« The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board has released the list of appointees to the DeLaSalle Athletic Field Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) and a timetable for its meetings.
DeLaSalle is proposing a joint use athletic facility on Nicollet Island, that the Park Board could use during non-school times. It would span park and school property and require closing half of Grove Street.
The 21-member CAC has:
– Thirteen members appointed by elected officials;
– Five neighborhood representatives;
– Two youth sports members; and
– One business owner.
President Jon Olson appointed Bert McKasy, a Lindquist & Vennum attorney and lobbyist, to chair the committee. McKasy is vice-chair of the Metropolitan Airports Commission and is a former Republican state representative, State Commerce Commissioner and U.S. Senate candidate.
The other CAC members are as follows, (with the official who appointed them in parentheses):
– Theodore Wirth, grandson of former parks superintendent Theodore Wirth (Commissioner Rochelle Berry Graves);
– Thomas Hoch, president, Hennepin Theater Trust, (Commissioner Walt Dziedzic);
– Edna Brazaitis, Nicollet Island resident (Commissioner John Erwin);
– Judy Blaeseg, a Linden Hills resident and DeLaSalle parent who has been a parent/helper on softball teams that Commissioner Bob Fine coached. (Fine);
– Minneapolis State Rep. Neva Walker (Commissioner Marie Hauser);
– Jim Nestingen, architect and landscape architect, former Hiawatha Corridor Community Advisory Committee member (Commissioner Carol Kummer).
– Chris Johnson, member of the Park Board reform group Park Watch (Commissioner Vivian Mason);
– Jeff Lee, former Park Board staff who managed environmental programs (Commissioner Annie Young);
– Rip Rapson, senior fellow at the McKnight Foundation and former deputy mayor under Don Fraser (Mayor R.T. Rybak);
– John Pacheco, Downtown resident, director of the Xcel Energy Foundation and former Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission member (Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin);
– Susan Howitz Hanna, Windom Park resident, member of the city’s Civil Rights Commission and former DeLaSalle parent (Council President Paul Ostrow);
– Roger Cummings, (Councilmember Natalie Johnson Lee)
– Barry Clegg, attorney and Nicollet Island resident (Nicollet Island East Bank Neighborhood Association). Ryan Curry is the alternate.
– John Chaffee and Prudence Johnson (Island residents). Judy Richardson and Deanna Cummings are their alternates.
– Ken Shaffer (St. Anthony East Neighborhood Association). Alternate: Mary Jane Partyka.
– J.D. Pride (St. Anthony West Neighborhood Association). Todd Roeder is the alternate.
– Former Park Board member Scott Neiman, and Thomas Johnson, a former Park Board staff member who worked on youth sports (Park Board staff appointments to represent youth sports/athletics)
– Jim Surdyk (business appointee).
The Park Board has set a schedule to reach a decision on the project before the current board leaves office. All nine commissioners are up for election.
The first CAC meeting is primary election night, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 6:30 p.m., at Park Board headquarters, 2117 West River Road North. The group is also scheduled to meet Sept. 22 and Sept. 29, said Emily Ero-Phillips, a park planner. It will take public comments Oct. 4 and then vote on recommendations.
The Board’s Planning Committee will hear the recommendations Oct. 19, she said. If there is an appeal, a public hearing would be held Nov. 2. The committee will “review and comment on the schematic design alternatives for DeLaSalle’s proposed recreation facilities on Nicollet Island,” Park Board documents said. »
Original article by Scott Russell on the Skyway News website.