Building a community center on the west wing of the Cook County Schools complex is coming closer to fruition with the county board approving three vital contracts at its October 9, 2012 meeting. The other entities involved in the contracts had yet to sign the agreements.
Purchase of building from school
The board approved an agreement to purchase the west end of the school complex for $160,000 and lease the land under and around it for 99 years at $1/year.
Commissioner Sue Hakes, on the Community Center Steering Committee, said she is feeling more and more comfortable about being able to stay within the budget. Project Manager Mark Kragenbring of ORB Management is helping find ways to cut costs, she said.
Agreement to share costs with city
The board approved a joint powers agreement with the city of Grand Marais to share the cost of operating the community center.
The agreement stipulates that the city will contribute half of the cost of operation and maintenance up to $100,000 a year with an annual increase of up to 5 percent.
The annual budget will be negotiated between the YMCA and the county, but increases greater than 5 percent would need to be approved by the city.
Management agreement with YMCA
Under the contract approved by the board, the YMCA will develop, coordinate, and administer recreation and sports programs for the county. Other community groups will be able to use the building, but priority uses will be activities that support operating the facility “as a YMCA membership-based facility so as to meet the programming needs which best allow it to market its YMCA programs to meet the financial obligations of the budget.”
In a separate interview, Commissioner Sue Hakes said that she expects Cook County Community Education to continue to exist, although it may be administered through the YMCA. All employees of YMCA programs will be employees of the YMCA.
Commissioner Fritz Sobanja told his fellow commissioners that people in the community will be wondering if the Y will be running everything, and groups such as those on the adult softball league will wonder if the way they have done things for the last 30 years will be changed.
Board Secretary Janet Simonen said people would wonder who will handle activities that have been taking place at the current Community Center, such as broomball and the annual kids’ Halloween party.
Commissioner Hakes said she envisions a “transition period” where some of these things will be hammered out.
“This is what YMCAs do,” said County Attorney Tim Scannell. “We’re not hiring them to sit around twiddling their thumbs.”
The contract also calls for the county to maintain the exterior and infrastructure of the building, such as the HVAC, plumbing, and electrical systems. The YMCA will maintain and repair the interior of the facility, including the gym floor, and replace furnishings and equipment as necessary, which will remain the property of the county.
The county will pay for utilities including water, sewer, electricity, telephone, and cable services. These costs will be outside the facility and recreation budgets the Y will be working with. The county will be responsible for lawn care, plowing, and trash removal, although the YMCA may work out an arrangement with the school to trade such things as trash removal for K-5 swimming lessons.
Non-member residents of Cook County will be able to purchase an unlimited number of fee-based day passes. Nonmembers living outside Cook County will be allowed a limited number of walk-in visits per YMCA policy.
Library landscaping
The board approved use of the $63,000 the Grand Marais Public Library has left over from the money it received in 1 percent recreation and infrastructure sales tax funds to pay $9,300 in landscaping bills. Commissioner Fritz Sobanja said this use of the last of the 1 percent money had been discussed all along.
The board also authorized Library Director Linda Chappell to use the remaining funds to buy furniture that she had not had time to order yet because the library has been so busy.
The board discussed the need to make changes to the north side of the building where water leaked in after a big storm this summer. This was a portion of the building that was not changed during the rehab and expansion project, Chappell said. The commissioners told Chappell that the cost of the work should come out of the remaining $63,000 as well.
About the newly remodeled building, Chappell said, “People seem to really be loving it.”
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