The Cook County Community Center Steering Committee will be getting some input from the Grand Marais Park Board at their next meeting. Park Board Member and City Councilor Bill Lenz updated the park board on budget-induced reductions to the Cook County Family YMCA design at their meeting on February 5.
The amount designated for outdoor amenities, including a new softball field, has been limited to $500,000 in order to leave as much money as possible for the YMCA building. “We feel that we have to get the building done,” said Lenz. “At this point, the ball field is kind of up in the air.”
“The ball field is really important to our plans,” said Park Manager Dave Tersteeg. The park’s Master Plan calls for replacing the ball field with full-service RV sites when the county builds a new ball field on its current Community Center property. Lenz said that he has told the steering committee that if a new field is not built, Grand Marais will eventually have one fewer field than it needs.
Bill Lenz told the board about the committee’s decision to reduce the pool depth from 12 feet to 9 feet, precluding any future installation of a diving board. “A lot of the people felt that we didn’t need the diving board to begin with,” he said. Manager Tersteeg said that maintaining a nine-foot depth would be cheaper but that because pools often lose several inches of water during use, maintaining nine feet of water would require a 9½-foot pool depth.
Tersteeg said they have been hearing a lot of negative feedback at the pool regarding the fact that the new facility will not have a separate kiddie pool. The pool will have a zero-depth entry and a shallow end but will be maintained at 80 degrees, Tersteeg said, instead of 92 degrees, the temperature of the current kiddie pool. Regarding the lack of separation between shallow and deeper water, Tersteeg said, “You really have to keep an eye on your child there.” He said a segment of the pool guests will really miss the kiddie pool.
Lenz said the committee is considering a sand filtration system. Tersteeg said a UV filtration system is better because it kills bacteria chlorine cannot. He said coastal states are requiring new pools to have UV systems. “I just can’t believe you guys aren’t specking UV,” he said. “The retrofit is twice as much as the original install. It’s worth the $100,000.”
Tersteeg also recommended that they make sure to install an ample-sized air handling system. He said they need to be oversized for the square footage in order to function well.
Lenz commended current Community Center Director Diane Booth for all she has done to make a new community center a reality, including obtaining grants to help pay for it. “She’s a hardworking lady,” Lenz said. “I hope we have a place for her when this is done.”
Lenz said he would pass along the recommendations he was given to the steering committee.
Marina
The Grand Marais Municipal Marina is the first marina on Lake Superior to become certified as a “clean marina” by the Minnesota Clean Marina Program, a new voluntary program that encourages marina operators and boaters to protect water quality through environmentally sound practices.
In other park board news:
* The park board still needs to fill one vacant seat.
* Reservations for campground sites next summer have gotten the park off to a good start for 2013.
* “We think the beavers have moved on,” said Tersteeg. “Hopefully they’ve eaten themselves out of the area.” He hopes they moved to a different part of the park where tree removal would not be as impactful.
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