As you can read, most of the resi-dents in attendance spoke in favor of keeping ownership of the Field House tied to the City of Victoria.  Hearty applause followed many of the speakers, although not everyone in the same row of folding chairs throughout the gymnasium were always clapping at the same time.
At 7:50 p.m. - 110 minutes after it had begun - the resident portion of the Town Hall meeting ended.  No other resident asked to speak or come to the podium.
City of Victoria Councilmembers then chose to make closing statements, more or less as follows. 
Councilmember Jim Paulsen:  Hopefully we'll get more practice with these Town Hall meetings.  There were eloquent speakers here.  You should run for city council.
I think I know what we have here.  This Field House has irreplaceable characteristics.  The best indicator is the amount of time and money spent by Southwest Christian High School and School District #112 to buy the place.
I was not in favor of this facility originally.  But growth is upon us.  The long term decision is not our first choice.  There was never a referendum on the Field House, never a meeting like this.  Tim Amundsen and I were on the council when we bought this land.  We had confi-dence.  We took a chance.
Tim and I were also on the council when we bought 94 acres in Laketown Township.  We're builders.  We're think-ing very very hard about all these issues.
Councilmember Richard Tieden:  People were really on the money tonight.  This place opened in March of 2003.  It included a full range kitchen for a lot of things that never happened.
We need a captain of the ship.  Some people say we can't compete with Life-time Fitness.  I say there's no way that Lifetime Fitness can compete with us!
We've got dozens and dozens of activities and functions here.  We meet here.  We play here.  We vote here.  We have a very long way to go.  We could begin by putting the name and address on this building!
We need somebody like a Tom Abts ... We've got 35 acres that we bought for $33,000 an acre and it's now worth $120,000 and acre!  We've a $7 million building now worth at least $10 million.  What will this be worth in ten years?
Kristy and Cory have done an excellent job with this place, but we need a director to pull it all together ... What do the children get out of our decision?  What does Victoria offer you?
Councilmember Tim Amundsen: 
You people in the audience, you too for $2 can sit up here.  It's an honor and a privilege.
Cabin Fever had vision.  Floyd's had vision.  They took assets and built on them.  They are improvements to the com-munity.
To my knowledge, Lifetime Fitness has no ice arena, no ball fields, and seldom do they let kids in free.  The Victoria Field House is not about that one exercise room up there.  And still, $200 a year in taxes for this place is a lot of money.
There's just one thing I'd like to ask, where is School District 112 getting all the money they're offering to us for this place???
Councilmember Kim Roden:  We are taxpayers funding a business use ... To me the issue is, we have an asset and are we putting it to the best and highest use?  I am interested in a partnership with Dis-trict 112 or Southwest Christian High School.  It could be a win/win proposi-tion.
This council is not able today to fund things in the Capital Improvement Pro-gram.  We are not replacing a nine-year old truck in the Public Works Department.  We need to prioritize where we are put-ting your money.
How can we best use this Field House asset in the short run and the long run?  I'm not convinced that a half million dollar transfer from the general fund is the best use of taxpayer dollars.  If we had put this building on a referendum, it would not be such an emotional issue.  It was approved with a 3-2 vote.
We are higher in debt and taxes than others in our peer group.  No one has a crystal ball as to when the housing market may rebound.  But we cannot grow our-selves out of this problem.  This Field House was not designed to compete with other places like this.  It's a fact we have to accept and deal with."

Adjouurnment did not occur until 8:10 p.m.  There was every indication from Mayor Mary Thun that every shy or hesitant speaker be given an opportunity to address Victoria City Councilmembers regarding the Victoria Field House.
Residents on various sides of the issue - to sell, lease, partner, hire a key person - continued to be polite and respectful throughout the evening.  Order reigned and it wasn't until 9:00 p.m. that it rained outside, along with some thunder and lightning.

VICTORIA LOOKS AT PAST ICE CONTRACTS
SOME WERE NOT PAID IN FULL

Representatives from the Chaska Community Hockey Association spoke at the May 24^th Victoria City Council meet-ing in response to a letter received from the City of Victoria about payments due from some hockey associations.
"We are not in default," said Kelly Moore.
Click here to continue Ice Contracts and City Scoop.