Monthly Archives: September 2008

The Future of the costly 201 Building

The future of the 201 Building lies with the boys scouts… hopefully the 2 part deal will go through as covered by the Star Tribune

Scouts have big plans for old fort’s Drill Hall
The Northern Star Base Camp would use a 1907 hall at Fort Snelling to create an urban scout center unlike any other.
By JAMES ELI SHIFFER, Star Tribune

Last update: September 25, 2008 – 5:51 AM

The regional Boy Scout council’s plan to create an “urban base camp” at Fort Snelling promises to bring life to an empty century-old building that has cost taxpayers at least $3 million.

The current owner of Fort Snelling’s old Drill Hall, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, acquired it in 2000, but its plans for a skateboard park and other uses never materialized, and the cavalry building has sat vacant and unused.

Now the Boy Scouts of America Northern Star Council hopes to close on the building in November and to open its $7.25 million complex in October 2010, the centennial of the chapter’s founding.

The urban location of the “Northern Star Base Camp” is unprecedented nationally. The council aims to reach out to city kids who haven’t grown up going to the woods, said John Andrews, the council’s scout executive. What’s more, Scouts could take the Hiawatha light-rail line there.

“This is a new foray,” Andrews said. “It’s an opportunity to make sure we’re relevant for our second hundred years.”

The 220-foot-long, red brick Drill Hall, also called the Hippodrome and the “201 Building,” is a familiar sight to those driving to the airport on Hwy. 55. It was built in 1907 to train horses to pull artillery and troops to practice cavalry dressage. Over the years, it went through other uses, including a materials testing facility for the U.S. Bureau of Mines.

The Drill Hall was vacant when the Park Board bought it and surrounding land eight years ago. The main staff member behind the project, Park Board General Manager Don Siggelkow, was at a conference this week and unavailable for an interview, said Park Board spokeswoman Dawn Sommers.

Siggelkow said in a 2006 interview that the Minnesota Wild had considered converting the building into a practice facility, but that proposal fell through.

Then a company led by Robert Naegele III, the son of the Wild’s then-owner, signed a lease with the Park Board to turn the property into a privately funded skateboard park.
Contractors put more than $1 million of work into the project before it fell apart in 2004. The contractors filed a lawsuit, Naegele’s company went out of business and the Park Board ended up paying $900,000 to settle related litigation in 2006.

At the time, Park Board members said the public ended up having to pay for what was supposed to be a privately funded project because they mistakenly trusted the Naegele name. The board put the land and the building up for sale, and in 2007, voted to give the Boy Scouts of America an option to buy the property for $4.25 million.

Arlene Fried, a longtime Park Board critic, describes the board’s experience with the property as a “monumental failure.” What was supposed to be a money-earner has instead cost somewhere close to $4 million when bond interest and legal fees are factored in, according to records obtained by Fried’s group, Minneapolis Park Watch.

Sommers disputed that figure, saying the board’s attorney calculated it at about $3 million.

Empty building, full vision

Today, the windows of the building are boarded up, and the only regular visitors appear to be the pigeons that roost on its long red roof. Inside, unfinished metal walkways from the ill-fated skateboard park overlook the vast floor of dirt.

The Boy Scouts’ vision for the Drill Hall includes a multipurpose space that will accommodate climbing walls, an indoor ropes course and room for all sorts of other activities. It will be open to all groups that want to use it, he said.

“We’ll operate it as a public facility,” Andrews said.

He said he doesn’t expect kids will camp on the site, but the trails and woods of Fort Snelling State Park are a short hike away. The council also plans to build a new building on the site that will house its offices and a scout shop, he said.

James Shiffer • 612-673-4271
 

Southwest Journal Coverage of the 2008 Budget

The following commentary by Shawn FitzGerald appeared on the e-democracy forums on Setember 21, 2008:

NICOLLET ISLAND PAVILION, MPRB FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Regarding Scott Russell’s story about the private use of the Nicollet
Island Pavilion at the TC Daily Planet.

