Support Sister's Camelot!

I just read a post that Sister's Camelot is one of three finalists competing to receive a MySpace Impact Award. They give away free food in various locations all over Minneapolis - and it's all organic! Seriously a great organization, that I think we should all vote on to ensure they get more attention.

I have seen them several times this summer stopped at East Phillips Park or Little Earth Community.

Please vote for Sister's Camelot at: http://www.myspace.com/impactawards

East Phillips Park - Cultural and Community Center ( EPPCCC )

Coming Soon to East 24th Street at 17th Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Center's goals are:

1. To design, fund, and construct a greem LEED certifiable building.
   
2. To responsibly maintain and operate the EPPCCC over the long-term.
   
3. To provide a welcoming, safe neighborhood gathering place embracing all cultures & encourage a shared sense of Community.
   
4. To provide multicultural recreational, educational, and healthy development opportunities for residents of all ages.
   
5. To provide culturally appropriate programs and activities emphasizing child and youth development, and youth leadership skills.
   

The EPPCCC Partnership is now recruiting partners to fulfill the goals of this project.

Contacts:

Brad Pass: 612-916-8478 - bpass AT usinternet DOT com
Comm. Scott Vreeland: MPRB - 612-750-8576 - svattheriver AT aol DOT com

Kandiyohi withdraws permit application

As we have hoped for so long, the Mid-Town Burner project is no more. But you never know when these projects can be started again, so East Phillips should show where it wants its future energy to come from. That statement has already begun with Little Earth investing in solar water heaters. The East Phillips Improvement Coalition should also make decisions regarding future development that eliminate dirty forms of energy. We took a stance and won against Kandiyohi, now we must move towards an even brighter future.

Letters needed to stop the burner!!

To Supporters of the Residents of East Phillips: PLEASE CONSIDER WRITING A LETTER RIGHT AWAY.

In case you hadn’t heard, a wood burning power plant, Midtown Eco Energy Biomass Plant, has been proposed by Kandiyohi Development Partners (KDP) for the East Phillips Neighborhood, but impacting the Corcoran, Powderhorn, Midtown and West Phillips Neighborhoods, Longfellow, Central and Seward Neighborhoods as well. It would be built on the site of the old incinerator at 28^th St. and 20^th Ave. S. and would be “a major source of Hazardous Air Pollutants” according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (p.2, Tech Support Doc.). The members of the East Phillips Improvement Coalition have voted to oppose this project, believing that it is entirely inappropriate for an area so burdened by pollution already and so filled with minority children and struggling families. The following page contains the basic points that should be included in a letter of opposition, which we hope you will consider writing very soon, regarding this project. Use letterhead if possible, Regardless of where one lives, we should all protect one another from such things as a general moral obligation.

We do not intend to take on the entire Biomass industry, but since the MPCA has clearly stated that the plant will be a “major source of Hazardous Air Pollutants”, we believe it is our obligation to protect the people here, especially since there is no real social or economic benefit for them. It fits the “Environmental Justice Policy” of the MPCA exactly. However, when I called the Minn. Pollution Control Agency’s Senior Engineer for this project, Paula Connell, and asked her how this would apply, she stated, ”I don’t know, that is my great frustration, I don’t know”. I asked her for guidance and she said she didn’t have any. Apparently this policy has never been implemented or stopped anything. We have discovered that the MPCA does not even know how to do a cumulative impact study of this sort of thing. This was just stated by MPCA officials at the Legislative public hearing on the subject last week. This is very disturbing and leaves us no way to protect the people.

So we are on our own and only public pressure can do anything. Another important fact is that the major investors who stand to make a lot of money from this all live in the wealthiest sections of town and it is the poorest and greatest minority population of Minneapolis that will be compelled to bear the entire burden of health risks and negative consequences to their property values and their quality of life. We also know that more money could be spent in the project for pollution control. I don’t say this easily, but the obviousness of environmental and economic racism is compellingly clear in this case.

People of conscience should not stand by and say or do nothing. The residents of East Phillips are asking you to write the Mayor and all City Council Members immediately and call on them to oppose the proposed power plant. In particular, if you are writing to the Mayor and Council, ask them each to NOT extend the option to buy the land and building, which would house the power plant. The option ends at the end of March. This could possibly stop the project right now. We need to make these points and insist that the Council and Mayor not extend Kandiyohi Developers’ option to buy the site. If we write early this week, we may be able to influence this vote which could come up this week or next. Thank you for whatever you do. Also the East Phillips organization would appreciate copies of whatever you send for our file to help prepare this case for the future. If you would, please email a copy to EPIC at: Carol Pass, Chair, EPIC cpass@runbox.com. Contact at: 612-280-8418. Addresses of Public Officials to be contacted are:

