Minneapolis Park Watch

The following editorial appeared in the February 7, 2010 edition of the Star Tribune:

GOOD START FOR NEW BOARD

Minneapolis Park Board signals a new era with Gurban vote.

Disingenuous is perhaps the most charitable term to describe several longtime Minneapolis Park Board commissioners' objections to a search for a new superintendent.

On Wednesday, the Park and Recreation Board voted 6-3 against extending the contract of current superintendent Jon Gurban. A block of four new commissioners who want new leadership drove the vote.

Posted by Arlene Fried on Mon, 02/08/2010 - 2:30pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

The following article by Steve Brandt was published in the February 4, 2010 issue of the Star Tribune:

MINNEAPOLIS PARK BOARD TO SEEK SUPERINTENDENT

Minneapolis park commissioners agreed Wednesday to search for a new superintendent to run the city's renowned park system.

Posted by Arlene Fried on Thu, 02/04/2010 - 7:14pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

The following article by Cristof Traudes appeared on February 4, 2010 in the Downtown Journal:

PARK BOARD VOTES 6-3 TO OPEN SEARCH FOR NEXT SUPERINTENDENT

President says Superintendent Jon Gurban has done great work but that moving on 'happens as the natural growth of an organization'

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is set to move beyond Superintendent Jon Gurban, voting 6–3 Wednesday night to begin a search for candidates.

Posted by Arlene Fried on Thu, 02/04/2010 - 6:19pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

HEADS-UP FOR THE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2010 PARK BOARD MEETING

Some highlights:

5:00 P.M. REGULAR BOARD MEETING. The Board will be voting on approving and adopting the recommendations of the Lake Harriet Citizens' Advisory Committee and on initiating a search for qualified Superintendent candidates.

5:30 P.M. OPEN TIME.

Posted by Arlene Fried on Wed, 02/03/2010 - 2:59am. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

Lake Harriet CAC Recommendations Presented To Commissioners

Matt Perry, chair of the Lake Harriet Citizens' Advisory Committee (CAC), formally presented the CAC's Final Report and Recommendations on Lake Harriet Concessions at the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board's Planning Committee meeting on January 20, 2010. The report itself was received and filed by the Board on December 16, 2009. The January 20 presentation completes the charge given the CAC and concludes its work.

Posted by Arlene Fried on Sat, 01/30/2010 - 8:10pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

The following article by Cristof Traudes recapping one of the agenda items on the January 20, 2010 Park Board agenda is from the Downtown Journal:

SEARCH TO START FOR NEXT PARK SUPERINTENDENT

An ad hoc group of commissioners voted 3–1 Wednesday to recommend opening up an international search for candidates. Current Superintendent Jon Gurban’s contract is up at the end of June.

Posted by Arlene Fried on Sun, 01/24/2010 - 9:39pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

The following article by Cristof Traudes, which recaps a January 4, 2010 Park Board agenda item, appeared in the Southwest Journal:

ERWIN CREATES AD HOC COMMITTEES

John Erwin wasted no time in his new role as president of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. In the first regular meeting of the year, Erwin created ad hoc committees to tackle two lingering questions hanging over the Park Board: the fate of the superintendent and the structure of the board’s committees.

Posted by Arlene Fried on Sun, 01/24/2010 - 9:36pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

The following article by Cristof Traudes, which recaps a January 4, 2010 Park Board agenda item, appeared in the Southwest Journal:

HYDRO RESOLUTION BUMPED AT FIRST MEETING OF NEW BOARD

Less than an hour into its very first meeting, the new Park Board got into a lively debate over a decades-old issue: whether to support a hydro power project along the Mississippi River.

Posted by Arlene Fried on Sun, 01/24/2010 - 9:33pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

HEADS UP FOR THE JANUARY 20, 2010 PARK BOARD MEETING

The regular MPRB meeting will be held at 5:00 pm on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at Park Board Headquarters, 2117 W. River Road. For the meeting agenda and other information, go to the Park Board's website minneapolisparks.org

MEETING HIGHLIGHTS:

Posted by Arlene Fried on Sun, 01/17/2010 - 11:00pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

The following article by Chris Steller appeared in the Minnesota Independent on January 13, 2010:

DEAL WOULD TAP MET COUNCIL FUNDS TO BUY MEMBER'S FAMILY BUSINESS SITE

The Minneapolis park board is planning to use $1.7 million in Metropolitan Council funds to buy a piece of Mississippi riverfront property from the family business of a Met Council member.