Nicollet Island: Cash cow or public park?

T C Daily Planet

I posted a comment to Mr. Russell’s article that I would like to share
with this list (below.) Park Board staff proclaims that the contract
with the private vendor, Mintahoe, is a good deal for the public because
Mintahoe has spent over $1 million for remodeling and furnishing the
Pavilion. The million dollars may be true – but there is no way for
citizens to verify this for what Mintahoe, a private for-profit
corporation, has spent is not public information. Knowing the building,
I couldn’t see where $1 million in permanent improvements could have
been spent. Public funds were used to rehab the Pavilion, a historic
building, in the 1980s. So, I put in a data practices request to the
Park Board and learned that the book value of the 2002-2003 rehab was
about $408,000.

My best guess is that the Park Board invested about a quarter of a
million in the building to get Mintahoe into the Pavilion and that
Mintahoe invested something less. These costs were primarily to
winterize the building – an insulated roof (MPRB), asbestos abatement
(MPRB), a new boiler and new doors and windows (Mintahoe). A lot of
electrical work was done including adding something like 40-50 new
circuits. These might help out a caterer/event center but they are not
really needed for the Pavilion’s public purposes: picnic shelter, rest
rooms, drinking fountain.

MPRB staff also claimed that the Pavilion generated $400,000 a year for
the Park Board. Liz W. of Park Watch left a comment rebutting this – and
Liz is correct. For example, in 2007, the Park Board shows net income
$271,352 from “Nicollet Island.” It’s not clear if this is Pavilion
income alone or Pavilion and Nicollet Island Inn income. Whatever, this
money does not go to our neighborhood parks or forestry for the
Enterprise Fund surpluses are dedicated to paying for Ft Snelling
Neiman. Debt service at Ft Snelling Neiman is just over $1 million a
year and in 2007, the MPRB Enterprise Fund operations had a net surplus
(profit) of about $750,000. Not enough to cover debt service at Ft
Snelling Neiman but a very good year for enterprise operations. The MPRB
2007 Audited Financial Statements have been recently posted.

Park Board Enterprise operations have increased net income (profit) by
$350,000 since 2004. If the MPRB increases enterprise operations by
another 50% – with higher user fees, more bar/restaurants in the parks,
more rentals, and especially the lucrative parking operatons and vending
machines, MPRB net profits from earned income enterprises might actually
cover debt service at Ft Snelling Nieman.

(Upcoming: the MPRB contract with Coca Cola recently expired so the Park
Board may put out an rfp for another beverage vending machine contract.
The vending machines generate a good net profit for the MPRB – in the
low six figures. Yet, Commissioners are increasingly talking about their
desire to help reduce childhood obesity. This objective has sometimes
been the reason behind a policy or operations decisions. Soda pop is a
well-recognized contributor to childhood and teen obesity. At the same
time, the soda pop income is needed to make payments on the Ft Snelling
Neiman bonds. Will the Park Board go back to telling kids to drink free
water in the parks – and so fight childhood obesity? Or will the
lucrative vending machine income lead the Park Board to continue
offering empty calories that contribute to childhood obesity? Stay tuned
– the Coca Cola contract expired in August.)

If 500 athletes, unduplicated count, use the ball and soccer fields out
at Neiman, then the seasonal cost per athlete is over $2,000. If 1000
athletes are using those fields, then the cost drops to $1000+ per
athlete per season. I wonder how this compares to busy fields like those
at Pearl and Bryn Mawr. Or what the per athlete cost is for soccer,
football, all varieties of baseball, and hockey. For reasons I don’t
understand, these costs and other program costs are never discussed in
detail at Park Board meetings.

Sorry for meandering. Here is my comment on Mr. Russell’s story:

Saying that Mintahoe has invested $1 million at the Nicollet Island
Pavilion overstates the public benefit of Pavilion improvements.

