Park Board Once Again Seeks Developer for Northeast Riverfront

Image courtesy of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board

Image courtesy of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board

The following article by Eric Best was published in the December 1,
2016 issue of the Southwest Journal.

Park Board Once Again Seeks Developer for Northeast Riverfront

The board is making progress on a number of high-profile riverfront projects.

A high-profile piece of riverfront land is slated for development — again.

After a proposal to revitalize part of a former lumberyard in Northeast Minneapolis failed to pan out last year, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is once again looking for a new real estate developer for the site.

The Park Board is now seeking a real estate developer for the Scherer Bros. lumberyard site directly north of the Plymouth Avenue Bridge on the Mississippi River’s east bank. The board purchased the nearly 12-acre piece of land in 2010 for $7.7 million with a plan to one day rebuild the four-acre Hall’s Island and develop a new riverfront park.

To continue reading click on the link to the Southwest Journal

Developer Needed for Park Project on the River

The following article by Jim Buchta was published in the November 22, 2016 issue of the Star Tribune.

Developer Needed for Park Project on the River

 

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Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board Photo

This rendering shows the channel between Hall’s Island and the riverbank that is being developed into a park. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is seeking proposals from developers who want to help build it

Wanted: A developer willing to help close a key gap along the Mississippi Riverfront.

That firm must be willing to work with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and several community groups to re-imagine a vacant 3.55-acre site along the river north of downtown.

To continue reading, click on the link to the Star Tribune

Mpls. park board seeks developer for land along the … – Star Tribune

Minneapolis Park Board’s 2017 Budget Focuses on Fiscal Responsibility, Service Delivery, and Implementation of the 20 Year Neighborhood Park Plan

The following item was circulated by the MPRB.

Minneapolis Park Board’s 2017 Budget Focuses on Fiscal Responsibility, Service Delivery, and Implementation of the 20 Year Neighborhood Park Plan

On Wednesday, December 7, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) adopted its 2017 budget for the park system, which serves more than 22 million visits annually. Continue reading →

Crown Hydro — Notice Granting Late Intervention

The following item has been forwarded by Doug Verdier.

Crown Hydro — Notice Granting Late Intervention


Monday, November 21, 2016 4:36 PM

The notice itself is somewhat confusing in the way it is worded; however, it seems that FERC has granted the Friends of the Lock & Dam’s motion to intervene in the Crown Hydro project’s request for amendment to its license.
On 11/21/2016, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Washington D.C., issued this document:


Docket(s):         P-11175-025
Lead Applicant: CROWN HYDRO CORPORATION                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
Filing Type:     Formal Notice
Description:     Notice Granting Late Intervention re Crown Hydro, LLC under P-11175.

To view the document for this Issuance, click here
http://elibrary.FERC.gov/idmws/file_list.asp?accession_num=20161121-3056

Heads-Up for the December 7, 2016 Park Board Meeting

5:15 P.M.   SPECIAL MEETING.  This meeting is the budget meeting and will be held at City Hall, 250 South 4th Street.  The meeting will convene in Room 241; it will not be televised.

5:45 P.M.  OPEN TIME.  Speakers can call 612-230-6400 before 3:00 p.m. the day of the meeting to sign up or they can sign up at the Board meeting prior to the start of “Open Time”

6:05 P.M.  CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING ON THE PARK BOARD BUDGET — The Public Hearing will be in the Council Chamber, Room 317.  It will be televised

COMMITTEE BUSINESS — This will be back in Room 241 after the public hearing

Agenda items are:

Continue reading →

Heads-Up for the November 30, 2016 Park Board Meeting

5:00 P.M.  REGULAR BOARD MEETING.  The meeting will be held in the boardroom at Park Board headquarters, 2117 West River Road, just north of Broadway Pizza.  Visitors to Park Board meetings can find at the back of the meeting room the agenda book with all the printed materials for the meeting.  NOTE: The reason for this third November meeting is because the Park Board budget has to be approved by the Park Board commissioners prior to the next City Council meeting where the City approves the Park Board budget

5:30 P.M.  OPEN TIME.  Speakers can call 612-230-6400 before 3:00 p.m. the day of the meeting to sign up or they can sign up at the Board meeting prior to the start of “Open Time”

6:00 P.M.  PUBLIC HEARING — Parkway Paving Assessment 2014 to 2016

Some agenda items of interest are:

Continue reading →

DEVELOPMENT ON LAKE PARKWAYS

The following letter-to-the-editor was published in the November 17, 2016 edition of the Southwest Journal.

