02/07/1994 Park Board Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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�- ' C MEMORANDUM TO: Lino Lakes Park Board Members FROM: Marty Asleson DATE: February 1, 1994 SUBJECT: Friends of the Parks I placed this on the Agenda as an update and to discuss an issue that I created. The issue centers around a donation from the VFW. In the past years VFW Post 6583 has been very generous and donated $300 per month to the dedicated park fund. It was discovered that for some reason, this donation was not recieved for several months. I contacted Bill Bohanan, the VFW Gambling Director, and asked him if I could approach the VFW to reconsider their committment. I was invited to a meeting an gave a history of our parks and recreation efforts for the last year and discussed our mission, resident involvement efforts, and our non-profit support group, the Friends of the Parks Foundation. The discussion generated a lot of enthusiasm. The VFW at that time agreed to write a check for dollars that were not donated in the past, and recommit to at least $300 per month and possibly raise this to $600 per month in the future. They liked the idea of the foundation, but really didnt care how the money got to the city, as long as it could be used for playgrounds and the disability program. It is important for them to identify the dollars for a specific project, and be able to track it. I needed to get the request in the next day, the day that everything was shut down because of the cold, so I made out the request from the Friends of the Parks with the dollars to be spent on playgrounds and the disability program. My thoughts at that time were one of public support, donar visibility and recognition, and the dollars contributing to the same effort. The BYLAWS of the Friends of the Parks state that the dollars have to be spent in the City of Lino Lakes, and that a City Council Member must sit on the Board of Directors. Projects that the Friends of the Parks have funding for have to have approval or a reccomendation from the Park Board. Any time any project is initiated in the parks, the Park Board must first give approval. There may be some projects that are within the scope of our comprehensive plan, but out of the immediate goals of the Park