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Parks notebook

By Mary O'Regan

Park Board pushing for hike in 2008 budget

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) is disappointed with their proposed 2008 budget, according to a letter from Park Board President Jon Olson to Mayor R.T. Rybak. This fall, the board submitted their request for a 10.8 percent tax levy increase. The city responded by giving the board a 4 percent increase, which is about the same as last year.

MPRB General Manager Don Siggelkow says that the organization would be fine with a 4 percent increase, if they weren't also facing a 2 percent decrease in Local Government Aid (LGA) and a 15 percent increase in health insurance costs. Factoring those in, the total increase will only end up being 2.5 percent.

The MPRB received $39,205,673 in property tax money in 2007. The rest of their budget consisted of $9,888,000 in LGA, $2,741,424 in rents, fines and fees, $982,105 in grants, and $495,000 in inter-department transfers.

In 2008, they can expect to get $40,942,461 in property taxes and $9,704,890 in LGA, with the rest of the funding sources staying about the same.

"The bottom line is that, given all that, our budget doesn't fit within those constraints," Siggelkow explained. "We'll have to adjust it, but what that means is we're going to cut services and employees."

Residents can also expect fee increases, he said. "When people come and ask why we're doing this, we're going to have to say, 'Talk to the mayor.'"

Park Board commissioners will receive copies of the superintendent's budget recommendations on Nov. 16 and hold a discussion about the recommendations at their Nov. 28 meeting.

Problems with DeLaSalle stadium agreement

DeLaSalle High School still faces several hurdles before construction can begin on its proposed athletic field on Nicollet Island.

The Park Board currently owns about half of the land where the stadium will go, having purchased it with a grant from state bond proceeds in the 1980s. Roughly two years ago, the MPRB entered into a Reciprocal-Use Agreement (RUA) with the school that must abide by state statutes because state money is involved. According to the state's Assistant Commissioner of
Finance Peter Sausen, the current agreement doesn't meet the necessary requirements.

"They have to make changes to the reciprocal use agreement and come back to us which they have not done yet," Sausen said.

Most of the necessary changes are over wording, said Sigglekow. He added that the Park Board didn't even realize that the state's Finance Department needed to sign off on the RUA because the bonds were issued so long ago. But a memo from MPRB Director of Planning Judd Rietkerk to DeLaSalle Trustee John Derus from Jan. 13, 2005 indicates that they knew the state would "have issues" with the deal.

"We don't necessarily agree that they do have a purview over it," Siggelkow said, "but they feel it's important, so we will conform to that."

MPRB staff plans to fix the RUA, get the finance commissioner's approval, and then bring it before the Park Board commissioners on Nov. 28.

In addition to working out issues with the RUA, the landowners need to decide whether the field will have artificial or natural turf. When City Council approved the deal in August, they asked for natural grass on the field, but when the Park Board approved the project in September, they specified that it must have artificial turf. DeLaSalle has sided with the Park Board and hopes to resolve the matter with the city by this winter.

On top of the land issues, the school has to deal with several lawsuits against the project, including one from Nicollet Island residents. Under the Minnesota Environmental Rights Act, the developer has to show that there aren't any feasible alternatives to building a field on historical land should their work cause destruction, said Lisa Hondros, one of the residents involved in the suit.

"There are lots of possibilities," she said, naming Parade Stadium in Lowry Hill where the school's baseball team currently plays, as an option. "The problem is that they have never looked at anything [else] seriously."

Under direction from the Park Board, DeLaSalle is posting a construction bond while the lawsuits continue.

Commissioners rate priorities

During study sessions on Oct. 3 and 17, Park Board commissioners participated in an anonymous rating system to help MPRB staff prioritize items for the 2008 budget. As questions popped up on an overhead screen, the commissioners used electronic clickers to give their answers on a scale of one to five, often ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree.

The first half of the session dealt primarily with financial issues, such as fee implementation and where to move funding. During the second half, the board rated aspects of MPRB programs and services, with three commissioners missing. The following are examples of some of the results:

• Seven of nine commissioners were either lukewarm or supported increasing property taxes.

• Eight of nine commissions wanted to provide outdoor concerts that are fee-based and generate a profit to the board.

• All but one commissioner thought the Park Board should consider becoming an independent agency.

• All nine commissioners believed that the MPRB should get their LGA directly rather than getting a percentage from the city.

• All of the six commissioners who were present put medium to high priority on adapting the open hours of recreation centers to suit the needs of the community.

• Four of six commissioners gave closing recreation centers a low priority rating.

• Five commissioners felt that the Park Board should be a sustainable organization; one person voted neutral.

• Four of six commissioners want to reduce the number of ice-skating rinks in the city by six.

Contact Mary O'Regan at moregan@mnpubs.com or 436-5088.