5:00pm
Recreation Committee, called to order by chair John Erwin.
This committee took no official actions, but heard 4 study/report items. They
were the following.
1. City Children's Nutcracker Project is a year-round program in the parks
presented in cooperation with Ballet Arts Minnesota, teaching children ages 8
to 12. Marcia Chapman of Ballet Arts Minnesota offers complimentary tickets
to the Ballet Arts 2005 Spring Performance to the commissioners.
2. Extended Building Hours / Phat Summer. This is the 11 season for Phat
Summer, and this year it would not have happened if not for a $100,000 grant
from the Northway Community Trust (the Youth Coordinating Board appears to
have had a hand in it someplace, and Mayor R.T. Rybak also apparently did a
lot of work in getting the money). 23 sites will have extended hours for this
program aimed at youth ages 12 to 18. Commissioner Jon Olson, not on this
committee, gets time to comment and thank Hennepin County commissioner Peter
Mclaughlin and the county board for their contribution. It's not clear what
Mclaughlin had to do with the portion of the money coming from the county, if
anything. Commissioner Erwin points out that Mayor Rybak helped get the money.
3. Summer Playground supervision. Runs from June 20 to August 12 at 21
playground sites plus 4 mobile sites. They need to hire about 50 - 60 staff
for this program yet. This program was started in 1950. It nearly got the ax
last year in the budget negotiations until incensed parents primarily from
Northeast showed up at a meeting and expressed their displeasure.
4. Summer Reading in the Parks, in cooperation with the Minneapolis Public
Library. Theme is "What's buzzin' at your library." Sponsors also include
the Minneapolis Public Schools and Marshall Fields, the latter organization
being thanked profusely for their support. "Rec Plus" kids ages 5 to 12 look
like they are automatically part of this program. Kids not in that program
should go directly to their libraries to get enrolled.
5:49pm -- Adjourned.
[ It's obvious that it is an election year -- the commissioners all just
unusually full of praise and thanks for the staff and the partnerships. ]
Administration & Finance Committee, called to order by chair Marie Hauser.
Action items 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3 are moved and approved with very little
discussion. Commissioner Annie Young tries to offer a friendly amendment to
7.2 to hold $5,000 in reserve, but is told the $20,000 is already spent on
funding the Midtown Community Works and this motion gives the other $15,000 in
the board education and travel fund to the Teen Teamworks program, whose
funding at the state got completely cut this year.
Study/Report Items
1. Field Use Fees.
Commissioner Walt Dziedzic interrupts the report to make a motion to postpone
the report until he has had a chance to meet with the superintendent and with
several groups who use and will pay for field usage. The sense is that a lot
of people are upset at the new fees, and Dziedzic had not had time to meet
with them yet. After some discussion, Dziedzic withdraws his motion.
6:00pm -- Admin & Fin is recessed.
Regular meeting called to order to allow for Public Open Time.
First was Marcea Mariani of the Longfellow neighborhood in south Minneapolis.
She was quite displeased with the Park Board for taking $112,000 in NRP
money from the neighborhood to restore, renovate and open the Longfellow House
to the public, and then to turn around and use it as Park Board offices. She
complains about the lack of a working relationship with the neighborhood, and
asks that 2 Park Board commissioners meet with the neighborhood organization.
Second was Joan Berthiaume of the Minneapolis Parks Legacy Society who thanked
the Park Board for moving the items stored in the drafting rooms of the
Historic Theodore Wirth House out, so that her organization could access them
during the 3 board approved openings of the house to the public this summer.
6:05pm -- Regular meeting recessed.
Admin & Fin reconvened.
Continuing report and discussion of same regarding Field Use Fees and Permit
Fees. New in 2005 are fees charged to non-MPRB and non-MPS youth teams which
use MPRB fields.
Erwin thinks youth fees are a disincentive to participation by youth who need
to participate, and wants the $8/hour fee dropped.
Dziedzic says the fees are causing a big problem, and that most kids signed up
in March before they knew about the fees.
General manager Michael Schmidt says the fees were finalized March 10 and
announced between March 10 and March 19 to groups they had contact with. But
the fee change itself was in the Budget before the commissioners since
September 2004.
