Monthly Archives: January 2010

Lake Harriet C A C Recommendations Presented To Commissioners

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.

Matt’s 12-page presentation to the Park Board can be found HERE.

Specifically, the CAC recommended that the Park Board provide additional food concession options at Lake Harriet and minimize negative community impacts by expanding concession operations into the breezeway area within the footprint of the existing concession building.

The CAC did not support the staff’s original recommendation for an additional new building.
See page 8 of the report for an architectural concept design for the existing concession building demonstrating the feasibility of utilizing the original footprint.

The MPRB Planning Committee unanimously adopted the recommendations set forth in the “Lake Harriet CAC Final Report and Recommendations”. Don Sigglekow, MPRB General Manager, said the next steps are to have the full Board act on the plan approval at their February 3, 2010 meeting. If approved, staff will outline the RFP process at the MPRB February 17 meeting for Board approval. As part of that RFP process, staff will be recommending to include interested Lake Harriet CAC members on the RFP committee.

The Lake Harriet CAC set out to establish a set of defensible, sustainable recommendations that could stand on their own, and that could be successfully implemented by the Park Board. Thanks to the work of CAC members, stakeholders, staff, and other professionals, the CAC has met this goal.

The entire CAC report, which consists of 25 pages plus appendix, can be found HERE.

The CAC site was set up as part of a broader effort to provide for an open and transparent public participation process. The public can view any part of this site and download all documents that are posted on it. It will remain online as long as it is serving a useful purpose to the public. With the work of the CAC concluded, the site will not host new material. For official documentation created by the CAC please visit the MPRB Lake Harriet CAC web page HERE. Then click on “Lake Harriet CAC Website.”

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Here are the highlights from the 25 page CAC report, which Cheryl Luger described on the Issues list as a “really impressive report.” The eleven CAC members spent eight months researching and writing the report.

LAKE HARRIET CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE (CAC) BACKGROUND AND CHARGE
Created and charged by MPRB in February 2009 to examine and advise on concession opportunities at the bandshell area, including structure and site issues

CAC’S 3 KEY QUESTIONS
– #1. Should food concession options be expanded at the Lake Harriet pavilion area, and if so, for what purpose and to what end?
– #2. If more food options are offered, what structural and/or physical layout changes to the pavilion area would be necessary (if any)?
– #3. If food options are expanded or changed, what are the impacts and how are they best addressed?

CRITICAL CONFLICT?
– CAC found broad interest in expanded food options
– CAC recognized the limitations of the current building layout
– CAC found widespread concerns about any additional building
– “Aha” moment for CAC led to key question: What options exist WITHIN the existing building footprint that haven’t yet been explored?

RECOMMENDATIONS
– Expand food options WITHIN the footprint of the current concession building
– Remodel the interior layout of the ENTIRE existing concession building, expanding into the current breezeway with improved areas for food preparation, service, and storage

IMPORTANT LEARNINGS–HELP SHAPE THE VENDOR REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
Lake Harriet Pavilion picnic culture
High service standards
Affordable price points
Environmental awareness and sustainability
Importance of healthy food choices

FOR THE FUTURE
Actively engage stakeholders in a public process to help inform plans and decisions

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MEMBERS OF THE CAC
– Joel Chechik
– Roann Cramer
– John Finlayson
– Janet Hallaway
– Donovan Hart
– Elizabeth Larsen
– Bruce Manning
– Lisa McDonald
– Matt Perry (chair)
– Joseph Schmidt
– Patty Selly

Search To Start For Next Park Superintendent

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.

The search for the next Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board superintendent could begin as early as next month.

In a turn-around from a near-decision by the last Park Board, a committee tasked with deciding the future of Superintendent Jon Gurban on Wednesday voted to go “in a different direction,” as new Commissioner Anita Tabb put it. The ad hoc group voted 3–1 to recommend beginning an immediate international search for candidates.

The full board will take up the issue on Feb. 17.

