Latest news with #EastGrandForksCityCouncil
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
East Grand Forks parents allege city isn't doing enough to combat bullying in parks and recreation programs
Jun. 4—GRAND FORKS — A group of parents say they feel that East Grand Forks Parks and Recreation is not doing enough to stop bullying within its programs. Three parents spoke in front of the East Grand Forks City Council during its meeting on Tuesday. The parents presented several allegations about the conduct of coaches and parks and recreation staff, but most were centered around Parks and Recreation Coordinator John Wuitschick. "For over a year, I've witnessed and documented a troubling pattern of bullying, retaliation, dishonesty and mismanagement under (Wuitschick's) leadership," East Grand Forks resident Matt Hanglesben told the council. "These issues are professional failures that affect our youth and the families who trust this city to protect them." Hanglesben alleges that the city did not do enough to prevent his son from being bullied during his participation in East Grand Forks Parks and Recreation programs. He also alleges that parks and recreation, namely Wuitschick, has retaliated against his son because of his actions to bring up those issues. "(Wuitshick) also tried to force our team of 11-, 12- and 13-year-old kids to go to a (LGBT) Pride event with him the night before our first state tournament," Hanglesben said. "He made this decision without consulting any parents. ... When I told him that my son wasn't going to go, he retaliated by telling me my children were no longer welcome to play in his summer hockey teams." He added that he, along with other parents he has spoken with, has felt that the quality of programming has gone down since Wuitshick was hired. Wuitshick was first hired by the city in June 2024 as a parks and recreation specialist and later as the parks and recreation coordinator in March. The behavior also extends into coaching practices as well for at least five years, parent Anna Dumas claimed. "These concerns have been brought up to parks and rec's attention numerous times," Dumas said. "This past season, when I shared my concerns again, instead of taking a look at the coach's behavior, they chose to blame my 11-year-old daughter instead." Parker Carlson added that, "this year we had a coach have to leave the bench because of a fight with another coach, so our kids got to witness their coaches fight. ... It doesn't make any sense for these kids to have to go through this." The City Council was concerned about these allegations, but said it wants more information before making any decisions. "My attitude is we can't fix it if we don't know, and so now there's something that has been brought to our attention. How you personally feel about it doesn't really matter in my opinion, but we have a responsibility to look into it," Council member Tami Schumacher said. "Hearing these concerns, it bothers me, so I would like to see something moving forward." City Administrator Reid Huttunen said that he's begun an investigation into the matter and is putting together information on the sequence of events. He told the council he wasn't sure if that investigation would be ready before the next meeting, but that he would continue to work with the city attorney and city human resources on the matter. Parks and Recreation Superintendent Jeremy King also spoke in front of the council, saying that from his perspective, Wuitshick has been doing a good job. "We had an outreach from a lot of different residents and participants in our programs who really like the direction that our parks and rec department is going, and really enjoy what (Wuitshick) has been doing there," King said. "There was a lot of pointed and tough messages heard here today, but I want everyone to know there are two sides to the story ... and that from a department head perspective, (Wuitshick) has been doing a great job and we enjoy and like the changes." In other news, the council: * Directed city staff to continue negotiations with Midco for the upcoming franchise fee renewal contract, but to negotiate fewer in-kind cable services. The change would mean that schools in the city would no longer have in-kind services provided. The in-kind service will also be redacted from the total amount collected from the franchise fee, around $3,000. * Moved forward two ordinances regulating conduct in public spaces in the city. One ordinance would make camping illegal in non-designated public spaces and the other would set hours and motor vehicle rules for city parks. The council will be considering the ordinances again later this month.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Following successful 2024 deer hunt, East Grand Forks considers 2025 hunt