Per Data Practices Request AAA135 — Nicollet Island Pavilion Book Value:
“The Nicollet Island Pavilion was renovated and the amount of the
renovation was capitalized on 12/31/2003. This improvement was
capitalized in the enterprise fund which records fixed assets as well as
straight line depreciation.” The remodeling was valued at $470,766 and
annual depreciation expense is $15,692. Book value of the Pavilion at
the end of 2007 was $407,997. The Pavilion is not worth $1 million more
because of Mintahoe expenditures.

I don’t know what improvements were capitalized but in 2002, the MPRB
and its roofing contractor applied for $252,641 in building and
remodeling permits at the Pavilion. See Minneapolis PropertyInfo db, 40
Power Street, 2002 Inspections Permits.

The Park Board also expanded one parking lot and built another for
Mintahoe. This work is not reflected in the city permit database. The
budget for Pavilion parking lot work was $110,700. Additionally, the
Park Board spent $25,228 to contract with a consultant to manage the
Pavilion improvements.

Shawne FitzGerald
Volunteer researcher for Park Watch

sf-Powderhorn

MPRB, Flatiron and Skipperliner

A posting to the Minneapolis Issues Forum, by Robert Johnson:

Skipperliner moved the boat from Bohemian Flats to Boom Island in the spring of 2007. They were having a difficult time getting customers to the [Bohemian Flats] site, so they combined operations at Boom Island. To say their site was taken away is a stretch at best. Seems to me, Mr. Sigglekow projected the revenues from Skipperliner would be 1 million dollars over the ten year term of their contract in 2004. Seems like he missed the mark a bit if they owe $20,000 in past due fees for last year and an estimated $35,000 for this year. Many business owners lost money due to the bridge collapse and I’m sure no one forgave their property taxes. Because the boat contract is based on a percentage of business, the fee paid for last season already was adjusted due to lower boat revenues attributed to the collapse. For Mr. Lawrence or Skipperliner to suggest they spent $150,000 because the Bohemian flats were not available to them is an outright lie. They are trying to get the tax payers to pay for a business loss which was the result of a tragedy where people lost their lives. At the same time they have been shamelessly promoting their tours as 35W bridge tours.

MEETING DATE CHANGED AT THE LAST MINUTE

2009 Budget Work Session

Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board Commissioners Meeting

Commissioners Walt Dziedzic, Bob Fine, Carol Kummer, Mary Merrill Anderson, Tracy Nordstrom, Jon Olson, Scott Vreeland, Annie Young and President Tom Nordyke.

THIS MEETING WILL NOT BE broadcast live from 5-7 p.m. on the Minneapolis Comcast cable network Channel 14 OR online on the City of Minneapolis Government Meeting Channel.

WHY THE MPRB IS HOLDING THIS SERIOUS BUDGET WORKSHOP OFF AIR AND AT A REMOTE LOCATION HAS NOT BEEN ANNOUNCED

Park Board Agenda

Commissioners didn't decide on Bohemian Flats lease with Flatiron

From the Star Tribune Commentary, published September 16:

The lease for bridge work was signed at the staff level and may be invalid.

By ARLENE FRIED

I want to thank the Star Tribune for Mike Kaszuba’s provocative article “Bridge work at park has its price” (Sept. 13). It’s a story that needed to be told.

However, there is one statement in the article that begs clarification. As a cofounder of Park Watch, I — along with others — have, through the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, made it a point to access the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board’s e-mails related to the negotiations over using Bohemian Flats as a staging area for Interstate 35W bridge construction and the Park Board’s subsequent lease with Flatiron Constructors Inc. We also have had representation at every Park Board meeting since January 2004.

So when Park Board President Tom Nordyke was paraphrased as saying that “the board balked” at extending the use of Bohemian Flats to Flatiron, I immediately perceived that statement as misleading, because the full board never discussed Bohemian Flats and Flatiron. The lease with Flatiron for the use of Bohemian Flats was negotiated and signed at the staff level without board direction and without ever being brought to the board for the required approvals, which is a serious violation of Park Board procedure.

