Resident Petra Johnson at Allegheny Grove said, "I'm a Christian and I'm an educator.  I'm in favor of health and well-ness so I'm in a pickle.  I've been one of 30 Victoria families that have used the Field House 362 days out of 365.  I have seen how the Field House has served fam-ilies.  I come with a tremendous amount of passion in favor of the Field House.  I am a strong voice in favor of the Field House."
Said resident Judy Black at Deer Run, "When the Field House was built, there was emotion.  It caused a tear [division] in the community.  People almost boycotted the Field House.  But people don't want to lose that now.  It's like you planted a seed and never watered it ...
"If you got someone in there who could bring things together, we would have to raise taxes for that.  We'd have to pay a good wage for someone.  Maybe we could lease the place to the school until they found another place ...
"We need to make an informed deci-sion and not just get up and say how we feel."
Resident Carol Vadnais at Kirke Lachen said, "I raised children in this town 18 years ago.  There wasn't even Deer Run then.  My heart is here.  We gave our support to the Field House.  I've always appreciated it, so we have an affection for both sides of this ...
"It's been our honor to raise our kids in Victoria and an honor for our kids to attend Southwest Christian High School.  That's an angle from a mother speaking."

Stated Mayor Mary Thun, "I've had a number of calls from supporters for Dis-trict 112, Southwest Christian High School, and for [the facility] remaining the Victoria Field House.  You have all been so polite.  Thank you."
Stated Councilmember Jim Paulsen, "This is a very difficult decision.  The talk of transparency resonates with me.  I think we're headed toward some transparency here."
Stated Councilmember Richard Tied-en, "I think we'd have to be willing to hire a Director to expand services, to expand programs, at the Field House.  More taxes would  be a very real thing.  There's tre-mendous potential for that land ...
"We certainly do need to involve the community.  Our closed meetings were related to the financial matters ...
"I certainly appreciate you being here.  If we didn't have the Field House and the Park, where do the children go?  It was meant to be for our children without an admission fee.  People at home have to be more vocal on this ...
"We certainly would welcome South-west Christian to the community, but Vic-toria is very large.  It will be growing to become the largest city in Carver County."
Stated Councilmember Tim Amund-sen, "An exodus in membership at the Field House occurred due to Lifetime Fit-ness.  Our membership is down.  Seventy members will not pay for the operation.  That building sits empty most of the time.  It is being under utilized by the communi-ty.  It's a gem.  It's a jewel.  We got that land at a tremendous deal ...
"We need to explore every option and bring it back to the community.  South-west Christian would be an asset to Vic-toria.  I personally would help them to locate here, and would recommend they don't target just one site.  We'd love to meet their needs.  I've love to see that high school out here."
As for closed sessions of the Victoria City Council, Councilmember Amundsen added, "There's nothing I could find out in a closed session that would make a difference on this.  Rules are cool."
Stated Councilmember Kim Roden, "Those rules are actually more respectful, also to those who are not here tonight.  It's about sticking to process ... I feel the Council has really been working together on this issue.  It's a complicated issue, more complicated than dollars and cents ... Fitness centers are a fad like restau-rants, like water parks.  As a public insti-tution, we can't compete with that kind of buying power.  Growth has slowed.  We've got half the new home permits in 2006 as in 2005 ...
"Waconia [currently buying Victoria ice] is looking to build their own hockey facility ... I also know it's an emotional issue, but councilmember have a fiduciary responsibility.  It's a huge economic im-pact to us.  We have a number of challen-ges.  It's wise to have a public forum, when we have all the facts."
The Tuesday, May 8^th, Town Hall Meeting is open to the entire public.

TRYING TO MOVE HWY 5 FORWARD
ALONG WITH THE TRAFFIC THROUGH VICTORIA
Councilmembers directed city staff to continue working with the Hwy 5 Corri-dor Study Task Force to get the upgrade of that state highway on a faster track by the Minnesota Department of Transporta-tion.
The Task Force includes the Cities of Victoria, Waconia, Chanhassen, and Nor-wood Young America.  It also includes Carver County and the Southwest Corri-dor Transportation Coalition.
Stated Victoria Planner Holly Kreft, "MnDOT has no money to contribute but they are offering in-kind services so you'll see much of the design work is being done by MnDOT."
Mayor Mary Thun said the total cost of this study-design project is $250,000 "even with the City of Waconia's extra dollars contribution and MnDOT's design work.  We've got $152,000 and I'm beg-ging for more."
The City of Victoria has contributed $50,000 to the pot this year.

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