Gurban was hired in 2003 under a cloud of controversy, after he n either applied for nor screened for the job. He has since taken hits on a number of issues, primarily over transparency and communication concerns. But he also has won approval from many colleagues and commissioners for his work on such projects as the park system’s Comprehensive Plan. A 2008 evaluation of Gurban’s job performance showed a majority of the last Park Board found he met or exceeded expectations, and in November, the board seemed poised to offer him a one-year contract extension, through June 2011.

But they didn’t, instead opting to leave the issue to the new board. And, based on comments made during last fall’s campaign season, there appears to now exist a majority that will support opening up a search. Two new commissioners, Southwest’s Brad Bourn and Tabb, sat on Wednesday’s committee, and both voted to move on.

Bourn was hesitant to say Gurban wouldn’t be the best person for the job, noting that he would be supportive of the superintendent reapplying. But Tabb was more vocal, saying she heard complaints about Gurban throughout her campaign in the fall. She said she felt she was elected to make a change.

Only Commissioner Carol Kummer voted against opening up a search. For one, she said, the economic climate isn’t exactly conducive to a search’s price tag. (The last search cost more than $30,000.)

She also worried about timing. The Park Board this fall will host the 2010 National Recreation and Park Association Congress and Exposition, a major national parks conference.

“The universe is sort of before us,” Kummer said, “but we don’t want to look fickle.”

Tabb disagreed. There never is a good time to make a decision about leadership, and “putting it off will only lengthen the process,” she said.

Young at first appeared to lean in Kummer’s direction because of the timing factor. But when she was asked to vote on opening up a search, she sided with Bourn and Tabb. It took her several moments of silence to cast her vote, though, and when she did, tears welled up in her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she said afterward. “I’m very emotionally upset.”

Tabb wanted to go one step further, bringing forward a motion to not extend Gurban’s contract beyond its June end date, ensuring he would be gone by July. But she was met with immediate opposition, largely because a search could last well beyond June. Commissioner Scott Vreeland, who chaired the committee, said it would be more appropriate to consider negotiating a short-term extension to keep Gurban through at least the duration of the search.

Tabb was outvoted 2–1 by Kummer and Young. Bourn abstained, although he called Tabb’s motion “premature.”

The committee’s actions and discussions caused a stir in the audience, which was filled with top Park Board staff, including Gurban himself. Several staff members shook heads, while others looked on with gaping mouths. After the committee’s vote for a search, Gurban walked out immediately, not waiting to hear about the fate of his contract.

If Gurban were ultimately not retained, it would be Minneapolis’ second high-profile superintendent change this year. On Tuesday, the city school board began a process to hire current Deputy Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson as the successor to outgoing Superintendent Bill Green. Green will leave the position at the end of the 2009–10 school year.

Erwin Creates Ad Hoc Committees

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.

The superintendent committee will look into options surrounding Superintendent Jon Gurban’s contract, which currently is up at the end of June. Gurban was hired in 2003 under a cloud of controversy but has since won approval for his work on such projects as the Park Board’s Comprehensive Plan, although he has taken hits over transparency and communication concerns.

The previous Park Board was on the verge of extending Gurban’s contract by a year but ultimately decided to instead allow the new board to decide his future. That could mean a nationwide search for candidates: Erwin and both Southwest commissioners Brad Bourn and Anita Tabb have expressed interest in going that route. New Vice President Annie Young has said the superintendent issue is one of her top 2010 priorities.

Bourn, Tabb and Young will each serve on the ad hoc committee, along with fellow commissioners Carol Kummer and Scott Vreeland. Vreeland will serve as chairman.

Meanwhile, Erwin’s other ad hoc committee seems to have been formed to answer questions presented by the new Park Board back in December, before commissioners were sworn in. Several said at the time that they wanted to look into whether certain tasks and topics would be better discussed in different committees than they are now.

Appointed to that committee were Commissioners Bob Fine, Tabb, Jon Olson, Bourn and Erwin. Fine and Tabb will serve as chairman and vice chairwoman, respectively.

Hydro Resolution Bumped At First Meeting Of New Board

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.

