BROOKINGS – The Brookings City Council will start off Tuesday’s meeting at 5 p.m. with a study session that revolves around a potential indoor recreation center.

Study sessions are for discussion only; no vote will be taken.

The rec center has been a hot topic before, leading up to residents overwhelmingly voting against funding the project with a property tax increase in April 2016.

Last fall, the council approved having a rec center plan by the end of 2017. The study session will include a staff report analyzing two potential sites – Fishback Soccer Complex and Wiese Addition – with a ranking system that has more than 20 points such as pedestrian and vehicle access, proximity to future growth corridors, minimal cost of land acquisition for the project, potential for future expansion, and suitability of soils and topography, among others.

Also available as an attachment to the agenda is a staff report on the planning process, which suggests the council should consider:

• A more strategic public education campaign sustained over a longer period of time;
• A different revenue stream to finance the capital construction costs other than property taxes;
• A scaled-back scope of project with more planning for phased-in additions;
• More thorough research about the location and siting considerations.

Another attachment from the staff is a memo that says the council “is certainly not limited in the consideration of potential sites to the same two that were contemplated in last year’s effort.” It adds, “There are very few parcels of property this size that would be available to us for this project.”

The memo notes that discussing other privately-owned sites “is beyond the scope of this analysis and has not been so ordered by the council,” so “for purposes of this analysis, discussion is limited to the Wiese and Fishback sites.”

The action portion of the council meeting will start at 6 p.m.

The council will consider two temporary liquor applications: one for Downtown Brookings for the Downtown at Sundown events in the 300 block of Fifth Street for seven consecutive Thursdays this summer, starting July 13, and the other for the Brookings Volunteer Fire Association Street Dance set for July 22 in the 300 block of Main Avenue.

There will be a first reading for an ordinance to rezone a part of Arbor Hill Addition from an ag district to districts for single family, two-family, and apartment residences. There is no action taken on first readings.

The council will also consider setting a hearing for the 2017 assessment of the Main Avenue South and 26th Street South reassessment.

Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.