09/04/2001 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 9/4/2001 ~,;,, have the staff or the expertise to do that complete study, so it would have to be an outside '+ service. Mr. O'Grady questioned whether or not it was customary for the Legislative Committee to pursue a feasibility study, and that he believed that belonged within the authority of the Mayor. To clarify that, she asked the Law Departmern for an opinion on that and was able to obtain vne in part that: "It would appear to be common knowledge that the authorization to conduct a feasibility study as well as the function of the Legislative Committee would appear to be exactly the subject that is before us. The power of the purse strings is within Council's sole prerogative. Council itself can hire the services of a person to conduct such a study and report back to City Council for purposes of determining what plans, if any, the Council needs to make relative to firtwe planning for utilization of a building. Clearly authorization of a feasibility study is solely within the prerogative of the City Council." The question leis been answered, and it is within the authority of the Council to continue to pursue this. At the committee meeting, the Mayor commented that the old library will not be vacated until 2003. However, the discussion continued because it was the feeling that it was necessary to pursue this activity now. Further comments were made with regard to having a center include a teen center. A major concern, and a subject of considerable discussion, was the parking area with regard to the old library and that it is insufficient parking no matter how the building is used. Mr. Dailey brought up the suggestion that the building may be one that would be best utilized by the schools. All of these suggestions will be discussed at a later time as this was a meeting to field everyone's questions and concerns about what would be done on the subject of a senior center. Mr. Miller suggested that the use of a building was the issue and that it should be ascertained prior to 2003. The Mayor did announce at this meeting that he wished to utilize the building as a cultural arts center. There were some objections made there as well with regard to parking. The parking is really a very major issue as well as being close to teenage activities if seniors were brought to that facility. The Mayor proposed building a new senior facility of 20,000 square feet located at the Rec Cerner. However, he was unable to identify at the time of this meeting the cost for such a facility and the funding source or the cod for engineering or feasibility studies for that purpose. Mr. McKay brought up the need for a fire station and felt that was a priority over other new building construction. This supported the reason for calling the meeting of the Legislative Committee with regard to the xnior center, and that is to find a cost-effective way to provide a renovated like-new senior center without risk of increasing taxes. After further discussion and following a significant disagreement and agreement on locations of the facility, rather than provide a study on a building that may likely not be appropriate, it was the consensus of the committee that the seniors be consulted for their input. Therefore, the committee unanimously agreed to call a meeting of the seniors and request their input. 2) On August 28, a meeting with the seniors was held. It was a very productive meeting and brought forward suggestions from the seniors. The seniors who attended warned to talk about not only the location of the center but what should be included in a renovation or new building. It was apparent by their comments that the library was not an appropriate place in their eyes with regard to parking and teen activities and that renovating the present center was the much more preferred location. As far as programs, the following suggestions were made: • More programs which would address the welt being of senior citizens. 4