EPIC
Board Meeting Draft Minutes
February 5 2022, 10am – 11am
EPIC web address: eastphillips.org
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: Laura Dale, Mary Gonsior, Cassandra Holmes, David Ingold, Steve Sandberg, Karen Townsend, Nikolas Winter-Simat, Shontal Lajeunesse
Board Members Not Present: Earl Simms
Members: Brad Pass, Carol Pass
Guests:
10:11 Review vision and mission
Welcome guests/intros
Approve agenda,
Reminders:
●
Next
Community Meeting will be: Thursday, February 10 from 6:30 to 7:30 online (link
to join meeting can be found at eastphillips.org)
●
Next
Board Meeting will be: Saturday, March 5 from 10am to 11am online (link to join meeting can be
found at eastphillips.org)
o
Board
Meetings are open to the public
●
Annual
Meeting is March 26 2022
●
Strategic
Planning meeting tomorrow (2.6) at 11am
o
Several
board members were not at the last board meeting, anybody else interested in
joining the Vision Committee?
o Vision Committee will
do a large portion of the work for the Strategic Plan, with steps for the
community and board to give feedback
o Vision Committee will
consist of Vision Department (Nikolas, Earl and Karen), along with any board
members and one or two community members who are interested
▪
Who else is interested?
●
Sarah will try to attend as much as
possible
●
Shontal may be able to attend
● Sarah will send board the meeting link
10:05 Report/Update
from Executive Coordinator
1) Discuss whether to have
in person meeting option for Thursday’s Community Meeting
●
Facilitating hybrid is hard
●
In future walk up to owl/mic
●
Plan for in person and online meeting for
March
2) Annual Meeting and
board election report/discussion
●
Those
up for re-election: Laura Dale, Nikolas Winter-Simat, David Ingold, Karen
Townsend
○
Laura
will try reaching out to Earl - Nikolas and Sarah have not been able to get
ahold of him
■
Earl resigns, we will request written
resignation from him
○
Nikolas Winter-Simat and Karen Townsend
are running again
○
Laura will not run for re-election
○
David leaning yes
●
Review
1) change in nomination
form
2) documents applicants need to
review prior to applying for the board
■
Due to the change in our bylaws and
policies and procedures, we need to update the nomination form and the
documents needed to review prior to applying
■
Any changes?
●
Call for nominations: Sarah plans to
flyer at businesses and put flyers on poles throughout the neighborhood on
February 8
●
Board member who is not running for
re-election to help verify results?
○
Approximately one hour on Thursday March
31st
■
Mary Gonsior
■
Cassie can help too after 5pm
○
Will also ask a board member from Midtown
Phillips or Ventura Village
●
At last board meeting discussed we would
plan for a hybrid meeting, knowing may need to pivot to online only based on
transmission rates closer to time
○
Contacted park to request use of gym -
response below:
■
“Chances are that your
chances are quite good 
. That
said on 1/7 we went into a pause with taking new building reservations city
wide due to the uptick in Covid cases. I
believe the MPRB is like the city and evaluating our restrictions in mid
February. We certainly can prepare to make this meeting happen as soon as we
have a green light to take reservations.”
○
Food?
■
$100-$150 - snacks
●
Churros? Fruit? Coffee
●
Discussed whether to change bylaws about
requirement of how many board members
○
Idea to have 7-9 board members, state
range
■
Did not decide
○
Talked about board recruitment committee
■
Have it be an ongoing piece of community
engagement department
3)
At the January Community
Meeting we heard a presentation about Overdose Prevention Sites. The group of
East Phillips neighbors who have been working on Overdose Prevention Sites
since September (which grew out of an EPIC Community Meeting focused on drug use
and safety) shared that they are interested in being a working group of EPIC
●
And
have access to EPIC resources (staff time, printing, interpretation)
●
Would
like to invite EPIC to be a partner in this work
●
Also
be somewhat independent so not all decisions go through EPIC (not all neighbors
are likely to support an OPS and this may lead to difficulties down the road)
●
We only had a few board
members present, but community members shared
○
Community
member shared that it makes sense for group to be a working group of EPIC
■
Give
the group a bit more umph
○
Community
member excited to see where it goes and likes the working group idea
■
Appreciates
that people are working on this, haven’t been able to attend but have been
keeping up on it via email/online
●
Wanted to update full board
○
Sharing meeting notes with
full board - Sarah will add board to shared document folder
○
Make document showing how
much staff time per month, printing expenses per month etc.
○
Need to be thinking about
grants - EPIC as a fiscal agent
■
Don’t want to be seen as
EPIC controlling funds
○
Two board members shared
appreciation for community members volunteering their time for this work
4) Follow up
on collaboration with other Phillips neighborhoods - see full
proposal here
● Background: Phillips residents often
experience the spillover from activity on Lake Street, Franklin Avenue, and
other main thoroughfares in our neighborhoods. These activities include drug
sale, sex work, and sometimes acts of violence.
