It's hardly a good bargain, but it's enough to keep Mill Avenue Park and valuable community activities in Brainerd.
That's the general sentiment of the Brainerd Parks and Recreation board, which met Tuesday, Jan. 22, to discuss recent developments for the park.
The Brainerd City Council approved a lease agreement with Brainerd Industrial Center owner Mike Higgins-who owns the park-during a special meeting Jan. 15. The city will pay $10,000 per year for the next two years to lease the park and the parking lot at Memorial Park-also owned by Higgins-per the new agreement, which runs from Jan. 21, 2019, through March 1, 2021, ending after the city's pond hockey league finishes its season.
Previously, the city of Brainerd leased the property from the former owner, Wausau Paper Mill, and previous mill operations at the site for $1 a year going back to 1989. Higgins said the price increase is intended to cover tax increases levied by the city, Crow Wing County and the Brainerd School District.
During negotiations, Higgins said he told the council he wasn't going to renew the lease for the $1 amount and wanted the city to cover the taxes on the land. The city reported the taxes were about $750 per year. Higgins then requested $12,000 to $20,000 per year, saying he feels the portion he pays on those properties is $10,000 per year for the 8 acres, although he said he knows the city looks at it differently. At the Jan. 15 meeting, Higgins said he didn't mind paying his fair share and he thoroughly supported the Brainerd School District referendum, which is part of his property tax increase. According to Crow Wing County records, Higgins paid $89,881 in property taxes in 2018 for the entire BIC property, with $37,700 of that going to the city.
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Mill Avenue Park features facilities and amenities for a number of popular sports pastimes in Brainerd-notably, hockey rinks during the wintertime, as well as baseball and softball fields for summer play. These activities would have been discontinued in Mill Avenue Park-some mid-season-when the original lease ended Jan. 20.
"It wasn't the greatest of deals, but it was something that had to get done to get things moving and it gives us time," said Dave Badeaux, a member of the Brainerd City Council and the council's liaison to the board.
"Better a Band-Aid than a tourniquet," observed Tim Boeder, a member of the parks and recreation board.
While facilities, sports arenas and skating rinks will remain in Mill Avenue Park for the time being, parks Director Tony Sailer said kids had expressed anxiety about the park's future-worried, he noted, that ice skating, hockey, baseball or softball may be taken away, or moved to a location that isn't within walking distance.
"What you've got the kids talking about it, you know it's a hot topic," Sailer said.
During the Jan. 15 meeting, Higgins discussed the possibility of constructing a new sports complex on the site through a joint venture between the city and Brainerd Industrial Center-funded by city residents, while Higgins would assist in the design and/or construction of the new facilities.
Sailer said he and Higgins were planning to discuss the matter further at a later date.
City Administrator Cassandra Torstenson cautioned the proposal is little more than that-a proposal, with little to indicate what a private-public partnership with Brainerd Industrial Center would look like, or whether it's going to proceed.
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"It was a nice presentation. It was a nice gesture," Torstenson said. "But, I don't know what the end result will look like."
With such a steep increase in costs to lease the property, the city has also been looking at potentially moving to alternative locations for these activities. In the meantime, Sailer said plans for a World War II monument would have to be postponed as there's little reason to install it if it's going to be moved to a different area in two years.
"We need to look at-within the next six months-figuring out what we want to do and having a general plan in place," Badeaux said. "Then we can start coming up with funding options and then we have to come up with contingency plans. If that parking lot does not become available to us, that changes everything."
Torstenson said-irrespective of where arenas for popular sports like softball and hockey ultimately land when the lease ends in March 2021 -she wants to keep it within the city, accessible to families and children, as well as close to community centers, shops and restaurants.
"The only other area with ample acreage would be Trailside Park," Torstenson noted. "But, that would take extensive clearing and landwork. There's no facilities out there. There's nothing but trees."
Aside from Trailside Park-an undeveloped 120-acre plot at the corner of Wise Road/County Road 49 and Beaver Dam Road in northwest Brainerd-there are no other viable options, she added. Badeaux said the only way this could work is if sports were parceled out to different locations-with a property for hockey, a separate parcel for baseball or softball, and so on.
