EPIC
Board Meeting Draft Minutes
April 2, 2022, 10am – 11am
EPIC web address: eastphillips.org
Email: sarah@eastphillips.org
Office: 2433 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis, MN
55404
Phone: (612)
354-6802
Board Roster: Mary Gonsior, Cassandra Holmes, David Ingold, Shontal Lajeunesse, Steve Sandberg, Schuyler Sellars, Karen Townsend, Nikolas Winter-Simat, L.R. Young
Board Members Present: Mary Gonsior, David Ingold, Schuyler Sellars, L.R. Young, Nikolas Winter Simat, Cassandra Holmes, Karen Townsend, Steve Sandberg
Board Members Not Present: Shontal Lajeunesse (E)
Members:
Guests:
9:30
Social time - coffee and donuts
Time
keeper: David
Facilitator:
Nikolas
Note
keeper: Sarah
10:05 Review vision and mission
Welcome guests/intros
Approve agenda, NWS,
DI, Approved
Approve minutes, NWS, DI, Approved
Reminders:
●
Community
Meetings are the second Thursday of the month
o
Next
Community Meeting will be: Thursday, April 14 from 6:30 to 7:30 at East
Phillips Park and online (link to join meeting can be found at
eastphillips.org)
▪
We
will continue the strategic planning process - gathering community input about
how to reach our long term goals
●
Board
Meetings have been the first Saturday of the month - we will discuss later in
this meeting whether to change this going forward
o
Next
Board Meeting will be: Saturday, May 7 from 10am to 11am at the EPIC office and
online (link to join meeting can be found at eastphillips.org)
o
Board
Meetings are open to the public - join online
●
All
board members must sign a conflict of interest statement annually
o
Those
attending in person, please sign today
o
For
those attending remotely - Sarah will send you an Adobe Sign
●
The
EPIC Board received the monthly financial report via email, also found here
●
The
EPIC Board passed the following motions via email:
1. MOTION:
The EPIC board
approves of changing the wording in the contract for the Emergency Deferred
Loan Program to make eligible improvements restricted to critical repairs using
the suggested language CEE provided.
a. " Eligible Improvements: An emergency is defined as an imminent
condition that makes a house uninhabitable, dangerous to the occupants, or is
capable of causing severe health problems. Repairs that will remedy such
emergencies are eligible. Examples of eligible repairs include, but are not
limited to water lines, sewer service, fire hazards, repair to exterior steps,
railings, retaining walls, water seepage into basement, structural problems, or
replacement of a furnace or hot water heater. Repairs that remedy code
violations and those needed to address home repairs before they significantly
de-value the home and become much more serious problems, are also eligible
whether or not the city has issued a code violation. Examples of eligible
repairs include, but are not limited to, leakage around windows, tree removal
if causing damage or can cause damage to property because of the health of the
tree or causes loss of homeowners insurance, rotting fascia, holes in siding
and/or roofing due to animals, roof leakage, crumbling brick or concrete and
deteriorated retaining walls. CEE will
determine eligibility of projects."
2.
MOTION: The EPIC board approves of using $2,400
of NRP Phase II funds for our CEE housing programs.
3.
MOTION: The EPIC board approves of a plan
modification to expand the language of the Phase 2 Home Buyer
Assistance (New Construction) strategy to allow funds to be used to support
other home improvement and home buyer programs for both new and existing homes.
a. Will need to reaffirm April 6 - watch for
email - will need to reply
10:05 Icebreaker
- pair off
● Take turns sharing how
you are entering this space - whatever that means for you
○
When you’re the listener
■
Just listening - not listening to comment
■ When you’re the listener - just take in what your partner is saying without judgment
10:15 Report/Update
from Executive Coordinator
1) Change EPIC’s COVID
protocol?
b)
Approved of the above changes
2) Set a
date for board training
a)
Comfortability with in
person?
b)
One hour for full board
c)
Two hours for new members
i)
Saturday,
April 9 anytime - only time David is available, Sarah can do
after 10am
(1)
Saturday, April 9 at noon
ii)
Saturday, May 7 (after regularly scheduled board meeting)
12-2pm
iii)
Saturday, May 28 anytime
3) Board Meeting time
a) Has been first Saturday
of the month at 10am - does this work for board members?
b) We will keep it the
first Saturday of the month, may need to change based on Sky’s availability
4) Review and approve city’s
Annual
Report
- due April 15
MOTION: The EPIC
board approves the Annual Report for the final CPP report to the City of
Minneapolis, DI, NWS, Approved
5) SHRS had a hard time
getting us added to their liability insurance
a) All taken care of now -
signed MOU and other documents through December 31 2022.
