UPDATE
After months of discussion and hours in meeting Monday night, the Moorhead City Council is once again at an impasse on a decision to sign a new lease for the Bluestem Center.
It was the first time the City Council has reviewed the Fargo Public School's budget, but it was approved unanimously.
The problem for council members is in the 35-year lease which signs over even more land to Fargo schools.
Some council members said they were ready to approve the lease, saying there's liability in anything they do.
But council member Brenda Elmer says she's concerned about protecting Minnesota taxpayers if Fargo Public School should decide to use the land for something other than what its grant allows for.
Council member Mark Hintermeyer says signing the lease may put Moorhead in line with a lawsuit after he says the Fargo School District threatened litigation.
"In my view, we're creating a liability," Hintermeyer said. "In the event that we are to lose, it would automatically trigger a payout of funds- taxpayer dollars."
The council voted to hold off so the city attorney could work with the public school's attorney to change some of the language of the lease.
They're also hoping to look into a way of lessening tuition for students of the arts center living in the Moorhead area, making it comparable to Fargo student's rates.
ORIGINAL STORY
A showdown over the budget for the Bluestem Center for the Performing Arts begins Monday night. Some Moorhead city council members are concerned over the money budgeted for bluestem by the Fargo School District. The 2013 budget was tabled at the last meeting because of those concerns.
This will be the first time council members get a look at the Fargo School District's budget, so there may be many questions about it, as well as a proposed lease of more land, which could mean a lack of action.
The first time around, the Fargo public school district budget didn't make it very far.
"I wanted to let it play out a little more, allow the staffs to discuss perhaps and become more for myself a better understanding."
Councilman Mark Hintermeyer has two things in mind.
"Paramount in my mind is we maintain that regional arts concept."
The second, is that the city of Moorhead is financially stable. Some concerns have been raised that Fargo may not be meeting goal number one.
"I would disagree with that concern and with any assertion that it's anything other than a home for the Trollwood Performing Arts and a broader regional arts facility."
Broc Lietz says the district continues to meet with promoters and people in the arts community and Trollwood is expanding, meeting the expectations of a current lease.
With a couple bumps to still work out, there may be little action taken at Monday night's meeting.
Reporter: "Some people may look at that and say you're just pushing your problems further down the road, you're not trying to do anything.
Mark Hintermeyer: "Some, I guess from my standpoint it is to make sure we're in this case tonight agreeing to a lease for 30 plus years, we need to get this right at the start."
Both sides know though...
"We need to make this work for the both communities to better because of that."
And the Fargo public school district takes it one step further.
"We have a lot fewer differences than might be perceived by listening to meetings or reading the information either in the paper or whatever."
One other concern for Moorhead leaders: The city received a request for all communications about Bluestem from the Fargo public schools attorney. Moorhead sees it as a threat of litigation, but the district says it's just meeting it's requirements.
Hintermeyer says he will push for an executive session to investigate the information request, which would allow the council to meet behind closed doors to discuss any action the city would want to take.
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