Help Save our Lake Access (from Chicki Lasky)

[Tighe]

Want you to see what is discussed in East Calhoun neighborhood meeting (ECCO).

They had a presentation by Bob Fine from the Park Board a few weeks back regarding the CYC proposal. I, John Mitchell, and Randy Moon were there for rebuttal (successful arguments presented, by the way, and ECCO asked Bob how they can further object!). Every windsurfer, please talk to your neighborhood association. I will be happy to do a presentation before them, or give you information for your neighborhood association. I have presented before ECCO, CIDNA and East Isles, with very strong support for our objections to commercializing Calhoun for the CYC project and retail sites.

You can Post this, and encourage all Minneapolis residents to call or email me, regarding the issues at hand, that will be affecting all Park Board controlled land. They (some Park Board members) are proposing other restaurants and commercial uses on other lakes and parklands, not just the CYC proposal. It is becoming a very large, city wide concern, with many citizens becoming aware, and objecting. ( You can congratulate yourselves, windsurfers, as you made this CYC proposal a public concern, not just ours!)

Please get involved! Find out more and write your Neighborhood Associations so they can also represent your concerns regarding CYC's proposal for the waterway and lakeshore, and the other restaurant uses proposed by the Park Board on other parklands. It is a great way to generate income for the Park Board, but philosophically, many residents are finding this repugnant, and not in keeping with preserving lakeshore and parkland. Interesting public concern, if you attend any of these meetings. Remember, the Park Board is very autonomous and powerful, so there must be a strong resident (and non-resident) objection to their ideas, before they may bend to public opinion. This is not a time for complacency. Even if you do not live in Minneapolis, if you use the park system, you should use your voice, and email your objections to the Park Board (try Vivian Mason, or Annie Young), email a neighborhood association such as ECCO, and the affected Council Person (though they have little input to the Park Board, it all helps).

It has been mentioned among neighborhood group members, that CYC may have been used by the Park Board: to try to make the commercialization of Lake Calhoun more palatable, or less noticable to the neighborhood residents, and the public (for the financial gain for the Park Board, as they get a percentage of its gross). I do not believe that the windsurfers wish ill will to the the Yacht Club in any way, but retaining an open lakeshore, and a non-commercialized lakeshore is important to both the windsurfers, and the public at large, as evidenced in the strong neighborhood objections. I hope that in the future, that the Yacht Club will keep open communication with their sailboard brethren. We all love the lakes and "the wind in our hair". We don't want to see anyone lose the ability to freely use the lake.

Marissa (Chicki) Lasky
im4tune8@mn.rr.com

[Coach]

Nice work, Tighe - and kudos to EVERYONE involved.


-Coach

[Tighe]

My efforts have paled in comparison to the work that of Chicki, John and Randy. We all need to do our part.

[Dave Schneider]

Chicky,

Have you tried contacting the editors of the Star Tribune. This is the exact kind of issue that they have done a very good job of bringing to the public's attention over the past years. The Star Trib is generally in favor of preserving parklands. You might try contacting them if you haven't already

Keep up the great work.

Dave

[Tighe]

Dave,
Great suggestion. You may want to contact Chicki directly. I am not sure how often she is on this forum. Her email is in the post above.

[Jim N]

I know this is offf topic for such a serious issue, BUT...when I first saw the topic I thought, "Who is Chickie Lasky, & why do we want to save the lake access from her?" signed, TOO MUCH MORNING CAFFEINE

[dave t]

HaHaHa! Yes, I was thinking the same thin too. That it was odd that a few months ago Chickie was working to help save windsurfing access on Calhoun and now she has gone over to the dark side and the access must be saved from her.

[paul g]

Here's an item from the Feb. 21 edition of Southwest Journal that may have some bearing on future developments on this issue:

http://swjournal.com/articles/2005/02/2 ... hbor01.txt

[paul g]

There's a very informative article in the Feb. 23 edition of the local weekly Pulse entitled "Minneapolis Parks, Inc." on this issue of importance to Calhoun windsurfers and all who enjoy our parks as a respite from commercial activity. The link is:

http://pulsetc.com/article.php?sid=1664