Thursday, November 10, 2005

Epic General Membership Meeting - November 2005

Minutes 11/10/2005

Directors Present:
Carol Pass (CP), Mary Gonsior (MG), Cynthia Aguirre (CA), Hanna Lieder (HL), Rosie Cruz (RC), Aden Awil (AA), Earl Simms (ES), Linda Leonard (LL)

Members Present:
Stephanie Allen (SA), Sherzad Cruz (SC), Margaret Kirkpatrick (MK), Amy Pass (AP), Brad Pass (BP), Kevin Lieder (KL)

Guests Present:
Jim Roth, Natalia Pretelt, Don Greeley, Michou Kokodoku, MPD Officer Terry Nutter

MG called the meeting to order @ 6:43 PM and attendees introduced themselves.

Motion: (BP, CA) Approve agenda. Passed
Motion: (BP, CA) Approve 10/13/2005 GMM Minutes. Passed

CA Treasurers Report & discussion:
Our Budget & Financial Policy were accepted by Bob Cooper @ NRP.
$1,401.03 is in the bank.
* NRP needs Tax # & a few other items.
LL Do we need to spend money before 12/31/2005?
CP* We can get an extension but we need a spending plan.

HL Report on Nov. Action Items:
Most items accomplished.

CP Report on Public Safety Initiative:
A new group was formed with Karen Clark and others to write legislation to tighten penalties for repeat and frequent offenders. After a predetermined # of misdemeanors, future offenses are Gross Misdemeanors. After a predetermined # of Gross Misdemeanors, future offenses are Felonies. The plan is to work with rural county attorneys to press for legislative change.

CP Report on Live-work units on Bloomington @ 29th St.
At the Oct. GMM EPIC rescinded the September motion to lease land in the project area to provide temporary parking during Lake St. re-construction. This motion was rescinded because project funding would be lost and the project would be terminated if the land were leased instead of proceeding with the project. CP also reported that Sherman & Associates stated they were planning to proceed with construction of the two live-work units this spring.

MK A heads up on Arbor Day plantings in May

Don Greely Report on crime initiatives:
Don is assigned to Sector One of the third precinct, our sector. He brought mug shots of frequent offenders, handouts and talked about Chemical Dependency and Criminal Behavior Intervention. He encouraged us to participate in Court Watch and send in Community Impact Statements (which can be made anonymously).

Report on MCCD (Mpls. Consortium of Community Developers) by Jim Roth, Mishu Kokodoko and Natalia Pretelt
In 1995 MCCD provided a grant for the Franklin Station Town-homes (then called the Village in Phillips or VIP). PRG & PPL then built the project.
Jim Roth talked about the roll of non-profit developers and proposed legislation on real estate tax relief for low income housing.
Natalia P. works in the Loan Program & provides staff support for Lake St. Businesses.
Mishu K. oversees credit analysis, helping with business plans and finding funders.
MCCD maintains and administers loan funds, and is made up of many member organizations.
MCCD identified 25 barriers to development and/or starting a business.

CA Ice Breaker. Name your favorite or dream vacation spot.
MG Alabama Gulf. White sand beach.
BP Scotland
AA Route from Pakistan to Beijing over the Himalayas and up the Khyber Pass.
SC San Diego
RC Tijuana with relatives
SM Tasco Mexico & the Virgin Islands
CA Arizona/Japan
ES Dreams
CP Romania
LL Rain Forest in the Olympics

CP NRP report
Originally $20,000,000 of Common Project Money was to be divided between the Minneapolis neighborhoods based on relative need. Over the years, due to Mpls. fiscal problems, the money was reduced and a large part of the money was diverted to repay the Legacy fund which was a fund provided by the sale of the Old Hilton Hotel which was to be used for Mpls. development. The Legacy fund was invested in the stock market and was subsequently lost in the collapse of the technology market. Some members of the NRP Policy Board believe it may be inappropriate and/or illegal to use NRP funds to repay the Legacy Fund.
Motion: LL moved that – If it is determined to be appropriate, EPIC write a letter to the Mayor and City Council members insisting on the return to NRP of all NRP Moneys used to repay the Legacy Fund. AA Seconded.
Motion Passed.
Motion: CP moved to send a letter to the Mayor and City Council expressing concern about the possible acquisition of Neighborhood Loan Repayment Money by the city and insisting that these moneys be returned to the neighborhood which provided the funding and authorized the loan.
RC Seconded. Motion Passed.
AA reported that he repaid his EPIC loan and he wants to know if it is coming back to EPIC or is going Downtown.

