A HEADS UP FOR THE SEPTEMBER 5, 2007, PARK BOARD MEETING
Some selected highlights:
1. 4:00 P.M. STUDY SESSION. The Comprehensive Plan will be discussed.
2. 4:30 P.M. REGULAR MEETING. Closed Session: Pending sale of the 201 Building ( see #5)
3. 5:00 P.M. REGULAR MEETING con't ... DeLaSalle is back for consideration but not in the Planning Committee where it was supposed to have been. Superintendent Gurban is again circumventing Park Board procedures and has placed it under unfinished business, where the full board is being asked to approve DeLaSalle's final design plans.
But, as of late Friday the 31st, DeLaSalle had not yet delivered the plans to the Park Board as they should have. Monday is a holiday; so when will the commissioners and the public have time to study the plans before they are voted on? The answer is that they very likely will not have them in time to study them. If DeLaSalle couldn't get its plans to the Board by 3 P.M. on Friday, then they should be removed from the agenda. As of noon Tuesday the plans were still not available Park Board Agenda
4. 6:00 P.M. PLANNING COMMITTEE. On the agenda is consideration of the Citizens' Petition for an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) for the Parade project and the new road which Superintendent Gurban has been promoting. Because it is an environmental issue, the EAW should be before the Park Board's Operations & Environment Committee--not the Planning Committee. Staff is recommending that the Planning Committee (wrong committee) deny the Citizens' Petition for an EAW, but the recommendation for denial is based on a flawed consultant's report.
5. 7:30 P.M. ADMINISTRATION & FINANCE COMMITTEE. The committee will be voting to sell the 201 Building at Fort Snelling to the Boy Scouts for $4.25M, pending their discussion in their 4:30 closed session. While $4.25M seems like a generous sum, costs incurred for the failed Naegele skatepark project and the resulting lawsuit are significant. The Park Board will be lucky to break even. The lesson to be learned here is that the Park Board shouldn't be jeopardizing taxpayers' dollars by becoming involved in complex multimillion dollar business ventures like skateparks and event centers. Such business ventures are outside the mission of our Park Board.
6. 7:45 P.M. STANDARDS & CONDUCT COMMITTEE. The commissioners will hear a report from attorney Brian Rice on MPRB sale and lease of land policies.
Submitted by Arlene Fried Co-founder of Park Watch