The last Park Board shared a consensus that a privately owned power plant at St. Anthony Falls — such as the long-stalled, controversial Crown Hydro project — would not work. But with a sustainability goal to get the parks system off the grid, the board also requested information on public ownership of such a power plant.

Based on a subsequent report — which said hydro power would be the least expensive of three alternative energy options — Commissioner Jon Olson pitched a lengthy resolution that would have had the Park Board declare support for “public ownership of a hydro facility in Mill Ruins Park” and encourage “the next board to acquire the rights of water use, and authorization and resources to complete construction.”

Most of Olson’s colleagues on the new board showed little interest.

“I think this looks like a version of Crown Hydro, and we’ve already voted that down several times,” Commissioner Anita Tabb said, kicking off what became an occasionally fiery discussion.

Vice President Annie Young suggested the resolution had been written by a constituent, which Olson took immediate exception to.

“Whoa, excuse me,” he responded. “… Your comments, I find them just outrageous.”

That divisiveness is what Commissioner Scott Vreeland said was turning him off. Vreeland said he is all for exploring hydro power and other alternative energy, but by passing the motion, the Park Board would have moved ahead with something that’s continued to split allegiances.

The resolution, which was set to be moved to the Operations and Environment Committee, was instead voted down 6 –3. Commissioners Bob Fine, Carol Kummer and Olson were the sole supporters.

Before the vote, Kummer — who has been supportive of Crown Hydro in the past — warned her new colleagues that perceptions outside of the Park Board are different from the reality within.

“I’d hate to have us start off on the wrong foot,” she said.

Also noted during the discussion was that the issue could easily brought back at the committee level, where Olson is chairman of Operations and Environment.

M P R B Board Meeting, Wednesday, January 20, 2010

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:

1. The final report and recommendation of the Lake Harriet Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) to the Board. The CAC is recommending that no additional buildings be built on the shoreline of Lake Harriet as originally proposed by Park Board staff; and that the current Lake Harriet refectory be remodeled within its existing footprint so that it can preserve its aesthetic design and and still accommodate an expanded menu.

2. There will be a first meeting of the Superintendent’s Search Committee.

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MPRB meetings are broadcast live from 5-9 p.m. on the City of Minneapolis Government Meeting Channel 79 on Comcast cable and online at www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/webcasts.

The regular meetings are rebroadcast on Channel 79 at 1 p.m. Saturdays and 5 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month. Webcasts for the recent two months are posted two to five business days after the meeting and are available for viewing under “Webcast Archives” at the web site.

Arlene Fried
Co-founder of Park Watch

Heads Up for Wednesday, January 20, 2010 Park Board Meeting

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:

1. The final report and recommendation of the Lake Harriet Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) to the Board. The CAC is recommending that no additional buildings be built on the shoreline of Lake Harriet as originally proposed by Park Board staff; and that the current Lake Harriet refectory be remodeled within its existing footprint so that it can preserve its aesthetic design and and still accommodate an expanded menu.

2. There will be a first meeting of the Superintendent’s Search Committee.

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MPRB meetings are broadcast live from 5-9 p.m. on the City of Minneapolis Government Meeting Channel 79 on Comcast cable and online at www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/webcasts.

The regular meetings are rebroadcast on Channel 79 at 1 p.m. Saturdays and 5 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month. Webcasts for the recent two months are posted two to five business days after the meeting and are available for viewing under “Webcast Archives” at the web site.

Arlene Fried
Co-founder of Park Watch

Scherer Bros. Deal Would Tap Met Council Funds To Buy Member's Family Business Site

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.

Met Council member Roger Scherer maintains a financial stake in Scherer Bros. Lumber Company, though he retired as president and CEO 15 years ago. (His son, Peter, is now president.)

Scherer tells the Minnesota Independent that if the question of funding the purchase comes before the Met Council, he won’t vote on the matter, discuss it with fellow council members, or attend a meeting of the council’s Community Development Committee when it’s considered there.

That’s in keeping with state law governing conflicts of interest, according to Met Council spokesperson Bonnie Kollodge, who couldn’t recall an instance of council funds being used to buy property in which a member had a financial interest.

