09-24-2007 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, September 10, 2007 7:00 o’clock p.m. ___________________________________________________________________________________ (Funding for Gillespie Center, Continued) representative from the City of Orono was unable to attend the May meeting and that she did inform the Orono City Council members of the July 26th meeting and that again no one from the City of Orono was in attendance due to a meeting conflict related to the City’s police chief selection process. Smith stated the Gillespie Center has tried hard to include the City of Orono in the process. Murphy stated it is not a matter of the City not being included but that it appears to him that what is being presented in the newspaper is a slightly different story than what is being presented before the Council tonight. Murphy indicated he is looking for a city that has agreed to this concept. Smith stated Spring Park and Mound have agreed to the concept. Smith noted they did not include the entire City of Orono in their proposal but only those areas of the city that currently utilize the services of the Gillespie Center. In the future the Gillespie Center will be asking the residents to identify which city they reside in to help them identify the residents of each city that utilize their center. Whithart stated the congregate dining is a small portion of the services that are utilized and that they are attempting to get a better handle on where the residents are coming from that utilize their center for all the different activities they provide. McMillan acknowledged that Donna Smith and a number of individuals have worked hard on this proposal and that the services the Gillespie Center provides are invaluable to some of the residents of Orono. McMillan stated she does have a problem philosophically asking the City to contribute to an endowment fund for a senior center because in her opinion the City should be funding their own public buildings that are city-owned. The minute the city starts funding other centers, they start to set a precedent and it would be difficult to draw the line in the future when other organizations approach the city asking for funding. Mayor White asked whether the facility was funded through a tax-exempt bond. Mark Hanus, Mayor of Mound, stated it was not funded through the city but that the city offered some assistance that allowed them to be a tax-exempt organization and facility. Whithart stated the center was privately built with donated funds and there were some community block grant development funds that were provided. In the state of Minnesota, senior centers are almost entirely funded by municipalities and he is not familiar with any county funded centers. Whithart stated in this area he is not aware of one city that is large enough to fund a senior center and the services that it provides to its residents, and that they require a number of cities to contribute to the center to help sustain it. Whithart noted the building was essentially paid for with private donations and that they are requesting funding from the cities to help fund their services in the future. Rahn stated he looks at the amount of the contribution versus the number of Orono residents that utilize the services and that it appears to be way out of proportion and that he has not heard anything tonight that would change that opinion. Smith stated she met last Thursday with City Administrator Ron Moorse and they discussed a number of items. Smith stated the City of Orono’s newsletter could contain a little section on the Gillespie Center with a number they could call to obtain additional information and that the number of members would PAGE 3 Item #02 - CC Agenda - 09/24/07 Approval of Council Minutes 09/10/07 [Page 3 of 18]