02-08-16 PARC - Laserfiche WebLink

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earlier than when the golf season begins. She hopes the committee will recommend to look into more than just three years of financial data. Chris Cobb, 215 E Pokagon St 46617, echoed the gratitude that has already been expressed and offered some of his concerns that forty -five days is not long enough to do any complete environmental examination of the property as different animals come and use the area at different parts of the year. Also, public - private partnerships take longer than forty -five days to determine what is feasible and what is not. He was grateful for the information shared with the public and the open meeting rules that will be used but hopes the committee really involves and uses the various groups and interests who have expressed concerns about Elbel. Kathryn Osborne, 517 River Ave South Bend, reiterated appreciation for everything that has happened the past few weeks regarding this more collaborative approach to the Elbel issue. She stated recent coverage in the media that people who do not want to sell or lease Elbel don't understand finance or care about how much money it costs to operate the course. They are sympathetic to the financial constraints of the city and would not like to blame for the extra money needed to finance the course this year. The state of Elbels finances this year and last year do not reflect what a good marketing program can do for the park. She does not expect that whatever comes from this committee will be an enormous financial drain. She also pointed out many of the members of Elbel for Everyone are associated with Notre Dame and are good at research, she asked the proposed committee to please take advantage of that researching expertise. Margaret Pfeil, 511 S. St. Joseph St., added her thanks as well for the proposed resolution. She still thinks a longer term commission is still the best option to really gather the ecological data, working with other organizations, and other fact finding methods take months not days. Perhaps a composite vision that has not even been thought of yet can come from this and that takes time. She offered thanks for the link to the documents as they were difficult to find in other places and is a wonderful example of transparency. Susan Alexander, 2670 Brush Trail South Bend, explained her property is up against Mud Lake and she and her neighbors have public access. If the park is sold their public access would be removed. The transparency issue was a great concern of hers but she is very excited to see this committee take place. She stated during the past few years a lot of work has been put into the golf course that would throw the budgeting figures out of order. She commended the Elbel for Everyone group for all their hard work and positive collaboration. She asked the Council to use these engaged citizens to determine the best use of this property. Kristi Haas, 3808 Clidesdale Dr. Apt. 3b South Bend, thanked the Council for bringing this resolution forward. She expressed concerns about the bi- weekly schedule because a meeting every two weeks for forty five days really isn't very long. The committee should look into long term financial documents that show what has caused the recent decline in revenue. Going forward the committee should look into state and federal grants that may help provide the revenue needed. She expressed the goals that Elbel for Everyone wants to see from this committee are ecological preservation, education and youth programs, the history of the golf