Loading...
4.4. SR 08-18-2003MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: Pat Klaers, City Adm i~a~tor August 18, 2003 Go Driving School Request Item 4.4. At the July 21, 2003 City Council meeting, a request from Mardi Lacher of Go Driving School was made regarding the City Recreation role in drivers education. City Recreation parmers with Life Skills Driving School on this program. Ms. Lacher believes that the city's involvement creates an unfair competitive advantage which ultimately has caused a decrease in enrollment in her school. The City Council requested this item to come back for further discussion and review at this August 18, 2003 meeting. City Recreation believes that the drivers education class is consistent with their safety program goals. City Recreation discussed the situation with Ms. Lacher and offered some concessions, such as no longer advertising this program in the brochure and not using the Boys and Girls Club for classes if Go Driving School is using this facility for classes. The one surprising piece of information that was presented at the July 21, 2003 meeting related to the cost for the classes. City Recreation's understanding was that our price was competitive and not significantly different and the other drivers education offerings (with the exception of Community Education). If the city continues with the drivers education program, then the price will change in order to ensure no competitive advantage to the city over private businesses. Whatever the City Council decides on this issue is fine with us. This is a new program for the city (started in 2002) and City Recreation is busy enough without this offering. The one concern that we have if we do not continue offering drivers education is how to respond to any future complaints about City Recreation infringing on private businesses. Future requests could come from many different areas from golf to first aid training to yoga and to a multitude of fitness activities. Attached for your information is some background material on this issue. S:\COUNCIL\Pat\2003\godriving.doc GO DRIVING SCHOOL Professional Driving Instruction Business Office: 1002 North 9th Avenue Princeton, MN 55371 763-631-1600 June 10, 2003 l 3 Mr. Pat Klaers, Elk River City Manager 13065 Orono Parkway Elk River, MN 55330 Re: City business practices Dear Mr. Klaers, I am writing you. on behalf of myse}f and other businesses that serve the city of Elk River and surrounding area and who offer dn'ver training. We recently became aware that Elk River City Recreation is offering driver training. By doing such the city of Elk River is favoring one business over the others and giving an exclusive competitive edge to that business. We are concerned because it has adversely affected our businesses. We feel the city of Elk River by this very action is not interested in cultivating an atmosphere favorable to attract competitive business and to keep them. We would ask that you restore a level playing field to competitive business practices in the city. This letter is written on behalf of: Go Driving School: Mardi Lacher Performance Driving School: Mashell Jones Training Wheels: David Baranek, Jr. and David Baranek, Sr. A similar letter is planned to go to the mayor, council members, the Elk River City Recreation Department, the Association of Professional Driving Instruction in MN, the Department of Public Safety and our local legislators. I may be reached at my office in the afternoons. My number is 763-631-1600. I look forward to hearing from you and to know if the city plans to continue fostering the current business climate. Yours truly, Mardi Lacher, President July 11, 2003 Mardi Lacher, President Go Driving School 1002 North 9th Avenue Princeton, MN 55371 Re: Drivers Training Dear Ms. Lacher: This letter is a follow up to our meeting on June 9th. Thank you for stopping by to discuss your concerns with me regarding our offering a drivers training program. The Recreation Department currently offers family activities, sports related programs, and safety related programs. We feel that the drivers training is a good fit within the safety related programming we offer. We, like many Community Education programs - including District 728 Community Education, have been asked by the community to provide these opportunities and would like to continue to do so. I understand you feel that we have created an exclusive competitive edge by doing business with one company. We don't believe this to be the case as our fees are competitive with others providing this service; with the exception of Community Education, whose rates are considerably lower than the others. We work with outside businesses/organizations on many of our programs to provide services. We recognize that, in many cases, there are additional businesses/ organizations providing the same or similar services that are just as qualified as the one we are working with and share this information with those who request it. I have met with Pat Klaers, City Administrator, and we have agreed to no longer advertise our drivers ed program in our brochure and after our summer commitments are complete, we will no longer offer drivers ed at the Boys and Girls Club if Go Driving School will be offering them there. If our relationship changes with Life Skills and we are interested in continuing to offer drivers training, we will certainly keep you in mind as a potential partner. