Save the Fred!!!

The city of Edina, looking to shave costs, has made some short sighted proposals.  One of the first is to shut down the municipal Fred Richards golf executive course.

First, the bad news. Last night, City of Edina Staff led by City Manager Scott Neal, formally announced a 6 point plan to reduce costs and increase revenue for Edina golf operations. Sadly, the very first point in the plan is a recommendation to close Fred Richards Golf course. Enough of the bad news, now on to the good news!

THE GOOD NEWS!
• FRIENDS of the FRED TURNED OUT! Of over 300 people at the meeting, approximately 90% were there to support the Fred!
• Friends of the Fred handed out 150 neon yellow t-shirts with the phrase “Save the Fred” on the front. We ran out of T-Shirts 10 minutes before the meeting even started. City Staff were startled to look out and see a WALL OF YELLOW sitting in front of them.
• It was obvious to everyone in the room from the first slide on the screen that the plan being presented was flawed and not well thought out. The City's presentation provided little to no support for their numbers related to the economics of Fred Richards golf course.
• Several FOF brought up that repurposing of Fred land would cost money…both in initial capital and in ongoing maintenance costs. When asked about this, the City Manager confirmed that potential future costs of operating and maintaining a park were NOT included in the city’s financial analysis that led to the recommendation to close the FRED.
• Friends of the Fred spoke passionately for over one hour and fifteen minutes when the meeting was opened to comments. Highlights:
o City proposed timeline is for a vote on closing the Fred on March 4th….we let them know loud and clear this is unacceptable! They have been working on this with consultants and staff for MONTHS, AND MONTHS, AND MONTHS.
o Golfers of all ages have enjoyed Fred Richards for over 20 years and City Staff proposed public consideration of ONE MONTH. That timeline cannot and will not stand!
o FOF spoke eloquently about years of enjoying rounds on the Fred with children, grandchildren, friends and family.
o Fred Richards league members talked about how great the course is and how their leagues are growing (Patty Berg League, Happy Hackers League, Fairway Femmes League, Toro League, Seagate League, NWW League etc.).
o Many great questions were asked about the financial assumptions underlying the recommendation. Quite simply, the numbers don’t add up and Friends of the Fred in attendance let the City know it.
o FOF put forward great ideas about how to generate more revenue at the Fred and across golf operations. When asked whether any of these ideas were even considered by staff when putting together their recommendation the answer was almost always NO.
o FOF stressed how talented and resourceful Edina residents are and challenged City Staff to put together an ad hoc team to study other alternatives to increasing golf revenue WITHOUT closing the Fred.
• We applaud Mayor Hovland for attending the meeting and listening to our concerns. After the meeting he expressed significant concern over the timeline for making a decision to close the Fred and also remains open to other ideas and proposals.
• None of the other City Council Members attended the meeting. We sincerely hope they will get involved and take every opportunity to listen to the voice of the citizens that they represent in the near future.

WHAT'S NEXT...
• Friends of the Fred team will be meeting this weekend to discuss an action plan for next steps….stay tuned!
• Public hearing of the Edina Park Board at City Hall on Tuesday, February 11th at 7PM.
• City Council Meeting on Tuesday, March 4th.

THREE THINGS YOU CAN DO NOW TO HELP SAVE THE FRED!

1. THE SUPPORT WE HAD LAST NIGHT WAS TREMENDOUS, BUT IT’S ONLY THE BEGINNING! WE NEED YOU TO COME TO THE PARK BOARD MEETING ON FEBRUARY 11TH. WE ARE ORDERING MORE “SAVE THE FRED” YELLOW T- SHIRTS! EMAIL jtstang67@gmail.com to let us know you will be there to support the FRED.

2. FLOOD the Mayor and City Council Members with emails and letters to express your support for the Fred (See email addresses below). THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL WILL MAKE THE FINAL DECISION. Tell them the timeline proposed is offensive and ask for the City to approve an ad hoc team of concerned residents to develop alternative proposals for consideration.

3. Watch your email for more updates from us and visit the FaceBook page for SAVE THE FRED every day!

CONTACT Info:

James Hovland
Mayor
612-874-8550
mail@EdinaMN.gov

Joni Bennett
City Council Member
952-927-0661...
jonibennett12@comcast.net

Mary Brindle
City Council Member
952-941-7746
mbrindle@comcast.net

Josh Sprague
City Council Member
612-501-0252
joshsprague@edinarealty.com

Ann Swenson
City Council Member
952-927-7524
swensonann1@gmail.com