Manson Parks Board signs letter of support for Manson Chamber to purchase Leffler Field

MANSON – Manson Parks Board will support Manson Chamber of Commerce on their acquisition of Leffler Field.

According to Board Chairman Rob Campbell, the Manson Chamber has been working on purchasing the property, which will then be handed off to Parks in order to maintain it.

The property will be purchased as is, in order to secure it. However, the property has a few issues. “There’s not irrigation on it,” said Campbell.

Campbell did mention that a big part of this will be parking and it will also include a bathroom. “Unfortunately, I have not talked to the Chamber of Commerce to really see what they are planning for it,” Campbell explained.

Commissioner Taylor Quigley, stated that he is “all for it.” Yet he wants to know what the Chamber’s long term goal for the property is.

In the long run, Commissioner Travis Schoenwald thinks purchasing this property is smart, especially because it’s centrally located in Manson.

After reading the drafted letter, the Board unanimously voted to support the Chamber’s acquisition.

Another major item on the Thursday (Nov. 8) agenda included conversations regarding the 2019 preliminary budget.

Campbell believes four items will stand out in next year’s budget. One of them being wages. The minimum wage is going up, therefore they have to increase the wages for some of their jobs in order to attract people to do them. “Three percent is the cost of living adjustment I have seen going on,” said Campbell.

He explained to the Board that they could be looking at a five percent increase. Another big item mentioned was a pickup truck that hardly gets used. “We are going to look at selling that and getting a smaller pickup with a plow.”

When the pickup was purchased, Parks was looking into replacing it every five years, “this is the fifth year” stated Campbell.

Campbell has in mind the possibility of purchasing two smaller ones, one will be a four wheel drive. The pickups would either be used or new depending on what fits in the budget.

Funding will also be needed in order to renovate the playground at Singleton Park. Lastly, the Board briefly talked about allocating money the Board would want to put aside for Pacific Engineering’s work. During the upcoming meeting the budget will be discussed more fully.

The next regular meeting is scheduled for Dec. 13 at 4:10 p.m., 142 Pedoi Street. The agenda can be found on their website www.mansonparks.com/about-us/agenda.html.