○ These things impact the real and
perceived safety and wellbeing of nearby residents who may suffer from lack of
sleep, sustained heightened nervous systems, verbal and physical assaults, and
more.
○ the current situation as experienced
by housed residents, drug users, pedestrians, unsheltered neighbors and sex
workers, is the result of deep structural problems including poverty, racism, addiction, and lack of
access to mental health services.
○ Band-aid solutions are not a fix, but in order for us to
live sustainably and impact the root causes, short-term action is also
necessary
● Vision: We want to bring together
residents across the four Phillips neighborhoods: Midtown, East, West, and
Ventura Village. In particular, we want to bring in residents who have
experienced high levels of activity on their blocks. The purpose of this group
will be to:
● Remind people that they are not
alone.
● Strategically unify neighbors
experiencing common concerns behind specific asks from City departments and
officials. We are more powerful when we speak as a collective and can make
clear collective demands.
● Share information and resources so
that people know that there is work
happening on these issues. We may even build a Phillips resource booklet!
● Recognize that there can be dramatic
differences between one block and the next and to respond accordingly. By
working together we can develop a holistic sense of how activity travels
between streets and blocks, and to be mobile about staging interventions. In
doing so, we can provide certain blocks with a “break” when things get intense
even with the understanding that activity might move to other blocks as a
result.
● Structure: Bring together one representative
from the 2900 blocks in Phillips West, Midtown Phillips, and East Phillips
along with representatives from the 1900 blocks in Ventura Village.
Representation from other blocks is welcome!
● Set up an initial meeting to talk
about purpose, followed by once/month virtual meetings if people would find it useful
● Develop central repository for
distribution of safety information and resources
● Host one block party per month,
rotating between neighborhoods. Each month the neighborhood in question will
choose a block where activity has been especially intense.
● Board was excited to hear how this
is coming together and supports this plan
5)
Check in about sponsoring
public art mural on the basketball courts at East Phillips Park
●
At last month’s meeting we
had the question about whether we could use equitable engagement fund?
○
Heard back from NCR: If we
went through getting input about whether neighbors supported this via outreach
(phone calls, some doorknocking, talking to people at the corner store) as well
as a community meeting,we could likely use our Equitable Engagement Funds
(likely the CPP rollover funds)
●
Ask whether other orgs
offered opportunity in East Phillips?
○
Haven’t heard back about
this
●
Board members expressed
interest in doing it
○
Using a process similar to
the mural on Franklin Ave - artists heard stories from neighbors and
incorporated into artwork
○
Olivia Levins Morales? Tim?
■
Connect with? And ask to
apply on our behalf? Stipend for their time?
●
Sarah shared that with the
Annual Meeting she doesn’t feel like she has the time to pull this together
before the deadline - others able to reach out to artists?
○
Sarah is hesitant because a
flat basketball court is not the most highly visible place, there are other
spaces that would be more visible
■
Also seems like we are
doing MPRB’s work for them
■
Neighborhood organizations
used to get funding from MPRB, not anymore
○
Initial interest form due
to MPRB February 15
○
Final proposal with budget
and signed maintenance agreement due to MPRB March 31st
●
Board member proposes we
reply: we would love to see this happen - provide outreach to artists and
design from community, but not funding
●
Board member shares that we
should pass
●
Board decided to pass on
this opportunity
6)
Report on progress of
Equitable Engagement Fund programs/initiatives
●
Job descriptions for Garden
Coordinator and Outreach
Workers
○ Publish job description early March
○ Hire by April
○ Train April
○ Outreach/garden coordinating:
May-October
○ This has been added to our Organizational budget and will
pass with the budget
●
Development: Strategic
planning process
●
Getting better grasp on
what CPP rollover funds can be used for - board needs to be thinking about
○
Robust outreach, reaching
communities that have been underrepresented will be key in deciding how to use
funds
○
Thoughts on how to approach
this?
●
Searching for grants for
food, entertainment, artists and healers at larger community meetings; garden
upkeep (tree removal, money for replacement tools, hoses etc.)
○
Applied for a Resilia
Microgrant ($1,000) and Minneapolis Foundation Microgrant ($5,000)
○
Become a Minnesota Council
of Nonprofits member?
