November 8, 2012

General Membership Meeting Minutes 11-08


November 8th, 2012, 6:30 p.m. – 8:45 p.m.
East Phillips Park Cultural & Community Center
2307 17th Ave S.
EPIC web address: eastphillips-epic.com
Office: 2536 18th Avenue S., Minneapolis, MN 55404

Board Members Present: Carol Pass, Jennie Bjorgo, Linda Leonard, Steve Struthers, Chiffon Williams, Rosie Cruz,
Board Members Not Present: Mary Gonsior, Earl Simms, JoseLuis Villasenor
Guests: Monica Romero
EPIC Members: Margaret Kirkpatrick, Brad Pass, Seth Kuhl-Stennes
Linda Leonard chaired. Called meeting to order at 6:45

6:45         Introductions:
·      Greetings and Introductions
·      MOTION:   Approval of Agenda. (Approved by consensus)
·      MOTION:   Approval of Minutes from EPIC 10/18/2012 General Membership meeting as corrected (Approved by consensus)
            The following Corrections are in italics:
            Italicized line page two regarding the first motion on that page should read:
            The board recommended Motion to support A-POD passed.
           The second “MOTION” on page 2 moved by Joani, not Steve Struthers.

6:55        Announcements:
·      Obama won the election & the Minnesota State Legislature is in DFL hands
·      Alley Annual Meeting is on Friday, 6:30 pm, Nov. 16th at East Phillips Park, Music and fun.
·      The Phillips Pool Project received the $350,000 Twins Stadium funds and $100,000 from Augsburg College to add to the Legislature’s fund of $1,750,000. Thanks to Hannah for hard work.

7:00       Implications of the Election…Comments???
            The polling place for the southern portion of EPIC was changed due to redistricting and residents were unaware of where they should vote. EPIC members went door to door to advise residents of  their new polling place, resulting in a very high turnout for East Phillips.

7:15       Presentation and update of the 2830 Cedar Daycare Center Project – Monica Romero & Maria Perez  (Maria Perez, owner, was ill and could not come. Monica presented)
           
Monica Romero is the Latino Economic Development Center Director of Development.
Maria Perez’s current child care is on 29th street and 18th Ave. Home day care since 2003, for children 6 wks old to through school age after school. Culturally adjusted childcare for quality education in Spanish immersion. Employees should be bilingual.

Monica asked if there were specific questions,
SS stated some neighbors think there may be inadequate resources and          asked if it could be   successfully completed.
CW asked if the day care and the associated jobs would be open for all ethnicities, Monica said it would be.
Maria purchased bldg. in 2010 and started looking for funding and they accomplished a full business plan and approached lenders.
Plan includes sky lights, fresh meals, a play ground and energy efficiency.
Building was vacant before she bought it.
Funding of $75,000 from CPED
Funding of $150,000 is committed by LEDC
South side of building is in very bad shape. All electrical and much plumbing must be replaced and a “lifter” must be installed.
The initial contractor backed out because of his lack of ability to provide advance construction funds and operate on a reimbursement basis.
Carol has provided them with another contractor who will provide an estimate in two weeks.
The lender is a CDFI and is federally approved to finance… has certified the initial funder.

Next steps:
Agree on a new cost estimate and time-line of completion.
Up to 80% of the $700,000 total project cost  will be guaranteed by Raza Development Fund
The project will provide an energy efficient design, a commercial kitchen for providing quality food and it will be a needed asset to the community.
It is a complicated project but is progressing and will be completed. It will serve 89 children.
All architectural drawings, floor plans and blue prints are done. CPED has a letter of intent.
All permits and commitments are in hand and with all this, Minneapolis has extended their permit  to build to May, 2013.
Monica was thanked for coming and for the thoroughness of her information.

7:35         Update on Greenway Heights Apartments, 2845 Bloomington Ave. On the Greenway
           
Just received $1.26 million in gap funding assistance through the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency Super RFP. The funders were Minnesota Housing, Family Housing Fund and Met Council. We also received approval last week for the balance of an Affordable Housing Trust Fund  loan for this project from the Community Development Committee of the City of Minneapolis.
 Hope to go in the ground in summer of 2013.

7:44          LL left . Meeting continued as Committee of the Whole.
     
