildings. She felt that was important before accepting the donation of the buildings so the City <br />knows what the costs might be. <br /> <br />City Administrator Ulrich suggested hiring a professional engineer or architect to do a feasibility <br />study, noting an objective would have to be defined to determine the cost estimates. <br /> <br />Councilmember Heineman commented it would be good to take a proactive look at what the <br />buildings could do as far as a venue, as a wedding site for example. He supported doing a cost/ <br />benefit analysis to determine if it is going to be worth putting in the work on the buildings and <br />looking not only at what renovation would cost but also what revenue could be generated. He <br />noted if it could be used as a wedding venue, it could be pretty profitable. <br /> <br />2.05: Consider Request to Study Cost of City Parks and Trails Maintenance and <br />Operations <br /> <br />City Administrator Ulrich stated this case was brought up by Councilmembers Howell and <br />Musgrove requesting a detailed and itemized expenditure list from Parks in regard to the operations <br />and maintenance of the parks including turf maintenance, trails, and the park system. In discussion <br />with Staff, costs are not itemized currently but activity costs are generalized so recreating some of <br />the numbers is not something Staff has done and would be difficult. He explained that estimating <br />could be done although not as accurate and detailed as requested. <br /> <br />Mayor Kuzma questioned whether this is something the Council wanted Staff to spend a lot of <br />time on and is it necessary. <br /> <br />Councilmember Howell explained the turf and trails information request was made to get an idea <br />of what the expenditures are. She compared it to a large corporation where expenditures are <br />tracked for specific projects, noting information could be included such as mowing so many hours <br />and so many hours on trails, so when more trails are added, it could be known what it would cost <br />in man hours and other expenses. She felt having this information would help the Council <br />understand better, noting she struggles with vague numbers. <br /> <br />Parks and Assistant Public Works Superintendent Riverblood replied getting information about <br />mowing and snow removal could be done with the use of GPS to determine time and cost. <br />Determining the information on park repairs could be a little harder because the timecard is set up <br />to be more general and tasks are not itemized. With the Street Department, items like street <br />maintenance, stormwater, snowplowing, and sign work could be divided out. He stated general <br />numbers and estimates could be given but more specifics would have to be determined and <br />implemented going forward. <br /> <br />Councilmember Specht commented it sounds like a good part of a bigger discussion at a Work <br />Session with questions about projects in the CIP and getting more information about expenditures <br />in the parks now. Also, discussion about using funds to get more playgrounds updated. He felt a <br />bigger Work Session discussion on the parks and what could be done to support the Parks <br />Department could be beneficial. <br />City Council Work Session / November 23, 2021 <br />Page 13 of 15 <br /> <br />