The lease was for only four months; according to standard practice, it should have been worth approximately $51,000. But administrative staff tripled this figure, and e-mails reveal that Flatiron was coerced into paying $153,000 for a full year instead of $51,000 for only the four months that it needed Bohemian Flats. Flatiron representatives objected to the inflated figure, to no avail. It is apparent in reading the e-mails that the lease was signed under duress.

It is also interesting to note that the lease bears the signature of Superintendent Jon Gurban, not that of Tom Nordyke, whose responsibility as Park Board president it is to represent the board when certain agreements are signed. Because of the circumvention of these board procedures, I question whether the lease is even a legal document.

Arlene Fried, Minneapolis, is cofounder of Park Watch.

Link to original Star Tribune publication.

Nicollet Island: Cash cow or public park?

The following article by reporter Scott Russell appeared in the September 18th, 2008, on-line TC Daily Planet.

NICOLLET ISLAND PAVILION.

The Nicollet Island Pavilion appears to be a cash cow for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and for a private catering company, but is it the park and open space promised to the public when it was bought with public funds in the 1980s?

The Park Board bought most of Nicollet Island—including the building that is now the Pavilion—with money from the Metropolitan Council. That money came with strings: The Park Board needed to devote the land exclusively to “regional recreational open space for public use.” If the Park Board wanted to lease out land, say to a catering company, it needed prior Met Council approval.

Today, Mintáhoe Hospitality Group has exclusive catering rights at the Nicollet Island Pavilion, under a deal first cut in 2002. However, its lease with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board contract could run afoul of the decades-old restrictive land use covenant that is only now being reviewed.

Critics of the deal have pushed public officials to investigate. Among the complaints, they have noted that Mintáhoe moved its corporate headquarters into the Pavilion, making it a private space. They got the Metropolitan Council’s attention and it is reviewing agreements old and new.

THE PAVILION’S PROMISE

Don Siggelkow, the Park Board’s General Manager of Administration is quick to list the Pavilion’s positives: Private investment has upgraded the once-industrial building and improved services. It is the most lucrative Park Board contract, raising $400,000 a year.

“We do things to try to generate income for the Park Board and serve the public,” he said. “We think this is a great example of doing that.”

The Pavilion used to be the Durkee Atwood Co., which made industrial belts, power transmission drives and weather stripping, according to old Star Tribune articles. (At the time the Park Board bought the building, Durkee was at odds with Island residents, who opposed its planned expansion.)

An April 29, 1988 Barbara Flanagan column predicted a wonderful reuse, saying the building could become “the most popular eating spot in downtown Minneapolis.” Park Board Secretary Harvey Feldman told her at the time that it would be open to the public about 70 percent of the time. During the other 30 percent, it would be rented for private parties, including wedding receptions.

Siggelkow said the Park Board hasn’t changed the Pavilion’s use since it opened. It was always an event center, even when the Park Board ran it. The outside patio area overlooking the river still is open to the public, he said.

Mintáhoe has invested approximately $1 million to upgrade the space. It added air conditioning, carpeting and tile and upgraded the bathrooms, kitchen, windows and boiler. (The Park Board paid for roof and the parking lot improvements.)

According to the Park Board website: “The 9,300 square-foot pavilion is equipped with state of the art sound, light, projection and wireless Internet systems. Inside, Nicollet Island Pavilion can seat 660 guests in a reception or meeting-style format, and as many as 1,500 for free-flow events. The expansive outdoor space allows as many as 10,000 to enjoy this venue. …Please contact one of Mintáhoe’s professional event consultants to learn how Mintáhoe can make you look great, and your next event unforgettable!”

The contract reserves the Pavilion for eight Park Board events, including New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day and July 4. The Park Board and Mintáhoe amended their contract in 2004. The changes included extending the term from 10 years to 22 years.

