EPIC Community Meeting Minutes 11-11

 

EPIC Community Meeting Draft Minutes

November 11, 2021, 6:30 – 7:30

EPIC web address: eastphillips-epic.com

Email: sarah@eastphillips.org

Office: 2433 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55404

Phone: (612) 354-6802

Board Roster: Laura Dale, Mary Gonsior, Cassandra Holmes, David Ingold, Shontal Lajeunesse, Steve Sandberg, Earl Simms, Karen Townsend, Nikolas Winter-Simat

Board Members Present: Steve Sandberg, Nikolas Winter-Simat, David Ingold, Laura Dale, Mary Gonsior

Board Members Not Present: Karen Townsend (E), Cassandra Holmes (E), Earl Simms, Shontal Lajeunesse

Members: Devika Ghai, Yaya Flores, Gloria I, Carol Pass and Brad Pass, Lindsey Fenner, Paul Dale, Neti, Bev, Bob, Joani Essenburg, Khadra Yussef,

Guests: Oscar, Diego, Todd Smith, Muhammed, Kartoon, Susan Gust

6:30     Welcome

●      Vision and Mission

●      Intros

●      Group Agreements

○      Respect each other; aim for kindness

○      Respect each other's time; aim for brevity

○      Respect the agenda; aim for unity

○      Own your words, actions, and reactions; aim for peace

●      How to become a member

○      Chat Sarah or email sarah@eastphillips.org with your email address and physical address (to verify you live in East Phillips)

○      All members are allowed to vote on EPIC decisions and motions

●      Agenda Approval, NWS, JE, Approved

Minutes Approval, Approved

●      Announcements

o   Next Board Meeting will be: Saturday, December 4 from10am-11am online (link to join is at eastphillips.org)

▪        Board Meetings are open to the public

o   Next Community Meeting will be: Thursday, December 9 from 6:30-7:30 online (link to join is at eastphillips.org) and TBD

▪        Larry Matsumoto from the City will be presenting about resurfacing work and ADA pedestrian ramp improvements in East Phillips in 2022-2023

▪        We will be trying a hybrid model - in person and online. Location is to be determined

o   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/east-phillips: Programs for East Phillips Residents | Center for Energy and Environment (mncee.org/east-phillips)

o   If you smell a foul odor around Smith foundry or Bituminous Roadways call 311 to report

▪        Write down your incident number

o   Join your neighbors in cleaning up trash every Saturday at noon or Mondays at 12:30 - meet at 27th and Cedar!

o   Community Workshop at Cedar Field Park Thursday, November 18 from 2:30-4:30 for refreshments and community conversation around the bonfire to learn about the 18th Ave and Little Earth Transportation Study

o   Sign up for swimming at Phillips Aquatics Center at 2323 11th Ave

▪        Youth swim lessons are only $5 for East Phillips families

▪        Junior swim club is only $5 for East Phillips families

▪        and/or get culturally sensitive swimwear

▪        Call 612-370-4859 to sign up and be sure to state you are an East Phillips resident

o   There will be a public hearing for the MPHA proposed multi-family dwelling at 2425 16th Ave S at the Planning Commission on Monday, November 15, 430PM. Watch the city website (Planning Commission - City of Minneapolis (minneapolismn.gov) for the agenda and watch on Comcast Channel 14 or 799, or live on City Council TV

o   EPIC is calling for proposals for a facilitator to lead EPIC in developing a strategic plan - we would like: a strategic plan proposal (detailing what the process would look like); a resume or list of other organizations you have worked with on building long term plans; references; as well as how much you would charge for this process and terms of payment.

o   The roundabout at 25th and 17th is open for adoption - if someone has the skills and capacity to do the planting, maintenance, cleaning litter

▪        More info here: https://www.minneapolismn.gov/government/programs-initiatives/clean-city/adopt-a-median/

▪        Volunteer design work: Phillips Garden

▪        Gloria: volunteered

▪        People on 17th

o   The Quarterly Financial Report is available here, or view at the EPIC website

6:40     Updates//Report from Action Committee

            Outreach consultant Report

●      Key take aways:

○      Neighbors advocating for housing

○      Some blocks are organized, others are not

■      How can we connect neighbors

■      Community safety plan

○      Neighbors hesitant to share personal information for

○      Many neighbors don’t have access to internet and many don’t have email addresses

■      EPIC had relied heavily on emails previously

■      Doing more phone calls and flyering (see below)

■      Zoom calls - trying to offer in person meeting options as much as possible for those who don’t have access to reliable internet

○      Safety, drug use and concerns for our unhoused neighbors was a key take away - many neighbors shared a desire to provide resources to unhoused neighbors

■      A group of neighbors are meeting to create a community resource hub for housed and unhoused neighbors and eventually an Overdose Prevention Site once that is federally legal

●      Join them - they meet the first and third Tuesday of the month from 4:30 to 5:30 over Zoom for the winter - grab a flyer or check out eastphillips.org for the link to join

○      The next meeting is November 16 from 4:30-5:30

●      Plan to use outreach data as we create a strategic plan

●      Plan to use information from outreach as we continue to talk with neighbors

