From Mayor Rod Karst

The following was written and read by Glasgow Mayor Rod Karst during the public comment period at the Nov. 20 City Council Meeting.

This letter is printed with permission from Mayor Karst.

Before we get started tonight, I want to take a couple of minutes to address an issue that has gotten out of hand on Facebook.

I do not use Facebook for this simple reason, people can go online and act as judge and jury on things that they don’t have all the facts on and get others sharing their knowledge or lack thereof. The City of Glasgow and its employees will not do business on social media.

The swimming pool project is nearing the construction phase. The committee has raised over 3 million dollars without going to the taxpayers and adding this to their taxes. The committee needs to be recognized for their efforts.

When they went into the start of the project, they were led to believe that the cost of the new pool would be around 2.5 million and it ballooned to 3.7 million dollars as costs increased. When the bid came in at 4.7 million dollars, they were shocked. They regrouped and opted to use the money that they had to build the new pool and look at other options for the bathhouse. The pool part of the project will run around 2.8 million dollars, the money was in hand for this, so a contract was signed for the construction. The bathhouse project became something new for them to figure out a way to get done. Red Lodge did the same thing, built a new pool, and remodeled their existing bathhouse. That cost them around 400 thousand dollars. That was a few years ago, so we hoped to do the same here for around 500 thousand. An inspection of the 50-year-old building revealed failing plumbing underneath and structural damage (deteriorating bricks, need for a new roof, walls that had separated from the main building, etc.). It was decided that the building should be demolished. By spending a little more money, we will get a NEW building. A cost estimate is not available yet, but it is hoped the architects and engineers will get back to the committee soon so it can be put it out to bid…it was suggested to figure around 700 thousand.

The hospital in the meantime stepped forward with a proposal that they thought would benefit both them and the pool project. “What if they were to purchase part of the park to put a parking lot in that could be used by both the hospital and the pool?” The original 4.7 million dollar pool plan included a drop off loop and parking at a cost of around 200 thousand dollars and would have pushed the whole pool and bathhouse back towards the Levee, taking up the entire middle of the park. That idea was scrapped due to the cost and a new parking and drop off loop was proposed at a cost of less than 20 thousand dollars, this would leave the pool and bathhouse in its current location also leaving the back part of the park intact. That is when the hospital proposal was shared with the city council. The hospital administration hoped that this would help the committee reach their funding goal and get the project completed.

The hospital had two proposed plans and a contribution to the pool project of $450,000. A committee was established that met with hospital personnel once. At that public meeting, a few alterations of one of the proposals were recommended and that the other proposal should not be considered due to the public utilities under the street. It was also asked if the dollar amount was negotiable. We have not heard back from the hospital, so there is nothing new to report….that is why it is not on the agenda tonight. I told one of the Facebook faithful that.

I was asked if there would be a public hearing on this, to which I said yes there would be. We do not act on things like this without public comment.

It has also been stated in the comments on Facebook that the park land was donated to the city by the Hoyt family and there are restrictions on how it can be used. This is not true. The park came into existence under Mayor Hoyt’s term in office, thus the name. Our city attorney, our city clerk and an attorney for the hospital have been researching any restrictions on the usage of this city property. So far they have come up with none. If it is found that there are restrictions, then the proposal will be denied.

It has been stated that the voters need to put this sale on the ballot. This is also not true. The city recently sold a used jetter, we did this without it being a ballot issue. We buy and sell items all the time, all without it being a ballot issue. We are elected to make decisions on behalf of the taxpayers, we do not put everything on the ballot. The cost and time involved would deter our ability to get any business done tremendously.

I want to remind you that our meetings are open to the public. Our minutes are available for you to see. The people that are elected to represent you are available to discuss issues with. Our meetings have a public comment period twice during the meeting. The first is to discuss any issue on the agenda and the second is to discuss any issues not on the agenda. You are reminded that public comment is limited to three minutes per person, and that discussion can be limited if it becomes redundant. We are trying to be as open as possible with our activity, and we welcome your input.