January 8, 2015

General Membership Meeting Minutes 01- 08


January 8, 2015, 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 Roster: Jenny Bjorgo, Rosie Cruz, Mary Gonsior, Jean Howard, Linda Leonard, Ali Micalin, Carol Pass, Cesar Prado, Earl Simms
Board Members Present: Mary Gonsior, Linda Leonard, Carol Pass, Rosie Cruz
Board Members Not Present: Ali Micalin, Cesar Prado, Jenny Bjorgo, Jean Howard, Earl Simms EPIC Members: Brad Pass, Laura Dale, Kyla Sisson, Harry & Dana Dewilde, Michael Green, Alfonso Cruz, Sue Goodspeed, Eric Immler, Alfonso Cruz, Maggie Ewing
Guests: Don Greeley, Tammy Johnston

6:35     Introductions:

·       Greetings and Introductions, share your favorite winter sport.
·       MOTION to meet as a committee of the whole; approved by consensus.
·       Approval of Agenda: Agenda was accepted by consensus.
·       Approval of Minutes from December EGM: Approval of minutes with corrections on page 3 (Water Works) and checking the tape for notes on page 3 (Planning Dept.)

 NOTE: get back to Susan Goodspeed regarding a future agenda item.

6:55     Crime and Safety – Don Greeley
Part 1 crimes (violent) between 2014 and 2013, there was an increase of 22% in East Phillips. There was a huge (71%) increase in robberies. Sexual assaults were down by 58%. A comparison of the four neighborhoods of Phillips for the two years was presented in a report.

MG Question: Why does East Phillips have the biggest increase in violent crime and the biggest increase in robberies of the four neighborhoods. What could make a difference?

Response: More active block clubs, more citizen patrols, might make a difference. Police do track patterns and focus on these areas. Over the years, the most apparent pattern we have observed of violent crime in East Phillips, is the Bloomington & Lake, East 29th street areas. The only real trend is that there are more Latino victims, and this is because they tend to carry more cash (accounts from victims and police reports.) Police take notice of these trends and focus more attention on these locations, send out alerts, and try to get the word out.

2927 16th; started the process of going after the landlord for rental license issues, as well as referring to the city attorney; owner will have to present a management plan.

RC Question: Is there a documented process that must be followed for license revocation, so residents can follow.

Response: There are 3 incidents that must be reported, with appropriate responses. The city is responsible for this process. The county can address “nuisance” properties. Typically that takes 3-4 incidents to meet state guidelines. Some owners just take over the property, but the new owner still has the burden of any previous requirements.

RC Question: Cars neglected in parking lot, used for crime. What can be done about this.

Response: Police cannot go onto private property and tow cars. Will follow up on this particular problem property/car.

RC Question: Is there any reason why windows of café should not be covered with green and red plastic, to shield the public from seeing into the building.

Response: it is illegal to cover more than 1/3 of any window on a commercial property.

Tammy Johnston, Midtown Safety; probation officer. Attending to be a resource to East Phillips.

7:20     Presidents’ Report

  • Conclusion of the Audit and implications.
  • NPP plan contract signed.
Carol explained the process of the audit that was conducted and reported that the actual cost will be $3,600 (still to be determined who is paying for this). While this was a helpful process for EPIC, it was extremely expensive.

The implications of this audit are that the CPP organization is not particularly supportive of neighborhoods and they should be more supportive of neighborhoods. They owe us some respect because we came through this audit very well.

Some members of  the City Council have been threatening to take away the funds that they describe as “sitting around”. However, EPIC views these funds as “planned funding” and we have every intention of spending these funds, in ways that support the sustainability of this neighborhood organization.

EPIC has built millions of dollars worth of housing over the years; this doesn’t even include the $50,000 invested in the Phillips pool, and the East Phillips Park development. We learned through NRP that if you have money available, it will raise up all kinds of creative volunteer capital. Unfortunately, we will not see that kind of money from the City any time in the near future.. City money is ONLY for citizen participation, and you really won’t have a big enough amount of money to fund projects.

Neighborhood Priority Plans (NPP) are a way of using the community aspect of CPP funding and allowing  it to be used for projects like the NRP dollars were, i.e. money that can be used to create capital and infrastructure improvements which are vital to maintain and enhance older neighborhoods like East Phillips.

THREE POTS OF MONEY
  • CPP = Citizen Participation Program used primarily to run the organization.
  • NPP = Neighborhood Priority Plan- These are CPP funds treated in a special way, can be used for projects.
  • NRP Can be used for both

7:40     Treasurer’s Report

  • Report is preliminary and represents transition from do-it-yourself reporting by EPIC to professional accounting by a CPA.
  • Noted that accounting costs to set up this change in 2014, to date were $2,353.
  • Accepted report (No questions).
If members have questions about the financial statements, please write questions on the report and give to Treasurer at a membership meeting.

7:50     Housing Future: Home Ownership and Home Rehab
·       PRG, Powderhorn Residents Group and GMHC, Greater Metro Housing Corp. will help fill our vacant lots.
·       CEE, Center for Energy and Environment is in the process of transferring oversight for EPIC’s home rehab and home buyer loan programs to GMHC. EPIC has done our part. This is being processed by the City right now. Until this is concluded EPIC can offer no home loans.
·       There are 8 lots available and we should be able to start with 1-2 houses in the spring.

After much discussion, we will invite these organizations to make presentations to EPIC community, including an opportunity to ask questions and participate in planning to the fullest extent possible. 

8:10     Progress on the November Motion: Next steps, task force

MOTION PASSED AT NOVEMBER MEETING:

MOTION: Establish a Clean Air Task Force to repurpose the heavy industry areas of East Phillips to the goals of transit oriented residential housing, to disallow any further introduction of heavy industry and ultimately eliminate heavy industrial polluting enterprises from within the boundaries of East Phillips.

Task Force signup:
Maggie, Kyla, Eric,
Other Task Force members are: Margarita Ortega, Rosie Cruz, Ben Fisher, Patty Zanski-Fisher,  Seth Kuhl-Stennes, Jennie Bjorgo

The task force has not yet met, thus has not selected a chair. EPIC has distributed news articles and fact sheets regarding the laws passed by Roseville that prevented the move of Bituminous Roadways into property located in Roseville. Our task is large; we have multiple goals: 

  • Stop the Water Dept. from moving here.
  • Clean up and prevent future heavy industry associated pollution.
It is not enough to be “against” something, we have to be “for” something better. What can we propose for these lands that would be a better use than Water Works, and existing industries? We must also remember that some or the entire site may not be suitable for housing due to the Arsenic Triangle.

CP discussed making conditions for Water Works, which could be of assistance in removing heavy industry and reducing pollution, while not our ideal solution.

8:25     25th Street Berm

We thought Paul Mogush would be helpful (CPED) but he didn’t like the idea of a berm and will not support it. He actually reported his opinion to the decision maker. So we need to have a plan of action. We should send a letter to the 16th Avenue Block Club. We should engage our city council member and staff to support us on this. We should also work with Midtown Phillips.

8:30     Should we have a party?

We have to be creative about funding a party, but we can still plan a party.  Let’s have a card-making, pot luck, event on Saturday, February 14th.

What rooms do we want: the kitchen and community room.
1-4 pm.

8:40     Adjournment