■
Would cost $125
■
Comes with two free
publications (i.e. 2022 MN Grants Directory)
■
And can post free on their
nonprofit job board
○
Or purchase 2022 MN Grant
Directory for $80
■
Job postings for non
members cost $179
○
Decided to become a member,
added to organizational budget
7)
Review and approve Letter of
Support for LERA sweat lodge
a)
Board members support
signing this
10:40 Report
from Departments
Executive Committee
a) Proposal for COVID/holiday
pay
b) Retirement benefits
c) Executive Coordinator
Evaluation
d) Garden
Coordinator and Outreach
Worker
job descriptions
e) Executive Committee
motions:
1) MOTION: To increase Sarah Santiago's salary by 12%, from
$45,000/yr to $50,399.96/yr (with the same 40 hours/week expectation), DI, NWS, Approved
f) PASSED EC 2/5/22
g) REASONING:
i)
The SSA's Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) was 5.9% this
year (and inflation is 7%.)
ii)
Sarah has been an incredibly valuable worker! so that's why
I think we should go higher than the 5.9% COLA rate in providing a raise.
2) MOTION: To provide an $1,800 bonus to Sarah Santiago for exemplary
work during holiday times and throughout the COVID-hardship, provided approval
through appropriate funding contract, DI,
NWS, Approved
a) PASSED EC 2/5/22
b) REASONING
i)
For exemplary work during holiday times and throughout the
COVID-hardship.
3) MOTION: To increase Sarah Santiago's health reimbursement by 10%,
from $375/mo to $412.50/mo, DI, NWS,
Approved
a) PASSED EC 2/5/22
b) REASONING
i)
To update our health benefits to align with increased health
insurance costs
4) MOTION: To change the definition of "full-time" from
"36 or more hours" to "32 or more hours" in the Employee Handbook, consequently making health
benefits more widely available, DI, NWS,
Approved
a) PASSED EC 2/5/22
b) REASONING
i)
Specifically, it is important to add flexibility for
employees to be able to invest in different opportunities outside of their main
job as the seasons of life change (e.g. volunteering, entrepreneurial startup,
further education, caring for children).
ii)
If we do have difficulty with finances in future years (this
year we are in a great position!), it would be kinder to reduce hours while
maintaining benefits, then just cutting someone's salary.
5) MOTION: To update the Employee Handbook to accurately describe our existing
health benefits as follows, DI, NWS,
Approved
a) Appendix B: Health and Dental Insurance
i)
EPIC will provide a QSEHRA to contribute to employee medical
and dental premiums and expenses. Health benefits apply only to full-time
employees (see Section IV).
b) Health and Dental Insurance within Section X. Other
Benefits
i)
Health and Dental Insurance
ii)
EPIC will provide health and dental benefits to all
employees (salaried [exempt] and hourly [nonexempt]) who are regularly
scheduled to work full-time (See Section IV). See Appendix B for detailed
information.
c) PASSED EC 2/5/22
MOTION: Approve Sarah Santiago’s reduction in
hours and salary by 10% (36 hours/week and $45,359.86/yr) to go in effect on
the pay period starting February 14th, 2022, DI, MG, Approved by Executive Committee, DI, NWS, Approved
10:50 New business and delegate to proper spaces
(work group, department etc.)
1)
Check
in about Mighty Networks - $200 mark
○
At
May 2021 Board Meeting said we approved of trying Mighty Networks and put a cap
of spending $200 on it
○
We
are at that $200 mark
○
Approve
additional money for it?
○
Has
34 members and approximately 36 posts
○
Discussion:
i)
Is
network working?
(1)
Has
a lot of potential
(2)
Outreach
workers would be helpful
(3)
Do
some sort of tutorial on it
(4)
Propose
do one more year of intentionally trying it
○
One
year would cost $396/year
○
Idea
to have outreach workers communicate via Mighty Networks
○
Board
in favor of trying it for 1 more year, funding included in organizational
budget
2) KALY
Radio contract
●
Can use CPP rollover funds
for this or reduce amount since we have $5,000 total in budget for
communications. KALY Radio/Shirley initially put ‘not to exceed’ $12,000 in
contract
○
With announcements and live
shows in contract currently, total comes to $4,500
■
Live shows - board members
willing and interested in doing live radio show blurbs about events/meetings?
○
If over $5,000 will need
supermajority board approval (7 of 9 board members)
○
Change contract to live shows
to be determined
○
Change contract to be more
flexible for blurbs add bullet for community decisions and may include, cost
and type of announcements; appendix - dates
○
Change amount from $12,000 to
$4,500
○
Nominations for board - talk
to past board members to see if they will do a live segment
MOTION: The EPIC board of directors approves a
contract with KALY radio for 2022 for up to
$4,500 for the budget, DI, MG,
Approved
3) Review pending budget (V3)
●
Final version will be sent out for approval after contract
updates are provided by NCR
● Likely approving another one in the next month
MOTION: The EPIC board of directors approves
the pending 2022 budget (V3), DI, LD,
Approved
4) Review and approve year-end
financial reports
MOTION: The EPIC board of directors approves
the year end financial reports for 2021, DI,
LD, Approved
5) Review and approve quarterly
financial reports
o We will share at
Community Meeting as well
MOTION: The EPIC board of directors approves
the quarterly financial reports, DI, LD,
Approved
11:59 Adjourn
