June 20th, 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, Aisha Gomez, Linda Leonard, Mary Gonsior,
Jenny Bjorgo
Board Members Not Present: Earl Simms, Rosie Cruz, Sherdl Kordian, Ali Macali
EPIC Members: Brad Pass, Margaret Kirkpatrick, Pat Fleetham,
Guests: Shirley Heyer,
: Meet as a committee of the whole. Passed.
6:45 Introductions:
· Greetings and Introductions.
· Approval of Agenda (MOTION: BP, CP, approved)
· Approval of Minutes from EPIC 4/11/2013 General Membership
Meeting and Annual Meeting Minutes, 4/27/2013. There was no May GMM.
MOTION: Approve minutes with the following
addition to the end of item “Greenway Heights Apartments”: Concerns were
expressed about the development and a brief discussion followed, before a
motion was put to the vote. (PF, AG, Passed.)
6:55 Announcements:
· Results of the DFL Endorsing Convention as it concerns Ward
9.
· Report NUSA Conference (Neighborhoods USA) May 22nd to 25th.
Shirley and Carol attended and noted that very few people from our
neighborhoods attended. Neighborhoods were radically not visible. The folks who
did the tours did not include neighborhoods and neighborhood projects. The tour
through Phillips was arranged by Phillips Partners (a law firm) and Allina. We
had arranged to partner with Ventura Village and planned to show neighborhood
projects; these were not included in the tours that were conducted. We did put
together a dinner at the last minute to the NUSA board which was attended and went
very well, giving us a chance to show what neighborhoods can do.
· Attendance at the EPIC Annual Meeting on April 27th, 9:30 am.,
East Phillips Cultural and Community Center included almost 100 people, a great
turn out. Great new Board Members were elected. Thanks to everyone who helped
organize, and who attended.
· Arbor Day at East Phillips Park, Saturday May 18, 2013 was a
total success. Even though it rained, 200 trees were planted city-wide.
· The community is invited to an event “Give Away, Eats, and
Inspiration” at East Phillips Park, Monday June 24th, organized by Akbar
Mohamed.
· Movies in the Park once a month at Stewart Park; There is a
movie every night at one park somewhere. East Phillips Park will be showing a
movie at dusk on June 29th.
· Midtown Phillips Festival will be held on Saturday, July 20th.
Sponsoring the Minneapolis Aquatennial, there will be 8 groups performing
music, food vendors, sports, and many more activities. The party starts at noon
and ends at 8 pm.
· Midtown Greenway update. Margaret distributed newsletters.
The Greenway Glow is a sponsored bike ride this Saturday. Donations may be made
online. Register online is still open. This is held in conjunction with an art
festival on the Greenway from Seward all the way to Uptown. The bike ride
starts at 8 pm. The Greenway has a crime prevention task force, and one major
spot for crime is three stairways that do not have adequate lighting, including
18th Avenue, Bloomington Avenue, and Columbus Avenue. Police suspect
people are using these stairways for attacking users of the Greenway. The task
force is considering how additional lighting may improve the situation. CP
noted that Xcel Energy owes our neighborhood some type of amenities to
compensate us for the dirt and inconvenience that we are bearing for the entire
region benefitting from their work in this area. BP noted that the city is
improving all the bridges over the Greenway, and Public Works could incorporate
this into their plans. There is also a greening committee and they will be
doing some work on the Greenway.
7:25 Updates:
Greenway Heights Apartments
PRG has a loan out on this property which must be paid by
September. CP attended two planning meetings in addition to sending out letters
and support letters to members of these committees. IN addition, 50 neighbors
of this project were invited to view the plans and ask questions, before
signing a petition which was submitted in support of the project. The project
was approved by both committees.
7:29 Updates:
The Pool
The park board approved a contract with Minneapolis Swims;
agreeing to drop requirements for Minneapolis Swims to raise all the money, and
also dropped the requirements for raising only private money. This opens the
door to raise money for this project. We need to find a really big donor to
come up with a $1 or $2M grant.
7:32 Updates: EPIC Business: D and O insurance with Monitor Liability Managers, and Carolina Casualty Insurance
Company a neighborhood will hold it. All Neighborhoods with 501(c)(3) are covered.
7:33 Updates: New East Phillips Sports Council – Banner,
There
are a few parents and families who are bearing the whole cost of this program
for children in our neighborhood. If we had our own teams here in the
neighborhood, we could use this park space for our own neighborhood youth more
actively. These overworked parents who are already organizing our youth teams,
need help to expand our just forming sports council. The community can support
the council by volunteering (coaching and mentoring), and providing funding,
transportation, food and more.
SH
reported that an organization reserved as many parks’ soccer space as possible
as soon as the sign up opened; seven days a week. Minneapolis doesn’t have a
preference policy that prevents an organization that charges fees from booking
all of Minneapolis’ park space. Richfield has a policy that you must have 85%
local participation to get first round preference.
There
is social, economic, and cultural discrimination in the methods used by the
park board to schedule use of park resources, across the board.
7:50 Housing Rehab Programs: Our loan, Home Buyer Assistance, Rehab Assistance, help with
Emergencies & Foreclosure Avoidance Assistance. Brochures Available some
issues, PPL’s Loan, Insurance Money how to access
We have learned that homeowners who do not have 12 months
record of timely mortgage payments, the bank funding our programs will not
approve applicants. We have learned to our surprise that some people have not
qualified for EPIC’s housing program. Some just barely miss the deadline. So,
we have looked for other ways that residents can get assistance with housing
fix ups.
The last major hail storm in Minneapolis was June 14, 2012.
Some residents received new roofs through their insurance. If you think you may
have suffered hail damage during this storm, check with your insurance company,
and you may wish to hire a contractor to check your roof.
Seward neighborhood uses some of their funds to subsidize
interest costs for some improvement loans.
7:58 Quorum
Established
MOTION: To
approve previously passed motions at this meeting. (MG, CP, passed.)
8:00 NCEC, Neighborhood and Community
Engagement Commission- BluePrint for Equity
Example:
1. What are two or three to five key opportunities in your
neighborhood that will lead to more diverse participation.
· Prioritize scheduling our facilities for us
· Give us more money
· Grassroots decision making
· Childcare
· Able to spend funds on food for meetings.
8:15 Crime
Situation: , where?, what?, Response?
Cameras
Brad is working on behalf of EPIC to explore the possibility
of getting a camera down near Lake St. and 16th Avenue where many people are getting
attacked, and also on 26th and Cedar. Talking with the city, the
police, the neighborhoods and vendors to see if it is feasible to provide
affordable community cameras that can be plugged into the police network. We
could order a camera for about $7.000.
MOTION: EPIC
will purchase a camera to be used in East Phillip’s for crime control up to $7,000,
plus $50 per month to get online with the police network. This includes all
software and installation in a permanent location within 25 feet of a power
source. (LL, BP, passed with
one negative vote.)
Court Watch- Shirley
Heyer
Friday at 10 AM, 2100 Bloomington Ave. Parking across the
street. Meeting starts on time. Ends around Noon at the latest. Minneapolis
police did two major drug busts in our neighborhood last month. One was the
largest marijuana ring in the state, 3rd largest in the nation.
Bloomington Patrol,
Landlord letters
Does EPIC want the patrol to send letters out to bad
landlords?
Don Greeley
EPIC can’t get Don Greeley to our meetings. EPIC has been
invited to attend Midtown’s August meeting.
8:41 Adjournment
