March 17 Park Board Meeting
HEADS-UP FOR THE MARCH 17, 2010 PARK BOARD MEETING
SOME MEETING HIGHLIGHTS:
5:00 P.M. REGULAR BOARD MEETING. The Board will be voting on accepting the low bid of Waste Management for 2010 solid waste and recycling services for $180,000. There were three other bids. The City of Minneapolis was the next lowest bid. Currently, Waste Management has the contract and Park Watch was able (through the Data Practices Act) to see it; but the appendices containing the contractual amount were missing and have not yet been provided.
The Board will also be voting on supporting "Legislation for a personal property tax exemption for concessions on park owned property similar to City of Minneapolis exemptions." This is a staff driven proposal that the public should have an opportunity to review before coming before the Board for a vote. Administrative staff have been advocating that Park Board concessionaires should be sheltered from paying personal property taxes. These for-profit concessionaires include a hotel, a private event center and a charter party boat. This legislation creates incentives for privatization of parkland and will decrease our tax base. This agenda item should be either voted down or postponed so that the public can understand and comment on the consequences of such legislation before it becomes law.
The Board will be voting on a four-month agreement with former Park Board Superintendent David Fisher to be interim superintendent beginning July 1, 2010.
The Board will be voting on an agreement with departing Superintendent Jon Gurban who, by signing a consulting contract with the Park Board, will be able to maintain his health insurance benefits through June 30, 2011. He also will receive cash compensation of $5,000. The MPRB Board received a letter on March 12 from Superintendent Gurban giving notice that his last day as superintendent will be June 30, 2010.
5:30 P.M. OPEN TIME.
6:30 to 8:00 P.M. The Board will be conducting in-person interviews with representatives from three search firms with the intention of selecting one to conduct the search for a new superintendent.
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.
The complete agenda is on the Park Board's website at minneapolisparks.org
Arlene Fried, Co-founder of Park Watch