Minutes - Council Work Session - 10/24/2023

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Councilmember Specht asked if there is a contract with the School District for this rink. Parks and Assistant Public Works Director Riverblood stated that there is not any kind of formal agreement to have these facilities on school property. He added that he has spoken to the School District's administration who are in support of this as they have seen it in other areas around the District. Councilmember Specht asked if the District would want to reuse this space. Parks and Assistant Public Works Director Riverblood noted that he had concerns that the District may worry about the demolition of these facilities; however, they stated that they could just use the warming house for storage. Councilmember Riley stated that he supports having the ice skating at Central Park. Councilmember Musgrove thanked Parks and Assistant Public Works Director Riverblood and the Parks and Recreation Commission for their discussion on this item as it was a good one to have. She added that it will be good to try this for a season and see the outcome. She shared her support. Councilmember Olson stated that he is very much in support of this as it is a great plan and well executed. He noted that the costs exceed $100,000 per facility; however, the cost savings is not that great. Parks and Assistant Public Works Director Riverblood explained how they arrived at the $100,000 cost between water trucks, street sweeping, and other items. He stated that closing the facility at the school will save the cost of municipal water that they put on the rinks to make the ice and the lighting. He noted that there will not be any cash costs beyond the more nominal items. He stated that the value comes from the labor that will be able to be assigned to other areas. He added that they have only had a few rink attendants apply for this year. Councilmember Woestehoff shared that he cautiously agrees with closing the rink at the school. He noted that he would not want to dismantle anything at this point. He stated that COVID did close down a lot of things;however,they are back to around the same level that they were at almost 10 years ago. Councilmember Specht agreed that nothing should be demolished. He stated that there should be some proactive communication with this. The consensus of the Council was to close the ice skating rink at Ramsey Elementary for the 2023- 2024 season. 3. TOPICS FOR FUTURE DISCUSSION 3.01: Review Future Topics/ Calendar City Council Work Session/ October 24, 2023 Page 8 of 9