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Council weighs partnering with Community Education to expand parks programming and subsidize middle‑school sports
Summary
The council discussed a partnership with Community Education, which would run recreation programming under a joint‑powers agreement using city facilities to keep fees low. Members also debated whether the city should subsidize middle‑school sports after district budget cuts.
Annette Solomon, executive director of Community Education, told the Lake Elmo City Council that her program can provide registration, staffing and marketing for recreation activities if the city provides facility access under a joint powers agreement. "In order to keep that cost down for your community, we would use those facilities at no additional cost," Solomon said, describing a model in which Community Education handles program delivery and the city permits use of its fields and buildings.
Council members asked how a joint powers agreement would interact with existing user groups, such as soccer clubs and other nonprofits that currently use fields. Solomon said Community Education would not seek to supplant successful local groups and suggested the city define priorities and liability arrangements in the agreement.
Solomon also briefed the council on middle‑school sports. She said the school district is implementing budget cuts totaling about $5 million this year (roughly $12 million across multiple years), and that many districts have shifted middle‑school programs into community education when district subsidies are not available. Under the proposed model, full price to cover program costs would be about $285 per participant; Solomon said free and reduced levels could be $25 and $75 respectively and that a team typically needs about 20 participants to run.
Council members debated options for supporting participation. Suggestions included reallocating a small portion of the $250,000 in franchise fees already dedicated to parks rather than creating a new levy, or absorbing costs through other parks funds. Several members said they favored partnership exploration but were cautious about creating ongoing operational obligations or duplicating school district levies.
What's next: staff will explore a JPA template, return with cost estimates and a proposed budget allocation if council chooses to subsidize fees, and coordinate with the school district and existing user groups on implementation.