Mayor R.T. Rybak (612) 673-2100 Mayor.Rybak@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Minneapolis City Council Members

Ward 1: Paul Ostrow (612) 673-2201 Paul.Ostrow@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 2: Cam Gordon (612) 673-2202 Cam.Gordon@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 3: Diane Hofstede (612) 673-2203 Diane.Hofstede@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 4: Barbara Johnson (612) 673-2204 Barbara.johnson@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 5: Don Samuels (612) 673-2205 Don.Samuels@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 6: Robert Lilligren (612) 673-2206 Robert.Lilligren@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 7: Lisa Goodman (612) 673-2207 Lisa Goodman@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 8: Elizabeth Glidden (612) 673-2208 Elizabeth.Glidden@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 9: Gary Schiff (612) 673-2209 Gary.Schiff@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 10: Ralph.Remington (612) 673-2210 Ralph.Remington@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 11: Scott Benson (612) 673-2211 Scott.Benson@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 12: Sandy Colvin Roy (612) 673-2212 Sandy.ColvinRoy@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 13: Betsy Hodges (612) 673-2213 Betsy.Hodges@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Dear Letter Writers: Do not Copy this letter. Rearrange its contents and put it in your own words. These are the main points to be covered, but your letter needs to reflect your own perspective and voice. Letters need to go out or be emailed early this next week or as soon as possible. Use letterhead, if you have it. Your letters for our files would be much appreciated. We would like to know who has written and why. Your help is invaluable. If you would, please email them to EPIC at: Carol Pass, Chair, EPIC cpass@runbox.com. Contact at 612-280-8418.

To the Mayor and City Council:

I am writing to insist that the City of Minneapolis conform to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s “Environmental Justice Policy”(http://www.pca.state.mn.us/publications /policy-environmentaljustice.pdf) which states that:

“The MPCA will, within its authority, ensure fair and equitable treatment and meaningful involvement of all Minnesota citizens in the implementation of federal and state environmental laws, rules, programs, and policies to insure that: Minority and economically-disadvantaged communities in Minnesota do not bear a disproportionate share of the involuntary risks and consequences of environmental pollution...”

I am requesting that the City Council and Mayor rescind all support for the Midtown Eco Energy Power Plant proposed by Kandiyohi Development Partners and commit to stopping its construction in the East Phillips Neighborhood for the following reasons:

1) We are aware that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has stated that the proposed Midtown EcoEnergy facility (wood burning power plant) proposed for the East Phillips Neighborhood (near Hiawatha Ave and East Lake St.), “will be a major source of Hazardous Air Pollutants” (MPCA Tech. Support Doc. p. 2) (November, 2007)

2) Public exposure of this statement has not occurred in any of the presentations by the developers of this project, nor has this truth been contained in any of the many advertisements or statements by the developers in area media. In addition, almost all official approvals took place before this information was publicly available on November 11, 2007. Because of this lack of public information, informed consent has not occurred. This is especially true of the people who live in the area which would be most impacted. For example, Little Earth of United Tribes heard nothing of this before approvals were given.

3) The same area in East Phillips is already the site of an asphalt plant, a foundry, an Arsenic Superfund Site, a roofing company’s hot asphalt storage, the future site of the City’s hot asphalt storage and high levels of lead contamination in homes and yards. The facts are that no one, in preparation for authorizing construction of the power plant here, has done a full analysis of the major pollution already here or even begun to understand its impact on the many minority and Indigenous families and children of Phillips. Rep.Karen Clark is working on a full study of all the families and children to determine the causes of large health disparities among the Phillips population with respect to the rest of the City of Minneapolis to accomplish this missing piece. This neighborhood has already been determined to be one of the most polluted locations in the 5 county metro area and the power plant proposal would bring even more “major hazardous pollutants. to the neighborhood.

4) 40% of the neighborhood population are children, 40% of whom live in poverty. These children have a disproportionately high rate of asthma and other chronic health problems, many potentially related to area toxins and particulate matter. The drop out rate of 9^th graders living in Phillips is much higher than elsewhere in Minneapolis and asthma is one of the major causes of poor school attendance.

5) There are no significant direct economic or social benefits from this project sufficient to balance the serious public health risks the economically challenged minority and Indigenous population of East Phillips as well as the residents of near by surrounding neighborhoods would be compelled to bear.

Therefore, the proposed construction of the Midtown Eco Energy Power Plant and the granting of its Air Emission Permit constitute a clear violation of the MPCA Environmental Justice Policy and an example of environmental racism and injustice to the people of East Phillips and surrounding neighborhoods.