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance. Sincerely, Michele Bergh Manager Paver TO: FROM: MEMORANDUM Mayor and City Council Members Michele Bergh, Recreation Manager DATE: July 21, 2003 SUBJECT: Drivers Training Elk River Recreation offers introductory athletics, leagues, family activities and safety related classes such as firearms safety, babysitting, first aid, and CPR. We began offering Drivers Education in the fall of 2002 through a partnership with Life Skills Driving School, based out of Milaca. We decided to explore this opportunity as we had received many phone calls from people who said there was a need and we felt it was a good fit with our programming and with Lions Park Center being directly across from the schools. We worked with Gordy Leaf, of Life Skills Driving School, to come up with a mutually agreeable arrangement in which we schedule drivers training around everything else in the building at the latest possible date so as to not interfere with rental requests. We collect $15 for each participant in the classroom only and $20 for each participant who sig-ns up for both classroom and behind the wheel, which is arranged completely by Life Skills Driving School. This relationship has allowed us to help meet the needs of the community as well as generate a small amount of income towards Lions Park Center, which we wouldn't have received otherwise. This past spring we asked the Boys and Girls Club if the classes could be moved there as we had a lot of activities going on at Lions Park Center. Duane Howard was very agreeable to this arrangement so we committed to a regular schedule for the summer months. The classes will be moved back to Lions Park Center this fall. This type of partnership is common for our department. Some examples are: · Pinewood Golf Course to provide golf lessons and a league · Skyhawks Inc. to provide sports camps throughout the summer · ProExcel Soccer to provide soccer camps throughout the summer · Elk River Cheerleading Booster Club to provide cheer clinics · Varsity Baseball to provide a baseball clinic · Lacrosse Unlimited to provide Lacrosse Camps · Stacy's Dance Studio to provide introductory dance classes In many cases, there are private entities offering the same services as well as other organizations. We provide opportunities based on what we hear are the needs and try to keep our prices competitive. We realize that there are other businesses offering similar programs, as well as District 728 Community Education, in this community. Our prices are competitive with the area businesses, with the exception of Community Education, who offers the training at about half the price. This type of partnership is very common - Go Driving had a similar a~eement with the Boys and Girls Club in the past (it is unclear if they will be continuing in the future) and currently with the Ogilvie School District. Based on our conversations with Mardi from Go Driving, we have ag-reed to no longer advertise our classes in our brochure and instead will rely primarily on the postcards that Life Skills sends out at their own expense. We have also agreed that, should they plan to return to the Boys and Girls Club, we will no longer offer classes over there once our summer commitment is complete. Ci~ Cotmc:iI ~mtes Page 2 July 21, 2003 4.2. YMCA Update City, Admimstrator Par Kiaers provided an update of the YMCA meeting held on July 17, 2003. He stated that the comrmttee was looking for volunteers to help at tiae Y-MCA booth at the Sherburne County Fair (held last weekend). 4.3. NCDA Update Senior Planner Scott Harlicker provided an update of the Northstar Corridor Development Authority meedng held on July 10, 2003. 4.4. Park and Recreation Update Director of Planning Michele McPherson stated that quotes have been received for park equipment to be installed at Highlands West Park. She stated that she would also like to add the quote for the Apollo climber. COUNCILMEMBER TVEITE MOVED TO ACCEPT THE QUOTE FROM EARL F. ANDERSON IN THE AMOUNT OF $20,024 AND FROM APOLLO FOR THE CLIMBER IN THE AMOUNT OF $11,210. COUNCILMEMBER DIETZ SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED 5-0. Recreation Manager lV~chele Bergh provided an update of summer programs within the Recreation Department. She stated that the Lions Park Center (LPC) facility has been very busy. She stated that some non-profit organizations have been supplying services in lieu of paying fees for the use of park shelters. Mayor KJinzing invited Mardi Lacher to the podium to speak to the Council. Mardi Lacher, Go Driving School, Inc. stated that the Recreation Department has been partnering ,,*4th Life Skills, a driving school located in another community. She stated that Recreation helped dais company with advertising, discounted rental space, and registration, which has hurt her business in Elk