Hello All, We held an open discussion of the needs of silent sports (cross country skiing and off road biking) on Monday night at the Theo Wirth Chalet. The attendance was tremendous! We had approx. 65 in attendance plus 6 staff/commissioners. There is clearly an enormous interest in supporting, and increasing, these activities throughout the city!
I truly believe that if we continue the level of excitement and interest that I saw on Monday night, we can start meeting the needs of these different groups as early as this year. Outcomes of the meeting included: 1) We organized focus groups to help pull together specific recommendations in each area. These groups were a) ski trails, b) off road bike trails, c) cross country ski race, d) funding. We had at least 15-20 folks sign up for each so far! These groups are open and anyone interested in helping should send me an e-mail ASAP! We will have our first meetings in about 2-3 weeks. 2) We decided to start organizing a cross country ski race to be held the first weekend next February in Theo Wirth Park. 3) We received input on trail grooming issues, trail lighting needs, needs for instant access to trail conditions (phone or web), potential fees to support programs, high school team needs, bike trail needs, multi-use trails, and many other topics. Thanks to everyone who took the time to get involved. Special thanks to Mayor Rybak who helped bring up this issue! Please feel free to contact me with any questions and/or a desire to get involved too! Sincerely, John Erwin Commissioner At-Large Minneapolis Park and Rec. Board _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
