Part II of Downtown Service Area Master Plan kicks off Feb. 25

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MRPB) would like to thank everyone who took the time to review and weigh in on initial park concepts created for the Downtown Service Area Master Plan, which will provide a cohesive, long-term vision for every park property in Downtown Minneapolis.

Part I of the plan wrapped up Jan. 28, now please join us for Part II on Thursday, Feb. 25, 6:30-8:30 pm in the Board Room at MPRB headquarters, 2117 West River Road N. The agenda includes a review of the most recent draft plans for parks in the downtown area.

The Steering Committee invites the public to attend its meetings and values input from all interested park users. An opportunity for public comment will be provided.

Date:  Feb. 25, 2016
Time:  6:30-8:30 pm
Location:  MPRB Board Room
Address:  2117 West River Road N.

This project is part of a joint effort between the MPRB and the City of Minneapolis to improve parks and public spaces downtown. The cooperative work done on the Downtown Service Area Master Plan (MPRB) and the Downtown Public Realm Framework (CPED) is known collectively as Pathways To Places: Shaping Downtown Together.

Learn more at the Downtown Service Area Master Plan project page.

To learn more about this project and others, visit www.minneapolisparks.org/planning.

Project Manager

Jennifer Ringold
Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board
Phone: 612-230-6464
Email:[email protected]

Meeting accommodations

Cindy Anderson
Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board
Phone: 612-230-6472
Email: [email protected]
Minnesota Relay System: 711

Language interpretation

Español: 612-230-6573 | [email protected]
Soomaali: 612-230-6574 | [email protected]

At its Jan. 20 meeting, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) of Commissioners approved language for a 2016 ballot measure that will ask Minneapolis residents for a property tax levy to help maintain, rehabilitate and invest in its chronically underfunded network of 160 neighborhood parks. After a year of public meetings about the current condition and maintenance service level of  neighborhood parks in the city, Commissioners voted to approve MPRB Superintendent Jayne Miller’s final recommendations for the Closing the Gap: Investing in Neighborhood Parks (Closing the Gap)initiative.

Resolution 2016-112, passed Wednesday night by Commissioners, includes ballot language for a November 2016 referendum and elements of an agreement with the Minneapolis City Council to address sustained current funding. Superintendent Miller also provided an overarching implementation plan for a referendum at the direction of Commissioners. If approved by the residents of Minneapolis, the referendum will generate the additional resources needed to provide a long-term strategy to fund annual maintenance, repair and capital investments for neighborhood parks in Minneapolis, as long as other current funding sources are sustained.

The maximum annual amount of the proposed tax levy increase is limited to .0388 percent of the estimated market value by the city per year. It would begin in 2018 and continue to be collected for the next 20 years. If the levy had been in place in 2016, it would have generated approximately $15 million and added $65.68 to the property tax bill of an owner of a home valued at $190,000.

All expenditures related to the levy would be subject to full public examination. A one-page fact sheet gives an overview of how funding generated by the levy would be spent in the first five years; Superintendent Miller will provide specifics of the 2018-2022 implementation plan in April.

The Superintendent’s presentation materials and numerous other resources regarding Closing the Gap are available at www.minneapolisparks.org/closingthegap under the “Key Documents” section.

Background

Closing the Gap: Investing in Neighborhood Parks is an initiative of the Superintendent and Commissioners that shared information with Minneapolis residents and partners about the current condition and service level of neighborhood parks.  Closing the Gap looked at the impacts of the age of the system and deferred maintenance – or delayed regular upkeep past the point of repair – has had on the 160 neighborhood parks in Minneapolis.

The Closing the Gap initiative gathered information from Minneapolis residents and partners about investment priorities for operation, maintenance and replacement of existing neighborhood park assets. Since May 2015, a spectrum of community engagement methods and communications tools were used to share and collect information for the Closing the Gap initiative.

Minneapolis’ neighborhood parks have the greatest number of physical assets that require greater resources to operate, maintain and replace. To sustain the current level of physical assets in the park system the MPRB needs $14.3 million plus inflation each year to meet capital investment needs. The MPRB currently has $4-5 million per year to invest in these assets. Based on 2015 costs, the annual capital gap is $9.3 million plus inflation. The neighborhood parks also require annual investments to operate them to industry standards for activities such as mowing, building maintenance, tree pruning and roof and path repairs. Based on 2015 costs, the operational gap is a minimum of $3 million plus inflation per year.

On Oct. 21, 2015, the Superintendent provided three reports to the Board of Commissioners:

• “Investing in Neighborhood Parks – Final Report” completed by MPRB staff
• “Public and Private Funding Strategies for Neighborhood Parks” completed by the City Parks Alliance
• “Conservation Finance Feasibility Study – Minneapolis, Minnesota” completed by The Trust for Public Land.

The Board of Commissioners directed the Superintendent to work on a possible referendum to address neighborhood park funding challenges following discussion of the reports presented on Oct. 21.

