Let's be clear that this "reciprocal agreement" is of tremendous value to this private school with tax-exempt real estate valued at $8,210,300 (PID - 2302924230028).
The rationale for allowing DeLaSalle to expand their sports stadium onto Park Land (public land valued at way over $1 million) now seems to boil down to the following: DeLaSalle is deserving of such a benefit: 1 - because they serve a larger minority population than any Mpls. private school (although their percentage is less than the PUBLIC highs); 2 - because many of their grads have gone on to be part of the power elite (political and business), an indication it offers a quality education; 3 - in order to continue to be competitive they need the convenience of the type of adjacent sports stadium that parents favor; and 4 - they'll share: Minneapolis park board youth will be allowed to use it whenever DeLaSalle students aren't using it. While everyone is entitled to their view, the people whose view I'd like to hear are PARENTS with students in Minneapolis' public high schools. How do they feel about this proposal before the Minneapolis Park Board to assist a private, parochial school? Chris Viken on 7/16/05 12:09 PM, Elizabeth Wielinski at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > For many of you interested in the DeLaSalle athletic facility brouhaha > you can now view the proposed agreement which comes before the planning > committee at the MPRB this Wednesday at 5:00pm at the headquarters > building on the shores of the Mississippi along West River Road. > > Go to the MPRB website at > http://www.minneapolisparks.org/default.asp?PageID=37&calid=310 and > scroll to the bottom and click on the link to the agreement at the > bottom of the page ( .pdf file). > > Having briefly perused the agreement I have a few questions and > comments. > > #1 Since the MPRB has worded the agreement to be neither a lease or > sale of land, and the land will be owned by the MPRB... will the > stadium ( oops, athletic facility) construction be handled by an RFP > process and will the company be required to hire "prevailing wage" > employees? For those of you unfamiliar with this term it basically > means "union labor". I think our good friends in labor would be > curious about this. I asked GM Siggelkow if the new kitchen > construction at the Nicollet Island Pavilion had to do this and they > did not because as PRIVATE LEASE HOLDERS did not need to comply with > the regulations the MPRB does. The event at the Nicollet Island > Pavilion last weekend for Microsoft had a show and guess what... no > union stagehands. I know quite a few of our commissioners get > endorsed by the unions and if they truly embody union principles I say > great. However, by leasing out and privatizing our parkland they are > actually working against the unions. As a member of union household I > am not too keen on that idea. > > #2 Auxiliary Parking Lot with a bituminous surface. Okay, I have > been to many meetings and seen many diagrams etc... I remember tennis > courts being to the east of the facility, not a parking lot. Where did > this come from? And I suppose it will run off directly into the river? > > #3 A minimum of 3 tennis court will be built on MPRB land at > DeLaSalle's expense.... I guess this answers part of #2. There is > MPRB land all over the place so I guess the courts are going to Boom > Island or Edgewater Park or Gluek Park or somewhere off campus. I > guess the tennis players can play where ever just not the football and > soccer teams. > > #4 DeLaSalle shall make available to the MPRB their sports facilities > for MPRB constituents. After perusing the DeLaSalle website I noticed > they have a music and fine arts program. Loring Park has a "cultural > program" couldn't NE have one as well and base it out of DeLaSalle's > shared facilities. Not all forms of recreation involve running and > getting sweaty ( spoken like a true couch potato... I know ). > > Not wanting to sound completely negative I must say that I was glad to > see ADA requirements written into the agreement as well as enough > provisions to cover most legalities and questions of what will be done > if the Met Open Space board asks for their money back. And of course > it looks like my pet peeve the legal costs, will all fall to DeLaSalle > so that is one less worry. I have heard a rumor > that due to the historic nature of the island the retaining wall can > not be just any old cement eyesore. I am curious as to what the > Historical Society Folks will say and if they will be included before > the final design plans are approved. > > The process the MPRB used throughout this entire matter was shoddy ( > and possible against their own regulations according to Scott > Vreeland's posts) and I'm sure more questions beyond the few I've > mentioned will come up at Wednesday's meeting. I hope the staff has > covered all the contingencies, and if not I would hope any vote would > be postponed. > > Liz Wielinski > Columbia Park > > http://www.parkboardreform.org > http://www.mplsparkwatch.org > > > REMINDERS: > 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If > you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at > [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. > > 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. > > For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html > For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract > ________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn > E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] > Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls > REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
