REGULAR PARK BOARD MEETING. The regular MPRB meeting will be held at 5 pm on Wednesday, July 1, 2009, at Powderhorn Park Gym, 3400 15th Ave. S. This meeting will not be televised.
For more information, go to the Park Board's website www.minneapolisparks.org
Liz Wielinski and Annie Young have been endorsed for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board by Womenwinning, a PAC that supports women's political campaigns in Minnesota. Womenwinning was established in 1982 by a group of 25 bi-partisan women who wanted to increase the number of women in public office.
The Lake Calhoun South Shore Parking and Plaza project, which Park Board staff is advancing without Park Board approval or public input, has been criticized by windsurfers who have numerous concerns about the project. Other members of the public have concerns as well. The following segment was aired June 12, 2009 on WCCO-TV.
Short video link:
According to an article by Steve Brandt in the June 8, 2009 issue of the Star Tribune about the I-35W Bridge girders littering Bohemian Flats parkland, the Park Board claims that it is losing $20,000 "because a private excursion boat can't operate there."
The third meeting of the Lake Harriet Citizen's Advisory Council (CAC) will be Monday, June 22, 2009 at 7 pm. The CAC will meet at the Linden Hills Recreation Center (3100 43rd St. W.). The meeting is open to the public.
For more information about the CAC go the the CAC website at (www.lakeharrietcac.ning.com)
The Park Board staff is calling the project a maintenance project. However, according to West's Encyclopedia of American Law, maintenance is "periodic expenditures undertaken to preserve or retain an asset's operational status for its originally intended use. These expenditures do not improve or extend the life of asset."
During the MPRB meeting of June 17th as part of the Superintendent's budget wrap up for 2008 he discussed the expected LGA ( Local Government Aid) unallotment allocations for the MPRB for 2009 and 2010 based on the current plan proposed by the governor.
The following speech in opposition to Crown Hydro's proposed hydropower project on park land was given at the June 17, 2009 Park Board meeting during Open Time.
June 17, 2009
Commissioners:
First I would like to thank you for your previous decisions not to spend any further time or resources on the Crown Hydro project. Now, Crown is back with a renewed request for environmental review of its proposal. Nothing material has changed, and I urge you reject this project once and for all.
The following item ran as a sidebar to an article about Shakespeare in Twin Cities' parks by Lolla Mohammed Nur which appeared in the Twin Cities Daily Planet on June 12, 2009:
The following letter-to-the-editor appeared in the June 15, 2009 issue of the Star Tribune
INSTEAD OF ELIMINATION, CONSIDER A MERGER I served on the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) for nine years, from 1997 to 2005. I strongly oppose the proposal to make the park system a department within city government.
REGULAR PARK BOARD MEETING. The regular MPRB meeting will be held at 5 pm on Wednesday, June 17, 2009, at Park Board Headquarters, 2117 W. River Road. This meeting will be televised. At 5:30 p.m. there will be a year-end financial report by Superintendent Jon Gurban and Julie Wiseman. For more information, go to the Park Board's website www.minneapolisparks.org
The following item by Steve Brandt appeared in the June 10 issue of the Star Tribune:
PARK BOARD POLITICS
The recent DFL endorsements for Park Board contests this fall, or the absence of them in some cases, create some interesting scenarios, especially with Superintendent Jon Gurban's contract expiring in mid-2010.
The following article by Cristof Traudes appeared in the June 1, 2009 on-line issue of the Southwest Journal:
GROUP INVESTIGATING FUTURE OF LAKE HARRIET CONCESSION SAYS IT NEEDS MORE TIME
Halfway through its work schedule, a citizens’ advisory committee tasked with making recommendations on the future of the Lake Harriet concession says it needs more time.
CAC MEETING. The Lake Harriet CAC will meet Monday, June 1 at 7 p.m. at the Linden Hills Recreation Center, 3100 W. 43rd St. The meeting is open to the public. For more information go to http://lakeharrietcac.ning.com
PARK BOARD MEETING. The next Park Board meeting will be on Wednesday, June 3, 2009 at
The following articles by Cristof Traudes and Danielle Nordine appeared in the May 18, 2009 issue of the Southwest Journal:
AT PARK BOARD CANDIDATE FORUM, SIMILARITIES RULE THE EVENING
The following articles by Cristof Traudes appeared in the May 18, 2009 issue of the Southwest Journal:
PARK BOARD PENSION DECISION CREATES NEW SPARKS WITH CITY
While the city is staring down skyrocketing costs because of pension fund payments, the Park Board is expected to take a wait-and-see approach. That has left city representatives unhappy.
The following report by Cristof Traudes about the May 16th DFL Park Board endorsements appeared in the May 18, 2009, on-line issue of the Southwest Journal:
RESULTS OF DFL ENDORSEMENTS FOR MPRB CANDIDATES FROM SOUTHWEST MINNEAPOLIS
The following article by Steve Brandt appeared in Sunday's May 17, 2009 Star Tribune.
DFLers also seemed to signal they may want a new direction for the Park Board by snubbing two incumbents by withholding endorsements.
LAKE HARRIET REGIONAL PARK CAC. The first meeting of the Lake Harriet Citizen's Advisory Council (CAC) will be TUESDAY, MAY 19 at 7 pm. The CAC will first meet at the site of the Lake Harriet Concession Stand (43rd St. W. & E. Lake Harriet Pkwy) and then will continue at the Linden Hills Recreation Center (3100 43rd St. W.) Dates for the follow-up meetings are June 1, June 22 and July 13.
BENEFACTOR NEEDED TO FUND THE MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA'S 2009 SEPTEMBER CONCERT AT LAKE HARRIET.
The Minnesota Orchestra recently informed the Park Board that it will not be able to perform its annual free concert, because it lost the funding for this year's public performance at the Lake Harriet Band Shell.
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