Closing the Gap: Investing in our Neighborhood Parks

An abundance of information on the state of Minneapolis’ neighborhood parks is available at http://www.minneapolisparks.org/closingthegap:

• “Park Profiles” detailing where investments have been made and where funding gaps are in every neighborhood park in the city. (Under “Background” tab)
• Two 2015 budget fact sheets showing where MPRB’s budget comes from and what it supports.
• A neighborhood parks fact sheet explaining how the funding gap was created and what MPRB is doing already to help close it.
• An FAQ with concise answers to 27 questions commonly asked during 2015 Closing the Gap meetings.

To stay informed on Closing the Gap please visit http://www.minneapolisparks.org/closingthegap and sign up for email updates.

Date: January 18, 2016
Time: 6:30–7:30 pm
Location: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Recreation Center
Address: 4055 Nicollet Ave. S
Cost: Free!

Join the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) for their annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration on Monday, Jan. 18 from 6:30–7:30 pm at Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Recreation Center (4055 Nicollet Ave. S, Minneapolis).

The celebration will be emceed by Chad Jackson, Senior Account Executive with the Minnesota Twins. Trent Tucker, District Director of Athletics – Minneapolis Public Schools and “Retired NBA Basketball Player,” will give a keynote presentation, and there will be a performance by Minnesota’s Own, Three-Time Grammy Award-Winning, “Sounds of Blackness.”

The MPRB will present its “Living the Dream” award to Frank White for his dedication and commitment to our community. The “Living the Dream” award honors an individual, business, or community group who has demonstrated dedication and distinguished service to the MPRB and the lives of Minneapolis residents.

Special presentations and guest speakers also include: Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges, Sandra Richardson from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Legacy Council, and spoken word by S’sence Adams and Baby S’sence.

The celebration will also mark the conclusion of the seventh annual “Feeding the Dream” Food Drive. Residents are encouraged to drop off non-perishable food items at their local MPRB Recreation Center through January 18.

The community service project was initiated in the fall of 2009 and since then more than 10,000 pounds of donations have been collected. This year, all donations will go to The Aliveness Project and Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration is free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item to donate. Refreshments will be available following the program. For more information, please visit www.minneapolisparks.org/revmlkday or call 612-230-6400.

The City of Minneapolis’ demographics are changing rapidly, and it is more important than ever to ensure that the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) is meeting the needs of its diverse stakeholders. Therefore, the MPRB has embarked on a critical effort to develop a plan – RecQuest – for the next generation of recreation centers in Minneapolis.  And you can be a part of it!

Applications are now being accepted for potential members of the RecQuest Community Advisory Committee (CAC) to be appointed by the MPRB Board of Commissioners.  The charge of this CAC is to:

• Work collaboratively and provide input toward final project recommendations for approval by the Board of Commissioners.
• Become knowledgeable about the project and its scope and advise MPRB staff and consultants throughout the planning process.
• Contribute to broad community outreach and engagement by enhancing the project’s interaction with a wide range of stakeholders.
• Understand and represent the needs of all community members.
• Apply equity principles in decision-making based on training provided by staff and project consultants
• Report back to appointers or appointing bodies, as requested, on the plan process, information presented, and possible recommendations.
• Evaluate potential scenarios and deliver a preferred, actionable alternative for recreation centers and programs to the Board of Commissioners.

Application deadline is Friday, July 31 at 4pm.

More information can be found here.  Online application can be found here.

A public forum sponsored by
the League of Women Voters Minneapolis

Tuesday, April 7, 2015
7:00-8:30 pm
Armatage Park Community Center
2500 West 57th Street, Minneapolis

As governments, non-profits and the private sector collaborate, who will protect the public interest?

Panel discussion featuring:

• Jayne Miller, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board Superintendent
• Steve Cramer, President and CEO, Minneapolis Downtown Council
• A representative from The Trust for Public Land

To get a printable flyer, click here.

From an MPRB press release:

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) will hold a public hearing regarding the proposed renovation of the Michael P. Schmidt Operations Center, located at 1720 Marshall St. NE. The hearing will take place at 6:30 PM on Wednesday, August 20, in the Board Room at MPRB Headquarters at 2117 West River Road North. Those interested in providing comment at the hearing must sign up to speak by 6:25 PM the day of the hearing. If you require language translation or other accommodations, please contact 612-230-6472 at least 2 business days in advance of the public hearing.

The operations center, acquired in 2012, includes an existing industrial building which is planned for park operations use. In addition, public pedestrian river access with a path and overlook are planned. The entire site is planned for future inclusion in the larger Above the Falls Regional Park Master Plan. If the improvement plan is approved during the August 20 2014 hearing, it will go before the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board for final approval on September 3.

Further information regarding the project may be found on the project page on MPRB’s website. The Project manager is Dana Murdoch, who may be reached at [email protected] or (612) 230-6446.