September 13, 2010

General Membership Minutes 09 - 13


  September 13th, Monday – 6:30 p.m. – 8:45 p.m.,
   Holy Rosary Church Board Room, 24th and 17th Ave S


Attendance: Mary Gonsior, Linda Leonard, Tim Chancey, Margaret Kirkpatrick, Carol Pass, Tim Springer, Earl Simms, Brad Pass, Al Johnson,
Guests:  Bev Warmka, Joseph Spangler, Shirley Heyer

6:30    Introduction:
·      Greetings and Introductions
·      Approval of Agenda (passed)
·      Approval of Minutes from EPIC General Membership Meeting, August 9th (passed)

6:40    Announcements
·      Next EPIC Meeting, Monday, October 11, 2010
·      NCEC Informational Meetings-Thursday, September 30, 6-8 pm North Commons Park
·      CP missed the meeting this past Thursday, but will attend the meeting on 9/30.
·      Clean Sweep – Saturday, October 9th…Plan to CLEAN YOUR BLOCK. Starts with a free breakfast at 9 AM at Welna's Ace Hardware on Bloomington Ave. Steward Park hosts a free lunch at Noon. There will be entertainment until about 2 PM.
·      Garden Harvest Party – Probable Date, Saturday, October 16th, 2400 block of 17th Avenue. Watch for more information next month.
·      Crime Meeting at the Franklin Safety Center on Wednesday, Sept.  at 5:30 PM.

7:00      Presentation of City Plan for 22nd St. & Franklin Ave. Improvements. Beverly Warmka, from CPED

Handout and map were distributed. This project has been in the works for many years, started through a CPED grant application, prior to the  light-rail development. This plan affects Franklin Avenue, and pedestrian walk-ways (Bloomington to 21st Ave.) Seeking community feedback for setting priorities. Seeking neighborhood volunteers to sit on a panel and figure this out in a few quick meetings. Finally at a point where building can begin, but there is not enough money to do everything. All enhancements would be strictly related to pedestrian areas only (the County plans to resurface the street at some point.) CPED is working with Seward Redesign on coordinating plans for 22nd Street. Shirley of Midtown talked about the needs of two neighborhoods on the west side of Hiawatha who also need to have pedestrian access to the light rail station. There have been two applications to Great Streets funding for proposals which have been denied in the past four years, and there will be others. CPED has a $3.2M budget, that can get a project started. They are "starting" by enhancing the pedestrian ways along Franklin.

7:20      2600-2606 17th Ave. Proposal for Apartment of 20 Units of Homeless Housing by Alliance of the             Streets.  Carol Pass
The neighborhood has worked very hard to get this zoning which residents wanted. EPIC doesn't want to set precedents for allowing variants against the current zoning. We want a quiet inner space in our neighborhood, and we don't want to lose this. We resolved to have this project moved to an appropriately zoned area at our June meeting. In this particular plan, there will be no front or side yards for people to hang out and little parking. This area is zoned residential family housing (R2B). People have recently bought homes right nearby, believing that City zoning would maintain the character of the neighborhood. 
Joseph Spangler discussed the work that CP and EPIC have done on this since the last GMM. CP worked hard and wrote a great letter, asking City CM to pull this project from consideration. Joseph predicts that the neighborhoods will have to continue to work hard and communicate frequently that we need the City to listen to our needs and honor/support our neighborhood zoning decisions that were made in the past. It is very hard to get the City to listen to us. There are places two blocks away from this site that are zoned for this type of project. EPIC has no problem with placing this project in an area that is already zoned for the purpose. EPIC is not opposed to providing housing for the homeless; we know there is a need. We want it moved to the corridor that is zoned properly.
 7:35            Stop 'n Shop Gas Station on Lake and 18th Ave.: Joseph Spangler; Should it stay open all night?? Decision by the             City is coming on the 20th of September.
1700 E. Lake St Gas Station was established in 1997. This site has all of the problems that any gas station would have (noise, traffic, etc.) but it is located within a designated Transit Station Area for the light rail station, within the half-mile radius. In 2005, the City created an overlay zone called a Pedestrian Overlay District. While the original zoning permitted all these uses, the POD area prohibits automobile convenience facilities and car washes. Because the gas station was "grandfathered" in, the nonconforming use of this property is legal. However, any expansion of noncornforming use is NOT legal. The gas station owners have submitted a proposal requesting re-zoning of their property. Current hours are Sun-Thurs. 6 am - 10 pm, Fri - Sat 6 pm 12:00 am, Sun. 6:00 am - 11 pm.
MOTION  (MG, ES) passed
EPIC opposes the proposed expansion of nonconforming use by Stop N Shop at 1700 E. Lake St. Whereas the proposed expansion uses are not in conformance with the current zoning for the property, and does not conform to the Cities policies for transit oriented development along this section of Lake Street, nor does it conform to the Pedestrian Overlay District reaffirmed by the City in early 2010. In addition, in an effort to minimize the negative impact of the current legal nonconforming use, EPIC recommends the following modifications of the current use [as outlined in the suggested remediations document.]