LL Report on Winter Garden Party:
Party to be about the same as the Garden Harvest Party.
Motion: LL moved to allocate $75 for Winter garden Party. Seconded and Passed

Motion: Adjorn. Seconded and Passed at 8:45 PM



Respectfully submitted by
Brad Pass
12/2/2005

Saturday, November 5, 2005

EPIC Board Meeting - November 2005

PRESENT
Mary Gonsior (MG), Hannah Lieder (HL), Linda Leonard (LL), Carol Pass (CP), Rosie Cruz (RC), Earl Simms (ES)

Directors not Present: Cynthia Aquirre (CA), Aden Awil (AA)

Meeting was called to order as Committee of the Whole at 10:09 by CP. Agenda was distributed. MG was designated as recording secretary.

AGENDA
The agenda was approved with the addition of property announcements.

MINUTES
Minutes were not available for the October 1, 2005 EBM.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Vigil on Columbus Avenue for 11 year old girl found dead. CP reported that the Mayor was not at the vigil. Attending were Dean Zimmerman, McManus, Gerlicher, McLaughlin.
Grand Opening Midtown Safety Center, Thursday, Nov. 10th 3-6 pm.
Garden Party was a success, and a lot of fun was had by more than 50 attending.
Greenway Design Charrette was attended by 40-50 people. So much input was received that planners decided another charrette was needed.
Public Safety Legislative Initiative is tackling two issues: 1. Take multiple misdemeanors and make them a gross misdemeanor, and 2. Have a policy to limit the number of sex offenders in Phillips because we have more than our share.

NRP Elections
LL is the official voter for EPIC to the Thursday, November 17 meeting to elect NRP Reps. CP is running to retain her seat on the board. Issues include Legacy Fund Repayment, and the general lack of financial support for neighborhoods by the Mayor.

QUORUM
Sulemon Mohamed has moved out of EPIC area; Quorum was established (6 of 8 directors present.)

CDBG funding
CP had to revise the budget so that all CDBG funds are spent in 2005. EPIC to re-submit budget to Robert Cooper. Cooper made suggestions regarding EPIC bylaws, to be reviewed at future board meetings.

Motion (CP, MG)
Accept revised Budget for CDBG funds as submitted at 11/01/05 EBM. Motion passed unanimously.
New Directors
Suleman has moved, so we do need to find another Director. CP and LL will invite new residents to EPIC meetings.

East Phillips Commons Development
The two lots just south of the new 29th & Bloomington apartment building. Parking for the businesses on Lake Street is a concern. Owner of Cadillac Pawn was paving his own lot for parking (without a permit.) Sherman Associates wants to build the townhomes requested by the neighborhood and is working with Cadillac Pawn owner trying to work out an agreement about parking. There is a dispute about the planning (also with the city.) CP has already sent a letter stating EPIC’s motion rescinding the motion to support temporary parking in this space, and will contact the principals and try to find out where the situation stands.

EPC 17th Ave. Garden Committee
CP, BP, HL met with GI and asked that EPIC not deal with Corrie Zoll regarding garden. CP wrote a Memorandum of Understanding which was not accepted by GI. CP has written a second memorandum incorporating changes:

Garden group is not a legal entity and so is removed from the memorandum.
Clarification of the voting process was incorporated into the memorandum.
Stipulated that gardeners must agree to abide by the memorandum.
Stipulated that the memorandum will stay with any future ownership of the garden.

BP tried to contact Corey Brinkema to find out what GI told Corrie Zoll. Corrie Zoll phoned Cynthia; was he asked to stay out of it?

Crime Report
Discussed Community Impact Statements. Judges are unwilling to give appropriate sentences without these statements from the community. It is best to have an ID number assigned for reporting, rather than using your name. Chronic offender reports were distributed. If you see these individuals acting illegally, you can complete an impact statement even though they are not under arrest, etc. CP will inquire whether it is okay to post these flyers on bulletin boards, web sites, etc.

GMM Agenda
Invite Don Greeley to GMM to present community impact statements.
Invite Jim Roth (MCCD) to present entrepreneur training and consulting.

Commodore Bar Site
Jason Geshwin is no longer the principal developer of this site. It has been handed off to Mark Welna. Discussed ideas for the corner, including a potential site for a community center.

Neighborhood Event
Discussed holding another garden bonfire or neighborhood event on November 28.

Survey
LL has made additional copies of the survey.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:00 pm.

Respectfully submitted by Mary Gonsior, Secretary

CDBG = Community Development Block Grant
EBM = EPIC Board Meeting
EPC 17th Ave. Garden Committee = East Phillips 17th Avenue Community Garden Steering Committee
EPIC = East Phillips Improvement Coalition
GMM = General Membership Meeting
GI = Green Institute
NRP = Neighborhood Revitalization Program
EPIC BOARD MEETING
November 5, 2005
2526 18th Avenue S, Apt. #5