Posted by Arlene Fried on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 9:46pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

The following article by James Shiffer appeared in the January 5, 2010 on-line issue of the Star Tribune:

SHOULD AN AGENCY TRUMPET ITS LEGACY?

Posted by Arlene Fried on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 1:39am. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

The following article by Cristof Traudes appeared in the January 11, 2010 issue of the Southwest Journal:

BOARD VOTES ERWIN TO PRESIDENCY; YOUNG ELECTED VICE PRESIDENT

Posted by Arlene Fried on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 1:34am. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

CROWN HYDRO RESOLUTION FAILS TO PASS

For six years, Crown Hydro and its lobbyists and P.R. people have been attempting to convince the Park Board and the public that its proposed hydro-power project on parkland adjacent to the historic St. Anthony Falls had merit and was without risk.

Posted by Arlene Fried on Mon, 01/11/2010 - 12:41am. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

The following information is from a MPRB press release

PARK BOARD SELECTS OFFICERS, COMMITTEES, REPRESENTATIVES FOR 2010

Posted by Arlene Fried on Mon, 01/11/2010 - 12:38am. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

The following article by Steve Brandt appeared in the January 6, 2010 issue of the Star Tribune:

ERWIN WINS MINNEAPOLIS PARK BOARD PRESIDENT SEAT

John Erwin, who returns to the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board after sitting out a term, has won unanimous election as the board's president.

Posted by Arlene Fried on Mon, 01/11/2010 - 12:23am. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

The following article by Cristof Traudes appeared in the January 4, 2010 issue of the Downtown Journal:

LUMBERYARD EYED AS POSSIBLE NEW PARK ALONG MISSISSIPPI

What currently is mostly concrete, a parking lot and a lumberyard could someday be a park.

Posted by Arlene Fried on Wed, 01/06/2010 - 11:08pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

HEADS UP FOR THE JANUARY 6, 2010 PARK BOARD MEETING

The regular MPRB meeting will be held at 5:00 pm on Wednesday, January 6, 2010 at Park Board Headquarters, 2117 W. River Road. For the meeting agenda and other information, go to the Park Board's website minneapolisparks.org.

The January 6 Park Board meeting is the first regular meeting for 2010. There will be four new commissioners making their debuts at this meeting: Brad Bourn, John Erwin, Anita Tabb and Liz Wielinski. Five commissioners are reelected incumbents: Bob Fine, Carol Kummer, Jon Olson, Scott Vreeland and Annie Young.

The board will be voting on a resolution presumably written by Nikki Carlson for Bill Hawks of Crown Hydro and submitted to the board at the December 2, 2009 meeting by Commissioner Jon Olson.

Posted by Arlene Fried on Tue, 01/05/2010 - 1:24am. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

FUJI YA LITIGATION NOT OVER YET

Park Watch has just learned that on December 21 Columbia Development filed an appeal of the November 12 ruling which had been in favor of the Park Board regarding the Columbia/Wave condo development on the Fuji Ya site.

Posted by Arlene Fried on Sun, 01/03/2010 - 5:31pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more

PARK BOARD ANNUAL MEETING: MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 2010

The annual meeting begins at 5:00 p.m. at Park Board Headquarters, 2117 W. River Road. The business to be conducted is the election of officers and appointments to various committees. The meeting, which is a brief one, will be broadcast and streamed live on the City Of Minneapolis Government Meeting Channel 79 on Comcast cable and at www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/webcasts.

Posted by Arlene Fried on Sun, 01/03/2010 - 5:19pm. | Permalink | Login to post comments

MPRB PURCHASE OF SCHERER BROS. SITE

By Harvey Ettinger
East Isles Resident
For Minneapolis Park Watch

Brief review of the Park Board's December 16, 2009 presentation/discussion of the Park Board's intention to sign a purchase agreement with Scherer Bros. for the Scherer Bros. Lumber yard property along the river:

Posted by Arlene Fried on Tue, 12/22/2009 - 1:01am. | Permalink | Login to post comments | Read more