Stop the madness! The Park Board continues to swamp South Minneapolis

BY ED FELIEN

On Sept. 4, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board met. One of their agenda items was to spend another $250,000 to continue to study turning Lake Hiawatha into a swamp.
I wrote the following to the Board:

“Attention Superintendent Bangoura and Park Board Commissioners:

Please stop the madness!
You have already spent more than a million dollars on ‘studying’ how to turn Lake Hiawatha into a swamp. Now, you have before you a proposal to spend another quarter million dollars on further studies of swamp possibilities.
You know that, by allowing the dams on Minnehaha Creek to continue blocking water from leaving Lake Hiawatha, you are in violation of Minnesota Statute 103G.141
PENALTIES.  Subdivision 1. Misdemeanors: ‘a person is guilty of a misdemeanor who undertakes or procures another to undertake an alteration in the course, current, or cross section of public waters without previously obtaining a permit from the commissioner, regardless of whether the commissioner would have granted a permit had an application been filed.’
You know that by artificially raising the water level of Lake Hiawatha by as much as five feet, you have raised the water table for the surrounding wetland, caused sinkholes on private and public property and flooded basements.
Stop the madness of pretending this is somehow natural!
Remove the dams and allow Lake Hiawatha to return to the level it was at before it was artificially dammed.
And ask the City of Minneapolis to remove the sand they’ve dumped on City streets in the winter that has gone through the storm sewers from Lake Street to 43rd Street, from Chicago Avenue over to 26th Avenue that ends up being dumped into Lake Hiawatha from the storm tunnel at the north end of the lake. This sand has reduced the depth of Lake Hiawatha from 33 feet in 1933 to a sandbar in many spots today. This reduced water depth causes reduced clarity, and the lake is easily polluted. This is the reason Lake Hiawatha was closed for swimming so early this year. I am sure you will all agree it is in the best interests of the people of Minneapolis to maximize the opportunities for swimming during our precious summers.
You are the guardians and protectors of our rich inheritance, and I respect your work and your responsibilities.
Forgive me for pointing out some areas of neglected maintenance.”

Kathryn Kelly also wrote:

“To MPRB Commissioners,

I see that the Hiawatha Golf Course project is again on the agenda for Wednesday, September 4, 2024.
I find it curious that the Resolution is going directly to the full Board rather than going through the Admin & Finance committee first. Does this violate proper procedure? Is this because there is a fear that it won’t pass again?
Also, I see that the proposed spending has been pared down even more to $250,000. The only sources for money are the Enterprise Fund ($150,000) and an apparent contribution from the city of Minneapolis ($132,622). I assume that the Enterprise Fund money is dinging the golf department again? This would bring the robbing of golf course revenues to about $1.2 million for this project. Where is the General Fund allocation for this project since it is supposed to be partly a ‘Park’ project? That is what Tyler Pederson told the Met Council to get them to approve the amendment of this property to a Regional Park so that you could get money from them for ‘the park’ portion (not the golf course portion) of the project.
Just be aware that this year (2024) has been rainy which causes golf revenue to go down. I know that you raised golf fees this year, but will that offset the rainy days and less patronage due to the condition problems at some Minneapolis golf courses due to the strike and deferred maintenance? I have heard a lot of complaints about golf course conditions this year.
All of this after you just robbed the citizens of Minneapolis of $10 million of NPP20 money slated for ‘fixing’ the existing infrastructure in the parks, just so that you can try and fund the North Commons project, which is still short of funding.
A look at the financing dilemma for the North Commons project is a stiff warning about how bad your planning group estimates are for projects. Here is a summary as I understand it:
$22 million – Initial estimate
$47 million – revised estimate (114 percent increase)
$35 million – revised project after State said no more money
$45 million – revised estimate by 2 firms hired to vet estimates (28 percent increase)
So, what will the final cost be? I hate to think about it considering all of the cost overruns I have seen over the years in your many project resolutions.
This begs the question; what will be the cost of the Hiawatha Golf Course project? In 2019, the project was estimated to be $43 million. Due to being only conceptual, the estimate stated that it could actually be from $32 to $64 million. Using the 114 percent increase in the North Commons project, that would put the Hiawatha Golf Course project at $92 million, with a range of $68 to $137 million. This is not including the 28 percent increase on a second look at the North Commons project by 2 companies. Increasing the revised costs by 28% brings the cost to $117 million, with the range being from $88 to $175 million.
So, to summarize the Hiawatha project estimates:
$43 million ($32 to $64 million) – initial estimate
$92 million ($68 to $137 million) – 114 percent increase
$117 million ($88 to $175 million) – another 28 percent increase
Eyepopping numbers! Where in the world would you get this amount of money? And, for what? A substandard 9-hole golf course and a swamp, while putting up to 500 homes at risk of flooding! This project is insane!!!
To top this off, at the last meeting you approved the purchase of another property at 1920 Aldrich Ave. S. while you can’t take care of the property that you already have. Meanwhile, Meg Forney is crying poverty because you may only get an 8 percent increase in property tax revenue.
What is wrong with this picture? It appears that there is no limit to the amount of money you as Park Board commissioners will authorize because it is not ‘your’ money. People are suffering, trying to pay their bills, and you keep cooking up ways to spend more and more money which you don’t have. This totally feeds into the narrative of how fiscally irresponsible Democrats are. After watching the Park Board for 8 years, I find it very difficult to disagree with that assessment.”

In spite of our efforts, the Park Board voted on Sept. 4 to spend another $250,000 to study turning Lake Hiawatha into a swamp.

Kathryn Kelly commented:

You finally cobbled together a smaller 2024 spending plan for the Hiawatha Golf Course project.
When the previous proposal was voted down, you came back with a new, pared down contract of $250,000. Your resolution says that this money comes from the MPRB Enterprise Fund ($150,000) and the city of Minneapolis taxpayers ($132,622). It is likely that the Enterprise Fund money is dinging the golf department again, so far bleeding golf course revenues to a total of $1.2 million. The city portion is supposed to be cost-sharing for promises of city storm sewer pollution mitigation.
The proposal went directly to the full Board for a vote as part of a ‘consent’ package. Was there a fear that it would not pass again?
Where is the MPRB getting the money to actually implement this project? And, for what? A substandard 9-hole golf course and a swamp, while putting up to 500 Minneapolis homes at risk of flooding!!!
It appears that there is no limit to the amount of money you, as Park Board commissioners, will authorize. People are suffering trying to pay their bills, while MPRB President Meg Forney is crying poverty because the MPRB is only getting an 8 percent increase in property tax revenue. “