EPIC Community Meeting Minutes
May 13th, 2021, 6:30 – 8:50
East Phillips Park Cultural & Community Center, 2307 17th Ave S.
EPIC web address: eastphillips-epic.com
Email: epic.ssantiago@gmail.com
Office: 2433 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55404
Phone: (612) -280-8418
Board Roster: Laura Dale, Mary Gonsior, Cassandra Holmes, David Ingold, Shontal Lajeunesse, Steve Sandberg, Earl Simms, Nikolas Winter-Simat
Board Members Present: Nikolas Winter-Simat, Laura Dale, Laura Dale, Steve Sandberg, Cassandra Holmes, Shontal Lajeunesse
Board Members Not Present: Earl Simms (E), David Ingold (E)
Members: Sarah Santiago, Brad Pass, Carol Pass, Karen Townsend, Emrys, Linda Leonard
Guests: Shirley Heyer
6:30 Social Time
6:48 Call to order, LD, CH, Approved
6:45 Greetings and Introductions
How to become a member - all members are allowed to vote on EPIC matters
privately chat Sarah Santiago your mailing address (to verify you live in East Phillips) and your email address. In doing this you are consenting to being added to EPICs email list.
6:50 Approve tonight's agenda, amended, StS, LD, Approved
Approve minutes from April community meeting, MG, StS, Approved
6:55 Announcements
Next Board Meeting will be: Saturday, June 5 at 10am online, find the link to join at eastphillips.org
Board Meetings are open to the public
Next Community Meeting will be: Thursday, June 10 at 6:30 online, find the link to join at eastphillips.org
We will hold a vote on bylaw changes at this meeting
Next Executive Committee meeting is Thursday, May 20 from 7-8pm online - find the link to join at eastphillips.org
Executive Committee meetings are the third Thursday of every month
Executive Committee meetings are open to the public
EPIC has a housing program! 0% interest! Fix up your home or buy a new home in East Phillips – Check your email for the brochure or go to: mncee.org/eastphillips
If you smell a foul odor around Smith foundry or Bituminous Roadways call 311 to report
Write down your incident number
Join your neighbors in cleaning up trash on your block for 20 minutes every Saturday anytime between 9am and 11am! May 29th meet at 17th Ave and 27th Street
Join East Phillips and Midtown Phillips at a weekly meeting with the mission of positively supporting our community safety, housing and rebuilding. Put it on your calendar and save the invitation as it should work every Thursday at 1:00 PM. Find the link to join at eastphillips-epic.com
New EPIC officers:
President: Nikolas Winter-Simat
Vice President: Mary Gonsior
Treasurer: David Ingold
Secretary: Cassandra Holmes
Edible Boulevard Applications are open until May 14 (TOMORROW)!
Edible boulevards is an urban agriculture project devoted to improving access to fresh produce in our Northside and Southside Green Zones. Their mission is to teach community members simple and sustainable practices for creating, growing, and maintaining their own gardens. The fruits, vegetables, and herbs would be grown on your boulevard—that patch of grass between the curb and the sidewalk.
If you require accommodations to fill out the application form, please don't hesitate to reach us at mississippiriversourrelative@gmail.com. To stay connected and find out more, join the Minneapolis Edible Boulevards Facebook group!
6:55 Community Participation Agreement Update
looking to have a more formal version on the website
at meetings we have a more simple and straightforward version
7:00 Karen Townsend board appointment
Karen Townsend and Earl Simms tied in the 2021 board election for the 2021-2023 term. Karen withdrew her name and expressed that she would like to be considered for the vacant 1-year board seat. The executive committee has verified her eligibility and the full board voted to appoint her to the vacant position. The community now has the opportunity to ratify this appointment.
