DEVILS LAKE — In the Devils Lake Park Board’s meeting on Thursday, Oct. 23, the board followed up on some of the topics brought up in the previous monthly meeting.
Particularly, they’re looking to hire more workers at the ice rinks and golf course. And they’re continuing to look for ways to increase engagement at Dockside Entertainment.
Parks & Facilities manager Brent Schmitz opened the meeting by providing general maintenance updates. He said that everything is set for the winter season, and that painting progress at Burdick Arena has been slow but should still be done by Nov. 6.
Schmitz is still looking for three or four more workers to run both ice rinks. He currently has three people hired for the winter. He’s looking to at least double that.
Schmitz also requested permission from the board to hire another full-time staff member at the golf course. He and Andy Hokanson both really need the help. The board discussed the logistics of hiring another worker, and eventually came to the decision to promote their current part-time worker to full-time. The board approved the motion, with the stipulation that Schmitz and Hokanson put together a job description and a plan for the employee. This includes laying out his benefits.
The board also made a motion to authorize a surplus action to sell the two tractors no longer being used.
In regards to Dockside, the board had a deeper discussion on a topic brought up in the previous meeting: the lack of usage on the golf simulators.
Jeff Brusven provided some positive Dockside updates, like the golf league starting up next week and the birthday parties being a big success. He’s also looking at organizing kids’ bowling in November. The NDTC get-together discussed last month was also a hit, with the inclusion of alcohol going smoothly.
But the board still had concerns about the low usage of the golf simulators. Brusven admitted that he could probably do a better job advertising some of the games within the golf simulator. The focus then turned to the price of the simulator: It’s currently $40 for an hour-long session.
After deliberating over logistics, the board made a motion to change the price to $30 an hour, with the option to do $20 for a half hour. Commissioner Kelli Heilman supported this decision, giving an anecdote about how her grandkids enjoy the shooting games in the golf simulator but usually lose interest after about 30 minutes.
The board approved this motion. The new prices will go into effect on Nov. 1. The only brief logistical issue mentioned was having to change the signage out front.
Continued discussions in the meeting revolved around the accounting software, which multiple board members expressed frustration with. The board expressed overall disappointment in the software and agreed that it would be worth requesting some money back.
The meeting ended with discussion on personnel changes. Heilman strongly urged that they ask each employee to fill out a form on what exactly they do each day, so that responsibilities can be spread evenly across the staff.
The next park board meeting is scheduled for Nov. 19.
