Community Engagement Policy
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) is updating its Community Engagement Policy and we’d like to hear from you!
The policy guides MPRB’s community engagement processes and practices, and your input will help shape an updated policy.
More Information and Next Steps:
For more information, please read the current MPRB Community Engagement Policy: https://www.minneapolisparks.org/_asset/20rp8c/community_engagement_policy.pdf
There will be other ways to share your thoughts, ideas and experiences as this project progresses, including open houses, focus groups and a traveling exhibit. More information will be shared when details are finalized.
About this project:
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) Community Engagement Policy outlines how community stakeholders participate in planning all MPRB park facility construction and redevelopment projects. This project will evaluate the current policy and redraft it based on public feedback. To subscribe to updates on this effort, please visit the project page.
Master Planning for Hiawatha Golf Course Property
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is in the process of orchestrating a master planning process to explore methods of balancing water management and use of the Hiawatha Golf Course property. The Community Advisory Committee (CAC) process is one of the best paths to a robust conversation supporting the master planning process. During the master planning process, the CAC will meet frequently, even as MPRB staff and consultants reach out to others interested in the future of the golf course property through other formal and informal input opportunities.
The MPRB has updated its website with a page that will be directed solely to this project. The site is being populated with a calendar of meetings and events, master planning progress updates, and presentations made during CAC and other meetings—in addition to the core materials gathered through the past few years of study. There are links to work being conducted by other agencies that might inform the work of master planning the golf course property, and a link that allows interested stakeholders to be notified about the project.
CAC meetings are open to the public, and formal meeting notices will be sent out by email. The final 15 minutes of each meeting are dedicated to providing the public an opportunity to address the CAC and members of the public in attendance.
At the second meeting of the CAC, the appointees voted 9-8 to request that the current board of commissioners revisit the previous board's decision to pursue a reduced pumping strategy on the site before the CAC continue their work of carrying out the CAC charge:
The Hiawatha Golf Course Master Plan CAC shall:
· Become knowledgeable about past investigations conducted by the MPRB and others in order to gain a reasonable understanding of water management conditions on the golf course property and any attendant effects on nearly private properties;
· Become knowledgeable about past and current use of the property, including communities served by the current golf course use of the property;
· Become knowledgeable about other aspects of the golf course property and the master planning project and its scope, and advise MPRB staff and consultants throughout the planning process;
· Contribute to broad community engagement by acting as primary contact for the CAC’s represented communities, and by enhancing the project’s interaction with a wide range of stakeholders and stakeholder groups;
· Assist with ongoing communication of technical plan elements to the general public;
· Report back to appointers or appointing bodies, as requested, on the plan process, information presented, and possible recommendations;
· Make recommendations to the MPRB Commissioners on the future use or evolution of Hiawatha Golf Course, based on agreed upon vision, goals, and principles;
· Make recommendations to the MPRB Commissioners in support of any changes to the golf course property or perpetuation of current uses, with attention to priority, sequencing, timing, and funding.
If you'd like to share your thoughts with the commissioners on this request from the CAC, you can find our contact information here. At this time, it is not clear to me when the board will be discussing the request from the CAC. I stand by my vote last year to pursue a reduced pumping strategy that protects homes while allowing this site to be redeveloped to be more resilient to the effects of climate change and to reduce the pollutant loading of Minnehaha Creek and Lake Hiawatha. I have urged President Bourn to put a discussion item on our next agenda to keep this process moving and ask that you do the same.
2015 Nokomis Hiawatha Regional Park Master Plan: https://www.minneapolisparks.org/_asset/1dg1fv/nok_hia_masterplan.pdf
Resolution 2017-243 - Resolution directing staff to apply for a groundwater appropriations permit and further directing staff to organize a process of amending the Nokomis-Hiawatha Regional Park Master Plan. 8/9/2017 and amended 10/4/2017
Resolution 2017-355 - Resolution authorizing the formation and charge of an appointed community advisory committee (CAC) for the Master Plan for the Hiawatha Golf Course property.
Please visit the project page for more information and to sign up for notification of upcoming meetings.
Shoreline enhancements will improve habitat for both aquatic and upland animal species. It will stabilize erosion, seek to remove invasive plants, and create a functional continuum of shoreline zones. Plantings will accommodate fluctuations in water level, allowing for resilience to changing water level conditions in the lake. Improvements will be constructed primarily along the north shoreline of the lake.
The first public meeting was held Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017 at Nokomis Community Center. At that meeting, interested community members reviewed current site conditions and gave feedback on potential changes along Lake Nokomis’s northern and eastern shoreline.
The MPRB is conducting a system-wide needs assessment for our recreation centers and their programs called RecQuest. As you've no doubt noticed, many of our recreation centers are in need of updating. This project is helping the MPRB discover the gaps between our current facilities and offerings as well as the recreation and programming needs of the community to ensure that investments are made responsibly. It also helps ensure that both rec centers and their programming keep pace with the changing demographics and recreation trends of Minneapolis residents. This assessment project gives you a chance to tell us what features and activities you want to see in your recreation centers.
Two important pieces to the project's success will be inclusive community engagement and a racial equity impact assessment, or looking at how racial and ethnic groups may be affected by any proposed decisions. The MPRB Community Outreach department is helping lead both of these essential efforts.
There is no preset agenda or outcome for this assessment, all recommendations will be determined only after the completion of a multi-faceted facilities assessment and in-depth community engagement process. This project will set the stage for the next 25-30 years of investment in recreation centers, most of which are 40-50 years old.
The community advisory committee will be making recommendations to the board during the month of July.
Keep abreast of this effort via RecQuest
project page.
