Mayor Anderson Discusses Outdoor Waterpark and ICE

The St. Cloud area Family YMCA is moving ahead with plans to add the outdoor waterpark feature on the northside of the building.  St. Cloud Mayor Jake Anderson joined me on WJON for a Radio Town Hall.  Anderson says adding an outdoor waterpark feature was always apart of the plan.

Reason For Sales Tax Increase

Listeners wanted to know why a quarter percent sale tax increase for 3 years to complete the funding for the outdoor waterpark was only proposed for the city of St. Cloud and not the surrounding region.  Anderson says it is important to get this proposal to the state legislature by January 31st.  He says the legislature has expressed reservations about this being a St. Cloud city project so they are making the request for the community only looking for approval to put this resolution on the ballot in November.  The total cost of the outdoor waterpark project is estimated to be $16-18 Million.  $11.8 Million has already been raised.  Learn more about the project.

How to Get to the Ballot

Anderson says the hurdles for the project are to get approval from the State Legislature to put the resolution on the ballot and then for voters to approve it.  He reminds everyone that most individuals in the region do at least a portion of their shopping in St. Cloud so, the majority of people in the region would be paying for this addition.

Plan for the Park

A listener also wanted to know if the new waterpark would have a separate entrance and if individuals could just use the facility for the day.  Anderson says his understanding is that the outdoor waterpark would have a separate entrance and it would be available for daily passes.  He says he has heard concerns about building a facility that could only be used 3 to 4 months of the year.  Anderson indicates, he's aware of those concerns and doesn't disagree with them.

ICE in the City

Mayor Anderson also addressed the continued presence of ICE in the St. Cloud area.  He says ICE has not been in contact with the Mayor's office or the St. Cloud PD about their operations.  He says both he and the Police department would be happy to work with ICE to help protect potential community protestors and the ICE agents while they do their work.

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Jake Anderson, click below.