DEAR PARK BOARD

On August 7, Thomas Weaver, regional administrator for the Met Council, sent a letter to the Park Board saying his staff could find no documentation in its files that shows the Park Board requested or received Council approval, “to convey any interest in the pavilion property or to use the pavilion building and surrounding land for any purpose other than regional recreation open space purposes.”

The letter was addressed to Siggelkow, who said on September 9 that Park Board attorneys were still working on a response.

In a March 7, 2008 communication to the Minnesota Finance Department, the Park Board stated the following: “Unlike most other ‘use’ agreements, the Park Board’s catering agreement with Mintáhoe does not give Mintáhoe the use of the Facility. Instead, the public has the use of the Park Board’s Facility. Mintáhoe does schedule the bookings for the facility and does provide the catering service.”

One Nicollet Island resident, Edna Brazaitis, disagrees with that statement, saying that the Park Board effectively gave Mintáhoe control of the building and surrounding spaces. She is one of several critics of the deal who have done detailed research and pushed other units of government to investigate.

In an August 28, 2007 letter to the Department of Finance, Brazaitis said the Bicentennial Amphitheater next to the Pavilion used to have concerts and performances such as Shakespeare in the Park. They stopped after Mintáhoe took control, she said.

Shane Stenzel, Park Board manager of special services, explained why. He said there are still free concerts at the amphitheater three to four times a year, but groups cannot lease it. Other public events at the amphitheater clashed with some of the Pavilion’s events, he said. Parking is limited. Further, people in neighboring highrises complained about concert noise, he said.

Pavilion events, such as outdoor weddings, still use the amphitheater space, Stenzel said. He said groups looking for a nearby performance space could use the nearby Father Hennepin Bandstand next to the Stone Arch Bridge instead.

Braizitis’s letter also takes exception with Mintáhoe’s expanded use of Park Board space, a claim the Park Board doesn’t dispute.

Braizitis said Mintáhoe requested a building permit at the Pavilion to add office space in 2006. She has photos of signage stating that the Pavilion is Mintáhoe ’s corporate headquarters. That meant the business was running not only the Pavilion operation out of the Pavilion location, but its family of businesses as well, she said.

(Mintáhoe ’s website lists its businesses as Apples Catering, Perfect Host Catering & Special Events, Mintáhoe Beverage Services and catersource Magazine, Conference and Tradeshow.)

Since Mintáhoe pays the Park Board based on a percentage of catering sales, not a flat lease, the Park Board was not getting paid anything for the corporate headquarters, Braiztis said.

Sigglekow said Mintáhoe needs operations and sales staff on site at the Pavilion—but using the Pavilion as a corporate headquarters was not part of the agreement.

The Park Board gave Mintáhoe notice that it needed to move its headquarters off site, Siggelow said. The notice was given three months ago, when the Park Board discovered that Mintáhoe had moved more people to the Pavilion than it knew.

As of September 18, Mintáhoe’s website still listed the Nicollet Island Pavilion as the corporate office. Mintahoe did not return phone calls for comment regarding issues raised in this article.

Scott Russell is a journalist. He wrote for the Southwest Journal and Skyway News (now the Downtown Journal) in Minneapolis from 1999-2005. He also wrote for The Capital Times, a Madison Wisconsin daily, from 1993-1999.

pavilion.jpg

Photo of Bohemian Blue

Click here to see the mega-ton crane called Bohemian Blue which was temporarily located on the northern portion of Bohemian Flats off of West River Road Parkway and just south of the 10th Avenue Bridge. It was this piece of critical equipment that the Park Board’s administrative staff threatened to evict for “trespassing” on Bohemian Flats during the reconstruction of the I-35 Bridge by Flatiron-Manson. See previous post of Star Tribune article by Mike Kaszuba for the full story.

IMG_0473.JPG

Comments on the Strib's Flatiron/MPRB Article

The following are selected on-line comments made by readers in response to the Star Tribune’s Sept 12, 2008 on-line article by Mike Kaszuba.

