The Crookston Park Board met on Monday afternoon at City Hall. They quickly approved the minutes from their August meeting and the rest of the meeting was given over to Parks and Recreation Director Scott Riopelle. He presented the board with the budget for 2019 and the big purchase items were a sweeper for the baseball and softball fields, a truck and a sweeper to clear sidewalks throughout town. The largest part of the budget, salaries, and benefits cannot be changed because they are part of contracts negotiated by the City Council and staff.
“We just went line by line and made changes,” said Riopelle. “If we saw something where history shows we’ve been spending more in an area then we’ve been budgeting we’ll move that, and the same thing if we’re spending less in an area we’ll move that down.”
Park Board Member Chris Fee said he has had several people tell him of their concerns over the paid-for parking spots at the Crookston Sports Arena. Fee said several hockey people have voiced concerns about confrontations over people parking in the spots when the spot isn’t theirs. Crookston Park and Rec Director Scott Riopelle and Mayor Wayne Melbye said none of the confrontations have had official complaints and no cars have been towed and $1,200 is $1,200. Fee questioned if the $1,200 was worth it and he knows the Park Board unanimously voted down the idea before he was on the board. Riopelle said they could look at going to an auction to try to get more money, similar to what Moorhead does.
The budget is still preliminary, and the final budget will wait on City Council’s approval of the levy.
Crookston Park Board Talks Budget and CSC Parking