DEVELOPMENT ON LAKE PARKWAYS

I am writing in response to the article about CPM’s proposed $14-million project that would replace three homes on East Calhoun Parkway with a 55-foot-tall condominium complex.

As far as I can recall, this is the first time since 1988, when the Shoreland Height Ordinance was passed 13–0 by the Minneapolis City Council, that a developer has attempted to exceed the 35-foot limit on a Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board lake parkway by proposing a condominium complex that would be 55 feet in height. The six-story Edgewater faces Lake Street, a commercial corridor in the Shoreland Overlay District, and is not on East Lake Calhoun Parkway.

The intent of the Shoreland Height Ordinance was to protect the city’s lakes from excessive height. Anything over 35 feet was considered excessive height. Until now, developers have respected the Shoreland Height Ordinance on Minneapolis’ lake parkways.

This proposed condominium project would replace three houses with 14 to 16

$1-million dollar condos fronting on East Lake Calhoun Parkway. It is an example of the kind of project that the Shoreland Height Ordinance was created to prevent.

I am familiar with the height ordinance because I was a board member of one of the two citizens’ groups that was instrumental in getting the ordinance passed. If the developer wants to proceed with a condo complex on East Lake Calhoun Parkway, the project should be no higher than 35 feet.

Arlene Fried

Co-founder of Park Watch

Equity Debate Draws Candidates for Minneapolis Park Board Election

The following article by Steve Brandt was published in the November 15, 2016 edition of the Star Tribune.

Equity Debate Draws Candidates for Minneapolis Park Board Election

 
Citywide and southwest seats are drawing the most competition so far. 
PHOTO: STAR TRIBUNE, ELIZABETH FLORES
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Carol House pushed her grandson Isaiah Halsall on a swing at the newly remodeled East Phillips Park May 29, 2014

 

A year before next year’s Minneapolis park commissioner elections, the field of citywide candidates is getting crowded.

And that’s before a push to recruit equity-focused candidates hits high gear.

There are already two candidates challenging Commissioner Brad Bourn for his southwest Minneapolis seat. And a half-dozen candidates are possibilities for the three citywide seats on the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, which oversees more than 6,000 acres and a $101.2 million budget. It’s poised to spend a windfall of new money to fix neighborhood parks but bedeviled by charges of racism.

To continue reading click on the link to the Star Tribune This article 

Heads-Up for the November 16, 2016 Park Board Meeting

5:00 P.M.  REGULAR BOARD MEETING.  The meeting will be held in the boardroom at Park Board headquarters, 2117 West River Road, just north of Broadway Pizza.  Visitors to Park Board meetings can find at the back of the meeting room the agenda book with all the printed materials for the meeting

5:00 P.M.  PUBLIC COMMENT.  There will be time for Public Comment on the Superintendent’s Recommended 2017 Budget during the Regular Meeting and before the Commissioners Discussion of the Budget

5:30 P.M.  OPEN TIME.  Speakers can call 612-230-6400 before 3:00 p.m. the day of the meeting to sign up or they can sign up at the Board meeting prior to the start of “Open Time”

5:45 P.M.  PUBLIC HEARING — Tree Assessments on Private Properties During 2015 and 2016

6:00 P.M.  PUBLIC HEARING — Parkway Paving Assessment 2014 to 2016

6:30 P.M.  PUBLIC HEARING — Calhoun Refectory Strategic Direction Public Hearing

Some agenda items of interest are:

Continue reading →

Congressman Ellison’s letter to FERC re Crown Hydro

The following item has been forwarded by Doug Verdier.

Congressman Ellison’s letter to FERC re Crown Hydro

Attached is the letter–dated November 7, 2016–from Congressman Ellison to the Chairman of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that should add weight to the recent multitude of letters from various local organizations and individuals who wrote to FERC opposing the amendment to Crown Hydro’s license.