FLATIRON MANSON MIGHT HAVE A GOOD LAWSUIT HERE AGAINST THE MINNEAPOLIS PARK BOARD

Posted by bikemiles

The 2007 Charter boat season was basically over by the time that cleanup of the fallen bridge was completed and FM started work on the new bridge. There are state laws both on “gouging” and on governmental agencies charging “unreasonable fees”. The “gouging charges” can have triplicate damages plus the aggrieved’s legal costs. There is also the matter of a potential attempt to obstruct interstate commerce since this was a Federal Highway System freeway bridge. A case like this would likely be heard in Federal Court. Federal jury pools tend to not be “downtown”.

UNEQUAL STANDARD

Post by teddybear

When it became known that various for-profit tenants operating from Minneapolis Park Board land had never paid their proper taxes, Park Board officials seemed only interested in minimizing the tax amount due. Those same taxes pay to support the Park System, and it wasn’t as if the taxes would come out of the Park Board’s pocket. So why the favoritism? These entities are also for-profit, as is Flatiron, and lots of businesses lost money because of the bridge collapse. I find this price gouging and coercion unconscionable. If you want to go after some money, go after the caterer on Park Board land who has STILL not paid their taxes despite making a bundle on the RNC events.

VERY STRANGE DEALINGS

Posted by chiemsee

This story has a lot of strange and misleading things going on. I have the utmost respect for Scott Vreeland (whom I know personally) and Tom Nordyke. Yet statements attributed to Tom simply can’t be true. Either the reporter erred, or Tom lied. The reporter paraphrases Tom as saying “the Board balked…at simply extending its use to Flatiron”. But the Board cannot have balked as the issue was never brought before the board. Park Board meetings are open to the public and recorded and broadcast over cable TV. Citizens who follow the Park Board meetings report the issue never came up. Additionally, later in the same article, Tom says he himself “was unaware of police being sent to the property.” The same sentence contains the outrageous whopper of lie where a “Park Board spokesperson said police had gone there to photograph Flatiron’s equipment.” Does anyone believe Park Board sends police, not staff, to photograph things? Moreover, Flatiron workers at the site report that the Park Board police threatened them, essentially being told to remove their equipment immediately or face arrest. Peter Sanderson’s remark was the most accurate thing in the story: “it was a business proposition, just like the Mafia does.” This is not the first time the Park Board has extorted money from contractors, Mafia-style. This kind of thing has been going on for years. But with an actual police department and barracuda, inside-connected attorney Brian Rice on the side of the Park Board, none of those contractors has been interested in risking their necks to tell their stories publicly. The Park Board’s elected commissioners, like Tom Nordyke and Scott Vreeland, are kept in the dark by the executive management (Jon Gurban, Don Siggelkow), particularly about their backroom and underhanded dealings with contractors, both favored and abused. And lastly, where did the money from this “rental fee” that Flatirons paid go?

MPRB, Flatiron and Skipperliner

From the Minneapolis Issues Forum (list):

Hope you saw Mike Kaszuba’s story, Bridge work at park has its price http://www.startribune.com/local/28335809.html.

The Minneapolis Park Board charged Flat Iron $153,000 to use Bohemian Flats as a staging area during the 35W bridge reconstruction.  Flatiron was not happy.

There’s more to this story.

This summer, ParkWatch uncovered a copy of an email recapping an April, 2008 meeting between Park Board and Skipperliner staff that suggests the $153,000 Flatiron payment will not be used to help our park system.

Rather, the money will be diverted to aid Skipperliner, the private boat operator at the central Mississippi riverfront.  The Skipperliner use agreement with the MPRB runs through 2014 with possible extensions through 2024.   The Park Board receives about $35,000 a year in fees from Skipperliner.