Pdver. She questioned why Recreation offers this program or why Recreation doesn't partner with an Elk River business. Ms. Bergh stated that she received feedback from dae community that there was a need for driver's training classes. She stated that she wasn't aware that the fees she was charg-mg were less than what local businesses were charging. She stated that safety is one of the program areas for City Recreation. Councilmember Mot_in stated that he is concerned with LPC being used by a business for operating space regardless if it is partnering with City Recreation or not. Cit7 Administrator Pat Kaaers stated that you could consider this partnership and program to be similar to some of the other sa£ety programs offered by Recreation, such as First ~Sid and Firearms Training. Councilmember Kuester stated that she is concerned with the city being in competition with local businesses and should consider rotadng a partnership with businesses. Mayor I~inzing stated that the city should not be in the business of subsidizing private businesses. FAX NO. : ?632419848 Aug. 18 2003 04:57PM P3 FAX COVER SHEET RON JONES RACING FAX NO. : ?622419848 Aug. 18 200~ 04:36PM P1 PERFORMANCE DRIVING SCHOOl., 59: DODGE AVE. EL ~.RIVER, MN 55330 6 I] :4569-2641 ~-t 18, 2003 M~Or & City Council members i i! Due to a previous engagement I am unable to attend the council meeting tonight Aug tSth 2003. [ am :voicing'my concerns mgm'ding the partnership between Elk R. iver and Life Skills Driving School. As a ibusirless owner I am concerned about thc effect this has on my business that I have worked so hard To ?mbli~1~ in the community. I opened Performance Diving School in Sc-pt of 1999; I worked 12-hour days )for 2{years getting my business offthe ground. Both my family and myself sacrificed many things so 1 coulld.!a sUCcessful business. About 1 I/2 years ago I was doing well enough to be able to hire another pea ~o be:lp out so that I didn't have to do it all alone. I feel the better a business is doing the more em~?yre! they can hire in the community, ; :: ~ Up unul last fall my business was doing well. Over thc fall and wrater of 2002/2003 1 saw sales falling from the previous 2 years and thought {t was duc to the economy. I was contacted by Marcli Lac er a cou~.'le of'months ago and was informed of the relationship between Elk River and Life Skills Driving Sch~l, th~ was when I realized that my sales were not falling duc to the economy at all. It was bemuse Lif{: .$. killd is able to offer Classroom and Behind the Wheel at a much lower cost than the rest of the driving sch~mls inltown. :~[ P~rformance Driving School employee's 2 people (including myself) and spends thousands of dol~ in ,Elk River every year. Elk River and the taxpayers already land I driving school (Comm. Ed) Wth~y ~do w~. ' need to fund another one? My tax dollars are spenI to fund 2 business's that can put me our of busir~ss ~th~. If I am forced to close my door~, 2 l~ople will be out of jobs, and the city will be losing thocsmtds ~fdollars, not to m~ntion, the impact this will hav~ on all of students that are already em'oiled. ! ii Iioth myself and Go Driving School had to pick up the pieces when Twin City Driving'School clo~ andwe are still helping students from that mess to get their driver's lice-uses. Performance Driving Schb~l oft~d many lessons to kids whom had 1 or 2 lessons lef~ fi-*e of charge, when we could have token adv~cage 10t'that situation. (we did nor). ! !! : Marcli L informed me, that at the last mecxing Micheil¢ B. from the recreation center Said that there was a~ine~d for driving and that she was receiving phone calls of the manner. She implied that other driving sch&:~s weke so busy that they were mining people away. If this is true, why did one school close already? Wh~ ~lid .qbe not contact myself asking if we were turning people away? She did none of th~sc things, nor did: ii~ ofl~ Performance or Go the opportunity to work with thc recreation center. Don't get me wrong I wel~-~ne c~mpetition as long as I know that we are on a level playing ground. I welcome Life Skills as long a.q ff~c? haye to pay the going mu~ for Rent, Advertising, Insurance, Car Paymeots, Employx:es, and ECT. i:i . .... ~ - · I ?. l:~ithe recreation center ts only interested m doing what s right for the ¢ommmuty, .why.not. re,roChe.to file people who are calling about driving that there a several driving schools m EIk River to cho~ f~'o~n and give them the names and phone numbers. Why are H~ey only helping one? ~, ;}: 9~har the Council needs to ask them.qelves is: Is this fair to the existing busin~ss's that have suppoi~: .~e other local businesses in town for a number of years? Or shall we giw thc opportunity to busit~ess from out of town that has done nothing to suppo~ our community? (Life Skills is iocamd out of FROM RON .TONES RACING FAX NO. : ?652419848 Aug. 18 2003 04:57PM ! iwant to tha~tk each and every one of the Council Mc-tubers and the Mayor for your time con~ezni.ng this matter and would hope that all et'you will make the right decision of whether to suppor~ all lo¢~illbu~iaes$'s fairly. Sin¢~re}y? Per~om:~lce I~iving Schoo!