Dziedzic talks at length about what he calls the $8 - 16 problem, and wants to
defer those fees until next year. He mentions a "pick up" game getting
stopped for not paying fees. [Official policy appears to be contrary. Pick
up games can use the field without a fee, but anyone who has paid a fee can
kick them off the field.]
Young says she has gotten some of the same complaint calls as Dziedzic, and
says we have a communication problem.
Olson asks questions regarding clarification of who these "traveling teams"
are. He says some go to the suburbs and pay to play, some even go out of
state, e.g. even to Florida. He says yes it's hard but it's the reality of
our budget.
Commissioner Vivian Mason says it is premature to make a motion, and support
Dziedzic having his meetings first. She says they have to stand by the budget.
Erwin talks about the ramifications. He says most of the kids Olson talked
about are Minneapolis kids [not suburban kids].
Dziedzic says "commissioner Mason has good advice and we should follow it."
He says many kids can't afford the fees.
6:23pm
Commissioner Bob Fine asks if we raised the hourly fee? Did it go from $6 to
$8 an hour?
Schmidt answers, no, not necessarily. He reiterates that this is a new fee of
non-park teams. These teams paid zero last year, and will pay $8/hour this
year. They are known as the so-called traveling teams.
Fine asks if they are willing to make exceptions or concessions?
Schmidt says yes.
Fine says many such organizations plan [internally] for having kids who cannot
afford it [by raising money for them].
Olson says we have a lot of [park board] teams at our parks, and thus they are
affordable to our kids through the recreation centers -- versus
private/traveling teams.
Commissioner and committee chair Marie Hauser goes outside of normal protocol
and allows a member of the public to comment.
Gregory G?? [missed his last name] from south Minneapolis comments that most
of the teams that his son has played on and with do not have sponsorships and
some don't even accept them. It is just parents paying to give their kids a
different kind of baseball or soccer opportunity [than the standard Park Board
league opportunity].
Young says let's have the meeting [Dziedzic's] and put this item on our agenda
in 2 weeks.
2. Assessment Changes.
Staff reports on proposal to provider a deferral of special property tax
assessments for seniors, age 65 plus, to be repaid at time property is sold or
until hardship is gone. Such a program has existed at the City since approved
by the state in about 1980. GM Siggelkow says such a program would have
minimal impact on the budget, and they would ask the city ombudsperson who
currently handles it for the city to do likewise for the Park Board, as to the
qualifying people for the program.
Olson says he supports the program, says lots of trees are dying [and are
expensive to take down].
Dziedzic brought this item forward and moves to move it to the full board.
Motion PASSES.
Young states the forestry department needs to know about this program's
existence so that they can pass the information on to people on an as needed
basis.
6:44pm
3. Improved Customer Service through Online Reservations and Program
Registration.
[Welcome to the 20th century, Park Board...]
Working with vendor Reserve Master, Inc. the staff has implemented a
customized software solution.
Mason is asks about citizens without computers.
Staff answers that rec center managers can to choose to reserve a number of
slots for in-person registrations only at those rec centers.
Young raises the issue of non-English speakers.
Siggelkow says the rec center directors talk to people.
Discussion devolves into a variety of suggestions for redesign of parts of the
web site.
Siggelkow says the next phase is to do permits and more online, e.g. parking,
picnic, etc.
Dziedzic brings up the problem with the parking tickets to memorial service
attendees which got press in the Star Tribune. He wants parking info included
on the permit. He takes advantage of this situation to look good. He wants
the board to approve his paying for them and negotiating with a referee on the
amount.
Commissioner Rochelle Berry Graves points out it may well be illegal for the
board to approve Dziedzic paying for the tickets. He can do what he wants as
a private citizen, but if the board takes action, it clearly is displaying
favoritism to some parties who got tickets and not others.
Siggelkow [who we didn't know had his law degree] says he doesn't think it is
a problem legally. Dziedzic can do what he want as a private citizen.
Young asks if they would be setting a precedent.
7:13pm -- Admin & Fin Adjourned
[ Notice how much important business gets discussed, decided and conducted in
the committees -- yet their are no official minutes kept for the committees,
only for the regular meeting. ]
--
Chris Johnson
Fulton
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