Mar. 25—EAST GRAND FORKS — The East Grand Forks City Council on Tuesday discussed details of what it would like to see in a 2025 special deer hunt. The application for a special hunt through the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources opens in April. Following a successful hunt in 2024 and a still large deer population, the city is likely to hold another hunt this year. The archery hunt would occur in the same areas of the Greenway as it did last year, when hunters had a 60% success rate. A typical success rate is closer to 30% for these hunts, according to Parks and Recreation Superintendent Jeremy King. "The fact that we hit 60% in nine, 10 days is pretty impressive," King told the council. "I can tell you that the day after the archery season closed, there were three vehicle accidents (with deer) on Bygland Road." Issues with deer have been a long-fielded complaint from city residents, and with a mild winter, city staff say the number of deer is still healthy. Last year's hunt had 10 tags available — nine antlerless and one buck or antlerless permit, with preference given to city residents. A total of 40 people applied for the tags, including 20 residents and 20 nonresidents. Fifteen were invited to orientation following the tag lottery, including 10 hunters and five alternates. The council believes increasing the number of permits would be nice while hoping that some system can be put in place to ensure that all hunters get a chance to get a tag. "I think going to 15 (tags), 12 antlerless and three bucks, we got six (successes) out of what we did before. I'd like to do a few more," council member Tim Riopelle said. Council member Ben Pokrzywinski added that they should still keep the hunt open to nonresidents and potentially increase the tag options "I would like to see the out-of-towners be eligible for a buck and potentially have a larger fee associated with that buck (tag)," Pokrzywinski said. "If the person got the buck, I think it's fair that they don't get the buck tag for a couple of years. But maybe if they win the lottery two years in a row and hit a deer both years, they're excluded for the third year." Regarding setting limits on buck tags and who can get them, the council was mostly in agreement. Setting limits on antlerless tags prompted much more varied feelings, especially given the likely total number of archery hunters who live in the city. "My concern was if you eliminate the people that got deer from doing the next year there's only so many people to draw from and it's going to be the same people all the time," council member Donald Casmey said. The final details will be determined in April, once the city receives more information from the DNR about what it can and cannot regulate. There could also be a portion of the hunt that has permits restricted for the Wounded Warrior Project or an accessible hunt, but those details haven't been fully hashed out at this time. In other news, the council: * Discussed setting business licensing fees for cannabis businesses. Guidelines from the state have been issued on what the city can charge for fees. The council agreed that it would like to move forward with charging the maximum it can. Most businesses would have initial licensing fees between $250 to $500, with renewals being $500 to $1,000. * Discussed purchasing playground equipment for the Griggs Park Trailhead. The playground has been one of the projects identified with funds the city received from American Crystal Sugar's pollution violation fine. The city has already received several thousand dollars in donations for the playground in addition to the pollution fine funds. Total construction is estimated at around $83,000 and the city still has $4,600 that would need to be funded for the playground.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
East Grand Forks City Council approves Parks and Recreation Commission change
Feb. 5—EAST GRAND FORKS — The East Grand Forks Parks and Recreation Commission will now move to quarterly meetings following City Council approval. The East Grand Forks City Council approved the changes to the commission's bylaws during its meeting Tuesday night. The commission will now have regularly scheduled meetings on the third Wednesday of January, April, August and November. The commission provides input and recommendations to the East Grand Forks City Council about city parks, programming and funding. The commission has nine members — two City Council representatives and seven mayoral appointees serving three-year terms. "We feel that by making that transition and shifting to quarterly meetings, we can make better use of our commissioners' time while still providing enough opportunities to address the important topics," Parks and Recreation Superintendent Jeremy King told the council during the work session last week. The move doesn't have any budget impacts. The commission previously had regularly scheduled meetings monthly. The council also approved a resolution and an updated opinion of counsel for the Federal Transit Administration. Following updates to the administration's grant management system, it was determined that the city's old documentation was expired and needed to be updated. The last opinion of counsel was issued by the City Council in 1986 and the last authorizing resolution in 2007. The two documents allow the city to accept federal funds and show its ability to complete projects. It designates who is legally responsible for the funding awards and what the chain of communication is. For federal funds of this nature, it is generally Community Development Director Nancy Ellis who oversees the projects and funding as the city's transit manager and as directed by the City Council and mayor. In other news, the council: * Approved a bid from Johnson Jet-Line for sewer cleaning in southern parts of the city and in the industrial park. The city has been doing annual sewer cleaning since 2011 as a preventative maintenance measure. The bid is for $103,952.92. * During council comments, Council member Karen Peterson thanked East Grand Forks Parks and Recreation for giving opportunities to the community. Peterson also congratulated the Northern Light Figure Skating Club for placing seventh nationwide during the 2025 Midwestern Synchronized Skating Sectionals in Kalamazoo, Michigan, earlier this month. The team was competing against teams from across the country and from communities much larger than East Grand Forks.
