(A) Establishment and composition of the Board.
(1) There is hereby created a Community Education and Recreation Board for the community of Littlefork pursuant to the authority given by Minnesota Statutes under which the power of the city and the School Board to operate a program of education and recreation may be delegated to such a Board. The Board shall consist of five members, composed as follows: One member of the City Council appointed by the Council, one member of the School Board appointed by the School Board and three citizen members who are appointed by the City Council and School Board. Of the citizen members appointed one shall be appointed for a one year term by the School Board, the second for a two year term by the City Council and the third for a three year term by the School. Both original and successive appointees shall serve their offices until their successors are appointed and qualified. Citizen members shall hold no other public office except that of notary public. The Superintendent and City Administrator/Clerk-Treasurer shall serve as ex officio members to the Board. The Superintendent and City Administrator/Clerk-Treasurer, upon approval of the Board, shall appoint two members from the school student body to serve in an advisory capacity to the Board.
(2) A vacancy shall be filled for the unexpired portion of the term by the appropriate appointing body. Members of the Board shall serve without compensation and shall not be personally interested in any contracts of the Board. They shall, upon their appointments and at the beginning of each fiscal year thereafter, elect a chairman and a secretary from their own number with duties in addition to board membership implied by these titles. A majority shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
(B) General powers. The Community Education and Recreation Board shall have power to operate a program of public education and recreation as a joint agent of the city and School District. If any part of such program of the community be administered directly by any public or private agency other than the Board, the Board shall have power to make cooperative agreements with any such public or private agency for the purpose of coordinating all the activities and facilities included in such public recreation program. The program directly administered by the Board may make use of public property assigned to, or of private property leased or otherwise made available for, public education and recreational use. The City Council shall determine what land is to be acquired by it for recreational purposes, what land it shall be permitted to use in carrying on its program and what buildings or other permanent structures are to be constructed upon lands. The School District shall make similar decisions with respect to its structures upon it. The Board shall advise the City Council and the School Board upon such matters and shall operate facilities made available to it for such purposes; but it shall have no authority to acquire land in its own name or without the consent of the governmental unit in whose name such land is to be acquired, and it shall have no authority to construct buildings or other permanent structures upon any land without the consent of the owners of such land; and in no event shall such buildings or structures be constructed by the Board upon privately owned land.
(C) Specific powers. In order to carry on the community education and recreation program provided herein, the Board shall have power to:
(1) Adopt rules for its meetings and the transaction of its business and rules governing the use by the public of the facilities under its control upon written approval by the City Council and School Board;
(2) Employ and fix the compensation of an employee of the program and to carry the workman's compensation insurance and provide for surety bonds for all such officers and employees; provided all officers and employees shall be selected on a basis of merit and fitness and where appropriate instructors and directors shall be appointed in compliance with the minimum qualifications established by the Minnesota Department of Education; make purchases of materials, supplies, equipment and services, but such purchases of other than personnel services shall be competitive and in orders involving more than $500, shall be selected after public advertising and opening of written sealed bids;
(3) Make all contracts for completion within a current fiscal year;
(4) Lease real or personal property for public recreational use for periods not longer than one year;
(5) Accept gifts or real and personal property for public educational and recreational purposes, subject to the provisions of division (B);
(6) Plan and recommend for acquisition suitable property to be used as a park, plan and develop such an area including trees, shrubbery, lawns, benches and what other beautification projects deemed necessary for this area;
(7) Perform whatever other acts are reasonable and necessary and proper to carry on such a program under this section.
(D) Preparation of program. The Board shall each year prior to May 15 prepare a comprehensive program for community education and recreational activities for the ensuing year, with recommended divisions of responsibility as between private agencies, other public agencies administering education and recreation activities directly, and the Board itself. The Board's own program shall be described in terms of activities and funding thereof. The budget of finances shall be substantially balanced and shall show:
(1) Estimated revenues, divided as follows:
(a) Contributions, from the City Council and the School Board;
(b) Contributions from other public bodies;
(c) Contributions from private sources;
(d) Earnings from admissions and other charges made for use of facilities;
(e) Miscellaneous revenues, and
(2) Estimated expenditures, divided as follows:
(a) Payroll
(b) Supplies
(c) Repairs
(d) Rents
(e) Equipment
(f) Miscellaneous expenditures.
(3) The budget shall be submitted not later than the second Tuesday in June to the City Council, the School Board and any other public body from which contributions are requested. The final decisions as to these contributions shall be reported back to the Board, which shall adjust the budget, if necessary. The expenditure allowances, as finally approved by the Board, shall control the year's spending program, except that excess revenues received may be spent upon the approval of the Board. The Board shall not itself levy taxes or borrow money; and it shall not approve any claims or incur any obligations for expenditures, unless there is unencumbered cash in the treasury to the credit of the Board with which to pay the same.
(E) Finances of the Board. For the purpose of financing the community education and recreation program authorized by this section, there shall be established in the city accounts and treasury a special fund to be called the Community Education and Recreation Fund. Into this fund shall be placed the various revenues as enumerated in division (D) and from it shall be paid claims for various recreation expenditures as enumerated in division (D). All receipts belonging to the Board shall be deposited intact in a bank account to the credit of the fund and no disbursements shall be made from this bank account except by check nor unless a verified claim for services and commodities actually rendered or delivered has first been submitted to and approved for payment by the Board, authenticated by signature of the chairman and secretary. The accounting of the fund and the custody of the cash and the bank checking account shall be in the hands of the accounting officer and the treasurer, respectively, of the city. These officers shall make reports to the Board at reasonable intervals as determined by the Board. For purposes of accounting and report, the fiscal year of the Board and the fund shall be January 1 to December 31. An audit of the funds shall be made annually. Such audit may be made independently of or in conjunction with any audit which may be made of the funds of the city or school district. The Board shall be authorized to establish charges or fees for the restricted use of any facilities or to make any phase of the program wholly or partially self-sustaining. Any employee of the Board who handles cash in the process of collections shall be bonded.
(F) The Joint Powers Agreement, made and entered into March 19, 1985, by and between Independent School District 362 and the City of Littlefork, Minnesota, is hereby adopted by reference and incorporated herein as fully as if set out at length in this code of ordinances.
(Ord. 62, passed 9-15-1977)