September 12th, 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: Aisha Gomez, Jenny Bjorgo, Carol Pass, Mary Gonsior, Linda
Leonard, Rosie Cruz
Board Members Not Present: Earl Simm, Sherdl Kordian
EPIC Members: Pat Fleetham, Brad Pass, Laura Dale,
Guests: Don Greeley
6:45 Introductions:
· Greetings and Introduction
· MOTION: Meet as a Committee of the Whole – passed.
· Approval of Agenda (CP, JB) passed.
· Approval of Minutes (AG, JB) Approved with corrections
(reimbursements $437.92; community cameras: remove “JD agrees that the Wi-Fi”)
MOTION: Quorum achieved. Meet as a quorum. (JB, AG). Passed.
MOTION: Accept the actions of the committee of the whole (BP, JB).
Passed.
6:55 Announcements:
· Clean
Sweep- October 12th, Starts Saturday at
Welna’s Hardware Parking lot at
9:00 am
· Community
Garden Harvest Party, Saturday, October
19th, 5 pm. 17th Avenue garden.
· Peavey Park on Saturday, Sept 14th from
noon to 4pm to celebrate the last days of summer. There will be free
Entertainment, Food, Children's Activities and Community Information Tables.
7:10 Public
Safety Issues: Don Greeley, Problem Properties
2527 18th – person trying to
claim ownership was taken to court and ruled against ownership. The State of MN
owns this property and if he comes back he can be removed.
·
Police crime targeted enforcement area
focus: Drugs, prostitution, seized cars, slowed things down a bit.
o
Chicago Franklin – 19th to
Franklin
o
Midtown on Lake, 12th to
Cedar
o
Lake Street, 29th to 31st,
12th to 18th
·
Stop N Shop; have been very
cooperative, signs, new camera system, calling police when loitering, will post
trespassing signs.
·
Salvation Army; will cut the power to
the outside, still working on getting trespassing signs posted, calling police,
but at night when closed, that is when the problems start.
·
2605 17th; has been boarded
now.
·
Cedar Field; need to call 9-1-1 when
you see things happening.
·
La Que Buena; Julie Casey in licensing
is looking at this now; starting to document some of the issues there. After
the restaurant is closed, people began spilling over into the SA parking lot,
partying, etc. Police are documenting what is going on there. How can EPIC
document what is going on? Must call 9-1-1. Ask Schiff for a light mid-block on
16th.
o
Using the upstairs for drugs
o
Using the basement for prostitution
·
Police have granted EPIC (part of a
block club watch group) access to Driver Vehicle Services to identify motor
vehicle licenses.
·
Armed robbery at 29th and
Cedar by two people with a gun about 10 days ago. Also one on 9/9 – a woman was
bitten and robbed at 28th and Cedar.
7:36 Youth
Sports Report: EPIC provided $727 for
uniforms for Somali youth. The
teams sStill need shin guards for Somali and
Nepali Teams. We will use the remaining $273 for shin guards. EPIC also assisted the Nepali teams in gaining
access to the fields; also helped to match up the Somali and Nepali teams for
games.
7:40 Housing-
Discussion Item: EPIC
Housing Loans are moving pretty slow. Spread the Word! The income guidelines are now 100% of the HUD
median income. We found that the cap was too low, and many people are supporting extended family and as
a result, we are excluding many people who need this funding, but don’t
qualify. A second factor contributing to ineligibility is any late mortgage
payment within the previous year.
Discussion Item:
Possible partnership with Powderhorn Residents Group (PRG) to fill vacant lots with new construction homes and/or to
rehab existing homes. We have worked with PRG on a lot of projects, very
successfully, including the Franklin Station Townhomes. PRG has a grant and is
looking for projects. EPIC could provide “matching funds” for some rehab or new
construction here in EPIC, as a small expenditure may be needed to “bridge the
gap.” CP distributed a possible agreement that we might consider to work with
PRG on rehabs and new housing construction in the EPIC area. Suggestions and
questions are welcome. This agreement is based on an agreement with another
neighborhood.
CP also called Greater
Metro Housing Trust to see if there is anything we can do now to help EPIC
with empty houses and empty lots in EPIC. 2605 17th Avenue is an
example of a house built, but it is in ownership trouble.
8:00 Development Update:
·
Daycare at 2830 Cedar:
we sent them a letter and two emails. They responded with a letter explaining
the challenges they are dealing with especially an increase in the sales price
to $900,000. They continue to seek funding and they have the support of the
Latino Economic Development Center.
o Ask owner to provide lighting, monitoring
and boarding to secure the property.
·
Little Earth of United
Tribes is embarking on the next phase of their renovation plan and requests a
letter of support.
·
Greenway Heights is
just concluding their final financial arrangements to secure the property. The
County redistributed some of the funds that were assigned to us, and they are
working to figure out how to replace these needed funds. Things are on track
for construction to begin, possibly in December.
8:25 Hennepin
County Care Project: Aisha
Gomez
AG gave an update on the planning and
implementation for the project which began in 2012, and distributed a
newsletter containing a list of strategies that the collaboration has
developed. AG distributed a short survey for EPIC members to complete, and
surveys can also be completed online.
8:30 Blueprint
for Equity Report: Setting up group of District 7 Neighborhoods
The city is planning to visit 81
neighborhoods, yet they have visited only 3 neighborhoods in 3 months. This
plan is not going to work. The NCEC once met twice per month, and now they have
cancelled one of these meetings. CP is working on having a meeting of groups of
people from the eight neighborhoods of District 7 to discuss the implementation
of fair policies and engagement in neighborhoods, ethnically, geographically,
financially, and that we really “share” the resources that are available.
8:15 Legislative Update: Representative Karen Clark
Karen shared the challenges and successes of the last
legislature. Asking for questions and concerns, CP reported that the MNSure
program money is not making its way to the neighborhood level, and East
Phillips is filled with residents who are not able to access this due to
language barriers, as well as
communication media. The more everything is moved to the internet, the more
poor people, and ethnic groups, especially immigrants are left out.
8:45 Adjournment
