WILLMAR - A downtown merchants group is requesting approval from the city to collaborate on renovation of Selvig Park, a small city park located at the corner of Becker Avenue and Fourth Street Southwest.
The request received support this week from the Willmar City Council’s Finance Committee. The committee’s action will be considered by the council Tuesday.
A couple of years ago, Mayor Frank Yanish proposed to the downtown merchants that they adopt Selvig Park, and Tom Amberg of 1st Minnesota Realty took the lead on that for the downtown group, said Steve Brisendine, director of Willmar Community Education and Recreation.
Brisendine requested the committee approve the collaboration with the merchants group, along with Stacy’s Nursery of Willmar, which provided a $24,499.74 quote for a two-phase project this fall and next spring.
Under the first phase this fall, the old wooden timbers would be demolished and replaced with block landscaping and new black dirt and mulch. A concrete slab would be poured by city of Willmar Public Works.
The spring phase would consist of replanting trees, landscape shrubs, perennials, landscape evergreens, and irrigate and seed grass areas.
According to historical records, Selvig Park was developed as a result of a donation from the family of Edwin Selvig who was mayor of Willmar from 1926 through 1937 and who was instrumental, along with Colonel Cushman Rice, in establishing Rice Memorial Hospital.
The park has a flowing water fountain and street lamppost from Willmar’s sister city, Frameries, Belgium, to provide an international theme.
Brisendine said the city has a trust fund of about $8,000 dedicated for the park project, and the downtown merchants are fundraising the balance. Demolition labor would be donated. Brisendine said no city money is involved.
In approving the collaboration, the Finance Committee agreed with Brisendine that the project will not move forward until funding is arranged to complete the work.
Shooting range agreement OK’d
The committee approved a shooting range monitoring services agreement with the Willmar Rifle and Pistol Club for the club’s use of the basement shooting range in the downtown City Auditorium.
“We have been working diligently on getting an agreement between the city and Willmar Rifle and Pistol Club to have the range monitoring done by the club,’’ said Interim City Administrator Kevin Halliday. He said the agreement was reviewed by City Attorney Robert Scott.
Under the agreement, the city and club agree the city will not be responsible for rifles stored in the vault for the youth training program, and the club agrees to provide insurance coverage to the city.
The club agrees to cover the cost of training and certifying the range safety officers for 2015 and 2016; however, any future expense to train and certify or recertify range safety officers from 2017 forward shall be the city’s responsibility.
“They weren’t going to do it for free forever,’’ said Halliday. “There may be a cost. But if we had employees there, it would be a cost.’’
Councilman Tim Johnson, a Finance Committee member, spoke in favor of the clause requiring the club to provide an annual report on attendance in public shooting events and range rental revenues because the clause requires some accountability with respect to range operation. Classroom rental is $25 per day and shooting range rental is $40 per hour.
“They will be operating it and I like that clause. They’ll provide figures on attendance and revenues so we’ll know we will have a good accounting from them, considering they are operating a public facility that’s owned by the city,’’ he said.
Councilwoman Audrey Nelsen, also a committee member, asked if the council will be able to see information on the cost of operating the facility.
Brisendine said the auditorium has a stand-alone budget, “so we should be able to audit revenues and expenses, and try to the best of our ability to understand the utilities.’’
The range was established in a collaborative project of the city and the club. Construction of the range began in the fall of 1977 and was completed in May 1978.
Fire station work eyed with Verizon rental fee
The committee voted to use a $15,000 annual Verizon rental fee to buy four new fire station overhead garage doors and to add a training room restroom and remodel two restrooms.
Verizon has agreed to annually rent city land next to the fire station to build a new cell phone tower, and will also pay a one-time $7,381 fee for new communications equipment to be placed on the tower.
The garage doors were originally installed 33 years ago and are falling apart, said Fire Chief Fred Hanson. Hanson also said the department has outgrown the single restroom concept for the training room.
The original restroom in the training room area will be used as a locker room/shower area for female firefighters who currently do not have an area to use as a shower. Also, the original male restroom and shower area, with its loose floor tiles and inefficient sink and toilet fixtures, will be remodeled.
