We need a waterpark and new swimming pool!

The city council needs to take a leap in faith. If the have the money to purchase the land at the foot of the lake, why not build a waterpark and swimming pool. Watertown had the right idea and we need to proceed to provide entertainment for our children in the summer.

Perhaps take more money out of the general revenue,or maybe a bond issue, or maybe increase taxes.

The whole community would benefit and think of all the people in the county who would shop in Ortonville.

I remember when I was in high school and the new gym was being built, there was talk about putting in an indoor swimming pool as part of the new addition -- this was back in the mid-70's. I don't know if it was a matter of not enough money, or not enough land available, or just what the reason was...but the City and/or the School really missed the boat with not tying it to the school and making a pool as an indoor facility.

We live in MINNESOTA -- where it's WINTER! By the time the pool is ready to go and it's warm enough to swim, the season is winding it's way down.

Just think of all the use it would get if it was indoor! A water park would be a nice feature, if we could figure out how to pay for it initially AND make it indoor! Being able to use it all year around, would certainly generate more income than having only an outdoor park.

Along with that, we need to figure out how to bring in some industry to BRING and KEEP people in our small communities...



nascargirl

We currently spend a lot of money on our pool now because the users of the pool do not even come close to covering it's expenses. Some of the same people who complain about the golf course not covering all its cost want to spemd even more money on a waterpark. Does this make sense?

I do feel that a swimming pool is great so our children have some place to go in the summer. But increasing our losses by building a waterpark does not make sense to me.

Our current city council moves more money around to hide their expenditures than a casino doing remodeling. We can spend money from the curb and gutter fund for the golf course because the mayor indicated it lured him to the city. Why not have another attraction for tourism. Why do we support just fishing and golfing? Is it because city councilmen financially gain from such an act? We need to do something for our children. Let's get the check book out like we did for the golf course.

It is not only children using the pool, just as it is not only adults using the golf course. There has to be some compromise in finding activities for ALL residents of the area to enjoy.

Tourism is always the big talk about bringing in dollars to our local communities. Not everyone golfs, throws a line in the lake, or camps. Having some variety of activities would draw more people in. Maybe even some industry??? But that's topic for a different post.


nascargirl

As I read the dialogue regarding this, I'm reminded of how very expensive it is to maintain and upkeep an indoor pool. I'm told that that was one of the main reasons one was not built when the new gym was done. It would be a tough rationale to do the water park unless, and until, the city leaders decided to stop all other "discretionary" spending.

Everyone here has said something that was true and viable. That we need an indoor pool but one has to consider the expenses. That we need industry/business to keep the town thriving. Is it possible to combine the two?

One can look at Unity Square in Milbank. Is it functioning and staying in the black? Why stop at a pool? A facility such as Unity Square would benefit everyone, young to old. It would increase the health of our community by offering a place that everyone could go to and exercise when the outside weather is not cooperating. If one is a realist we all know that we have a lot of winter months where outside exercise is not a good idea. Some of our more dedicated neighbors can be found outside in bitter cold weather running, but most of us don't have that fortitude.

A place such as Unity Square would offer a variety of choices to exercise that fits everyones needs and ablilties. That would make for healthier and happier people. If it is set up to be self sufficient and operates on it's own income then it wouldn't be a burden to the taxpayers

How many jobs would be created by an indoor pool? Would it encourage young people to remain in Ortonville? Look at the families that Unity Square entices. How many jobs did the money for the golf course create? How many jobs did the money to buy Lundell create? Maybe an indoor pool is not right, but we need to be much more proactive in creating jobs rather than just spending money.

The problem I have with this is the same problem I have with the idea of having an indoor hockey rink. While they both would create jobs, it would just create the same kind of jobs that are available now, minimum wage. It also does not address the basic need of this town, attracting people to live here, not just tourism.
Being a recent graduate of Ortonville High School, I have absolutely no motivation to move back after I graduate college. The addition of a waterpark/indoor pool would do nothing to help in that matter.
There are absolutely no career opportunities for someone like me who will have a degree in Business Computer Information Systems. The geographic location of Ortonville lends itself to be a great hub for distributed network servers, which would lead to companies putting an office in the area, which could lead to solid careers for a lot of people.

Take this one step further

I agree that the hockey rink should not be in Ortonville. I have never promoted that position, but are you aware that the land and over $100,000 had been committed in just a few weeks of fund raising. This would have been an area not a city of Ortonville project.

You are on the right track with the Business Computer Center. Given Ortonville's central location and the premier computer center we could have a high tech courthouse centrally located north and south in western Minnesota and promote this as a reason to keep the courthouse.

One concern I have about your idea is that South Dakota's lack of a income tax lures the workers of your center to South Dakota, where the site might be better off. That is why tying it to the courthouse we could mandate parties live in Minnesota.

I would also like you to know that the hockey rink would be a location to have the wives of the fisherman shop (meetings and garage sales, flea market) in this area during the fishing contest. This would also be the reason for a water park. I disagree about the low paying jobs because both projects would require management.

While having a high tech courthouse would be nice, it was not exactly what I had in mind. I know there are not income taxes in South Dakota, but that may not be the only deciding factor as to where the companies would be based. I'm sure there are other incentives to give to companies to be base in Ortonville. Minnesota actually has quite a few grants that lure computer companies to be based here rather than South Dakota.

While I will concede that there would be management positions for either facility would have management positions, but it would only bring in one or two people for management positions for either facility.

What is wrong with both ideas.

Why would Ortonville denounce an area wide hockey rink? By the way, the issue of the taxes has been a problem with Ortonville for the last 35 years. This coupled with workers compensation costs have generated thousands of jobs in South Dakota.

This hub you are talking about already exists to a certain degree in government centers in Willmar, MN.

This forum/newspaper is not an Ortonville paper. It is an area site promoting all communities.

By the way, it is crime to hack a site and in this case a federal offense. The safety of this site is as safe as a newspaper or a city hall. All are vulnerable especially without law enforcement.

I never said I was opposed to your idea, I just said that was not what I had in mind. They would both work well, and both would be welcome.

Once again I did not denounce a hockey rink, I just said I had a problem with focusing on just attractions instead of thinking of other business ideas. Anything that could be bring people to Ortonville would be great, but I was thinking more in the long term in keeping people here instead of just visiting.

I guess I was not clear on what I meant for businesses. An example would be Company A needs multiple servers and according to good information system practices needs to have servers located across the country. One would be placed on either coast, and one somewhere in between. Why not in Ortonville?

I never said I was going to a hack any site, let alone this one. Besides that was another discussion.