April 16—JAMESTOWN — The Stutsman County Park Board could look to complete a comprehensive plan for its facilities and assets to figure out what the community needs and wants.
Stutsman County Commissioner Jerry Bergquist said Tuesday, April 16, that the park board must look beyond the Jamestown Reservoir land previously owned by the Bureau of Reclamation as the board revises its master plan.
“We have to integrate all those responsibilities of the park board and find out from the public what they want us to do with those lands,” he said.
During an April 3 public input meeting on the Dakota Skies Outdoor Recreation Area project, Bergquist said he realized the park board had no plan for his land.
“We have to invest time and money somehow in putting together a plan,” he said.
No action has been taken on the proposal.
Amy Walters, executive director of the Jamestown Parks and Recreation District, told the park board that the district had a comprehensive plan in place.
Berguist said if Walters talked about Jamestown Parks and Recreation District’s process to get a comprehensive plan, it could help the park board make a decision on how to move forward with its master plan.
Walters said the comprehensive plan included a needs assessment, a community-wide needs assessment, public input meetings, focus group meetings with stakeholders, a strategic plan, a review of the district’s procedures and policies, program review and development, capital improvements and facility reviews .
Walters said the Jamestown Parks and Recreation District requested a comprehensive 10-year plan. She said $100,000 had been budgeted for work on the scheme. She said the district could have a final plan by June. Walters said the district’s goals were to identify current and future needs.
“We needed to get a better handle on what we actually have, because we regularly get requests to add new ones, so we had to make sure we knew and understood it and that became a whole review process, involving engineers and architects,” said she. “We have assessed all our assets so that we know what to expect when we decide on new projects and how we allocate resources, both fiscal and human resources.”
Walters said the district received community input on what people wanted from Jamestown Parks and Recreation.
“Instead of Jamestown Parks and Recreation’s plan, it becomes the community’s plan,” she said.
Walters said when the comprehensive plan is completed, it will increase the district’s ability to apply for grant funds. She said she will know what grants to pursue based on the comprehensive plan.
The Stutsman County Commission unanimously approved a Joint Powers Agreement between the City of Jamestown and the County for the use of the Stutsman County Law Enforcement Center.
Jessica Lange, Stutsman County auditor/chief operating officer, said a committee consisting of her, Bergquist, Stutsman County Sheriff Chad Kaiser, City Manager Sarah Hellkeson, City Councilman David Steele and Chief of Police Scott Edinger spent more than a year working on the agreement worked. .
The Jamestown City Council could approve the agreement at its next meeting in May. Alonge said the city and province entered into the joint powers agreement in 2005. She said the wording in that agreement was outdated.
The Joint Powers Agreement establishes and shares the rights, responsibilities and procedures for the operation and maintenance of the county-owned Stutsman County Law Enforcement Center. The agreement will be evaluated every two years.
The agreement is renewed annually unless the city or province terminates the agreement and the other party provides at least twelve months’ written notice of termination.
According to a cost breakdown, the total annual cost, including utilities, of the Law Enforcement Center’s operations is more than $422,000. The city’s share is about $117,000 and the county’s share is more than $220,000. Other entities contributing funds to the total annual cost include the Stutsman County Communications Center, North Dakota Highway Patrol, North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Stutsman County Narcotics Task Force.
Lange said the county will pay the costs and the city will reimburse the county.
She said the cost is calculated based on the amount of square footage used. She said the city also pays for other costs, such as utilities and phone use.
In other matters, the province orders:
* unanimously approved the appointment of election officials on June 11. She said the polling station in Medina is fully staffed. She said political parties have until May 22 to determine their workers for the primaries.
* heard an update from alonge about the upcoming primaries. Langs said voters should make sure their ID has a current address. She said voters can go to
vote.nd.gov
to change their address. Lange also said absentee ballots are now available at the Stutsman County Auditor’s Office. Absentee ballots will be available on May 2.
