Rec center seeks City support

Golden Plains Recreation Center/Peerless Theatre Board vice president Erin LeBlanc addressed Holyoke City Council at its July 3 meeting. Ultimately, the theater board asked the City to help provide enrichment and recreation to the community by lowering the cost of electricity, which totals about $10,500 annually.
    LeBlanc opened by telling the council that the theater has been struggling to keep its doors open for several years. She outlined several positive changes they have made to decrease costs, including additional volunteer and board member involvement, and to increase revenue through such things as selling advertisements.
    Despite steps forward, the theater has to contend with ubiquitous live streaming, new minimum wage laws and a decrease in donors. Another hit to their bottom line came about two years ago when the theater had to stop showing free movies for the community.
    In the past, the theater offered regular free showings for youth, seniors and the community as a whole. Once they found out they couldn’t show the free movies without paying a booking fee, the theater lost the $500-$800 per month revenue they brought in through concessions. Support from the City could help bridge that gap.
    Council members had no questions for LeBlanc, and Mayor Orville Tonsing thanked her for her time, noting that the council will discuss the matter in the future.
    
    Mill levy override discussed
    With a July 28 deadline to put items on the November ballot, council members discussed the need to find funding for new police and fire department buildings. Whether or not a mill levy override is the solution, the council needs to make a decision.
    A meeting with the University of Colorado engineering students who are working on plans was scheduled for July 6, so council members decided to hold a work session preceding the next City Council meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 18.
    
    Officials report
    City superintendent Mark Brown reported two power outages since the last meeting, both caused by squirrels. The first occurred June 22 in the 100-700 blocks of South Belford and Baxter avenues. The next was July 2, affecting parts of Evans, Worley, Coleman and Reynolds avenues.
    Crews have been busy preparing for seal coating and working on concrete at the mini park. Brown said the rafter system for the mini park has arrived and will be going up in the next few weeks.
    The leak in the alfalfa sprinkler system was repaired, and backflow devices that did not pass inspection are being worked on to be retested.
    Council member Scott Murray thanked Brown for the work that has been done on the mini park so far, noting it looks good. He also thanked Sgt. Mark Werts for the work he did with the Baptist church volunteers who painted at the City Park earlier this year.
    Police Chief Doug Bergstrom reported that the police department handled or generated 225 calls for service from June 16-29. They made three arrests, wrote five citations and six reports, and gave out 37 warnings, including code enforcement. Code enforcement handled seven animal complaints, two dogs at large and 12 ordinance violations.
    Clerk/Treasurer Kathy Olofson reported that the council received a registration form for a county fair parade float, as well as a few thank you cards in the mail.
    
    Other business
    In other business at the Monday meeting, the council:
    —Held an 11-minute executive session at the request of Attorney Al Wall for the purpose of receiving legal advice on specific legal questions.
    —Allowed a special events permit for the Phillips County Fair Board July 26-29 and waived local permit fees.