My WebLink
|
Help
|
About
|
Sign Out
Home
Browse
Search
Approving the issuance and sale of Park District Bonds
sbend
>
Public
>
Common Council
>
Legislation
>
Resolutions/Special Resolutions
>
1977
>
Approving the issuance and sale of Park District Bonds
Metadata
Thumbnails
Annotations
Entry Properties
Last modified
4/25/2017 4:19:38 PM
Creation date
4/4/2017 10:33:53 AM
Metadata
Fields
Template:
City Council - City Clerk
City Council - Document Type
Resolutions
City Counci - Date
5/23/1977
Ord-Res Number
560-77
There are no annotations on this page.
Document management portal powered by Laserfiche WebLink 9 © 1998-2015
Laserfiche.
All rights reserved.
/
8
PDF
Show annotations
View images
View plain text
South Bend Common Council <br />Page 2 <br />The 11,388 persons who signed the bond petition clearly indicated that <br />they want a zoo in South Bend and that they want the other projects <br />listed in the bond issue. <br />Potawatomi Zoo, which was built in 1917, has been enjoyed by thousands <br />and has proven to be the most popular facility in the park system for <br />all ages. Unfortunately, the zoo has been neglected for many years and <br />did not keep up with the changing of time. Thirty or forty years ago <br />the menagerie type zoo was acceptable but in todays society the menagerie <br />zoo is doomed. <br />With the passage of the Animal Welfare Act of 1970, which requires zoos <br />to be licensed, Potawatomi is faced with an ultimatum of either fixing <br />the zoo or close the zoo down. It is not only the federal regulations <br />that concerns the Park Board but our feeling of the humane treatment of <br />the animals such as proper housing, adequate isolation quarters for sick <br />animals, proper drainage, sanitation conditions and security for the <br />animals from malicious acts. <br />It is true that in a letter to Councilwoman Adams I stated that the zoo <br />could possibly be brought to federal standards (at this time) for about <br />$225,000.00. But as the federal people so clearly stated, they will be <br />in touch with us concerning additional needed changes. In looking toward <br />the future and prudent planning, the Board decided to spend enough money <br />to obtain a complete zoo which will meet the federal requirements now and <br />in the future. The $225,000.00 stated in my letter of January 17, 1977 <br />listed the need for a perimeter fence and improvements in the bear ex- <br />hibit. However, as pointed out by the Health Department, an improvement <br />must be made in the pollution and sanitary conditions at the zoo which was <br />not mentioned by the federal people but must be improved to bring the zoo <br />up to the health department and our standards. I have met with Dr. McCraley, <br />County Health Officer, and reviewed the plans for the new zoo. Dr. McCraley <br />made some recommendations that we will incorporate into the new plans. The <br />Park Department appreciated the help and the cooperation of Dr. McCraley <br />and his staff in this important sector of the zoo plan. New utilities are <br />very expensive but feel that such an expenditure is a must if we are going <br />to have a zoo. Such a large expenditure was not mentioned or suggested by <br />the federal people as a requirement. You could be assured that a couple of <br />years from now they would demand such an improvement. To me it would seem <br />crass to float a bond issue for $225,000.00 for zoo improvement and then <br />come back two or three years later and float another bond issue for additi- <br />onal improvements. <br />Bond issues are expensive to prepare and sell and are very time consuming. <br />It costs no more to sell bonds for $1.5 million than $225,000.00 and in my <br />opinion it would be poor judgement and no doubt more expensive to sell bonds <br />for $225,000.00 and try to improve the zoo on piecemeal basis. <br />
The URL can be used to link to this page
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Print
Pages to print
Enter page numbers and/or page ranges separated by commas. For example, 1,3,5-12.
After downloading, print the document using a PDF reader (e.g. Adobe Reader).