Golf simulator will have 24/7 app access

The Park Rapids City Council on Tuesday, April 11, approved a conditional use permit (CUP) for The Golf Cavern LLC to operate an indoor golf simulator business at 1104 Park Ave. S. Ste. 4.

According to a staff memo in the council’s agenda packet, the proposed use would occupy a portion of the existing, former J&B Foods building. Other businesses recently approved for CUPs to occupy parts of the building include a furniture store, an indoor storage rental facility and an ax-throwing business.

The golf simulator would be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the memo says, and would contain two 20-foot-by-13-foot-4-inch simulator bays, a lounge and an entrance lobby. Customers would buy a membership or a slot of time via the internet or a mobile application and receive access to the building through the mobile app.

A maximum of eight people at a time would be expected in the business, the memo says, except in unusual circumstances such as an extended rental by one group of people.

The CUP request was recommended for council approval by the city’s planning commission with three conditions: compliance with all regulations and codes, no food or beverage service except vending-machine soft drinks or snacks, and customers to be prohibited from bringing in alcoholic beverages.

Council member Tim Little made a motion to approve the CUP, which passed unanimously.

The city council approved a service agreement with Hubbard County to provide public transportation.

City Administrator Angel Weasner said it was discovered that this agreement had expired two years ago. The county “asked us to update it with the proper personnel and the dates,” she said. “Nothing else has changed. We still will be contributing the same dollar amount until the end of 2024, and then most likely we’ll be able to renegotiate.”

Weasner added that the city will continue to put $2,000 a year into a reserve toward purchasing a new vehicle.

Council member Bob Wills made a motion to approve the contract, which passed unanimously.

In consent items and general business, the council:

• Authorized the sale of general obligation utility revenue bonds totaling approximately $3 million, to fund the Fair Avenue street and utility project and issuance costs. A finance plan supplied by Northland Securities sets the sale date at May 9.
• Heard Weasner report that contractors expect to start work on the Fair Avenue project and the Depot Park tennis courts in May, and the portion of Fair Avenue from 8th Street to State Hwy. 34 should be complete by county fair time.
• Heard Rapids Spirits Liquor Store Manager Scott Olson report that March sales this year exceeded the month’s sales in 2021 and 2022, “and we were within 0.2% of having the busiest first quarter.”
• Heard Public Works Superintendent Scott Burlingame report that his staff have begun filling potholes.
• Gave full-time Rapids Spirits clerk Tina Jenkins a pay increase to the 36-month step, or $18.86 per hour.
• Gave part-time Rapids Spirits clerk Mark Peterson a pay increase to the 10-year step, or $21.28 per hour.
• Approved a personnel policy allowing a health care savings plan (HCSP) for salaried employees. The policy requires the employees, following their one-year probationary period, to contribute 1% of their gross wages to the HCSP for one year, 2% the next year and 3% thereafter.
• Appointed Craig Rossman to a two-year term on the Park Rapids Airport Commission, expiring Dec. 31, 2025.
• Paid Apex Engineering $4,008 for redesign of the Depot Park tennis courts and work on the special assessments for the Fair Avenue project..
• Paid Carr’s Tree Service, Inc. $1,650 for tree removal, grinding and stump grinding at Deane Park, Mill Road and Heartland Trail Drive. .
• Paid Hawkins, Inc. $1,547 for water treatment chemicals.
• Acknowledged a donation of $700 from Clay Township to the public library.
• Proclaimed Friday, April 28 as Arbor Day in the city.
• Approved payables totaling $37,539 and prepaids totaling $94,497.

The city council’s next meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 25 at city hall, following a council work session at 5:30 p.m.