July 27, 2000

What's happening, you ask?

We met with Dorian Grilley, Exec. Director of the Parks & Trail Council.  I expect we will be on their agenda in the near future.  Dorian loves the Whitewater Park idea, and thinks his board will as well, particularly given the good karma we have at the DNR.

Two of our strongest supporters are Dennis Asmussen, DNR Director of Trail & Waterways and Bill Morrisey, DNR Director of Parks & Recreation.  Early this week we met with Dennis, Bill and their boss, Steve Morse, Deputy Director of the DNR.  We toured the site.  The DNR is very interested in participating in formation of the Whitewater Park.  DNR people are in direct contact with Army Corps of Engineers people, who are including the Whitewater Park in its survey of surface water use for the Mississippi.

Representative James Oberstar has recently expressed strong support for the Whitewater Park and has directed his staff to work with the Army Corps to see about including a provision for advancing park interests in the Water Resources Management Bill now being prepared.  If that happens, it would dovetail nicely with the DNR timetable, which possibly could provide for some matching construction funds in the bonding bill for the 2002 legislative session (many Minnesotans are not aware that bonding bills come along only every other year, the alternate years are for general appropriations; this is not a distinction necessarily made in other states).  For the 2001 session, we may possibly have a bill, in case there is a need for local funds to match federal funds for additional studies the feds may require (although they say that the existing Feasibility Study done for the DNR is excellent and will fulfill most of their needs). 

We have had several private meetings with NSP, which are always polite but are frustratingly non-productive.  This is the company, which has promised the city of Minneapolis $30 million for the naming rights to the addition to the Convention Center and promised $80 million for naming rights for St. Paul's new center for the Wild. The commitment that NSP wants to make for restoration of rapids below St. Anthony Falls however is “zilch”.  Remember, the lower St. Anthony Falls were rapids until the 1890s when the predecessor power company dammed it up for hydropower use.  In 1987 NSP's hydro plant fell into the river (we like to think of it as the river taking back its own) and NSP has no plans to rebuild as the economics of hydropower just does not work for the site.  NSP now wants to simply give away the land (and it thinks it should get accolades for doing that), even though the land is now basically an ugly, abandoned, former industrial site.  NSP wants to give up the land it can not use, so it will no longer have to pay taxes and clean up costs, but it does not want to contribute anything to clean up or restore the site, despite the fact that NSP made money from electricity generation there for almost 100 years.  We have told NSP that we will object to them giving up the land unless it also comes with a commitment of $2.5 million toward restoration of rapids (in the form of the Whitewater Park).  That's only half what NSP has agreed to pay for walking trails, etc, at Upper St. Anthony Falls, and probably far less than what we should be demanding, since NSP really has been the only user at Lower St. Anthony Falls.

In the alternative, we and several other groups are prepared to Intervene in NSP's application for renewal of its license for hydropower generation at the Upper Falls.  Intervention is a formal participation in the federal licensing proceedings, with the goal that the licensing authorities hear citizen concerns.  Several groups have agreed to join us in that Intervention, including the Mississippi Corridor Neighborhood Coalition, American Whitewater Affiliation, and others. We expect to ask the Minneapolis Parks & Recreation Board to join us as well. Walt Dziedzic, Dean Zimmerman and other Parks Commissioners have been strong supporters of the Whitewater Park project.

I have two items of bad news:  Dale Eggert and Kathy Malave have resigned:

Kathy has been a board member from the beginning of the MWPDC, has been a loyal and hard worker.  Now she has increasing demands by her family and  must leave the board, but remains a member and supporter.  We will miss her and wish her Godspeed.

Dale Eggert has been our (unpaid) Executive Director for approximately 1 1/2 years (Dale, Is that correct?  I can't count worth a darn).  He's been the greatest. A hard working, networking, well connected, self-starter; I had expected that he would spend his first few months on the job looking for foundation money to pay himself; instead he plunged right into the minutia of the organization and myriad of meetings to attend, etc.  As a result of this, he really helped raise the profile of the MWPDC. He got himself on a couple of important citizen advisory boards, and has himself become a player and participant in central riverfront planning; and burned out on the (unpaid) job in the process.  He finally had to move on to "greener" pastures, and we will miss him.  The Board has invited him to stick around and to join the Board of Directors.  He has made himself invaluable.

There is more.  But I don't have time to go over any more.  All of this is A LOT of WORK.  We can use help.  Please encourage people to come to the meetings.  If people are part of other groups, which can help, e.g. joining us in the Intervention, we could use that kind of assistance.

In the months ahead we will need many letters written to legislators, the governor, House & Senate members, etc.  In fact, those kinds of letters can be written right now, to Governor Ventura, your legislators, etc.   BE AWARE, Letters DO make a difference!!   Politicians read their mail and count votes.

Bill Tilton, Chairman