7:45      Discussion on Funding Collaborations- Requirements for Public Charities, 501©(3)s
             Differences from Foundations…funding organizations. See EPIC Board discussion
            CP Passed out minutes of the 11/3/12 Board Meeting.
            At previous Board meeting we clarified from discussions with our neighborhood specialist that there is a difference between Public Charities and Private Foundations.        
            MK commented “we all here are aware of this distinction. We have many organizations in the neighborhood that we might be able to enter into collaborative agreements with”.
              CP said that we can only enter into these agreements sequentially because it involves doing a lot of work on our part and we have limited capacity.
            MK commented again asking “is there is anyone here who does not understand this.”
            CP.  It is very rare for a neighborhood organization to fund other organizations and it can only be done if it is a situation where our members can contribute and be involle and where EPIC is enghanced and strengthened through this process. Funding another organization’s operations is not appropriate. Funding a program we can work on together collaboratively to serve neighborhood residents is what we are to be doing.           
            CP pointed out that one of EPIC’s purposes is to assist people with problems we can collaboratively help with. We are to serve under-represented members of the community. We cannot support the operations of another organization or their staff of volunteers, but we work collaboratively support a program we both share that serves our residents.
            SS proposed a motion, which paraphrased Joanie Essenberg’s made last meeting
            BP pointed out that according to our By-Laws a motion cannot be voted on that is not on the agenda.
            SS withdrew his motion.
            Certain assistance such as providing bike locks for East Phillips kids or funding East Phillips kids’ rock climbing tickets for a one-shot park board field trip is okay.
            The discussion boiled down to an effort to create a template for getting on the EPIC Agenda and presenting community needs.
            CP pointed out that this is already happening and that we had tried to codify this at the last board meeting. This is a policy that was worked on at the last board meeting and we will continue to work on it

8:00        Review of EPIC partnership with A-POD, A Partnership of Diabetics  and collaborative funding to provide for our resident’s wellness all of them, but targeting the Latinos, who are  as yet unserved.
            The APOD collaboration seems manageable. But will take time. The proposal needs to be tweaked to make it more collaborative.

8:15            What should happen to the Waite House Building? Report on recent meetings. Note: this has been a discussion of the process only, not the requesting organizations and/or businesses.
            -CP went to a third meeting and brought the EPIC Motion from the 9/13/2012 meeting. She reported only three people from Midtown were there for much of the meeting, with the MPRB lawyer and Don Siggelkow.
            -The discussion is not about approval or disapproval of any group gaining access to the building, it is about the process that was accepted by the MPRB to determine who would get the building.  Initially the MPRB tasked Midtown Phillips with creating an open and inclusive process to dispose of the building. It turned out that there were only three or four white people, no one from the diverse constituencies were on the committee to make this decision. The only Latinos, two people, walked out of a previous meeting in protest because they had not been informed of any of this in time to for anyone else to put in a proposal. They stated also that there was an exclusion of any diverse input.
            -BP gave a brief summary to the group of the last meeting and pointed out that they had removed from the RFP the sentence that ‘All constituencies would have representatives on the decision making team thereby reneging on any effort at an inclusive process.
            -CP discussed the motion suggested by Joannie Essenburg at the last meeting, which would be in conflict of our previous motion (9/13/12) opposing the un-inclusive Midtown process for disposition of the Waite House property. The first motion of 9/13 would have to be rescinded before a motion in conflict with it could be passed.
            -CP stated that these none of these comments were or are directed at any of the proposers or proposals. They were directed only at the process about which she had received numerous comments from Community members, Latino, Native and others expressing their disappointment at being left out of the process.

8:30          Land Use and Development : Updates on  
·      Alliance Housing – Meeting with Herb Frey, Executive Director of Alliance,
·      Smith Foundry and Bituminous Roadways –
             MOTION: – BOARD RECOMMENDED MOTION: EPIC commits the organization to a             major effort to remove Bituminous Roadways (and Smith Foundry by SS             recommendation) from the city.
            SS expressed concern that if Bituminous leaves, Smith would take over their area.
            LL Moved & SS seconded motion passed.

