The city has on occasion allowed groups promoting a cause to place giant ribbons on the city’s historic water tower.
But should the city allow the ribbon practice for any group that seeks it?
That’s the question tackled Monday by the Brainerd City Council.
City Administrator Dan Vogt noted a purple banner placed on top of the tower recently took three hours of city staff time to put up and would take three hours of staff time to bring down.
The question, Vogt said, is whether the practice would open the floodgates to such requests.
Mayor James Wallin said for as few times as the city has received requests from groups to put a banner on the water tower he didn’t see a problem. The city could decide on each request on a case-by-case basis, Wallin said.
Council President Mary Koep responded by saying that in allowing the practice the potential is there for repetitious requests. She also said that having ribbon after ribbon placed on the water tower could result in the message losing its impact.
Cumberland said it would be hard for the city to pick one cause and not another. She said the city could look at the possibility of a fee for groups hoping to place a ribbon on the tower.
Parks Director Tony Sailer said his concern was the danger for city crews putting up the ribbon. Sailer noted that for 90 percent of the tower there’s a ledge to walk on but for 10-15 feet there is nowhere to stand.
“It’s a very dangerous situation for someone tying the ribbon on,” Sailer said.
At Koep’s suggestion, city department heads will discuss the issue and whether it is feasible for staffers to be putting up the ribbons.
“You know how busy you are,” Koep said.
Comments (4)
Add commentNo money for street lights in
No money for street lights in North Brainerd, but spending money to put ribbons on the watertower is okay?
Why not tie a string around the tower
for a constant reminder to those that are elected or those who are employed as public employees are serving the taxpayer and not themselves or any special interests.
Safety comes first !!!
Why is this even a discussed? Council Members need to ask themselves: 1. Is the cause more important than a life of the employee putting the banner/ribbon up and down? 2. Is this how the taxpayers, who are paying the city workers wages, want their taxes spent.
If you answered yes to either one of the questions then you have no reason for being on the Council.
Yes, we know how "busy" you are when you have time to review all requests, make desisions on who, when and how long. Make the planning. Then put the ribbon up and down. Call people to tell them if their cause suits you. This requires a lot of time - requests will be coming in - who decides which cause is good and which cause is not good enough. You will be busy explaining to people why their cause is not as important as your friend's cause.
Hmmmm
Just say NO...every cause is important to those behind it...it may not be something I care to contribute to as a taxpayer.