City Council deals with full agenda at Monday nights meeting
Krista Pietruszewski
Kbpiet@gmail.com
The Karlstad City Council had a busy meeting on Monday evening, with the Board of Appeals and Equalization meeting beforehand. Exciting things are happening for the City of Karlstad this summer and most projects are underway. Kittson County Assessor, Alyssa Gustafson and Chief Deputy Assessor, Jennifer Koskela were there to explain their updates, take questions, and reassure anyone who had questions on their assessed property. They went into detail about the updated computer system they are now using, and all the re-evaluations they had to do to ensure they had the correct information. They also stressed that if you have changes to your property, want to know the year of the house, if you have made updates, if you have damages; to give them a call and they can update all that in their evaluation system. First on the docket for the regular meeting was the Fitness center. Garrett and Darcy Reis owners and operators of Xperience Health and Fitness were there with an itemized budget for what they see as being the initial changes to be made at the fitness center located in the clinic in Karlstad. Floor replacement, painting, and doors. Darcy was sure to say, that once they had a budget number in mind from the council, they would work with that and what they have and get it going. Also, they would be doing the updates, keeping in mind that patrons will be able to still use the facility and equipment. They will not be shutting the place down to do the updates. They will ensure people can still safely use the facility. The board was very responsive to this. They are planning to write up a 3-year agreement and will give the full 2024 budget of $3,500.00 to the Reis’ for doing whatever updates they need. Corey Wikstrom, Jaren Englund and Joyclyn Englund were all present at the meeting from the Karlstad Park Board. An exciting project of revamping the baseball fields at Moosepark is underway. The updates that are planned include dugouts, removable fencing, and benches for spectator seating. This is a need for the fact that Tri-County’s Junior high baseball team plays all away games due to no field being available, this will solve that problem. It all depends on what they have for funds to work with but have already secured $19,000 for the project and will continue to fundraise. The Karlstad Park Board is also working on a Sledding Hill for Moosepark. This will be a place for winter recreation. Dirt is already being gathered for the project. Next Meeting: The City Council’s next regular Board meeting will be held on Monday, June 3rd at 5:30 P.M.
20th anniversary noted at recreation area and campground
June 8 is Free Park Day
Brenda Halvorson
Exponent Reporter
A busy season is expected at the Red River State Recreation Area (RRSRA) and Sherlock Campground as the opening of the park 20 years ago is commemorated. Catherine Johnson, park manager, updated the East Grand Forks city council on park features, programming and usage at its April 23 work session. The creation of the recreation area was one result of the flood of 1997 that devastated communities on both sides of the Red River. As the floodplain was redrawn, the destroyed and endangered homes were acquired and removed. A greenway was created. A special free park day is set for June 8 that will highlight the history of the park and the map that shows the original neighborhood that is now Sherlock Campground. Johnson said visitors can look for where their family home was and she can show them where their grandparents lived, for instance. The sidewalk still survives in some places. They can share memories in a special guest book and she said people often comment on familiar names they see in that book. Other programming this summer will include increased archery events and a variety of nature exploration programs such as birding, flowers, bats and hawks. The campground features 113 campsites, including 85 electric sites with full hookups. The 103-acre park has 2.2 miles of hiking trails and is part of the Passport and Hiking Club program where participants can earn rewards for hiking state trails. Eagle Scout projects in 2023 added .27 miles to the trail and built wood duck nesting boxes to replace damaged ones. The recreation area features five wood duck nesting boxes, eight bluebird houses and four bat roosting boxes. Although the opening in 2023 was delayed due to flooding, the RRSRA still had over 100,000 visitors that included 11,341 sites, the third highest since opening in 2004. Johnson expects the record will be broken this summer. Sales in the office were over $175,881, Johnson reported, an increase of $42,773 over 2022. That does not include online or call center reservations. They sold 1,219 annual permits and 2,246 daily permits. Jeremy King, parks and recreation superintendent, noted that the economic impact to the area in 2022 was estimated at nearly $2.3 million. The RRSRA had the largest profit out of all the parks in the area, including Itasca. Johnson said location was one of the biggest factors for the campground’s popularity, including its proximity to downtown amenities and other greenway trails. However, city events such as the summer music festival also bring in campers. Visitors are from many states and some Canadian provinces as well as other foreign countries. A U.S. map in the office allows people to put in a pin for their home location, Johnson said, and the map needs to be replaced because of so many repeat locations.