Mayor R.T. Rybak (612) 673-2100 Mayor.Rybak@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Minneapolis City Council Members

Ward 1: Paul Ostrow (612) 673-2201 Paul.Ostrow@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 2: Cam Gordon (612) 673-2202 Cam.Gordon@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 3: Diane Hofstede (612) 673-2203 Diane.Hofstede@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 4: Barbara Johnson (612) 673-2204 Barbara.johnson@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 5: Don Samuels (612) 673-2205 Don.Samuels@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 6: Robert Lilligren (612) 673-2206 Robert.Lilligren@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 7: Lisa Goodman (612) 673-2207 Lisa Goodman@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 8: Elizabeth Glidden (612) 673-2208 Elizabeth.Glidden@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 9: Gary Schiff (612) 673-2209 Gary.Schiff@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 10: Ralph.Remington (612) 673-2210 Ralph.Remington@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 11: Scott Benson (612) 673-2211 Scott.Benson@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 12: Sandy Colvin Roy (612) 673-2212 Sandy.ColvinRoy@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Ward 13: Betsy Hodges (612) 673-2213 Betsy.Hodges@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

MPCA paula.connell@pca.state.mn.us mark.sulzbach@state.mn.us

651-282-2605 651-296-7768

Governor Tim Pawlenty tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us 651-296-3391

State Legislators

House

58A Joe Mullery 651-296-4262 rep.joe.mullery@house.mn

58B Augustine (Willie) Dominguez 651-296-8659 rep.augustine.dominguez@house.mn

59A Diane Loeffler 651-296-4219 rep.diane.loeffler@house.mn

59B Phyllis Kahn 651-296-4257 rep.phyllis.kahn@house.mn

60A Margaret Anderson Kelliher 651-296-0171 rep.margaret.kelliher@house.mn

60B Frank Hornstein 651-296-9281 rep.frank.hornstein@house.mn

61A Karen Clark 651-296-0294 rep.karen.clark@house.mn

61B Neva Walker 651-296-7152 rep.neva.walker@house.mn

62A Jim Davnie 651-296-0173 rep.jim.davnie@house.mn

62B Jean Wagenius 651-296-4200 rep.jean.wagenius@house.mn

63A Paul Thissen 651-296-5375 rep.paul.thissen@house.mn

Senate

58 Linda Higgins 651-296-9246 sen.linda.higgens@senate.mn

59 Lawrence Pogemiller 651-296-7809 Use mail form*

60 Scott Dibble 651-296-4191 sen.scott.dibble@senate.mn

61 Linda Berglin 651-296-4261 Use mail form*

62 Patricia Torres Ray 651-296-4274 sen.patricia.torres.ray@senate.mn

Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee

50 Satveer Chaudhary *205 Cap 651-296-4334 sen.satveer.chaudary@senate.mn

66 Ellen Anderson *120 Cap 651-296-5537 sen.ellen.anderson@senate.mn

60 Scott Dibble *111 Cap 651-296-4191 sen.scott.dibble@senate.mn

18 Steve Dille 103 St Off 651-296-4131 sen.steve,dille@senate.mn

21 Dennis Frederickson 139 St Off 651-296-8138 sen.dennis.frederickson@senate.mn

11 Bill Ingebrigtsen *123 St Off 651-296-8063 sen.bill.ingebrigtsen@senate.mn

4 Mary Olson 124 Cap 651-296-4913 sen.mary.olson@senate.mn

3 Tom Saxhaug *124 Cap 651-296-4136 sen.tom.saxhaug@senate.mn

23 Kathy Sheran G-4* Cap 651-296-6153 sen.kathy.sheran@senate.mn

57 Katie Sieben *321 Cap 651-297-8060 sen.katie,sieben@senate.mn

1 Leroy Stumpf *208 Cap 651-296-8660 senate.mn/senatorstumpfemail

22 Jim Vickerman 226 Cap 651-296-5650 senate,mn/senatorvickermanemail

source:http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dd9thxh2_48gfvnmb8p

EPIC Agenda 2008

Happy New year EPIC Board Members, Volunteers, East Phillips Residents and Interested Parties-

Regardless of the Holidays, all things do keep moving. I am sending two StarTrib articles that you undoubtedly would not want to have missed if you are a resident in Phillips, care about your neighbors and neighborhood and want your voice to be heard, one way or the other. Please check out the attached articles. This issue is crucial for us and we need to determine a united response as much as possible. Send me your comments and opinions at my email address. I am hoping to get the Website going so I can post your comments.
Carol for EPIC

I will also try to keep you posted regarding the most serious issues facing East Phillips in the next months. A near as I can understand, these are:

- The Biomass Plant- should it happen and if you think not, what should we do to prevent it from happening.

