FAIRMONT– The Community Center Advisory Board met Wednesday inside council chambers at city hall. This is a change in venue as more members of the public have been attending the meetings. On Wednesday the board, including two new council liaisons, Jay Maynard and Britney Kawecki, tackled a number of agenda items. It had not met since November.

The board spent the first half hour of the meeting speaking about the first agenda item: board/liaison roles and responsibilities. City Administrator Cathy Reynolds said she wanted to make sure everyone on the board knew the voting structure.

“The four appointed members are the voting members and the school liaison serves as the tie-breaker vote,” Reynolds said.

Board Member Brandon Edmundson also said as he understands that the council liaisons are intended to observe and participate and not vote, but bring back information to the rest of the city council. He asked Maynard and Kawecki to share what the board can do to assist the council.

Maynard said personally he wanted honest opinions and input into the decisions council will need to make regarding the project.

“I understand that sometimes this board will make recommendations that the council doesn’t adopt. That’s not a reflection on this board, but it’s a reflection of the fact that the council needs to take the interest of the entire city into account,” Maynard said.

Kawecki said ultimately she wants to see decisions made and the project to progress.

Edmundson then asked Reynolds what she felt the role of the board was and how it can help the city. Reynolds read from the meeting minutes from the board’s first meeting and said that the advisory board is intended to make recommendations to the council on the planning, construction and funding of a community center.

Edmundson questioned whether the board has the ability to schedule an additional meeting or whether that had to come from staff. He said as board chair, he didn’t feel like he had the authority to do so and asked for clarification.

“I would say that an independent setting of the agenda by the chair of the committee, without knowledge of the work currently being done and where things are at with staff, is not fully productive,” Reynolds said.

Board Member Mike Edman expressed frustration with the conversation about roles and meetings. He said he felt that the work the board has done so far hasn’t been recognized.

“At the end of the day, council needs to work with the Foundation (Fairmont Area Community Center Foundation) to get this thing built. The most efficient way to do that is in workshops and with staff. We are a third party. We are another opportunity to have a meeting where nothing new is discussed. No statutory or legal authority to make any decisions of any kind can come from this body,” Edman said.

He said they need to think about what value the board has and again suggested that the council hold work sessions with the Foundation. Board Member Lisa Kuhl added that she believes the Fairmont Hockey Association needs to be included in the workshops, too.

Edman made a motion to recommend that council schedules a workshop where it invites the Foundation and hockey association to come and talk with them and ask how they think it will be best to move forward on the project on a number of issues including the roles and responsibilities of the advisory board.

He then said whatever comes out of that work session can be considered at the advisory board’s next meeting. The motion passed.

Next, the board viewed and discussed the project organizational chart. Reynolds said it was created in order to help visualize who is all involved and how the project is coming together.

The chart includes the key parties: advisory board, Foundation, hockey association and the city council. It also includes construction groups Kraus Anderson and JLG Architects. Another key part of the chart is finance.

Right now, the city is considering a revenue bond, fundraising, a state bond, a new market tax credit and an additional local option sales tax to fund the construction of a new community center.

At the last city council meeting, the council approved contracting with a lobbyist to help secure state money. On Wednesday Reynolds provided a brief update and said that a request for an additional local option sales tax has been forwarded to the state. She also said that for state bonding, the legislation has been drafted and is waiting to be introduced to the floor.

Kawecki was critical of the chart. She said she felt that the most important part of the chart is the city’s owner’s representative, Tegra. Kawecki then said that an email had recently been sent which said that Tegra will be walking away from the project.

Edmundson said he was confident that Tegra’s absence will be talked about at a work session.

Reynolds explained that they were working on the phase two contract with Tegra, which was sent to the new city attorney, who recommended some changes be made in the contract.

“That was sent to them (Tegra) to change the language and instead of discussing it, Tegra said they intended to withdraw…,” Reynolds said.

She said that the project can continue to move forward without the extra layer of an owner’s representative. Reynolds said she felt like it was an extreme move to pull out of a contract because they were asked to amend a clause.

“That would suggest to me that there’s a lot more to it than that,” said Edman.

He said he agrees that the project is possible to continue without an owner’s representative, but acknowledged that Tegra has been very involved in the project for several years and has proved to be very valuable.

Edmundson agreed and said he would suggest that the city engage in finding a new owner’s representative due to the complexity of the project.

“I think we need an owner’s rep on this project to, not walk beside us, but to pull us along down the path where this needs to go…,” said Edmundson.

Kawecki said she believed the city should try to repair its relationship with Tegra and Maynard agreed.

The board approved a motion to suggest the council look for a new owner’s representative.

In other action:

— The board tabled electing 2023 officers until a new board member, who will replace Kyle Gustfason, is named.