Planning committee
Presentation of the West River Road Plan from the Plymouth Av Bridge to
the BNSF RR Bridge
http://www.minneapolisparks.org/documents/design/AboveFalls.pdf ( the
.pdf is 25 pages and is very detailed) is presented by Mike Kimble (
formerly of planning now head of community and governmental relations
for the MPRB). He describes the planning process including a CAC that
met over a 1 year long process with staff and the consultants. He also
stated that the plan had been approved by AFCAC (Above the Falls
Citizen Advisory Committee) and that the Met Council had approved the
park part. There were many speakers following Mr. Kimble as part of
the public hearing including Meg Fourney who was chair of the CAC and
Tim Baylor the developer of the Riverview Towers ( just North of the
Taj Ma headquarters) and many other residents. Their concerns included
a turn around prior to their building ( to keep traffic to a minimum)
and moving the restroom shelter to a less secluded area, mainly nearer
where the River Rats perform for safety reasons and of course loss of
street parking with the parkway redesign. Total estimated cost... $10
million, money so far $3,000,000 from the Mississippi Watershed
Organization. There was also some concern about drug use nearer the
secluded area of the RR bridge and Commissioner Dziedzic stated that
with the park police so close that will end, to which the audience gave
a resounding NO.
Commissioner Hauser asked if the raingarden that was for the Riverview
Tiwers was being paid for by the MPRB to which Mr. Baylor replied that
it was funded by Riverview's developers.
passes
OPEN TIME-
Rosemary Knutson, past president of the West Bank Community Coalition,
said it appears to the WBCC Bluff
Street Park Task Force that the park board would like to sell the 8
acre derelict piece of land next to her
building. She said she had spoken before the park board in August 2000
on the same issue.
Then-commissioner Dean Zimmerman opposed the sale. The WBCC formed the
task force last fall to encourage the
park board to preserve the bluff as native open space rather than sell
the parkland for real estate
development. The neighborhood was “virtually unanimous” in support of
the $45,000 park plan as
designed by a consulting landscape design firm, the least expensive of
three proposed designs
Four issues: 1) This is the only significant amount of flat park land
on this stretch of river bluff. 2) Does this
organization [the park board] work with residents to protect the
environment? 3) Does this organization
[another rhetorical question … I think it was broader, like does the
park board work with citizens at all?]
4]Cedar-Riverside is densely populated … and id interrupted as she has
gone over her 3 minutes per President Olson.
- Ann Forsyth, director of the Metropolitan Design Center at the
University of Minnesota said the task
force had asked her for free technical assistance in developing a park
plan. There were steps taken
1) task force; 2) a stakeholders survey, held at neighborhood
organization’s annual meeting; 3) Three
options, least expensive chosen. To learn more about free help, go to
www.designcenter.umn.edu and click on “design assistance.”
- Karen Swenson of Groundwork Minneapolis said her organization works
to turn blighted sites into open
space parkland. The Gas Works Bluff site had been included on a list of
feasible sites they developed
some time ago (BF Nelson was another site on their list). They helped
arrange for AmeriCorps crew to be
available to work on Bluff Street Park next spring, and found funds for
materials.
- Elizabeth Hopwood asked commissioners to keep the property as park
rather than condos. Most residents
are Somalian refugees who take their kids out to play in the evenings
and increased traffic from further
real estate development would endanger them. She wants “open space for
people from the Seven Corners area to utilize.”
- Arthur Renander of Riverview Towers, thanked the board for the
opportunity to speak, then
said “This is a [park] board in crisis,” well on its way to selling off
valuable park land. He called the
current commissioner whose district includes the Gas Works Bluff site
[Comm. Marie Hauser] a “closet
supporter” of selling the land to condo developers, whose support was a
cover for the rest of the board to
approve the sale. He said the rumored sale price was far below the
land’s value. “An election can’t come
soon enough!” he said. “Our plan is incredibly simple.”
- Bob Johnson, said he lived at Riverview Towers for 24 years,
1979–2003. He cited the
great improvements to the area brought by the construction of West
River Parkway, but said Gas Works
Bluff was the site of a coal gas tank, and a 100-foot diameter concrete
slab is still there. He said five
years ago there began a movement for creating a park there, which he
said would be a “great misuse” [of
either money or parkland or both?]. “This is a piece of land which
should be used for development. It
should be a high rise condo. That property should be sold for a high
price, and the money used to pay for
[existing] parks in the city.”
