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REGULAR MEETING February 8t", 2016 Committee to forty -five (45) days. There is no rush on this, take your time and make a proper judgment. Sharon Banicki, 3822 Ford St, thanked the Council for putting the brakes on the sale. More public input should be sought not just the five (5) hand chosen ones. Elbel is too valuable of an asset to let it go to solve a short term money problem. Paul Blaschko, 322 E. Colfax Ave Apt. 209, asked everyone who was with Elbel for Everyone to stand up. The group is grateful for their chance to address the PARC Committee earlier today. Elbel for Everyone, or at least a large majority of their members, are in favor of this resolution. It is a good first step in this process in making sure a wise outcome comes out of all of this. The residents of South Bend are ready and willing to cooperate with the proposed committee. Jen Betz, 511 S. St. Joseph St, expressed her appreciation for thexesolution. She asked how the public participate in robust ways if all the members are government officials. Forty -five (45) days is too short to have a ecological assessment, which takes a year to do, and we really need that assessment to evaluate what to do with this property. The non - binding portion of the committee is also troubling as the Park Board are not elected officials and do not have the same public pressure as public officials. Chris Cobb, 215 E Pokagon St 46617, thanked the Council for developing this resolution. When the decision about the sale of Elbel came up the full Council was going to take that sale until their was public outcry. This committee's non - binding resolution, with two non - elected members, needs to be taken seriously and not simply pushed aside afterwards. More time is needed than forty -five (45) days. Margaret Pfeil, 511 S. St. Joseph St., added her thanks for the proposal of this resolution. She also expressed the opinion more time is needed and a yearlong commission should be established as well. She has great respect for the process and understand why this is a non - binding resolution but suggest everyone is also bound by higher law and that our consciences are at stake here. Benito Salazar, 23818 Grant Rd, totally agrees with the resolution. This is going to be a fantastic first step. He stressed that we should not forget about the other parks that desperately need funding. LaSalle Park needs funding, there are no restrooms and no water there. He believes in what the Council is doing but hopes they do not forget about the other parks. Mathew Insley, 511 S. St. Joseph St., wondered what the official name of the park is. As far as he knew the official name is Elbel Park that happens to have a golf course on the property. He reminded the Council they represent the people and they have been clear a stop button needs to be pushed for at least a year. Yes the Mayor is popular and the Mayor is certainly a friend to many of you and many of us and he has done a great job leading this city but he made a mistake on this one. The Mayor has made this question seem urgent and that they have to make a decision right now but that's not true. The City should push stop on this and not just pause. Bishop Eddy Miller, 909 N. Bendix Dr., appreciated the efforts of the Council with concern towards the sale of Elbel Park. He cautioned the Council and reminded them that we do have about seventy (70) other Parks that are in desperate need for public services and money. A lot of the basketball and tennis courts need to be refurbished. He did not speak against Elbel but asked the Council to please be mindful of those other parks as well when deliberating on this issue. Aaron Perri, 321 Walter St. and Director of Parks in South Bend, thanked the Council for their leadership on this topic. He looked forward to working with this proposed committee and the public going forward regarding Elbel. He noted that although this is a non- binding resolution, he intends to act as a department head dutifully on the recommendation of this committee. There will be a special Parks Board meeting specifically on Elbel on February 11, 2016. Kathryn Osborne, 517 River Ave. South Bend, echoed the thanks of the previous speakers. She was pleased to see earlier that the City is in great shape financially and that we have good stewards who are taking care of the City's finances. This should hearten everyone to see we are not in a financial emergency and we can take the time to analyze what should happen with Elbel. She stated she thinks this committee will find ways to make Elbel more accessible to everyone N