10-01-1979 Park Board Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 2 Park Board October 1, 1979 ,.. The possibilities of sending Mr. Crouse and Mrs. Liljedahl to the Council as represen- tatives was discussed; Mr. Crouse indicated they were still waiting to hear from Mr. Zelinka on whether the Council would hear them or not. October 9 was the next Council meeting, and Ptir. Crouse was unable to make it. Mr. Shaughnessy suggested that Mrs. Liljedahl and himself attend the Council meeting to present the problem directly. Mr. Scherer suggested Mayor Karth be called and requested to come to the meeting to try to clear up the communication problem on the LAWCON issue: this was done. Mr. Crouse indicated he had explored other areas of grants , and there was a slight possibility of getting something through the Environmental Council . He had informa- tion available on solar energy efficient buildings , tax credits, and so forth. A lot of the grants were not really for the type of building proposed, but there was some possibility because there was a federal granting agency in the area of energy efficiency buildings, and there were several examples of similar grants. There were also private grants--not public money--that were available. Mayor Karth arrived at 8:30 p.m. to talk to the Board on the LAWCON grant situation. Mr. Shaughnessy indicated the Park Board had requested the Council take action on this , either by sending a letter to Metro Council protesting the refusal of the grant, or by directing the City Attorney to do so. Mr. Crouse indicated that Mrs. Liljedahl had felt that Metro Council had been on the defensive when she spoke to them, and also Mr. Johnboys had given the impression that the City had cause to request a review or an appeal on the basis of Metro's criteria being inconsistent. Mr. Johnboys was with the State Planning Office that administered the federal money, and had done the site review for the grant application. He had said that there had been many complaints about the criteria, but that no one had pursued the matter to date, in terms of Metro' s criteria being consistent with state law. Mayor Karth felt this should be put in the form of a motion that the Council draft the letter to Metro with these kinds of questions in it; however, Mr. Crouse felt it would be sufficient to request a review or an appeal without addressing the specific questions in the letter; otherwise, Pietro could respond that they felt the grounds were insufficient, and there would then be no recourse. Mayor Karth felt the basis or reasoning for an appeal should be included. Mr. Johnson noted that the Park Board had already made a motion to that effect at the last meeting, but that it didn't seem to have been brought up at the Council meeting. Mayor Karth indicated that the next Council meeting was October 9, and suggested that a Park Board member get a copy of the minutes and underline in red pencil the things that should be brought up before the Council and put it in his box in the office. The recording secretary was asked to have the minutes in the office by Friday. This will be done by Mr. Shaughnessy. Mr. Crouse moved to request the Council to write a letter requesting Metro Council that the City would like to appeal their decision on the refusal to grant the project. Mr. Scherer seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion declared passed. It was noted this was the second time this had been discussed, voted on and approved. The letter should be directed to Charles Weaver, chairman, and Marilyn had the information and address. Mr. Crouse asked Mayor Karth for his opinion as to the possibilities of the Park Board becoming an elected body, and also as to how the communication gap could be resolved. This concern had been raised earlier in the summer when the all-purpose building had first come up, as to the liaison carrying through for the Board, or at least getting back to them on questions raised; in the last two or three months there had been a lack n of this kind of cooperation. Also, in reference to the budget, the Park Board had expected someone from the Council if Mr. Zelinka couldn't attend; the meeting that had coincided with the City Administrator interviews could have been moved to another night, but again there had been a lack of communication. He also noted that it had taken