School Facilities Committee Meeting Minutes - June 29, 2000

Facilities Advisory Committee
Minutes of June 29, 2000
The Facilities Committee of the Allamakee Community School District met on
Thursday, June 29, 2000 at 7:30 p.m. in the library at the High School.

Members present: Fran Gruenhaupt, Omer Troyer, Arnie Snook, Craig Phipps,
Erin Berns, Fred Smith, James Bieber, Mary Jo Meyer, Scott Melcher, Barb
Melcher, Virgil Thorstenson, Tom Baxter, Greg Morningstar, Jerry Heck,
Kathie Heck, Larry Dundee, Mary Jo Nordheim and Norman Delphy.

Members absent: Dave Mathis, Karen Mathis, Russell Roth, Ron Herman, Joe
Peters, Randy Kruger.

Others in attendance were Machelle Bulman, Jeff Moe, Nona Sawyer, Ron
Brandt, Linda Groe, Chris Lauerman, Pat Stilwell, Florence Ranzenberger,
Elvin Ranzenberger, Thelma Reetz, Dwight Watkins, Jeremy Strub, Chad
Duerkop, Terri Krueger and Dennis Paul.

Fran Gruenhaupt opened the meeting and asked everyone to introduce
themselves since we had many visitors. She explained that the facilities
committee has met nearly every Thursday since March 30. The committee has
done extensive research and brought in many fresh new ideas.

Mr. Troyer gave a little more background information about Shive Hattery
making an extensive evaluation of all school buildings. From this
evaluation, the committee has developed 6 proposals of which one proposal
has now been decided upon. He explained that with fire codes and the
American Disabilities Act (ADA), a team of engineers needs to be contacted
now. Information from three engineering firms will be collected and the
board of education will make the decision of which firm will be contacted.

Virgil Thorstenson reviewed last weeks (June 22) meeting. Three concerned
citizens were in attendance showing interest in incorporating a youth
center with the school improvements. Interest was also shown to possibly
incorporate a senior center and a community center at the same time.

The visitors were asked for their input at this time. Pat Stilwell expr
essed concern for the youth of the community. St. Pat's will no longer be
able to be used as a Youth Center. She was hoping that the Jr. High Gym
would be available to help in this area. She explained that the city
police are concerned for the youth and the community without a Youth
Center. She said it would be a dream come true if all these areas could be
incorporated together.

Elvin Ranzenberger represented the seniors and said their area is very
small. They would love to be able to increase the size and activities of
the group.

Chad Duerkop, recreation director, said this is a wonderful community
project. It would benefit all ages of the county. He is willing to work
with the seniors and the city council and report back to the committee at
the next meeting.

Other comments were: Currently, seniors who have devoted all their lives to
this area are using left over space. We all owe something to this
community. As a community, we need to make priorities. The three major
items of a great community are the hospital, the school system, and the
city.

There may be assistance through grants available through Upper Explorer
Land through a 28E agreement for a community project such as this.

Rental of the school facilities was reviewed. It is rented approximately
335 times per year. This tends to be a difficult task with limited space
and setup.

A vote was taken and it was unanimous to include other community functions
on the school facilities proposal.

When organized, the city council would like to set up a special meeting in
order to get them involved.

The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 6, 2000 at 7:30 p.m. in
the high school library.

Each member is asked to creatively think and list what components need to
be included in each building.



Respectfully submitted,

Mary Jo Meyer