Meanwhile, the controversial issue of whether to vacate an alleyway near Kenwood Avenue and West Arrowhead Road to allow a Walgreens store to be built will be delayed.
That Walgreens issue is expected to bring out a lot of speakers, including nearby residents opposed to the development and others who are for it. Councilors want to see a development agreement in writing, so they delayed their discussion and vote at least two weeks.
That was the consensus of councilors at their agenda session tonight.
Chances are good that councilors will vote at their Monday council meeting to transfer zoo operations over to the Lake Superior Zoological Society, though by a likely narrow margin. City administrators say the transfer is necessary for the struggling zoo to continue because the city can no longer afford to run it, but the union representing the zookeepers opposes the transfer and the loss of 10 union positions.
Current zookeepers have been offered other positions with the city. They could have applied for positions with the zoological society, but the pay would have been less than city scale.
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Councilors delayed a vote on Jan. 12. Some said they needed more time to review information.
In the last two weeks, councilors have received more than 100 e-mails from people pleading with them to save the zoo and to transfer management over to the society, which has successfully run the zoo's admissions, gift shop and marketing and education programs for 15 years. The zoo will remain city-owned.
The delay has jeopardized $100,000 in grants the zoological society has received to help with the transition originally planned for Jan. 1, said Sam Maida, the society's executive director. The delay also has hurt ticket sales for a gala zoo fundraiser planned for Valentine's Day and left jobs and hiring zookeepers and other staff in limbo.
"It does hurt," Maida said. "The uncertainty weighs on people. It creates a level of anxiety people don't like to have."
