EPIC Board Meeting Minutes
April 4th, 2020, 10am – 12pm
EPIC web address: eastphillips-epic.com
Office: 2433 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55404
Email: epic.ssantiago@gmail.com
Phone: (612) -280-8418
Board Roster: Rosie Cruz, Laura Dale, Mary Gonsior, Cassandra Holmes, Shontal Lajeunesse, Abah Mohamed, Carol Pass, Steve Sandberg, Sarah Santiago.
Board Members Present: Laura Dale, Mary Gonsior, Cassandra Holmes, Carol Pass, Steve Sandberg, Sarah Santiago, Shontal Lajeunesse
Board Members Not Present: Rosie Cruz, Abah Mohamed
Members: Brad Pass
Guests:
10:22 Agenda Approval, amended, CP, StS, Approved
Minutes Approval, LD, StS, Approved
10:30 Announcements
· April’s Community Meeting is cancelled
· EPIC’s annual meeting is postponed
· Next Board Meeting will be: May 7th at 7pm at the EPIC office (2433 Bloomington Avenue) or virtually – TBD
o EPIC’s board meetings will temporarily be moved to the first Thursday of each month at 7pm
o Board Meetings are open to the public
· Next Executive Committee meeting will be: April 16th at the EPIC office (2433 Bloomington Avenue) or virtually - TBD
o Executive Committee meetings are open to the public
o Board members please send agenda items (for both community meetings and board meetings) to Sarah before executive meetings each month
· All Southside Greenzone meetings are cancelled until April 16th
10:40 COVID-19 considerations
· Karen Moe from NCR sent out email stating “NCR will not be enforcing the open meeting provision within the Community Participation Program contracts. To be clear, it is not expected that any neighborhood organization put their community health at risk to conduct a meeting. We have spoken to the Attorney General’s Office and confirmed that neighborhood organizations would not be in violation of their bylaws during this unprecedented time.
· Organizations can look at alternate ways of communications and hosting gatherings. NCR staff have identified a number of online and other communication tools which can be effective, including the list below. Please feel free to reach out to your neighborhood specialists to talk through ideas. Platforms that could be explored include:
o Facebook Live, Social Pinpoint, GoToMeeting, Zoom, Skype, Twitter/Facebook polling, Survey Monkey, Mentimeter, Social media posts including boosted/targeted posts and social media ads, Website ready materials, Videos, Email blasts, Phone calling
· Should we have our community meeting via zoom, facebook or some other virtual way?
o The April meeting is cancelled
o Some options for future community meetings: youtube live, facebook live, zoom
· Should we postpone the annual meeting until we can meet in person or try to do it virtually?
o We will postpone Annual meeting until we can meet in person
· Should EPIC get a zoom account – yes - $16 per month – Carol and Brad will purchase
· Sarah will send out a google doc of Covid-19 resources for board members to add onto and then send out to all members on e-mail list
MOTION: EPIC will sign on to the Minnesota COVID-19 Response, StS, SL, two abstentions
· Sarah will sign us on
11:02 Resolution from neighborhoods
· Neighborhoods have written a letter rejecting the city moving to get rid of existing neighborhood organizations – you all received an analysis by Robert Thomas and a CURA study to read over in preparation for discussing at board meeting
MOTION: EPIC endorses the Longfellow Letter, with the exception of the $25,000 base amount which is too small, CP, StS, approved
10:40 Logistics
· Check in about Cassie missing board meetings – should we change our meeting times
o We will temporarily move the board meetings to the first Thursday of each month at 7pm
o We will notify the community in our e-mail about COVID-19 e-mail
· Check in on status of moving funds for KALY Radio
· ADA compliance
o We will follow up on this next month
· Has thank you letter gone out to Jeff Hayden, Sen Patricia Torres Ray and Clyde Bellecourt from EPIC?
o Steve will talk to Karen about this
· Work on 2020/21 budget including previously allocated 2017-2019 and new 2020 program guidelines
o Carol will bring to April executive meeting
· Sexual Harassment policy
o Tabled to May Board meeting – Mary will work on along with ADA policy
· What do we want to put in EPICs May Alley post?
o Connections to resources during Stay at Home order
§ Free wifi; food drop offs, unemployment, MPS school link for homework and food
o New board meeting date; postpone Annual meeting; May community meeting will be held via zoom
o Sarah will send this to Brad who will put together Alley post
12:00 Roof Depot Update
· Still trying to get EQB changed away from Minneapolis
· Had a conference call with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency – saying that the city doesn’t have a permit request, MPCA can’t do anything; the city is saying they may have a project at the Roof Depot site, but not yet; city may give themselves a permit to tear down the building, but that permit is based on state regulations
· City is remediating lead and asbestos at the city currently – likely preparing the site for demolition
12:30 Hiring discussion
· Board members cannot be paid, employee would not be a voting member
· Put on agenda for executive meeting agenda
· Come up with a job description – board’s job to evaluate job performance
· Employee would exclude herself/himself from discussions of salary and benefits
· Will meet on Thursday April 9th
12:46 Will the EPIC garden be able to continue during COVID 19 pandemic
· Only one person at a time in the garden, disinfect garden tools and hose etc., gardeners must follow CDC guidelines, require gardeners to wear gloves reserved only for gardening
· Will research what other gardens are doing and whether insurance will cover us and discuss at April 9th meeting
12:53 Adjourn
