City, Mindy's Clubhouse to negotiate terms

The lease allowing Mindy’s Clubhouse to operate in the Brown Memorial Auditorium in New Rockford expired on Friday, Nov. 1, and a newly-proposed lease now has owner Mindy Dockter looking for investors to acquire their own building.

The newly-proposed lease – which includes a $300 per month rent hike – comes as discussions have been ongoing in recent months between Mindy’s Clubhouse and the City of New Rockford about expanding further into the Brown Memorial Auditorium.

However, those plans have been met with resistance by some individuals concerned the daycare center’s use could limit the building’s availability for other community activities and events.

Meanwhile, Executive Director of the New Rockford Area Betterment Corporation (NRABC) Amanda Hegland, has been trying to find a compromise to ensure Mindy’s Clubhouse has a good home in the community, while still maintaining public access to the building.

However, as both parties consider a new lease agreement, it seems the building may not be big enough for the both of them long term.

The Brown Memorial Auditorium in New Rockford is publicly owned by the city, leased by the NRABC and sublet to Mindy’s Clubhouse, and the daycare shares the building – in particular its gymnasium – with various community groups.

Dockter and Mindy’s Clubhouse Director Savana Nystrom told the Transcript Tuesday that they’re more than willing to continue sharing the gymnasium so that community events such as Santa Day, the Daddy-Daughter Dance and others can still use the space.

However, they intend to continue expanding their business as well.

“We’ve grown tremendously since we started,” said Dockter. “I wasn’t expecting it to grow as much as it has and we’ve just had a lot of support from the community.”

Since opening in December of 2022, Mindy’s Clubhouse has grown considerably, and the child care center has become an important pillar of the local community.

At a time when most rural towns are suffering from chronic child care shortages, many families in and around New Rockford have been able to rely on Mindy’s Clubhouse to care for their children during the day.

Originally licensed for up to 30 kids, demand for additional availability soon had Dockter seeking an expanded license to care for up to 70 kids. And with still more families on their waiting list, she’s been looking to grow even more.

Ideally, they’d like to have full access to the Brown Memorial’s gymnasium during their operating hours, which are 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays.

Dockter said full gymnasium access would give them more space and opportunities for fun activities with the children, in addition to hiring more staff and allowing them to operate with up to 70 kids full-time, thus allowing them to stop turning away families who need child care.

Despite their daycare being licensed for up to 70 children, state regulations dictate that Mindy’s Clubhouse can only hold that many children when they have gymnasium access, which provides the square footage necessary to care for additional kids.

Dockter said that when writing contracts with parents, they are often limited by gym availability in the morning, when there are public walking hours, as well as in the afternoon when youth sports use the gym for practice. That is likely to continue, based on the stipulations of the proposed lease.

The contract terms designate 7-9 a.m. as the gym’s walking hours this winter, and don’t offer the daycare access to the gym beyond 3:15 p.m. to accommodate youth sports. However, on days when practice isn’t happening, they’d still be allowed gym access in the afternoon.

It would also continue to give the daycare use of the auditorium’s stage, which the New Rockford City Commission agreed they could utilize beginning in August at a cost of $200 more per month.

Dockter said they were happy to have the stage and more than willing to pay for it, but the limited gym access combined with an additional $300 rent hike has her looking at alternatives to the Brown Memorial long term.

She added that she doesn’t intend to leave the Brown Memorial in the near future, but is interested in looking at other options and talking to potential investors going forward.

“We would love to get investors and try to get our own building,” said Dockter.

Meanwhile, Amanda Hegland said she’s been working to find a compromise.

“I’m trying to negotiate between them and the city,” she said. “I feel like I’m still going to bat for the daycare and I definitely want to see them succeed. But I’m just trying to balance the needs of the daycare with the needs of the public who also use the Brown and pay taxes to help maintain it.”

Regarding public walking availability, Hegland said one individual recently reminded her that it’s a great service in the winter for senior residents who choose to stay in New Rockford, rather than going to their second homes in Arizona or other states with a warmer climate.

One resident who utilizes the gym for public walking attended a public hearing last month regarding Mindy’s Clubhouse, and expressed her concern about walking availability being compromised by the daycare’s expansion.

As for the rent hike, Hegland said the $300 increase accounts for additional utility costs for water usage and electricity – which the daycare wasn’t previously paying – as well as a reassessment of what the going rates are for commercial space rent.

She added that the city installed a water meter since the daycare opened, allowing them to assess their water usage, and have compared electricity costs now to what they were before Mindy’s Clubhouse opened nearly two years ago.

“Obviously they’re using a significant amount of electricity that normally the Brown wouldn’t be using,” said Hegland. “So that cost has to go to the daycare.”

New Rockford City Auditor Andrew Presnell added that the new lease rate better reflects what it would cost for the city to rent the gym to private citizens.

However, Hegland also acknowledged how important the daycare is for the New Rockford community and said she’s trying to appease everyone with this latest lease proposal.

Regarding the long-term possibilities, she added that if Mindy’s Clubhouse ultimately finds a new home which allows them to expand and reach their full potential, “then perhaps that would be best for everyone.”

That being said, nothing in the proposed lease is final, and things could change in the near future.

The New Rockford City Commission will discuss the contract at their next meeting on Monday, Nov. 4, which takes place at 9 a.m. at the New Rockford City Hall.

Anyone wanting to express their thoughts to commissioners regarding Mindy’s Clubhouse can attend the meeting in person and/or send written comments in advance of the meeting.

Regardless of what happens moving forward, Dockter said she’s enjoyed working with the community these past few years and has no intention of leaving it.

“I would never leave this community,” assured Dockter. “I really do feel the community needs a child care center. We love the kids and we’ve had so much support from this community and from the parents.”