On July 15 at 5:30 p.m. at Mandan City Hall, the city, park and school boards will meet, continuing the discussion on the fate of our community center.

What is in the best interest of the taxpayer when considering the transfer of ownership and function of the community center? What other options has the school board looked at for providing a better carpentry vo tech center?

Is this the best option to provide three or four senior high classrooms in spending our tax dollars when enrollment is declining? Is this the best timing? To date, there has been little evidence of how this is in our best interest.

Do we want to lose a place to hold the Buggies-n-Blues dance if it rains like it did this year, the gun show, the Mandan Art Show, quilt show, large weddings, Santa's arrival, New Year's children's event, etc.? If they go away for 18 months, will they come back after a new facility is built, or will they go to Bismarck like our retail has?

How much will the park board spend to update the old junior high and then to build a new facility, having just spent around $70,000 for renovations on the fitness center? The Mandan visitors' fund has been earmarked for more than $2 million to help fund a new rec/event center, but the visitors' fund does not even have $300,000 today to use toward it. This fund could also be affected to some degree by closing down the events that the Lonesome Dove, the Seven Seas and others cater the tax they pay goes into this fund.

What will be the economic impact of Mandan pushing this through? It appears to be driven by the government rather than the taxpayer. If the taxpayer chooses this route, so be it.