BY KATHRYN KELLY
The Hiawatha Golf Course Community Advisory Committee (CAC) put together a list of 26 requests to the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) Planning Department for the Hiawatha Golf Course project.
As reported previously, the Park Board left the CAC’s No. 1 priority item off of the publicly published list. It was to protect the nearby homes from flooding. When called on it, the MPRB added this item back to the list.
Another item on the list was for the MPRB to answer two questions: “Why does the MPRB want to reduce pumping on the golf course property?” and “Why is pumping bad?” The Park Board published a response which many feel was not a response at all. Instead, they told us why the berm that protects the golf course is bad, and they couldn’t even correctly state the dates of the golf course’s reopening after the 2014 flooding. You can read SaveHiawatha18’s assessment of their response at:
http://www.savehiawatha18.com/commentary/savehiawatha18-response-to-MPRB-pumping-Dec-2019.htm
A third item on the CAC’s list was a request to see the new 18-hole plan created by the MPRB. At the last CAC meeting the MPRB stated that the MPRB planning group had put together a new 18-hole plan for the Hiawatha Golf Course property, but they had decided against it. The CAC asked to see this new 18-hole plan. On Feb. 14, 2020, the MPRB sent out an email stating that they will not fulfill this request from the Hiawatha Golf Course CAC.
The MPRB planning department already has a credibility problem with many people. By withholding from the CAC the 18-hole plan that they created, they lose even more credibility. Are they afraid that the CAC will vote for this plan?
A public data request has been submitted to the MPRB for a copy of the 18-hole plan that they created.