7:50     East Phillips Park Center:   Brad Pass, Update, $50,000.00 for kitchen requires NRP Phase II completion

The building is now closed. Report any vandalism or trespassing inside the fence after business hours (about 3:30 pm.) Call 911 and direct Police. Plans are coming along great, and the site is expected to be open by the beginning of next year. Still seeking $50,000 for the kitchen.

8:00    Phillips Community Center: Brad Pass, Update, A waiting game. Effort to save and restore the pool, Pillsbury-Waite House & Neighborhood Proposals.

On the corner of 11th Avenue and 24th Street. There is now a mold problem, due to water on the floors that seem to be coming from the new roof which must be leaking. The community wants to save the pool - 100%.
           
MOTION (MG, TC) Passed

EPIC joins the other Neighborhoods to fund a feasibility study to determine the cost to restore the pool for $1,500.00.*

*The board recommended $1,000, however, the "share" for EPIC increased to $1,500 since the board meeting.

8:10     Narrowing 28th St. at the Greenway crossing:  Tim Springer,

The City of Minneapolis is proposing changes to the way the Greenway crosses over 28th St. just west of Hiawatha. There have been a number of accidents to bicyclists crossing 28th St, because of the "double threat" caused by two lanes of traffic going in both directions on 28th St. The proposal would "cross-hatch" the outside lane on both sides of 28th St. before and after the bicycle crossing. Neighborhood says that 29th Street is a nightmare during rush hour with traffic backed up to 14th Ave.

MOTION (BP, AJ) Passed

In order to solve the crossing problem of the Greenway at 28th Street, EPIC proposes stop lights at the intersection of the Greenway and E. 28th Street; green for automobile traffic, and red for bicyclists, push-button activated.

MOTION (MK, MG) Passed

Until we get stoplights, EPIC will support the City's temporary solution to provide a cross-hatching to prohibit automobile traffic on the outside lanes of 28th Street in an effort to make the crossing safer for bicyclists. In addition to simple cross-hatching on the street, we require floppy bollards as a vertical barrier.

8:20   Xcel Energy High Voltage Transmission Lines:  Tim Springer, Update
The formal hearings with neighborhoods, Xcel and the Administrative Law Judge are over. The ALJ is scheduled to release her recommendation, which is only advisory to the PUC in October. There may be an opportunity for public input before the PUC makes its decision.


8:30    Future Funding for Neighborhoods: Basis for Allocations and Process for NCEC is asking us: What do we             want from the new City Commission Decision-making Body for Neighborhoods? We need to let folks know.

8:45     Crime Concerns:   Write down problem Addresses and what is going on. We will submit list to the police.             Bloomington Patrol is up and running again.

There was a raid at 2602 17th Avenue - communicate concerns to Police.

