NEW ULM - The New Ulm City Council authorized Tuesday the Park and Recreation Department to submit a Park Legacy grant request for funds to provide primitive camping in Minnecon Park.
The department also will seek a Trail Legacy grant to link Minnecon with Riverside Park with a bituminous trail.
The decision, which came after 90 minutes of discussion, didn't come easily.
About a dozen people showed up to either contest including Riverside Park in the Park Legacy grant request or to support it.
During the discussion, there was also some disagreement among councilors.
In the end, the proposal passed unanimously.
Council President Charles Schmitz helped set the tone of the debate right off the bat with a commentary on poor conditions at Minnecon Park.
"I am so disgusted with Minnecon Park. The [pavilion] is in bad shape, and it looks terrible. There's no lights, no nothing out there," Schmitz said.
With that, Schmitz signaled that any deal struck would need to include making the park suitable for camping. He didn't get any negative remarks from the other councilors or those who were at the meeting to keep camping out of Riverside Park.
"I share your opinion of Minnecon. It is terrible," said Councilor Ken RockVam.
Nor did the council president get any negative reaction from Park and Recreation Director Tom Schmitz, noting that there hasn't been the money to do anything with it.
As the discussion among councilors and members of the audience shifted to just allowing camping in Minnecon Park, Charles Schmitz sounded a warning that "the caveat is that it has to be a project of statewide or of regional importance," the implication being that without setting up camping in Riverside Park the grant application could be too weak to get approval.
When several citizens, opposing the inclusion of Riverside Park in the grant request, called it a neighborhood park, Mayor Joel Albrecht interjected that "Riverside Park has always been classified as a community park. It has not been classified as a neighborhood park."
In his "overview" arguments, Tom Schmitz also addressed that issue. "The park is designated a 'Community Park' rather than simply a 'Neighborhood' Park due to its size, community-wide significance and special features," he said.
However, as far as several persons in the audience were concerned, the park was in their "neighborhood" so that was why they referred to it as such.
The deadline for the grant application is Friday.
Ron Larsen can be reached at rlarsen@nujournal.com