Highlights of the email included:

“Understanding that the Parkboard secured a check in the amount of $150,000 from the Flat Iron Company, the Parkboard has agreed to utilize those funds for repairs and enhancements to our Boom Island office and dockage facility.  In addition, the Parkboard agreed to contact a tent vendor and install the tent at our dockage site – see Dave Lawrence for location.  Any improvements, repairs, or tent requirements and expenses are the sole responsibility of the Minneapolis Parkboard.”

“At the end of year two, the Minneapolis Parkboard agrees to review the Bohemian Flats dockage location, a strategic location as part of our current lease, as to determine the direction of future operations and the necessary landscaping and sea wall repairs as required at the site.”

“Minneapolis Parkboard indicated that there is an approximate past due balance in the amount of $20,000 that is due for dockage considerations.  In addition, our 2008 dockage cost will be $35,000. Don has agreed to waive these fees via permission from the Minneapolis Parkboard.  This consideration offsets expenses that Dave Lawrence has accrued since the bridge accident.”

(Source:  copy of email to Don Siggelkow and <email obscured> from Mollie Delagrave [skipperliner.com] on behalf of Nelson, Daniel [skipperliner.com] dated Apr 8, 2008 Re: Minneapolis Parkboard Lunch Meeting)

I don’t believe that the Skipperliner improvements or fee waivers have been brought before the MPRB Commissioners.  Perhaps the MPRB Commissioners on this list will provide more information.

Related News:  I’ve heard that the St. Anthony West neighborhood group is opposing construction of a new parking lot at the junction of Boom Island and B F Nelson Parks (the STAWNO minutes are not online) and NIEBNA will consider the issue at a future meeting.  The new lot would free up more parking for the riverboat operator.

FYI,

Shawne FitzGerald

Powderhorn

Editor’s note:  scanned copy of entire original email message attached below.

Skipperliner_agreement_04022008.pdf

Cost Increases at Park Mini-Golf

In 2005, Park Board staff proposed adding mini-golf to Lupient Water Park. The initial budget was $100,000 in construction cost and $80,000 in revenues a year – so a project that would be a money maker in two years! It hasn’t worked out that way.

Project costs are up to at least $350,000 and revenue projections have been substantially lowered. The project was delayed and did not open summer 2008.

A history from documents is below.

The 2005 Park Board Superintendent’s Recommended Budget included the enterprise goal: “Develop a mini golf center at Lupient Waterpark – investment of $100,000, annual income of $80,000; less than 2 year payback.” (p 16)

Projected costs increased to $310,000 by April 25, 2007 per a memorandum to Park Board Commissioners from General Manager Don Siggelkow. Specifically:

"Estimated Construction Costs
 Course Construction $230,000
 Lighting and fencing $ 30,000
 Design/Project Management $ 25,000
 Contingency $ 25,000
 TOTAL $310,000"

At the same time, revenue projections fell:

"2008 Net Income Estimate $ 41,000
 2009 Net Income Estimate $ 50,000
 2010 Net Income Estimate $ 65,000
 2011 Net Income Estimate $ 75,000
 2012 Net Income Estimate $ 85,000"

By August 2007, the project budget was revised downward to $261,600 per GM Don Siggelkow memorandum to the MPRB Board:

“A service agreement with Herfort/Norby Golf Course Architects is attached for your approval. The agreement is for $11,600 in design, plan specifications and construction oversight for the miniature golf course at Lupient Water Park. The project budget will be $200,000 for the golf course and up to $50,000 for other improvements such as fencing, lighting, pathways and landscaping adjacent to the miniature golf course. Funds are budgeted in the 2007 Enterprise capital improvements fund for the project.”

The MPRB Board approved the architect’s contract at the Sept 4 2007 meeting.

The landscaping work commenced in November 2007 per an MPRB press release dated Nov 13 2007. On August 6, 2008, the MPRB Commissioners approved a Phase I construction contract of $197,487. Total construction cost was estimated at $340,000 per the staff report. This does not appear to include Design/Project Management and, it is not clear if this includes the 2007 landscaping work.

FYI,
Shawne FitzGerald