August 8th, 2013,
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
“The world needs dreamers and the world
needs doers,
but most of all the world needs
dreamers who do.”
Board Members Present: Carol Pass, Mary Gonsior, Linda Leonard, Earl Simms, Rosie Cruz, Aisha Gomez
Board Members Not Present: Jennie Bjorgo, Ali Micalin, Sherdl Kordian
EPIC Members: Brad Pass, Laura Dale, Rob Czernik, Luce Guillen-Givins, Anna Zabinski,
Kim Haden, Margaret Kirkpatrick
Guests: Shirley Heyer, Don Greeley
MOTION: Meet as a committee of the whole. (BP, CP) Passed.
6:45 Introductions:
· Greetings and Introduction
· Approval of Agenda. Passed with addition of Midtown
announcement, and move up Crime concerns to follow NNO Report.
· Approval of Minutes – tabled pending clarification of
minutes concerning committee of the whole vote (p. 3) and the discussion of the
motion on page 4.
6:55 Announcements:
· Community Garden Day-this Saturday, 24XX 17th
Avenue. Meeting is 10-11 am, open house 11-1 pm, refreshments.
· Clean Sweep- October 12th, first meeting
yesterday; this is about our 15th year; give away 400 t-shirts each
year (kids design); this is a great community event.
· Rafael Gonzales (Waite House) is organizing a Phillips Music
Festival on Saturday, Aug. 17th Noon – 8:00 pm. Hosted by all the
tenants in the building.
· Midtown Crime Meeting, next Thursday at 6:30 pm at Steward
Park; meeting will mostly be devoted to discussion of neighborhood crime. All
from surrounding neighborhoods are welcome.
7:00 National
Night Out Report
Various residents
reported on neighborhood celebrations of NNO events. We had many NNO Block
Parties, but only some asked for
reimbursement. Seven reimbursements came to $437,92.
7:15 Crime Concerns
Police were able to attend
about a dozen events in Phillips before the rain came along. There were about
1,400 events scheduled for NNO.
1.
What strategies will
we as citizens employ to address these concerns, and partner more effectively
with police?
2.
We have decided to
invest in one or more crime cameras; this will take some research and probably
won’t be decided tonight.
3.
Discuss or list
problem properties.
Problem properties
Progress-Van is gone
from Lake Street!
·
2900 16th
Avenue – problem properties and undercover are looking at this one.
·
2916-18 17th Avenue –
reported incorrectly last month as 2816-18. DG recruited a block club leader;
thinks this is a building full of men only; DG will follow up.
·
1808 E. 26th
St. – two drive by shootings in May; not one issue reported since end of May.
Tenants probably moved; no problems since.
·
2527 18th
Avenue – State of MN owns the property, in foreclosure; Henn. Cty getting an
injunction – Alex Mehralian is not allowed to live there. If he moves in,
Police will move him out when the court issues the order. Residents asked what
to do if he moves in; can’t the state post “no trespassing”; residents want the
county or state to secure the property (board it); residents reported there is
a new car in the back; no point in reporting because there is nothing that
Police can do until the judgment comes in.
·
Stop N Shop/– DG met
with Capt. Trejo and he has met with owners; Stop N Shop has been very
cooperative and will post “no trespassing” signs; they are willing to call
police. Businesses are required to keep property clean within 100 feet from the
store. CP is writing a Letter to Gas Station Owner.
·
Salvation Army – DG
met with SA management and he is upset about the prostitutes in the parking
lot, but reported that he was out checking every day. He is unwilling to add a
fence, but agreed to check lights to make sure they work. DG working on getting
to the bottom of who owns the building and getting “no trespassing” signs
posted.
·
DG suggested we invite
Capt. Trejo to a meeting.
·
Greenway hot spots:
Columbus, 12th and Bloomington; Greenway task force are working on
this, bringing together city, county etc., and getting commitments from
everyone to improve lighting and camera situation there. Statistically, the
crime rate is very low. Violent crimes are typically late at night, not during
daytime hours.
·
2605 17th
Avenue – new house has been abandoned; opened up and has people inside. DG says
that neighbors need to call 9-1-1; the police can board the building if used
for criminal purposes.
Issues with 3-1-1
Reporting housing
issues through 3-1-1 who reports this to inspections. LL reported that renters
have trouble reporting these issues because of language barriers. 2-3 years ago
the city attorney decided that inspections cannot order an inspection unless
the landlord approves, or the tenants report a problem.
Community Cameras
We are thinking about
getting a camera for the Stop N Shop/Salvation Army area, but the city doesn’t
have a Wi-Fi hot spot there; JD agrees that the Wi-Fi
7:50 Housing-
Change in income cap.
Housing grants aren't moving. Spread the Word! Income cap was too
low. The income guidelines are now 100% of the HUD median income.
We found that the cap was too low, and many people are supporting extended
family and as a result, we are excluding many people who need this funding, but
don’t qualify. A second factor contributing to ineligibility is any late
mortgage payment within the previous year. Distributed our housing brochure,
that still shows the 80% of HUD median income. BP will try to print stickers to
place over this information so we don’t need to reprint brochures.
We also are learning that these funds
are being processed like any other loan. This means there are other
qualifications that must be met, as would be with a typical loan.
Q and A:
Who is turned down,
and why?
· They won’t let this money go out if you are in arrears on
your mortgage, or could lose your house.
· You have to have one year of timely mortgage payments.
· You must be current with your taxes.
· You must have a “loan-worthy” credit rating.
Foreclosures. Workshops are a good place to start to get information to
get starting in reversing foreclosures. Dawn Williams, PRG’s foreclosure
counselor, can meet with individuals and assist with folks who are struggling.
Home purchases. EPIC is looking at and trying to get a handle on
foreclosures, so we can assist with matching foreclosures with buyers who wish
to live IN these homes. Investors are snapping these up, so you must act
quickly.
8:00 Development Concerns:
Daycare at 2830 Cedar
Avenue. The project doesn’t seem to be moving forward. EPIC has done everything
we can to hold this property for the developers, but with neighbors
complaining, we need to check up and make sure there is progress being made.
New Housing
possibilities. CP asked PRG to look into building single family homes on some
of our vacant lots. We found some funding to help with the gap between building
and selling these homes, which is now $85,000. This has made it almost
impossible to find funding.
Greenway Heights.
Laura expressed concerns about the development planned on the Greenway Heights
site. She only learned about the project a couple months ago, even though she
has lived in her home across the street for years. She dropped off a letter for
EPIC voicing her concerns.
8:10 Youth
Sports-
Board recommended MOTION: EPIC recommends that we support Ali Micalin’s soccer
program up to $1,000 based on EPIC’s collaborative funding criteria, and
provided that there is no duplication in the program budget by other agencies,
along with a signed memorandum of understanding with the Park Board. Passed
Funding for EPIC individuals, Groups and Collaborative
Organizations (Policies and Procedures addition)
8:20 Blueprint for Equity Report:
Discussion of the progress on the previous motion.
CP distributed a copy of a letter she
wrote under her signature as District 7 Commissioner of NCEC, to the 7
neighborhoods. Bancroft neighborhood is actually holding a meeting as EPIC is
meeting, to
MOTION: EPIC
requests a calendar of these public meetings, including who will making the
presentation/survey. (LL, MK) Passed.
Midtown Greenway Survey
MK distributed surveys to EPIC
residents and noted that surveys are also available in Spanish.
8:45 Adjournment