6) Letters
of support
a)
Wicoie Nandagikendan is
currently in the process of writing an Administration for Native Americans
Grant and they are hoping that EPIC would be willing to write a letter of
support for them. They just need a short statement about the garden and how
long Wicoie has been involved in the EPIC Garden space, how many plots they
have etc.
ii)
We will sign on and support
b)
Semilla
Center for Healing and the Arts - Partnership Fund Letter of Support
ii)
We will sign on and support
c)
East Phillips Neighborhood
Institute - Partnership Fund Letter of Support
i)
Be on the lookout for an
email regarding this once we have information from EPNI
ii)
Send L.R. Partnership Fund
details
7) Report on
progress of Equitable Engagement Fund programs/initiatives
a)
Job descriptions have been
posted for the two Outreach
Workers - have received a couple applications -
no Somali speakers - changed to ‘open until filled’
i)
First interview will be
Thursday April 7
ii)
Note gardeners want to
discuss the Garden Coordinator job description and determine whether to hire -
likely won’t decide until April
b)
Sarah has done outreach to
businesses for donations for our Welcome Bags for our New Neighbor Welcome
Program
i)
Mark Welna has said that he
will offer gift cards, needs to discuss with his son and will get back to us
about how many and how much money
ii)
Household items with EPIC
on it
(1)
Notebook
(2)
Magnet
(3)
Wrenches
(4)
Seeds
(5)
Printing local businesses,
services, skills
(6)
History of East Phillips
book - contract someone - Peter? - Walking tour
c)
Sarah has sent letters to 4
property managers/owners of buildings with 20+ units to request access to for
doorknocking/flyering
i)
Received one response -
East Phillips Commons (2909 Bloomington) - no access to building but Operations
person agreed to posting our flyers in common areas of the property
d)
Searching for grants for
food, entertainment, artists and healers at larger community meetings; garden
upkeep (tree removal, money for replacement tools, hoses etc.)
i)
Received $5,000 microgrant
from Minneapolis Foundation for our Community
Gatherings Program - focused on our two
larger community meetings in July and September for food, compensating artists,
funds for providing healing services etc.
ii)
Received $1,500 for
outreach for HiLake redevelopment - can use for food or garden upkeep expenses
10:25
1) BRAINSTORM and next
steps: how to spend EEF money - approx. $140,000
a) Robust
outreach, reaching communities that have been underrepresented will be key in
deciding how to use funds
b)
Funds can’t be used for
food or entertainment
i)
There are other
limitations, but want ideas to flow without too many restrictions and if needed
we can alter plans depending on funding limitations
c)
Everyone on the board was
at Annual Meeting where we brainstormed
i)
Add anything else? - a few
minutes to add anything
e) David proposes:
i)
Alley lighting - $20k - enough money for approx. 100 homes -
board needs to recommend to the community and one community meeting vote
(1) Dusk to dawn if electricity
(2) Solar powered motion sensored lights
if no access to electricity
MOTION: The EPIC board approves of recommending
$20,000 of Equitable Engagement Funds for alley lighting project, DI, NWS,
Approved
ii)
CEE rehab funds – $50k - community meeting vote including 21
day notice before close of voting on approval
f)
Goal is to have ideas narrowed down by
May Community Meeting to start getting input from community members
g) Next steps to achieve
this ^ ?
i)
A group of board members will meet to
discuss after April Community Meeting, before May Board Meeting
(1) Nikolas, Karen, L.R.,
Sky, Steve
10:45 Report
from Departments?
1) Board and Community
Engagement Department
a) Working on planning the
East Phillips Carnival
i)
Have a number of organizations working on
the planning of the event
(1) Banyan, NACDI, LERA,
Takoda, Minnesota Voice, EPNI, Little Earth Protectors
ii)
Read more
about the planning of the event
10:46 New business and delegate to proper spaces
(work group, department etc.)
1)
Elect
board officers - find officer positions, duties and terms here. Note that officers make up the Executive Committee and act
as the Personnel Committee.
a)
President
- Nikolas
b)
Vice
President - L.R.
c)
Treasurer
- David
d)
Secretary
- Karen
MOTION: The EPIC board approves the above slate
of officers, StS, MG, Approved
2) Authorize check signers
(usually President and Treasurer)
MOTION: The EPIC board authorizes David
Ingold and Nikolas Winter Simat as check
signers, DI, KT, Approved
3) Authorize Woodlands
National Bank as depository - need to do this annually,
MOTION: The
EPIC board authorizes Woodlands National Bank as the depository, DI, KT, Approved
4)
Review and approve EPIC’s
Annual 990 Return
MOTION: The EPIC board approves of the 2021 990
Return, DI, MG, Approved
5)
We were invited to co-host
a Ward 9 Safety and Wellness Fair
a)
music, food truck(s),
interactive games for families and adults, and a resource fair related to
public safety and community wellness.
b)
The intention for the event
is to highlight community-based resources for violence prevention, harm
reduction, and health and wellness more broadly.
c)
May 21 2022 - same day as
Community Connections Conference
i)
If date is flexible do we
want to co-host and/or help plan?
ii)
Sign on to co-host if date
is changed
(1)
Talk about details later
6)
Hennepin County District
Court is collaborating with the Sabathani Community Center to host a listening
session that is open to all MPLS neighborhood association leaders. This listening
session will be held on Tuesday, April
12th from 5:00-6:00pm.
a)
There are options to attend
in person at Sabathani Community Center, or through Zoom. They ask that each
association prepares one to two questions for the courts’ Judicial Officers and
if able, please share them with me in advance.
b)
As part of the EJC’s work,
the committee holds listening sessions with the purpose of connecting with
community organizations. During listening sessions we: hear about community
organizations, their work, share about the district court and its’ work, and
most importantly, engage in DEI related conversations.
c)
Is there a board member who
would like to attend this?
d)
What questions would we
like to ask?
e)
No board members or staff
are available
f)
Ask OPS team - what
questions ask? Board signs off?
11:40 Adjourn