9:00    Adjournment

September 4, 2010

Board Meeitng Minutes 09 - 04


September 4th, 2010, 10:00 am
Welna Hardware

 Present: Carol Pass, Mary Gonsior, Earl Simms, Jenny Bjorgo, Tim Chancey, Linda Leonard, Rosie Cruz

Called to Order: 10:30 am

10:00             Introduction:
·         Approval of Agenda (JB, TC) passed

10:10    Announcements
·      EPIC General Membership Meeting, September 13th
·      NCEC Informational Meetings- Thursday, September 9th, 6-8 pm, Van Cleve Park
                                     Thursday, September 30, 6-8 pm North Commons Park
·      Clean Sweep – Saturday, October 9th
·      Garden Harvest Party – Probable Date, Saturday, October 16th
·      Garden Harvest Party – Probable Date, Saturday, October 16th

10:15    East Phillips Park Center: Update, Floor Colors, Kitchen Money,  Rain Gardens, final excavation. We              hope there is no problem with additional pollution.

Still on track for building completion this year. January to be Open-House, February begin programming. The big things left: excavating for the three rain gardens and the parking lot. Encouraging Park Board to get into the grant writing procedure for next year in case we find pollution and have to postpone these items. The fields have $200,000 for renovation which is not enough. Will only remove the asphalt trail. Park Board is renegotiating cost of hauling pollution away - we are very close to buying the kitchen components, and we still need about $15,000; less than before; we are getting closer. Several current partners are involved with healthy food and nutrition. Still need to find a floor color that doesn't clash the awning.

10:30   Phillips Community Center: New Floor Plan, Issues with the RFP and PUC/Waite House, A waiting game

Directors read Bob Albee's report on the Phillips Community Parks Initiative August 2010, and reviewed updated floor plans. Parties interested in PCC met again on Aug. 31, and learned that Pillsbury United - Waite House didn't need all the space they were requesting. This led to a determination and decision that it wasn't in the interest of the community to allow one tenant to sublease; and instead reinforced commitment to work together as partners to implement a PCC that serves all the community. Cecil Smith (VV), Brad and Francisco (WH) met to figure out what is the bottom line for PUC/WH. Based on the concern that PUC/WH might go off on their own and ask for all the space at PCC, VV plans a meeting

MOTION: (JB, TC) Passed
Whereas the idea behind the coalition of four neighborhoods and PUC/WH and Wellness Center is to present a very strong, united front to the Park Board so that we can actually control the PCC building, and whereas it has recently become questioned whether PUC/WH is still on board, therefore EPIC joins the neighborhoods in preparing to write letters withdrawing support for PUC/WH, but only if PUC/WH withdraws from the unified coalition.

10:45   2600-2606 17th Ave. PROPOSAL FOR APARTMENT of 20 UNITS of  HOMELESS HOUSING by Alliance             of the Streets. Drug activity there. Met Council grant? Gary Schiff’s position? MOTiON: letter to Met.             Council

EPIC will write a letter to Met Council objecting to this proposal. We are supposed to have a tour of Alliance's buildings. Tim, Linda and Carol will coordinate on a tour.

11:00   NCEC Guidelines: MOTION: Number of Housing Units Irrelevant in deciding money dispersal
Distributed guidelines (also sent by email.)

MOTION: (CP, JB) Passed
EPIC opposes use of numbers of housing unit for funding allocations by NCEC Guidelines.

11: 15   Board Member Duties- Responsibilities:  Hannah’s resignation           

MOTION: (LL, The motion failed for lack of a second.)
EPIC will not accept Hannah's resignation from the board, but remove her from the office of Secretary.

MOTION: (JB, RC) Passed with one opposed
EPIC will accept Hannah's resignation and will seek a replacement board director.

FINANCES

Clean Sweep – Saturday, October 9th
MOTION: (JB, ES) Passed
EPIC will provide $300 toward purchasing T-shirts for Clean Sweep.

FANS - Teen Development
Students participating in their program receive $1,000 grants to attend college. Four components of program address known factors affecting college attendance (pregnancy, jobs, etc.) Depending on finances, they will admit student from 8th grade through 11th grade. Ideal length of program is four years.
Motion: (MG, TC) Passed
EPIC will provide $1,000 in 2010 for the FANS program.

Minutes from EPIC Board Meeting 8/7/2010
(JB, TC) Passed

Board Duties and Responsibilities
Reviewed Bylaws page 9, Duty of Loyalty.

11: 30    Adjournment