NEW ULM — The 2020 Senior Dining Program lease will come before the City Council, Tuesday.

Lutheran Social Services (LSS) has leased the Community Center’s kitchen and cafetorium for years, to make, serve on-site and deliver off-site meals to seniors. Currently, the lease agreement is $51 per day. The general philosophy of the city is to adjust fees to account for inflation. The city staff’s recommendation for 2020 is to increase the lease fee to $53.

The lease fee charged to LSS for senior dining has been an annual point of discussion for New Ulm.

In 2015, the city agreed to reduce the LSS lease fee from $86 per day to $50 per day.

In 2016, a 2% increase was adopted, bringing the lease to $51 per day. This fee remained in place for 2017, 2018 and 2019 despite increases in city expenses.

In 2014, a comprehensive analysis determined the city expense is at least $101.30 per day.

This lease increase came before the Park and Recreation Commission Nov. 4, but the commissioners chose to leave the specific lease amount to the council.

The choice is to set the least agreement at $53 a day, leave it at $51 or set another amount.

In the past, the council has said this service is of value to area seniors. The council believes the senior dining program has helped keep seniors living in their homes instead of a nursing home, which could save the city more than the fee increase.

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The New Ulm Baseball Association’s (NUBA) request to credit their 2020 state tournament field rent and concession stand user fees to the cost of the observation deck will be considered by the city council.

NUBA owes a debt to the city for the inclusion of the observation deck in the Johnson Park upgrades. NUBA wanted the observation deck included in the project for use in the 2020 state amateur baseball tournaments. It is believed the tournaments will bring in additional revenue to the community.

To pay off the debt, NUBA has requested Johnson and Mueller Park field rent rates and concession stands are credited to the debt. NUBA’s estimate of its 2020 state tournament fees is $13,000. The observation deck cost is approximately $147,500.

The request previously came before the Park and Recreation Commission, but the commissioners made no formal recommendation. Three of the commissioners; Bob Skillings, LeRoy Flor, and Jim Bastian, recused themselves as they were members of the NUBA board.