[Mpls] Park Board Meeting Highlights

[Chris Johnson]

Highlights from the September 1, 2004 Park Board Meeting -- Part 1

This was the first meeting which was televised live on cable TV.

5:00PM

Recreation committee called to order by Vivian Mason in chairwoman Rochelle 
Berry Graves absence.

* A resolution honoring the work of lifeguard Meagan Norlin-Weaver is adopted, 
and she is praised and photographed with the board.  A large contingent of the 
Park Police including chief Brad Johnson are on hand for this award.

* A report on a youth sports Golf Tournament is given by Assistant 
Superintendent nee General Manager Don Siggelkow.

Recreation committee adjourns.

Commissioner Carol Kummer arrives.

5:10PM

Planning committee called to order by Walt Dziedzic in chairman Bob Fine's 
absence.

* Action item 4.1 to approve the Victory Memorial Parkway park master plan 
will be delayed until after the Public Hearing on the same subject scheduled 
for 5:30PM so that commissioners can hear public opinion before voting.

* Action item 4.2 is to authorize staff to provide comments to Xcel Energy on 
its proposed [and FERC required] aesthetic adequacy flow plan.  Some potential 
changes requested by park staff to Xcel's proposed plan were outlined in the 
Park Board's previous meeting.  [One assumes it was formalized in writing for 
this meeting, and one might further assume a copy of it was in the 
commissioners' information packet for the meeting.]

Comr. Kummer praises the staff for the "good job" they did on this [though it 
seems unlikely that she even read the revised plan herself].

Comr. Dziedzic comments that St. Anthony Falls are critical to Minneapolis 
tourism and the water going over the falls must be protected for that reason. 
  He says the idea of putting "more turbines" on the river is dead.

4.2 PASSES.

* Study Item 1 -- Parkway lighting.  Staff is seeking direction on whether the 
board wants to continue having distinct lighting (that is, different from 
surrounding city street lighting) on the Parkways, as the City is developing a 
city-wide lighting policy and wants the Park Board to use the same fixtures to 
allow easier maintenance and volume purchasing.  In this context, "fixtures" 
does not mean the style of the lamp, but is at a more mechanical level it seems.

There is some discussion as commissioners seem at first confused by what staff 
wants, and it gets sorted out as to what distinct lighting means, versus 
selecting a style of lamp, etc.

5:15PM -- commissioners Rochelle Berry Graves and Annie Young arrive.

Comr. John Erwin says he thinks distinct lights are good, and comments on need 
for lighting for bike commuters.  Someone remarks that the parks supposedly 
close at 10PM.  Another staff comment is that park lighting is no where near 
enough to be compared to city street lighting.  All of the lights in the parks 
are designed more for visual aesthetic sense, rather than safety.  There are 
not enough of them.

Comr. Marie Hauser remarks she does not like the 1970s style lighting.  She is 
also concerned about enough light for safety versus too much light pollution 
into the sky instead of on the ground.

Direction to staff to continue with distinct lighting.

5:25PM

* Public Hearing on Victory Memorial Parkway master plan.  Staff brings 
commissioners up to date on plan.  Motivation is bike path renovation to get 
Metropolitan Council funding.

Greg Ingraham of Ingraham and Associates, landscape architect, gives a 
presentation on their plans for the parkway.  He goes back over the history 
and vital statistics of the parkway [again].  In 1921 when the parkway opened, 
1200 Elms were planted to memorialize soldiers from Minneapolis.  568 wood 
markets also were added for each of the 568 WWI dead.  These eventually became 
bronze and then were laid flat into concrete to make maintenance easier and to 
reduce vandalism.  Dutch Elm Disease killed many of the elms, and they have 
been replaced mostly with hackberry, although some disease resistant species 
of elm are now being used.

5:35PM -- comr. Bob Fine shows up.

Comr. Erwin comments on the problem with a tree mono-culture of all elms or 
all hackberry and future diseases which might wipe them out.  He wants to know 
more about the proposed road closures.

Comr. Berry Graves is also concerned about the road closures and wants to hear 
what the public has to say as that will determine her vote.

* Public Hearing:

- John Trombley of 4xxx Upton Ave. N. and Victory Neighborhood Association 
chairman supports the proposed master plan.  He also supports the uniformity 
of the trees, saying the consistency is part of the memorial itself.

5:40PM

- John Hugoland (?) of 34xx ?? and chairman of the Cleveland Neighborhood 
Association, is also in favor of the master plan, and supports connection to 
other bikeways.

- Ralph Johnson of 37xx Washburn says the plan is 20 years in coming, thinks 
the park benches need to be moved out of the middle of the parkway where 
people sleep on them to sides where senior citizens can use them to rest while 
out walking, says more trash cans are needed, mentions a low spot that always 
floods that needs filling, and thanks them for getting the plan done.

- Kent George of 21xx Victory Memorial Pkwy. has two concerns:  (1) 
monoculture of trees, (2) parkway has become a commuting route with heavy 
traffic so supports the idea of street closings.