·      Abbott Hospital air quality permit  (not discussed)
8:45       Adjournment   

November 3, 2012

Board Meeting Minutes 11-03


November 3rd, 2012, Saturday, 10:00 am
East Phillips Park Cultural & Community Center, 2307 17th Ave. S
EPIC web address: eastphillips-epic.com
Office: 2536 18th Avenue S., Minneapolis, MN 55404

Present (board): Carol Pass, Earl Simms, Chiffon Williams, Linda Leonard, Rosie Cruz
Not present: Jennie Bjorgo, Mary Gonsior, Steve Struthers, JoseLuis Villasenor
Members: Brad Pass

10:00             Introduction:
·       Approval of Agenda ( LL,CW ) APPROVED           
·       Approval of Minutes from 10/6/12 EPIC Board Meeting ( LL, ES) APPROVED.
·       Moved Consensus process,  Approved

10:10    Announcements: 
·       ELECTION!!   VOTE!!  TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6TH – 7:00 AM- 8:00 PM, Stand in line as long as necessary
·       EPIC Membership Meeting:  Thursday, November 8th, 6:30 PM, the East Phillips Park Center
·       Alley Annual Meeting – Nov 16, 6:00 pm, East Phillips Park Center,
·       Clean Sweep – October 13th was a great success!!
·       Cultural Evening with Lila Downs totally wonderful!!
·       EPIC Community Garden Harvest Party, October 20th nice and fun

10:15            Alley Newspaper Annual Meeting– Harvey Winge -  Pledge of $500.00 with other Neighborhoods
            MOTION: EPIC will join other Phillips Neighborhoods to help defray the cost of the Alley Annual Meeting, Consensus

10:25            Update on the Poolthe Park Board received the $350,000 Twins Stadium grant to add to the Legislature’s fund of $1,750,000

10:30            Housing Rehab Program: EPIC concluded all the work on organizing the program. We can begin work on a marketing plan next week. We will create a Brochure listing the programs and start disseminating them. We need to form a task force in the next weeks to work on a marketing plan.

10:40            Garden Bike racks – EPIC will share 50% of the cost for Bike Racks with the City. Price is $48.90 higher than stated in our our first motion.

            MOTION: EPIC approves adding $48.90 to $200 for Garden Bike Racks – Will to be delivered in spring. Consensus

10:50            Removal of Polluting Industries from East Phillips Starting with Bituminous Roadways
            MOTION: EPIC commits to a major effort to remove polluting industries, Bituminous Roadways, Consensus

11:00            Issues with General Membership Meeting of October 18th
             EPIC 501©(3) funding –how does this go? Why is a general  RFP illegal? Difference between a 501©(3) and a  foundation.
             Discussion: Difference between a 501©(3) and a foundation.  A Public Charity receives grants..does not re-grant to other orgs.  A Foundation gives grants w/ RFPs. Question: did you people understood this at  the October meeting?
             Most agreed: not really. Would not have been arguments.
            We need to define this better. Collaborative efforts w/ funding- Criteria for funding –sequential, serves East Phillips people, duties and enhancement for both, fully collaborational…both groups do the work, a chosen priority for EPIC, a special organization that works with us to respond to and provide services to our community…LL- should be based on need.
             CP – must be based on EPIC’s capacity to do our part and willingness of the other organization to work with EPIC and strengthen both organizations at once. Process of sharing funding needs more work. But we can accomplish more by sharing resources than alone.
           
            Obligations of board members – See Bylaws- We are to debate and form policy here, not
            in community meetings. We can disagree, but are to work it out at board meetings &
            state what the board decided & any departure we have from that. Board loyalty is important
            and has value., especially w/ regard too stability.
             LL: we can’t fight with each other in the General Membership meeting, people will never come back.
            CP: At least not the board members fighting each other..
            Ideas?
             RC: We need Mary back. People don’t listen to each other. Too much Disrespect.
            BP: Need to “state rules of engagement’ at the outset.  Read them. Bring Robert’s Rules and Bylaws.

11:30            .A-POD – A Partnership of Diabetics – Collaborative funding to bring this program to the Latino residents of East Phillips, a major effort responding to EPIC’s commitment to Latino outreach. EPIC will recruit people with a focus on Latinos and the organization provides the program. EPIC will provide matching money to Allina’s $2,500. There is already a translated Somali group. This fund will help Spanish translation of materials for a Latino specific health group. EPIC may share costs and ownership of interpreting machines with head sets.   EPIC Board needs to work on Memo of Agreement to be sure it is fully collaborational and fits requirements for 501©(3) status.           
MOTION: Bring Memorandum of Agreement back with changes. Consensus

12:00     Adjournment