EPIC Board Meeting Minutes
September 3rd, 2020, 7pm – 9pm
EPIC web address: eastphillips-epic.com
Email: epic.ssantiago@gmail.com
Office: 2433 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55404
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, Carol Pass, Sarah Santiago, Cassie Holmes, Steve Sandberg, Shontal Lajeunesse
Board Members Not Present: Abah Mohamed, Rosie Cruz
Members:
Guests: Shirley Heyer
7:09 Agenda Approval, amended, LD, Approved
Minutes Approval, approved
7:14 Announcements
· Next Community Meeting will be: Thursday, September 10th at 6:30 via Zoom – watch your inbox for link to join
· Next Board Meeting will be: Thursday, October 1st at 7pm at the EPIC office (2433 Bloomington Avenue) or via Zoom TBD
o Board Meetings are open to the public
· Next Executive Committee meeting will be: Thursday, September 17th at 7pm at the EPIC office (2433 Bloomington Avenue) or via Zoom
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
7:21 18th Ave Block Funding Request
· we have not heard back about when the block wants to meet to go over line item by line item
o Send out email following up on this
· next steps
o Carol sent a letter to Tim Springer explaining that we are not a funding organization and that we are not sitting on $200,000
§ Use this as a document that we can share when people ask us if we have funding available as an intro to EPIC funding
7:30 EPNI Update
· CEAC (Community Environmental Advisory Commission) has written a letter more or less supporting our efforts at the Roof Depot Site as well as an op ed
o Received a letter from the city clerk saying they could unappoint the members of the group or even disband CEAC and Green Zone Advisory Committee
· September 18-20th Global Shapers will be highlighting the Roof Depot struggle at their conference
o Members from the group have been emailing Mayor Frey and Alondra Cano
7:45 At the Executive Committee Meeting E recommended contacting partners from Community Partnership program and ask where they are with funding, especially Banyan since they do block clubs
· Review updates from Community Partnership recipients – see spreadsheet
· We want to follow up on email sent out earlier this summer
o What do we want to ask in follow up emails? Some ideas:
§ have they changed tactics or plans since the uprisings or due to the increase in crime and violence
§ can anything that is already being done be connected with 18th Ave issues or other blocks?
§ Have they received additional funding after receiving EPIC funds to further their efforts?
§ When they report back to the city will they please include EPIC in correspondence
7:52 Bike Program from Hannah Lieder – Hannah found another organization to work on this with
7:52 Do we want to create a committee focused on issues brought to us by 18th Ave i.e. roundabouts, speed bumps, blockades, four way stops, crime and safety with the entire neighborhood?
· Some issues to address:
o Speeding, running stop signs etc.
o Cedar Ave is way too busy
o Biking issues – need more North/South bike lanes and 17th Ave needs more signage and protections being a bike lane
§ This might be a good chance to get more people involved in EPIC if we can act on this since so many people see these issues as a big problem right now
· If we do form a committee, focus on barricades, speed bumps, round abouts – things that affect streets
o Steve has been trying to contact people at the city regarding many of these issues – has not been able to connect with them
· We need a committee chair who is a board member– board members are over worked and do not have the time for this right now
· Call Cano if you would like to receive the link for the virtual meeting about barricades
· Steve does not want to form a committee without the participation of 18th Ave
· Specific projects regarding these issues have worked in the past maybe work on 17th and 27th ?
· Contact Cano for help regarding traffic and speed bumps
8:20 Questions for doorknocking
· more of an intro about EPIC – contact us, this is when we meet etc.
1) question about how they want to stay connected to EPIC
2) what issues are you concerned with? i.e. Food security, housing/rent, traffic/speeding,
3) comfortability question about police at community meetings
· do we want to postpone this until Spring or later due to COVID concerns?
8:27 Alley invoice
· Send printable invoice to Sarah
8:30 Job description
· Carol needs to put everything together and will talk to Bob Cooper
· Carol will forward everything she has received from the city about this to Mary
8:32 Rent Control Letter of Support – see letter of support in email – See email
· Joe Hesla from the Corcoran neighborhood is wondering if EPIC would like to sign the letter of support
· Coalition is beginning to meet – still researching
· Need city council to amend the charter to allow rent control
o St. Paul has an easier path
· Embark on education activities around it – Zoom parties, house parties
· Question about what went wrong in New York – how to make it attainable for landlords
o There are unattended consequences
o Don’t want to hurt small landlords – if there is a rent cap possibility to work in a luxury tax for the large market rate apartments
· Need to control for costs as well i.e. water and utility costs
o Otherwise the small landlord will sell out to large conglomerates
· Add this to next board meeting
8:45 Brad wants to use Mailchimp or Constant Contact for emails because issues with BCCing
· Need to decide between Mailchimp and Constant Contact before moving forward – Mary contacting Tech Soup about this
o Mail Chimp is best choice – up to 12,000 per month – could send out emails up to 6 times a month
o Sarah and Mary will work together about setting this up
8:55 What do we want put in EPICs Alley post?
· Recruit for:
o chair of the Garden Committee
o Run the Annual Meeting with election
o Chair or run clean sweep
Additions to community meeting draft agenda
· Recruit for:
o chair of the Garden Committee
o Run the Annual Meeting with election
o Chair or run clean sweep
