I would not like to be considered a Sea Salt basher. I have never
made any comments about it and will wait for the professionals at the
Strib to review them as I have found in the past their tastes are
similar to mine. It is not the tenants that I have concerns with, it
is how the MPRB offers contracts and the lack of protections they
provide for the citizens of Minneapolis and their tax dollars.
The Sea Salt folks were dismissed out of hand by the "powers that be
" at the MPRB when they applied as being too inexperienced and not
likely to be a good choice. This decision was revoked when their
preferred restauranteur, the folks from the Tin Fish balked at what the
MPRB was offering to them in regards to financial terms and upgrades to
the kitchen. Mr. Sheffield let them know that the menu they preferred
was unlikely due to lack of refrigeration space. Now that the MPRB
has released their 2004 End of Year Financial Statement I already have
a few questions and one of them is about the $40,000 of infrastructure
investment for one of the enterprise areas. Was this the kitchen
upgrades at the Tin Fish? I know few other local restaurants in the
Twin Cities that have the taxpayers pay for their grills and
refrigerators. And before Mr. Gurban or Mr. Siggelkow starts to
complain that these dollars are from the "enterprise fund" and not from
the general fund .... the enterprise fund sent $40,000 less to the
general fund in 2004 than in 2003. A coincidence?
I have to agree with Jason Stone that what is needed is a discerning
process that creates a TRUE benefit to the MPRB. It seems that the
golf courses are turning a profit until you look at them individually.
The Fort Snelling golf course is running at a loss and in 2004 it was
nearly $90,000. This is the golf course the MPRB leases from the DNR.
So in effect they are paying to lose money. At least they are the
owners of the money losing course at Wirth Park. The item that truly
has me wondering just how profitable these enterprises are is the lack
of "liability" they seem to have. Of the over $8,000,000 in pending
liability they list in this Financial Statement, none is listed in the
"enterprise area". I am no accountant so I am not certain of this, but
wouldn't the $2.5 million in mechanics liens against The Fort
Skatepark ( an enterprise failure) need to be listed in that area? I
would imagine it would be easy to show a profit if you never have to
include expenses on the balance sheet.
My concerns for the park system started because they were considering
cutting what I deemed a core service ... my wading pool. Throwing good
money away on some "scheme" that is going to make them rich beyond
their dreams is not a quality I find attractive in a park commissioner
( or a spouse or business partner for that matter) and as I wade
through this lovely 87 page document I'm sure I'll find many other
items of interest to share with my compatriots on this list.
And as to Scott Vreeland's post about about the parking meters ...
they are the 2nd most profitable operation the MPRB has after
Meadowbrook Golf Course. They aren't going anywhere any time soon.
And please tell me the loss of $230,000 at the Parade Ice Complex was
because The Wild were on strike and that it will never happen again.
Liz Wielinski
Columbia Park
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