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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-01-27 Kathleen Macy Ltr to OPHDear Mr. Melena, STILLWATER AREA SCHOOL Effictive Learning Through Excellence in Educati o Mr. Tom Melena, City Administrator City of Oak Park Heights 14168 57 Street North P.O. Box 2007 Oak Park Heights, MN 55082 Kathleen Macy, Superintendent ----11 1 , FEB - 4 Mk 1875 South Greeley Street Stillwater Minnesota 55082 Phone: 651-351-8340 Fax: 651-351-8380 V-TDD: 651-351-8338 January 27, 2000 RE: Goverance of the use of the ropes course be provided by the same District 834 Community Education and general education policies and use guidelines that prescribe the use of all of our facilities, fields, apparatus etc. During the past year, 1 have met with you and members of our respective staff each month to discuss areas of mutual concerns and to develop more active communication between our organizations. The goals of our meetings are to serve our communities better and to re-establish strong, positive relationships between our organizations. The meetings have been helpful to us as a way to resolve problems and chart the future. I am grateful for your commitment to this work. As a result of our ongoing conversations and as part of our annual review, 1 report that we have met the conditions of the permit awarded by the City of Oak Park Heights on April 29, 1999 for the use of the ropes course. Any issues, and there have been very few, that have arisen have been discussed and resolved. The only issue unable to be resolved is the requirement to train City police and fire officials for potential rescue activities on the course. At this time, our prescribed hours of operation do not allow us to schedule the training at a time that the firefighters can participate. As per our conversation and at your directive, 1 am writing to request that we be able to use the ropes course on the grounds of Stillwater Area High School under the same District 834 policies and guidelines that govern all of our facilities. What this means in this case is that: • Hours of use would be expanded with safety of participants as the benchmark of when the course would be in use. • Availability of natural daylight and high standards of safety and supervision would prescribe the hours of use. The current guidelines limit the use of the course to 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., or dusk, whichever occurs earlier. This restriction prohibits some of our students and parents from participation, one of the federal requirements of the grant that supported the development of this course. • This is not a request for lighting. An Equal Opportunity Employer Afton-Lakeland Elementary • Andersen Elementary • Area Learning Center • Early Childhood Family Center • Lake Elmo Elementary Lily Lake Elementary • Marine Elementary • Oak Park Elementary • Oak-Land Junior High • Rutherford Elementary Stonebridge Elementary Stillwater Area High School • Stillwater Junior High • Valley Crossing Community School • Withrow Elementary Mr. Tom Melena, City Administrator January, City Administrator January 27, 2000 Page two Independent of this request, I ask that the following be considered by the City as an item of future discussion. Thank you again for your commitment to our shared responsibility of service to the community. I look forward to the action of the City Council on this request. Sind: felt' d. Any changes to the ropes course, including structures, fencing, access or security measures, shall require approval of an amended conditional use permit by the City Council unless the City Council amends the conditional use permit to exclude recreational structures from its application. Conditional Use Permit, April 1999 Ka hleen P. Macy Su . erintendent of Sch KPM:dkh c: Board of Education Ms. Teri Lewis, SAHS Ms, Mary Pat Cumming JuhI, Assistant Principal SAHS Mr. Paul Westmoreland, Community Education Dr. Mary Jo Weingarten, Deputy Superintendent