Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Parks Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Rodeo Foundation asks for storm-shelter grant match and utility help; council cautious about contract obligations
Summary
The Mitchell Rodeo Foundation asked the city to serve as applicant for a FEMA storm shelter grant and to assist with water/sewer construction; council members noted the existing lease assigns utilities to the tenant and resisted changing terms without a reciprocal benefit to the city.
Jason Plant, representing the Mitchell Rodeo Foundation, asked council to help secure and provide matching funds for a FEMA grant to build a storm shelter (project estimate near $1 million) and to assist with water and sewer work to the rodeo grounds. Plant said his group had already invested about $1.3 million in infrastructure and hoped the shelter could serve the rodeo, adjacent soccer fields and other users.
City staff reminded council that FEMA grants typically require a government applicant; if the city applies it would be funding matching costs rather than paying the grant directly to the Rodeo Foundation. Councilors noted the current lease assigns responsibility for utilities to the tenant, and several members said they were unwilling to override the contract without negotiating a change that provided the city meaningful use of the facility in return.
Council asked for more information about alternative funding sources and whether the Rodeo Foundation had approached community foundations and United Way. Plant said he had pursued multiple grant avenues and believed a contract renegotiation could create mutually beneficial shared-use terms.
Next steps: council asked staff to return with a legal review of lease terms and options for negotiated shared use that could justify city participation in matching funds.