The 16 Met Council members are appointed by the governor. Roger Scherer is the longest-serving member, with 17 years’ service under three governors, all Republican.

Among other things, the Met Council has authority over transit, water and sewers, and regional parks in the Twin Cities metro area. Some Minneapolis parks have regional status and get money from the Met Council. The newest is known as Above the Falls, running along the Mississippi River from Plymouth Avenue just north of downtown to the city’s northern border. The park board, the Minneapolis City Council, and the Met Council approved a plan for Above the Falls that envisions a strip of riverfront parkland and a path at the Scherer Bros. location, just above Plymouth Ave. on the river’s east bank.

Scherer Bros. Lumber Company, which ceased operations at its Northeast Minneapolis yard on Dec. 31 (pdf), has been trying to sell the 13.84-acre property since at least last summer. A prospective buyer for part of the property lost interest in the fall. That’s when park board staff — who had been called in on the earlier deal due to the park board’s interest in land along the river and for a path — say they began to pursue purchase of the entire property (pdf).

The park board had negotiated an easement for a strip of land along the river with the industrial property owner immediately upstream but was unable to do so with Scherer Bros., according to minutes from the Above the Falls Citizen Advisory Committee (pdf).

At its final 2009 meeting — and the last meeting for four of nine commissioners who didn’t win or seek re-election – the park board voted to pursue the deal. The proposal hadn’t come via the usual committee process and there was no price tag attached. However, at the Dec. 16 meeting (video, starts at 1:41), Commissioner Jon Olson cited an appraisal’s “reasonable price” of $650,000 per acre, which would put the total cost for the entire site at nearly $9 million.

One park commissioner, Annie Young, abstained from the vote, citing pollution concerns. Park board planner Judd Reitkerk assured her that environmental studies had found no vermiculite, a material that in local stockpiles was tainted with asbestos, prompting massive cleanups in Northeast Minneapolis — including at the park board’s own Gluek Park only a mile upstream.

But the studies of the Scherer Bros. site show that asbestos was indeed found on the property (pdf).

A purchase agreement, including payment of $400,000 in earnest money to Scherer Bros., was supposed to be completed by the end of December. But that’s been stalled by confusion over who, if anyone, owns part of the property’s river frontage. (A triangular piece of land, possibly a result of infilling or sedimentation, comprises almost half the property’s length along the river, but isn’t included with the Scherer Bros. title.)

The company offered to finance the deal over four years at 3.25 percent interest, according to park board staff, who said other possible sources of money included the state’s new Legacy fund. The $400,000 payment, refundable if the sale falls through, would come from proceeds from the sale of parkland downstream to the Minnesota Department of Transportation for the new I-35W bridge.

Plans are for the park board to take a final vote on the deal within 90 days of the signing of the purchase agreement. The Met Council spokesperson says they haven’t yet received an application for funds for the project.

Why buy nearly a nearly-14-acre lumber industrial site — complete with buildings and parking lots, “mostly concrete, ” as described by Cristof Traudes in the Downtown Journal — if the park plan calls only for a strip of riverfront and a recreational path?

“Their interest is in selling the entire property,” Reitkerk told the park board at the Dec. 16 meeting, and the Scherer Bros. Lumber Company wanted the deal done by Dec. 31. He termed it “a friendly purchase.”

Supt. Gurban's Public Relations Project

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?

Last year, Steve Simon was walking his dog near his Minneapolis home when he saw a new sign in Lyndale Farmstead park. It was a historical marker, similar to the one shown above, that made Simon wonder why the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board was trumpeting its history with permanent signs.

I shared Simon’s curiosity about the markers. I learned they were an attempt by the park board to mark its 125th anniversary with a combination of education and public relations.

“Everyone understands that the park board has kind of an image problem,” said Andrea Weber, a landscape architect for the park board, who heads the marker project. “This is part of our attempt to get the word out, to show that we have done some wonderful things.”

