Kasson City Council — Transcript
Wednesday, August 19, 2026
City's 10% Gambling Fund Contribution Policy and its Impact
Aquatic Center Life Jacket Policy Review
Festival Promotion Strategy for Aquatic Center
Support for Childhood Cancer Group
Veterans Memorial Decommissioning and New Project Commencement
Youth Sports Field Maintenance Contributions
Walking Trail and Disc Golf Course Development
Formalization of Public Forum Rules
Ash Tree Removal Program Update
Votes (6)
Public Discussion: Kassan American Legion Gambling Funds
Shannon Peters, Auxiliary President of the Kassan American Legion, expressed concern over the city's new 10% gambling fund policy, stating they've donated $78,000 this year and questioning its allocation. Council member Ryan explained the policy stems from a state statute intended to fund youth activities in parks, noting the council's ongoing discussion about potentially modifying it to exempt local donations with proof. The Legion members highlighted the policy's perceived punitive effect on their diverse community contributions and requested transparency on how the 10% is used. No immediate action was taken by the Park Board, with direction to contact city finance staff.
Aquatic Center Life Jacket Policy
The board reviewed the aquatic center's life jacket policy, sparked by a patron's letter. Pool Manager David articulated concerns: life jackets can create a false sense of security for unsupervised children, obstruct lifeguard sightlines, and hinder proper swim posture. He highlighted difficulties in enforcing parent supervision and differentiating between Coast Guard-approved jackets and other floatation devices. Given the late stage of the season, the board decided to collect data on current life jacket usage and supervision during permitted hours to inform a comprehensive policy review for the 2027 season, rather than making an immediate change.
Festival Promotion at Aquatic Center
Moved by Unknown [0:46:17] · Seconded by Unknown [0:46:25]
Following a recap of a successful 'Dollar Days' promotion during the fair, the board discussed promotional ideas for the upcoming city festival. To boost attendance and minimize costs, a 'Buy One, Get One' (BOGO) swim day was proposed. The board agreed to hold the BOGO promotion for both afternoon and evening swim sessions on the Friday of the festival, utilizing city and festival Facebook pages for advertising.
Decommissioning of Existing Veterans Memorial
The Kassan Veterans Memorial (KVM) group discussed the decommissioning of the existing memorial and starting work on the new one. The Legion suggested an end-of-September decommissioning date, which conflicts with the KVM's desire to begin preliminary work before the festival to generate public interest. The board decided to proceed with preparatory groundwork around the existing memorial, such as removing sand from the volleyball court, while ensuring coordination and respect for the Legion's role in the full decommissioning process. A suggestion for a brick fundraiser using the old memorial's bricks was also briefly considered.
Youth Programs Contributions for Field Maintenance
The board discussed strategies to encourage youth sports organizations (baseball, football, soccer) to contribute financially to the maintenance of city fields. Past efforts to secure contributions were described as 'begging' with inconsistent results. The proposal was to create an itemized list of material expenses (e.g., chalk, paint, water) for field preparation to present to these organizations. The goal is to establish a more formal expectation for support, potentially integrated into their program fees, rather than resorting to charging field rental fees.
Formalizing Public Forum Protocol
A board member proposed formalizing the rules for public discussion during meetings, drawing inspiration from city council procedures. Key proposals included limiting the entire public forum session to 15 minutes (with an option for extension by board motion and a second), requiring speakers to state their name and address, and mandating that speakers stand at the podium. The board expressed general agreement on the need for these measures to ensure structured and efficient public engagement.
Notable Quotes (11)
I'm just wondering if you can tell us where I think we've donated 78,000 this year. I'm wondering where that money is going if you can. I mean, we, you know, obviously you're taking away money that we would give out to um the community basically.
The council chose to do this because we're looking for ways to help support the parks department and fund things within our parks. And so this was one way since it is a state statute that we can use, we chose that.
What I have suggested to the the the council as I'm on the council is if we know that your donations stay within the community, then we shouldn't be taking that 10%. It should only be 10% of what leaves the community.
Another big one is that false sense of security. That's what I a bigger one I want to talk about cuz yes, do life jackets prevent drowning? Yes. Can they still happen? Yes. Right. So, um and then of course it's going to be a lot harder to tell if that kid is drowning or not if they're in a life jacket.
But, I think it's it's crucial that we're having the discussion now. It'd be something that, you know, whatever is decided and it gets put into the policy. If that's the case, say say it, we pass it. We're going 247 or seven whatever, you know, the full full day life jacket. Um, I think we should probably keep a stipulation in there. Let's try it for a year and see what type of problems may have arose.
I move we do a BOGO swim friend day uh Friday both swimming sessions.
but we want to have people see the chaos to have a banner up there saying future Veterans Memorial so that people can be like, I mean, they're they're moving forward. They're they're going to start work. They're doing it. They're going to get it done. Raise some, you know, questions and concerns.
So Tim kind of said, you know, maybe make an itemized list of what you need or what you use um to prep those fields, whether it's all summer long or
We're not asking for a lot. We we need something to help offset. And I think the challenge is trying to find out how do you knock that down to fair for everybody, you know?
This section is limited to 15 minutes unless a board member requests a longer session. The speaker will be limited to I left that blank. Minutes for speaking. Speaker will be required to state their name and address. And I just added one because I should have had the gal standing up at the podium where the microphone was and I and that's it must stand in front of the board while speaking.
Can I ask that that also have or suggest that that also have a second so it's not just one board member but a board member in a second
Ordinances & Resolutions (4)
State of Minnesota statute allowing cities to collect 10% of gambling funds for specific purposes.
Referenced for general life jacket safety guidelines and recommendations.
The current life jacket policy of the Kassen aquatic center.
A city program for managing and removing ash trees affected by the Emerald Ash Borer.