Revised July 25, 2024
SCA Note: Following the meeting discussed below, Greg Larson sent a letter to the Park Commission. Read it here.
The draft minutes from the July 9 Shorewood Park Commission meeting (start at p. 33, Item 5A) have just been released. Two items, subtly related, stand out in the 22 pages of the document.
First, the new Commission Chair, Amy Wenner, focused on common sense items in the existing Master Plan. She expressed a desire to lead the commission in a review of the plan, and guided the conversation to prioritize the decline of natural spaces and trails in Shorewood parks.
Three residents, Barry Brown, Nancy Westman and Julie Moore, spoke about their concerns for the deteriorating conditions of trails and natural areas in the parks, during the Matters from the Floor. A reminder to readers: Matters from the Floor has been a contentious issue at the council level for several years, and that contention showed up via the push back from staff representatives during this meeting.
Resident Greg Larson spoke specifically about the re-growth of buckthorn in Freeman Park. Below is the text of the conversation, per the draft minutes.
Mr. Larson: Stated that he was recently walking his dog through Freeman Park and noticed that the [new growth ]buckthorn is already getting high where it had been cut and [asked about how high] it would be by September, or next year. He stated that anything that was planted in there [the cleared area of Freeman Park] would end up getting shaded out and asked what the City’s long-term plans were for buckthorn control.
He addressed Park and Recreation Manager Czech and asked what the plan was for continued buckthorn control.
Czech response: Czech clarified that Matters from the Floor was for residents to express themselves.
Mr. Larson: interrupted Czech and accused him of not answering the question.
Nevinski response: Administrator Nevinski clarified that Matters from the Floor was a time for residents to share their comments and noted that the Commission will likely discuss the buckthorn issue throughout the evening, but would not get into a back and forth dialogue during this portion of the meeting.
Mr. Larson: Asked if the commission had suggestions that they could share with the public sometime on what their recommendations were.
Staff Response: Czech reiterated that Matters from the Floor was not the time for the Commission to be answering questions.
Contrary to Mr. Nevinski’s statement, there was no specific response to Mr. Larson’s relevant questions, nor were they addressed for the remainder of the meeting.
SCA has restated the entire exchange between Mr. Larson and city staff to emphasize the frustrations of residents’ attempts at public dialogue with city officials. After the meeting, Mr. Larson sent this letter to the commissioners.
Chair Amy Wenner, however, has indicated she will continue to hear from residents at the meetings while she is the chair.