You’ll get no argument from me there. Just about everybody I know considers the park system one of the best reasons to live in Minneapolis.

The project was also launched at a time when the park board feared it would lose its independence from the City Council, a threat that has since ebbed. Weber emphasized that this project was initiated by Superintendent Jon Gurban. I couldn’t reach Gurban on the phone, but his name appears twice on each of the markers.

The project was introduced to the park commissioners in December 2008 as a fait accompli, rather than an item for their approval. Nevertheless, Weber said, “commissioners voiced 100 percent support when I presented the project.”

The agenda item presented to commissioners indicated that 12 markers would be erected. That number has since grown to 25, which, at $2,500 each, adds up to $62,000. The money comes from operations and maintenance budgets, and the park board staff assembles the monuments itself, so it’s apparently not considered a capital expense. Each marker is the same on one side – with a general history of the park system – while on the other side are 22 different stories tailored to the locations, with the history of playgrounds, the Chain of Lakes, recreation centers, the Lake Harriet Bandshells, bike paths and the like.

Simon, a law professor at the University of Minnesota who uses parks every day, thinks that at a time in which everyone is cutting budgets and services, the park board has no business spending money on something like this. “If you’re concerned about image, this is exactly the wrong thing to do. It shows very poor priorities and decision making.”

Board Votes Erwin To Presidency; Young Elected Vice President

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

The new Minneapolis Park and Recreation board has been sworn in, and its leaders are two familiar faces: Longtime Commissioner Annie Young is the new board’s vice president, and returning Commissioner John Erwin is its president.

At a brief meeting Jan. 4, the Park Board also finalized which commissioners will serve on what committees. Chairpersons, as appointed by Erwin, are returning commissioners Scott Vreeland (Administration and Finance Committee), Jon Olson (Operations and Environment), Carol Kummer (Legislation and Intergovernmental) and Young (Planning), along with new commissioners Liz Wielinski (Recreation) and Brad Bourn (Standards and Conduct).

The board’s first full meeting was scheduled for Jan. 6, after this edition of the Southwest Journal went to press. But to get a sense of everyone’s priorities, most of the group — sans returning Commissioner Bob Fine — met briefly in December for an informal session. Each commissioner was asked to bring forward three ideas for what they’d like to accomplish in the short term. Here’s an overview of their responses:

— Erwin listed stabilizing the Park Board’s tax levy in relation to the city’s, asserting the Park Board’s independence and increasing grant-writing for the system.

— Young said she wanted to tackle whether to open the search for a new superintendent, look at changing the process for setting the parks’ tax levy and focus on preparations for the National Recreation and Park Association Congress and Exposition, which Minneapolis is hosting in October.

— Wielinski was more specific, listing lowering water park costs, getting air conditioning in Luxton Park and moving ahead with the Father Hennepin Bluffs citizens’ advisory committee.

— Olson said he wanted to boost youth programs and look at getting the Park Board off the grid.

— Vreeland focused on developing an ordinance to make clearer the use and goals of citizens’ advisory committees, forging ahead with the parks’ sustainability plan and continuing to implement the system’s comprehensive plan.

— New Commissioner Anita Tabb wanted to increase outreach, work on the relationship between the City Council and the Park Board and take another look at the parks’ budget and priorities.

— Kummer said she wanted to deal with the tangles of the city’s storm water ordinance, continue work on the Lower Glen and enhance the Park Board’s enterprise operations.

— Bourn said his priorities were stabilizin g the council-Park Board relationship, formalizing the way the parks system receives donations and improving the use of citizens’ advisory committees.

Crown Hydro Resolution Fails To Pass

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.

It was a long and hard sell that never garnered the necessary support. At the January 6, 2010, Park Board meeting, the four new commissioners–Bourn, Erwin, Tabb and Wielinski–and two of the incumbent commissioners–Vreeland and Young–voted six to three against sending the Crown resolution to committee for further study.

It was a model display of unity and an appropriate way to launch the new board and begin the new year.

Arlene Fried
Co-founder of Park Watch
http://www.mplsparkwatch.org