○      Target outreach - phone calls and doorkocking to let people know when an upcoming community meeting will be discussing a topic they expressed interest in; have deeper conversations about the topics they shared were important to them; schedule one to ones with neighbors; help to form committees or workgroups

○      Know who is left to talk to - 392 neighbors is by no means the entirety of our neighborhood, we have approximately 4,600 people in East Phillips

 

6:58     Feature Presentation//Community Discussion topic: Todd Smith from Master Properties - 10 minutes

            Redevelopment on 26th and Bloomington

●      Goal is to make large family friendly apartments

●      2040 plan: goals and policies - trying to address in project

○      Eliminate disparities

○      More residents and jobs

○      37 jobs at $18.50

■      Most of those are local people

■      Nobody will lose their job

○      Affordable housing

■      City has requirement: 20% - trying to do 23 of 89 units - 60% AMI

○      High quality physical environment

○      Climate change resiliency

○      Market affordable housing

■      Trying to create project that makes sense for community that’s here

○      The way the building is planned with various sizes for the different floors - it makes it fit better with the building

○      Lots of parking

■      About 99 parking spots - 86 units

■      Bike parking

○      Coffee shop, Adult daycare etc. - will all stay

○      1 BR: 10; 2 BR: 16; 3 BR: 42; 4 BR: 13; Studio: 5

○      Concerns about large building:

■      Want family friendly units

●      Huge shortage of family friendly units

 

6:55     Questions for presenter - 15 minutes

Questions for Todd:

●      Bloomington Avenue already congested

○      Afraid that traffic will be rerouted down residential streets

○      Working with city to make traffic the least impactful as possible

○      More people than currently live here

●      Neighbor concerned about density and less parking

○      Wants more parking

●      Neighbor happy to see 3 and 4 units

○      How many units affordable and for how long?

■      22 units dedicated at 60% AMI

■      No subsidy for this

●      Neighbor would like to see residents from East Phillips prioritized

○      And allow for people who are previously incarcerated

○      Businesses that are here now will stay with their employees plus more

■      99% of employees live in East Phillips

●      Neighbor would like to see onsite HUD housing - Section 8

○      Trying to use HUD

○      Would like less stories - too tall and too dense - a number of neighbors echoed this

■      Because opens up for more tall buildings

○      Would like partly indoor play area

○      Concerned about the alley

○      Appreciates the parking

○      Worried about the one house between this building and the mosque

■      Idea to turn into outdoor playground

●      Square footage of 1 BR unit and cost of 2 BR

 

7:10     Community Decisions

MOTION: The EPIC membership and board approves the use of funding from the CPP and NRP contracts of up to $170,000 towards the purchase of the Bloomington Office with the appropriate funds moved to the Community Gathering Space strategy, DI, NWS, Approved, one community member abstained.

MOTION:

 The EPIC board and membership give the second of two approvals to update Section IV. I. 8 of the EPIC Bylaws as follows:

(underlining for additions, strike through for deletions):

 

The following decisions in all cases require approval of the voting membership:

●      Election of Directors; and

●      Ratification / rejection of amendments to Bylaws.

●      An issue regarding money of over $1,000, the expenditure must be recommended by the board and have at least one general membership meeting's required notification and vote for review, in any case not less than twenty-one (21) days, allowing for at minimum a full 21-day neighborhood review process. The reviewed motion shall then be voted on at an EPIC membership meeting following the review. This review process is to include amendments to the Bylaws.

 

So that if updated it would read:

The following decisions in all cases require approval of the voting membership:

●      Election of Directors; and

●      Ratification / rejection of amendments to Bylaws.

DI, MG,

Approve: 8

Abstain: 1

Oppose: 0

 Updated 11/26:

Online votes: 4 in favor

Paper votes: 1 against (disqualified because person is outside of East Phillips)

For discussion before voting: EPIC Bylaw Amendment

 

DRAFT OF POLICY AND PROCEDURE - Input is most welcome!!

602 Fiscal Accountability

●       The Board of Directors, in alignment with its Duty of Care, shall do all due diligence in communicating, gathering input, and notifying the neighborhood of important financial actions.

●       See 602.6 for Payment Procedures

●       See 602.13 for Purchasing Procedures.

●       All non-administrative expenditures (including contract allocations) above $1,000 shall require a majority of Board approval after demonstrating alignment with the community’s values and, as applicable, satisfy the requirements of the granting organization. Demonstrations of community alignment/support should be maintained in Board meeting minutes (and should be added to the following meeting’s minutes when approval is given outside of a called Board meeting). Contracts or other expenditures that include multiple payments/disbursements should be approved according to their total contract amount.  

●       In addition to the above requirements, expenditures over $5,000 shall require an 80% supermajority of Board approval.

●       In addition to the above requirements, expenditures over $15,000 shall require significant community support as demonstrated by the following measures:

●       Community notifications for feedback via the mailing list shall occur at least 14 days before voting by the Board.

●       At least 20 affirmative votes from the community are recorded, with engagement from various demographics/parties including, but not limited to, those present at a Community Meeting.

●       A majority of recorded community input is supportive of the expenditure, and strong dissension within the community is to be noted and addressed.

 

Discussion:

●      Afraid that one person one vote is being taken away

●      David commits to adding community meeting vote back in bylaw

7:30     Adjourn