- Tony Scallon, , was the city councilman when the townhouses near the
site were built ( and has since worked on Hauser's campaigns). Gasworks
Bluff is a “highly polluted piece of ground,” he said. “It’s nice to
throw political bombshells, but you better take a step back.” He made
reference to an old lawsuit and warned the park board
“not to get run over by some group.” He said the park board should
worry more about pollution than politics
Liz's comment: according to Ms. Forsyth sitting next to me the park
plan will leave the site undisturbed unlike any development, which
would require much excavation.
- Arlene Fried said the park board public notice published Sept. 3
announced a DeLaSalle CAC meeting
for Sept. 13, which is illegal because it’s primary election day. Pres.
Olson referred her to Asst. Superintendent Don Siggelkow.
- Edna Brazaitis described her background in alternative dispute
resolution. She said she had first asked the park board to form a
DeLaSalle CAC on July
6, as a “big kitchen table, where everyone could sit around and talk.”
Of the CAC, she said “We have to be unleashed [and allowed to] think
outside the box, and
we need time to do it.”
- John Chaffee, asked what did the park commissioners want the CAC to
do with the copy of the 1983 Agreement that was in CAC members’
packets? He asked for two reasons: 1) Despite assertions to the
contrary, several attorneys have said the agreement does not obligate
the park board in any way; and besides, 2) the conditions of
the agreement have been met: a football field and two tennis courts. In
1984 DeLaSalle began using a piece of the public street to create a
regulation sized
football field. During the earlier CAC process for the island as a
whole, 1992-96, DeLaSalle’s sole requirement were tennis courts. Three
tennis courts were constructed in 1999 at public expense for DeLaSalle.
Pres. Olson referred the question to CAC chair Bert McKasy.
- Barry Clegg said when the board passed a resolution to form a
DeLaSalle CAC, the community supported that resolution, expecting an
open, thorough, and fair
process—but we are not on the track for that today. Why are there
representatives of soccer and football but not historic preservation
and environmental
interests? A park commissioner is openly armtwisting a neighborhood
organization on their appointment to the CAC. The original resolution
charged the CAC to look
at “all aspects” of the project, but now the CAC charge is “just
design—the color of the Astroturf and the location of the
Porta-potties.” As proposed by
Comm. John Erwin, the CAC process would include “at least” three
meetings, but park staff have changed that to “no more than” three
meetings, to take place
over 16 days (compared to the West River Road CAC that took 18 months),
a “rocket docket” schedule unlikely to result in “real due process.”
“If you want a
railroad job, skip the CAC” and just approve DeLaSalle’s proposal, and
be prepared to deal with the consequences.
- Pres. Olson referred the question to CAC Chair McKasy, commenting
that when he (Olson) appointed McKasy as chair, he told him to ask if
he needs
anything, such as more time. Barry Clegg observed that the CAC packet
says the CAC’s scheduled report to the board is “time certain.” Comm.
Erwin says, “The chair
of the committee can’t change [the schedule on his own without board
approval].
Back to reports of Officers... Jon Oyanagi River District Manager,
Thanks to corp. sponsors of the Safe Streets Program, General Mills,
Target, Cub and the Minneapolis Foundation. Spoke about the "reverse
groundbreaking" at Folwell (?) Park where the tennis courts are coming
out and a soccer field is going . Working on reviving ice hockey on
the Northside.
Minnehaha District: Doing a big housecleaning of the Rec Centers and
has partnered with the Midtown Latino Organizing Project to sponsor a
family night and have already rounded up 4 soccer teams in the effort.
The board moves onto consent business and discusses funding another
hour of cable time through the end of the year. Commissioner Fine
points out the extra expense and the commissioners vote to pay for the
additional hours ( $40/hour for 7 more meetings this year for an
expense of $280 ) During which they will run the newly produce "park
commercials"... what political theater. NRP funding for air
conditioning at Folwell Park is approved.
Unfinished Business: Commissioner Young reports that the Water Quality
Task Force is developing indicators for sustainability.
New Business: Superintendent Gurban speaks of the 9/11 tribute at Lake
Harriet and mentions the Salvation Army wishing to collect for
hurricane Katrina victims through the sale of vigil candles ( the MPRB
forgoes their usual cut)
New Business: Commissioner Fine suggests delaying any planning around
Lake Calhoun until their can be a review of past CAC information etc..
and suggests avoiding any piecemeal planning. It is suggested that
money to do planning for this be put into the 2006 budget ( gosh
really... just who was it pushing all those projects who is now
backpedaling before the fall elections)
Commissioner Dziedzic claims there are a lot of election year rumors
flying around ( not rumors sir, just not flattering information for
some majority incumbents)
End Part 2
Liz Wielinski
Columbia Park
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