- Candace Sartell (?) of 50xx Dupont says traffic is a real problem and 
neighborhood has actively been looking for ways to calm traffic.  She 
encourages the board to approve the plan.  She says the road closings were 
discussed in the neighborhood meetings, as was the question of tree biodiversity.

- Sarah Jordy (??) of 36xx Xerxes says the parkway has turned into a freeway, 
needs more police patrols, supports road closing, and complains of cars 
actually driving on the bike path to short-cut around closed roads.  She 
suggests thinking about making Xerxes a one way street as well.

- Steve House (?) of 43xx Xerxes comments that the lawn areas are in pretty 
rough shape and would like to see some maintenance work done on them as well.

- Richard ___ (?) of 39xx Washburn says the uniformity of the trees captures 
the military memorial aspect.  He is in favor of closing 39th Avenue.

- Mark "Vouch" (??) of 32xx Russell, involved in North Minneapolis Bike 
Taskforce, very in favor of this project.  Discusses how it may interoperate 
with other bike path plans.  Suggests using pipe bollards to prevent cars from 
driving on the parkway itself.

- Steve Swanson of 32xx Xerxes talks about how the Broadway overpass is an 
ugly eyesore that cut the neighborhood in half.  He says that spot is like 
Beirut, Lebanon between Theodore Wirth Parkway and Victory Memorial Parkway, 
to the amusement of the audience.  It's a No Mans Land, and because it is the 
point of convergence of 4 public entities (City of Robbinsdale, City of 
Minneapolis, Hennepin County and Park Board) it is neglected and in desperate 
need of some loving care.

- "Brad Pulver" [?? I'm sure I butchered that name] of 44xx Penn has a problem 
with closing Oliver Ave.  He's lived there 44 years and there's too much 
traffic to close that street.  It would just go elsewhere in the neighborhood 
making for other problems.

- Mike Nicholson (?) of 39xx Xerxes supports plan and the closing of 39th Ave.

- Kent George, 21xx Victory Memorial [above], across the parkway from "Brad" 
[above], says though he supports closing Oliver, he understands his neighbor's 
problem and desire to not see it closed.  He suggests making 44th (?) one way 
to prevent traffic from short-cutting down Penn.  Notes that Penn is also one 
way there.

- "Brad" (?) points out that much of the traffic comes from a restaurant at 
44th and Oliver.

- John Trombley says yes the grass is in bad shape, and that most neighbors 
agreed in public meetings.

5:58PM

Comr. Dziedzic moves action item 4.1 to approve Victory Memorial Parkway 
master plan.  Has some remarks:  (1) Question: are there separate biking and 
walking paths?  Staff Answer: as the plan has been presented both times, No. 
It is a shared 12 foot path.  (2) Regarding traffic calming, talks about how 
some neighborhoods have used signs saying "welcome to neighborhood XYZ, please 
drive the speed limit of 30mph".  (3) Says chief of park police is present in 
audience and will take heed of the public complaints about traffic violations.

Comr. Young wants to know what will actually go to the Met. Council regarding 
street closings.  Staff Answer: all streets are in city right of way 
(Robbinsdale and Minneapolis), and thus Park Board must go through a study for 
each street with the City, and must persuade City to close street.  Does not 
think it will be a problem for Met. Council.

Comr. Berry Graves says she got her questions on the public's feeling about 
street closings answered.  She expresses her happiness at seeing so many North 
side residents at the meeting, and encourages them to come to more meetings. 
She also states her concerns about the shared bike path, as she remembers when 
the wife of a car dealer was killed on a shared path when struck by a bicycle 
a number of decades ago on the south side of Minneapolis.

6:05PM

Comr. Olson is also glad to see residents of North side.  He replies to Ralph 
Johnson's concern about the low area flooding saying it is a storm sewer 
problem that needs to be solved; that simply filling it will cause the 
flooding to just move to another nearby spot.  He thinks the shared path has 
"many benefits" and that it works fine in Theodore Wirth Park.

Comr. Erwin also says it is nice to see so many residents at the meeting.  He 
points out that traffic is like a balloon -- if you squeeze it one place, it 
just pushes out in another place.

4.1 is voted on and PASSES unanimously.

6:10PM

Comr. Erwin reminds Planning committee chair Fine about the 6:00PM public Open 
Time.

Comr. Fine recesses the Planning committee.

* Vice-president comr. Erwin calls regular meeting to order in president comr. 
Olson's momentary absence (he stepped out of the room).

* Public Comments

- St. Paul native and Dartmouth College student Harry Huberty, whose earlier 
school project video about Theodore Wirth was shown at the annual Park Board 
meeting in January, reads his letter to the board regarding the great 
opportunity they now have to use the Theodore Wirth house to "allow the 
Minneapolis Parks Legacy Society to teach your children the history, the 
subtlety, the significance, and the meaning of Minneapolis and its wonderful 
parks" and how this will benefit the children and Minneapolis.  [full text of 
his letter to be made available in the near future]

6:15PM

Planning committee called back to order.

End of Part 1

Chris Johnson - Fulton