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Politics & Government

6th District Dog Park Advisory Committee to Look at More Sites

The Citizen Advisory Committee deliberated the criteria by which they'd recommend a site for the Southwest Minneapolis dog park.

(CAC) finalized their membership at a meeting Monday.

The CAC, which is tasked with advising the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board on the site for an off-leash dog area in the 6th Park District, is still developing criteria for their decision.

CAC to Examine More Sites
The CAC was originally allotted 45 days to report back to the park board, but it's likely that they'll recieve a deadline extension, as the park board recently decided to allow the CAC to consider more than the three original sites the board had proposed (the Rock and Peace Garden, Lyndale Park Parking Lot Area, and the Southside Operations Center). The new sites examined by the CAC can not include Dr. Martin Luther King Park in Kingfield. Chair Tom Nordyke said he would discuss a revised time frame with park staff.

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Some Confusion Over CAC Membership
The revised park board charge also encourages the CAC to identify and incorporate other stakeholders in the public participation process, and encourages the CAC to look for underrepresented neighborhoods, cultural, social and economic groups who may not feel engaged in the process.  

At the start of the meeting, there was discussion, and some confusion, about the fact that some of the positions created by the CAC in recent meetings have yet to be filled.

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One unfilled positions was the African American representative to the CAC. Jennifer Ringold, park board staff, said she contacted the Urban League twice in order to get a representative. Since they had not come forward with representatives, she said that Art Serotoff, the representative from CIA for MLK, which led the opposition to an off-leash area at King Park, had nominated two people, and suggested the CAC vote on approving those individuals. Seratoff said he had a problem with that, since every other representative had been appointed without a vote from the CAC. Ringold said that since Seratoff’s nominations were coming from an individual and not an orgaization, that’s why she suggested the CAC vote.  

After some discussion, the CAC agreed to accept the current list as the final membership. Very soon after they voted on this topic, Mary Flowers Spratt arrived. She is listed on the CAC appointment list as being appointed for the Bryant, Central, Field, and Regina neighborhoods (confirmed by the Bryant and Central neighborhoods). Spratt did not speak throughout the entire meeting, but at the end of the meeting, she said that there was a mistake on the list. She was the African American representative, not the representative from Bryant, Central, Field and Regina. She said she had been appointed by the Urban League. Ringold said she would find out more information and report back at the next meeting.  

Developing a Criteria to Recommend Sites
Much of the criteria discussion involved who the dog park was supposed to serve. While some said the dog park was supposed to serve the entire 6th Park district, others said it should particularly cater to those living on the east end of the district, who don’t already have the amenities that those closer to the lake enjoy. “There’s a socio-economic component,” said Matt Perry. “There are people low on the economic scale that feel they do not have the same amenities.”  

As the meeting neared 8 p.m., when the public comment was supposed to begin, the CAC was still finalizing all of the criteria. Tony Proell, from the Tangletown Neighborhood, motioned to accept the criteria as it stood at that point, keeping the changes they had made at the meeting along with the other criteria created by a similar 2002 CAC. However, a number of people objected to this, saying it was more important to make sure the criteria was the best criteria. The CAC decided then to continue the criteria discussion at the next meeting.

CAC Chair Tom Nordyke also called for all emails to be sent to all members, and brought up a suggestion made by member Matt Perry that would set up an online discussion board that would be monitored by park staff. The forum would allow CAC members to post, comment and upload documents, and the general public to view the discussion. Nordyke said later in the meeting that the online forum would be available soon.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, a number of people spoke out against off-leash area sites near the bird sanctuary and the peace garden, and still others urged the CAC to keep focused on their goal of deciding the dog park’s location. “Keep your eyes on the prize,” said one woman speaking at the meeting. “We’ve had stalled processes before. I hear political maneuvering back and forth, which is inevitable,” but she urged the CAC emphatically to “get a dog park in the 6th District.” 

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