February 3rd, 2018, 10:00 am -12:00
East Phillips Park Cultural &
Community Center, 2307 17th Ave S.
EPIC web
address: eastphillips-epic.com
Office: 2536
18th Avenue S., Minneapolis, MN 55404
Phone: (612) 280-8418
Board Roster: Rosie Cruz, Laura Dale, Mary Gonsior, Tom Harris, Cassandra
Holmes, Linda Leonard, Carol Pass, Marc Trius, Linda Vermillion.
Board Members Present: Laura
Dale,
Mary Gonsior, Cassandra Holmes, Linda Leonard, Carol Pass, Marc Trius, Linda Vermillion
Board Members Not Present: Rosie Cruz, Tom Harris.
EPIC Members: Brad Pass
Guests: Shirley Heyer,
Abba Mohamed
10:38 Introductions:
· Greetings and Introductions
· Approval of Agenda: Approved with addition of
announcements (by consensus.)
· Approval of Minutes from January1, 2018: Approved with
correction (Tom Harris was excused, not absent), by consensus.
10:43 Announcements:
- General Membership Meeting, February 8th, Thursday, at East Phillips Park, 6:30 to 8:45 pm.
- Annual Meeting will be April 28, 2018
- SummerFest will be June 24, 2018
- Midtown Phillips Annual Meeting Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018 (5:00 Social, 5:30 meeting) at the Midtown Global Market
- Phillips West Winter Social Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018 (5:00 Social) at Lutheran Center for Changing Lives
- Green Zones is meeting monthly for 8 months. There is a citizen’s board that meets the 4th Tuesday of the month. You can find their sustainability project with CPED. Their meeting calendar is online on the City website.
- VW Meeting. CH is working to reserve the EPPCCC community room on Tuesday evening, Feb. 27th, to meet with Ned Brooks and a couple others to discuss the VW money and opportunities to garner funds to reduce pollution related to the Roof Depot and neighboring sites. Note: we have learned that individual vehicles can apply for funds. Ask for Ned Brooks to provide all grants available with deadlines for filing.
- Introduced Abba Mohamed, EPIC resident and local business owner, who is working with EPNI planning group.
11:06 Roof Depot vs. EP Indoor Urban Farm
Bench Marks, Completed and New
- 2013-14; distributed NIMBY (PowerPoint presented to EPIC community in late 2014. The city was present, and it was a large community meeting. This was the beginning of a coalition of neighborhood residents working to envision a different future for the Roof Depot, Asphalt plant sites. EPIC presented research showing that the pollutants produced by these industries in a residential community has been found to cause serious health and developmental issues among children.
- The Project. A series of meetings followed to try to figure out what to do. EPIC fought off various other polluting plans in the past. To fight the city’s plan to move the water works to the site, bringing massive diesel trucks and pollution, we knew we needed an alternate plan. We soon had $9M pledged to our project, and the community started putting together an economically sustainable plan. Unfortunately, the city threatened the property owners with imminent domain. The first drawings were presented at the EPIC annual meeting in 2015. The community voted unanimous support.
- THE CITY PURCHASES THE ROOF DEPOT SITE. Our effort at purchase is shut down.
- Growing the Project. With an email list of 400, along with targeted door-knocking in the vicinity of the site and around the eighborhood, and in partnership with community groups and Midtown Neighborhood, Karen Clark, industry experts, and various community leaders. Eventually, the city told us “maybe” we could have a small section of the property for this project.
- The MOTION and some success. CM Alondra Cano got a motion through the city council saying it had to work with the East Phillips community but the City states they will tear the Roof Depot down and "be in the ground" this Spring.
- Lobbying the legislature with success. EPIC receives a state grant from DEED of $319,000.
- The participating groups and their constituents form East Phillips Neighborhood Institute, EPNI, the collaboration of small businesses and nonprofits to work on creating the EP Indoor Urban Farm.
- The community succeeds in delaying Public Works from moving ahead for two years.
- Contract with DEED. There is a heavy load on EPIC as fiscal agent and grant recipient of the grant. It is important that fund requests start moving as there are deadlines for submitting reimbursement request.
- The immediate future. Some of the funds are intended to help the smaller partners grow so that when the building is up, these organizations will be ready to go. Each business needs to create an economically sustainable business plan. We also must figure out how to finance the building – will it be dependent on grants? How will this project work in a market-based system? The city had said they plan to tear down the building this fall – once they tear it down, everything changes. We have already stopped them, and we now have 2 years. This is a huge accomplishment! We have to have this figured out soon!
11:48 What next? New Projects.
Swimming pool will become available later than we thought. The
swimming pool project is another long-term project of EPIC and other
neighborhoods who have been working on together for several years. Last Tuesday
EPPP met with Zana Murdoch The construction is almost done, the pools are
functional, and have the most up to date sustainability features. There is
still work to do on the locker rooms, teen center, etc. This was a community
driven project. It was important to meet the needs of the community. They are
in the process of hiring lifeguards. It will be about 2 months before the pools
open. There are jobs available, and they will train lifeguards. Go to MPRB
online and go to Phillips Aquatic Center and look up "jobs".
- We know that people in EPIC’s community can’t afford, and believe they shouldn’t have to pay the rates that Augsburg College and Minneapolis schools have to pay. MPRB has programs for putting youth to work in exchange for participating in park programs, and there is an opportunity to provide similar opportunities to Phillips youth.
At a previous meeting EPIC set aside $10,000 for an
East Phillips Children and Youth swim program. However, at the last membership
meeting the community increased the amount to $20,000.
Membership
Meeting MOTION: EPIC will guarantee
that East Phillips children have access to the pool for which we have already
invested $75,000, therefore, EPIC will set aside a minimum of $20,000 for an
East Phillips Children and Youth swim program. LL, MT. Approved.
Board
New MOTION: EPIC will guarantee that
East Phillips children have access to the pool for which we have already
invested $75,000, therefore, EPIC will set aside a minimum of $20,000 for an
East Phillips Children and Youth swim program. LV, LD. Approved.
