Staff Report- Meisters request for ice rink reservationSCANDIA
Staff RepoVt
Date of Meeting: January 27, 2016
To: City Council
From: Neil Soltis, City Administrator
Re: Request from Meisters to reserve the ice rink for hockey tournament game on Saturday,
February 6, 2016
Background:
The Mayor received a request on Tuesday, January 26th from Meisters to reserve 90 minutes of rink
time on Saturday, February 6. The City has a policy that there would be no reservations of the ice
rink on weekends and, in the past, the City has not granted exceptions to the policy. The only
reserved time has been for the Scanley Cup, which went before the Council for a special event
permit. Further, the Ordinance regarding special event permits requires that an application be
submitted at least 30 days in advance of the event. Based on these factors the request was turned
down.
Councilmembers Lee and Ness have requested a special meeting be held to discuss the request.
Proposal Details:
Meisters is hosting a free event to youth hockey organizations in the community on Hockey Day MN
Saturday, February 6th. They have 20 teams booked from associations across the Twin Cities. The
following associations that are attending are Forest Lake, White Bear Lake, Tartan, Woodbury,
Roseville, and North Branch.
They want to host #10 White Bear Lake Peewee AA vs. #1 Osseo Maple Grove Peewee AA on
Scandia's rink Saturday, February 6th and are requesting to reserve the rink from 5:00 p.m. until 6:30
p.m. as a feature game. They estimate that 60-75 participants and spectators will be at the event.
A special event permit application was been submitted for the event on Thursday, January 28th.
Since the estimated number of participants and spectators a special event permit is not required for
this event.
Options:
1. Approve an exception to the policy for this single event.
2. Deny the request based on the existing policy.
3. Recommend the Parks and Recreation Committee revisit both the ice rink reservation
policy and the special event permit ordinance to discuss whether allowances should be
provided for future requests.
4. Discuss at a later date whether a charge should be established for special meetings that
are scheduled to accommodate a request from a private party.
Recommendation:
There is a definite benefit to helping at assist a local business that is organizing a free event that
will bring visitors to the community. The Council will need to weigh whether the benefits of this
request versus allowing the public to use the rink.
Options 3 and 4: If the request is approved, a precedent will be established for similar future
requests. There should be a discussion as to the intent of the ice rink policy and special event
ordinance and whether revisions should be made to accommodate similar exceptions in the
future. Additionally, there is an administrative cost to preparing for a special meeting that takes
time away from the City's normal cost of business along with the cost of providing written
notices to the Council members. The Council should discuss whether there should be a charge
for special meeting to accommodate a request from a private party.