Karen Townsend gave a brief bio
An opportunity for community members to ask Karen any questions was given
MOTION: The EPIC membership confirms the appointment of Karen Townsend to the EPIC vacant board of directors 1-year board seat, StS, NWS, Approved unanimously
7:10 $2,000 advance
advance from crime and safety initiative contract that expired 2017
Money needs to be contracted or returned
the board has voted to bring the following motion to the EPIC membership for the first of two community meeting votes
MOTION: EPIC will pay the $2,000 advance back to the city of Minneapolis from the 2017 crime and safety initiative contract, LD, CH, Approved, one abstained.
7:20 CPP Funding
Partnership requests we have received:
LERA: Youth Workforce Development Program: $23,408
LERA: Native Youth Arts Collective: $15,614
MOTION: EPIC approves the Youth Workforce Development Program and the Native Youth Arts Collective proposals, LD, StS, Approved unanimously
MOTION: EPIC moves to transfer $39,022 from CPP funding to the Youth and Adult Programming neighborhood priority, LD, SL, Approved unanimously
7:35 Bylaw Review
At this Community Meeting we will review the new bylaws
The June Community Meeting will be the voting meeting for the new bylaws
anybody interested in helping to flyer the neighborhood to notify your neighbors of the new bylaws?
Karen and Emrys (emrys longer term)
The bylaw amendment process is being completed with the assistance of our outside legal counsel so that our neighborhood stays in compliance with City of Minneapolis Neighborhoods 2020 updated grant requirements. This update also makes sure the neighborhood is current with all state and federal nonprofit regulations and nonprofit sector best practices.
The board had a working meeting to go over the new bylaws some things that came up include:
Issues to avoid:
Want to avoid packing a single meeting to pass something
Want to ensure that there is joint decision making between the board and community/members
default is 51% of board members for most things,
discussed that we may want a simple majority for certain things
where do we want to change this?
Discussion from tonight:
neighbor expressed interest in having mission included
board member attendance is not in the proposed changes
put this in policies and procedures?
take note of items we may want to add policies and procedures that are missing from bylaws - do before June meeting
term limits is a concern, if we lose Mary, Laura etc. then starting all over
Robert’s Rules of Order has disappeared
idea to handle this in policy - if it reaches blank then we will use Robert’s Rules of Order
Sarah will add the annotated notes from the lawyer on the website.
concerned about board members not being able to abstain
board meeting decorum concern, that’s a lot of power for a President
mechanism for someone who is facilitating to handle a belligerent member
8:15 Housing Development proposal
Looking for our approval. Looking for community endorsement or objections
Location: 2729 Cedar Avenue
What we know so far:
Currently no plans for garages or designated off street parking
Affordability is based on the Guidelines provided by Missing Middle Rental Pilot Program - the goal of the program is to produce new 2-20 unit rental housing projects on vacant land throughout the city and provide affordable housing to tenants below 60% of area median income.
There will be 3 units per building. 3 bedrooms per unit.
Who will be managing the property?
There are 2 options being considered by the potential owners of 2729 Cedar Ave So. The first is the potential owners of the property self manage the property. The second would be for the owners to outsource the property management via a property management company like Renters Warehouse or equivalent in Minneapolis.
Have neighbors surrounding the lot been notified?
Response from the city: Notification to the neighborhood is the public notification process by the City. We do not notify individual neighbors of proposals received. The neighborhood organization may wish to conduct a public meeting to gather comments. If this project is recommended for approval by staff and approved by City Council, the developer would sign a Construction Management agreement that requires them to notify the neighbors. If recommended by staff, during the City Council meeting a public hearing is conducted and the public is able to comment on potential land sales under consideration
Some concerns the board brought up:
too close to nearby housing?
concern that there isn’t green space
Discussion from tonight:
traffic and speed on Cedar
lack of parking
concern that 60% area median income is too expensive for the neighborhood
would want more like 30% AMI
concern that with the way the Missing Middle Rental Pilot program is set up and that it won’t stay affordable after a decade or so
Sarah will send letter including our concerns to the developer tomorrow
8:40 Roof Depot
Longfellow and 28th on Saturday at 2pm - come celebrate, make signs for the fence
8:41 Adjourn, MG, LD, approved
