Community Center committees established
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — City Council spent part of Monday night’s meeting discussing the future of the proposed Community Center and what steps city officials should take next in the matter.
Discussion began with councilors considering how to go about selecting members for the Community Center Building Committee.
“In looking at the Building Committee, we’re trying to keep the community involved in every step of the project,” said Council Chair Emily Smith. “I suggest we create the committee and anyone interested can get their names in — we could appoint at our workshop on March 12.”
City Manager Jim Bennett suggested having nine members, two of which would be councilors.
“The committee would be extremely powerful, so you’d need to have the right kind of balance on it. I suspect in the initial phases there won’t be too many meetings, but when the architect gets into the design. You could have a couple meetings a month, then curb back down — a bell curve as issues come up,” said Bennett.
“You ought to have a clear idea in your mind of what you want to set up when you meet as a group,” Bennett advised councilors.
Bennett said there would still be “lots of people involved in the process, but you don’t want it so big that it becomes difficult to get anything done.”
“This is kind of a big thing for the community. It’s been a long time in the making. Having the right people involved could determine whether you get a rec center in the community or whether Chris (Beaulieu, rec director) has to become creative with duct tape,” said Bennett.
Councilor Peter Hallowell suggested Smith be involved in the interview process.
“I think someone should interview and ask questions, rather than get a bunch of applicants,” said Hallowell.
Bennett recommended a compromise, with councilors providing information/questions for candidates, which he and Smith would use to come up with a list of suggested members.
“We’d probably get a mix of those who’ve been involved with the project and some new members,” said Bennett.
Smith said councilors could create the committee, with members appointed at the March 12 meeting.
Councilors agreed, voting unanimously to establish the Community Center Building Committee.
Staying on the topic of the Community Center, councilors next discussed the creation of a Community Center Fund-Raising Committee.
“This is a similar situation — the next step after the Building Committee,” said Smith.
Bennett said he didn’t think there needed to be any limits on how many members this group would have and that there was no rush to form the committee.
“I think you could wait until April to put it together,” said Bennett, noting getting a few members as a steering committee would be a good start.
“Beyond trying to ID likely sources of revenues, the committee would also have some business kinds of things it would end up doing. Another thing is determining naming rights — what level would be required in order to have parts of the facility named for someone,” said Bennett.
Bennett said it would have to be determined “what costs would earn naming rights to, say, an art room or whatever.”
“If someone wanted to come in and write a check to keep a name off (leave the site nameless), that could be done too,” said Bennett.
Councilors voted unanimously to establish the Community Center Fund-Raising Committee.
The Community Center project is expected to cost upward of $8,000,000. The city’s support, via property taxes, would be limited to $4,000,000, with the remainder coming through fund-raising efforts and grants.
In other business, councilors:
• Honored the Presque Isle Lady Wildcats on being named the Class B State Champions;
• Recognized Finance Director Pat Webb and members of the Finance Department for receiving the Government Finance Officers Association’s Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting;
• Amended Chapter 49 — Administration of Government Ordinance;
• Amended Chapter 5 — Traffic Ordinance;
• Approved a special permit for music, dancing and entertainment for Presque Isle Country Club, located at 35 Parkhurst Siding Rd.;
• Approved amendments to Downtown Revitalization Committee bylaws;
• Approved consent agenda items;
• Accepted the Strategic Plan from the Strategic Plan Steering Committee;
• Appointed Bennett to the Maine Service Centers Coalition, with Deputy City Manager Martin Puckett being named as alternate;
• Approved a request from the Star City ATV Club for the construction of a vault privy on city property — Arnold Brook Lake;
• Approved amendments to the Recreation and Parks Advisory Board bylaws;
• Approved a grant application to Efficiency Maine Trust;
• Heard a report by Solid Waste Director Dana Fowler on the commercial tipping fee credit policy;
• Approved the annual Investment Report; and
• Approved the reallocation of capital reserve funds.
In his manager’s report, Bennett noted anyone coming to City Hall may notice some changes, as the Finance Department offices have moved from the third floor to the second floor, while Planning and Development moved to the third floor, joining the city manager’s office, human resources and the deputy city manager’s office.
Bennett also welcomed PenAir as the new airline providing essential air service to the Northern Maine Regional Airport.
The city manager also noted a reduction in cost in processing recycled materials at the city’s Industrial Park location, thanks to Central Aroostook ARC making some changes that will save the city about $19,000 annually. “This will pretty much take this out of discussion for the 2013 budget,” said Bennett, thanking ARC for working to keep costs down.
Bennett also noted a cost savings at the police department since the first of the year, with the department’s overtime down over 200 hours compared to a year ago (for the first couple months of the year). He also acknowledged Police Chief Matt Irwin and Fire Chief Darrell White for coming up with about “$22,000 in goodies, including rifles, a snowblower and 15 laptops” the chiefs acquired when they traveled to a base closure event. “The trip was well worth it. We’ll continue to do” in an effort to save money, said Bennett.
In addition, the police department has received grants that have funded upgrades to dispatch, at no cost to the taxpayers. “It sounds like we’ll have taken care of all the deficiencies in last year’s report, without taking any money from taxpayers,” said Bennett.
The City Council will meet Monday, March 12, for a workshop with members of the Downtown Revitalization Committee at 6 p.m. at City Hall. The public is welcome to attend. For more information, call 760-2785.
