Rental will increase for Mill Yard pavilion in 2021

Cornell City Council

Getting a jump on next year’s fees, the Cornell City Council agreed to raising the Mill Yard Park pavilion rental, at the regular meeting June 4. The recommendation came out of the Halls, Parks and Recreation Committee May 29.

Effective Jan. 1, 2021, the fee would increase to $60/day, for reserving the area Friday through Sunday, while rentals Monday through Thursday, would be $30/day. The one-time deposit of $40 would remain the same.

Currently, the rental fee for the Mill Yard is $40.

“I’m not worried about the city park,” said committee chair and council member Ashley Carothers.

When reserving the Mill Yard pavilion, amenities include the kitchen (which the city park doesn’t have) with water and electricity, as well as an outdoor grill area nearby.

Carothers said she did not want to raise the fee where no one will rent the Mill Yard pavilion, but also says she did not want to have citizens have to pay the bill for the cleanup of the area.

The rental also doesn’t cover pumping fees for the bathrooms, which the city is responsible for. Committee and council member Aimee Korger said she thought the $20 increase was reasonable.

“It shows that we have pride in it (pavilion)… but it doesn’t say…we want your money,” said Korger.

Floyd Hickethier said any event that raises money can put the amount in their budget and that many reunions collect freewill offerings to pay for the outing.

City administrator Dave DeJongh said he thought it makes sense to have lower rates during the week, when the pavilion is not normally reserved. Carothers mentioned that variances for non-profit organizations will not be on the rental agreement.

“It’s just public knowledge,” said Carothers, “that if an organization or someone would like to request a variance, they can certainly do so, by contacting the city office here. And then, we would go from there with the Finance Committee.”

Members also agreed to authorize De-Jongh to add four hours to staffing time at the Cornell Visitors Center, so the building can be open Mondays.

“Personally, I think it’s a nice idea…,” said mayor Mark Larson, who mentioned that with the upcoming culvert replacement/ road closure between Cornell and Cadott, there will be a lot more traffic coming through town. “Every car that comes to Cornell, is going to be coming across the bridge right by the visitors center, at the very least until Labor Day.”

Council members Steve Turany and Bill Kvapil said they thought the city should take every opportunity to showcase the center. Council member Terry Smith agreed to the increase, while Korger says she has seen many people looking around outside when the building is not open.

“It would have been nice to have had someone there,” said Korger. “Any additional hours that we have that open, would be well worth getting people to stop.”

Carothers said in looking at the guest book in the visitors center, it’s clear people are in the building every day it’s open.

“I’m a strong backer of the visitors center, myself, and I appreciate the support,” said Larson.

It was also reported that the Native American exhibit next door to the visitors center, will be cleaned and open to the public this summer, after some years of remaining closed.

During the meeting, Kvapil also brought up a subject a local veteran approached him with – installing an American flag at the police department. As of now, there is no flag pole, although most members remembered seeing one at some point before a current statue was put in place at the front of the building.

“When they put the statue up, it (flag pole) went down,” said Hickethier.

Larson says he thinks the city needs to have a flag somewhere at the police station and that it be flown every day.

“Do we know where the old flag pole is?” asked Turany.

Because that answer is still pending, as are the costs associated with installing a flag pole and who would pay for it, the council agreed to investigate the matter more before doing anything.

In a notice to the council, the Chippewa County Department of Public Health issued guidelines on the COVID-19 health emergency. Although the state is reopening and cases of the virus are dropping, the health department is not advising large gatherings, with no projected time frame available to change those recommendations.

“I guess we’re still in Phase 1, from what I understood…and once we get to Stage 3, you can have an event of 250 or more people in attendance,” said Carothers, adding that those are simply recommendations, not an order or law. “It’s just a guideline.”