10-01-1979 Park Board Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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October 1, 1979 The regular meeting of the Park Board was called to order by Vicechairman Tom Shaughnessy at 8:05 p.m. , October 1, 1979. Members present: Charles Cheesebrough, Larry Crouse, Peter Scherer and Ken Johnson. Members absent: Chairman Ina Liljedahl , Gary Foster, and Council liaison Richard Zelinka. Also present were Mayor Karth, arriving at 8:30 p.m. , and Ken Gourley from the Planning and Zoning Commission. The first item on the aqenda was the approval of the minutes from the last three meetings. Mr. Scherer moved to approve the minutes of the August 6, August 20 and September 6 meetings. Mr. Johnson seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion declared passed. Mr. Zelinka was not present to dive his report from the Council . The next item of business was the discussion and review of the proposed budget. The Council had cut the parks budget, and Mr. Shaughnessy noted there was not too much the Park Board could do about it. It was possible the City Administrator would revise the budget with the Council ' s approval later on. Mr. Scherer moved to accept the budget. Mr. Cheesebrough seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion declared passed. Mr. Scherer noted the Parks budget was up $5,000 from last year, and Sunrise Park rink would come out of the 1979 budget. Don Volk was checking on lighting and labor from the hockey club for the rink. There was no information back on this yet. In reference to the LAWCON grant, Mr. Crouse reviewed the information contained in his letter, and brought the Park Board up to date on where the matter stood: On the first of September, the Park Board had received notice of a meeting at which they could appear in regard to the LA'WCON grant; however, before the meeting took place, f1etro ,•�, denied the grant because the City didn' t meet their criteria. Mr. Crouse and Mrs. Liljedahl had discussed this, and both felt the meeting should be attended despite the denial , if only to meet with some of the people who made the decision and to try to get a better idea of what they were basing it on. Mr. Crouse had put together some objections to Metro's decision; after talking with Mr. Johnboys and a member of Metro Council , it seemed that the grant was being denied because of the interpretation of two or three different things. There seemed to be some real problems there, and Mr. Johnboys had suggested that it be pursued at the meeting with Metro, or that the Council or City Attorney write a letter of objection and request an appeal . Since that time, Mr. Zelinka had not been available to discuss or review the matter, and other Council members had been contacted, but there had been no response back from the Council to date. Mr. Crouse felt the issue of the rejection of the grant should have been addressed more immediately, and that the Park Board alone, as it was not a governing body, could not take the matter back to Metro. This would require Council action. Mrs. Liljedahl had thought perhaps it was the intention of the Council to wait for the Metro meeting in January, as had been discussed at the last Park Board meetinq; However, Mr. Crouse felt if the rejection of the grant were not addressed now, there would be little or no recourse, as the meeting in January dealt with the criteria for a new year. If this grant were denied on the basis of Metro's criteria, then in all probability the City could not expect to get any other grants in the future. Nr. Johnson noted that in reading over the Council minutes , Mr. Zelinka' s presentation had been somewhat brief and had not addressed the whole issue. The Park Board had in the past been accused of not being, progressive, but in this case, not only was the budget cut, but there was no support back from the Council on the Park Board's initiative. Mr. Crouse indicated that according to Mr. Johnboys , Metro Council could make their own rules , but they had to stay within state and federal guidelines; Mr. Johnboys had given the impression .^ that Lino Lakes might have a case here. However, the Park Board could not proceed in the matter without direction from the Council .