- The potential elimination or radical downsizing of neighborhood funding and the loss of our independent voice. The potential control of all neighborhood destinies by primarily the Mayor's office with some City Council input.

- The creation of the East Phillips Park Community Center

- The building of Town Homes on the Greenway with some Live/Work homes on Bloomington.

- Continued work to stop crime

- Working on Programs for youth

- East Phillips NRP Phase II

Links:

Biomass plant not supported: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dd9thxh2_33hmqkt2gq

Council member Lisa Goodman profiting from burner: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dd9thxh2_34gx3zkmf3

This message was originally e-mailed out by Carol and Brad Pass

EPIC General Membership Meeting

Draft Minutes 10/11/2007

The next EPIC meeting is:
Thursday, November 8th, 2007 @ 6:30 PM
Holy Rosary Church
2424 18th Ave. S.
Enter door on 18th Ave. side under the “OFFICE” sign.

EPIC Board Members Present:
Rosie Cruz (RC), Carol Pass (CP), Linda Leonard (LL), Paul Wichman (PW), Aden Awil (AA), Juliet Thompson (JT).
EPIC Members Present:
Alfonso Cruz (AC), Brad Pass (BP), Hannah Lieder (HL), Erin Wolaner (EW).
Guests Present:B
Gary Schiff (GS).

CP Lacking a quorum, CP called the meeting to order as a committee of the whole at 6:45 PM and did introductions.
MOTION: CP Moved to juggle the agenda to accommodate Gary Schiff and the quorum. Passed by acclamation.

Announcements and Reports:

LL Waite House Donation. After the bridge collapse, EPIC voted to authorize $999.00 for staff medical expenses and overtime expenses necessary because so many staffers were unable to work due to their injuries. Since then we have determined that there is adequate money for the Waite House and there is no way for us to direct our donation because the Minneapolis Foundation is holding all donations and will distribute them as they see fit.
MOTION: LL Whereas: there is adequate money available for the Bridge Collapse victims and Whereas: there is no way for EPIC to direct its donation, Therefore be it resolved that EPIC rescind its authorization to donate $999.00 to the Waite House.
NOTE: Motion was postponed until a quorum is present.
LL Garden harvest Party: Oct. 6th was our East Phillips Community 17th Ave. Garden Fall harvest party. The party was very well attended with many children. The best estimate was that 150 people came. We went through 120 hot dogs, 5 gallons of Apple juice, several large bags of marshmallows and 40 miniature pumpkins. There were games for kids in the blocked street, pony rides in the alley, a petting zoo with many small animals in the garden and a campfire for roasting (incinerating) marshmallows. A couple of gardeners allowed kids to pick their carrots and etc. to feed the animals. This led to somewhat wholesale carrot picking and some gardeners were upset. The animals were very happy and the kids were ecstatic.
JT Street Lights: JT reported that East Phillips streets seem unnecessarily dark at night. She asked how many lights per block and what intensity are provided by the city. This was determined to be a Gary Schiff question. She also reported that the barricades on 25th St. just moved the problem South to 27th St.
CP Weed & Seed Money: CP reported that Weed & Seed had money for an additional Portable camera but this money was inexplicably removed from the Police/Weed & Seed Budget by 3rd Precinct Inspector Lucy Gerald.
EW Holy Rosary parking lot vandalism: Holy Rosary is having a serious problem with vandalism and vehicle break-ins in their parking lot. It happens in broad daylight and night time. Volunteers, staff and parishioners are becoming afraid to leave their vehicles in the area. Many Hispanics are afraid to report crimes perpetrated against them for fear of ICE retaliation. Resident remarks were that this could cripple the church.
(NOTE: After this EPIC meeting three vehicles parked on 18th Ave. S. just outside the church were vandalized with broken windows and stolen contents and car sound systems.)

NOTE: At 7:00 PM a Quorum was acquired.

Waite House Motion:

MOTION: LL Whereas: there is adequate money available for the Bridge Collapse victims and Whereas: there is no way for EPIC to direct its donation, Therefore be it resolved that EPIC rescind its authorization to donate $999.00 to the Waite House.
Motion passed by Acclimation.

New Board Member Ratification:

CP The EPIC Board has nominated Juliet Thompson to replace retiring Board Member Cynthia Aguirri. The term will be from ratification to the next EPIC Annual Meeting.
MOTION: LL EPIC moves to accept Juliet Thompson as a new member of the EPIC Board of Directors. The term shall start immediately after ratification and continue until the next EPIC Annual Meeting is adjourned. Seconded by RC. Motion passed unanimously.

NRP Electors:

MOTION: BP: EPIC moves that the NRP elector for EPIC be Mary Gonsior and the Alternate NRP elector be Rosie Cruz. Motion Passed by consensus.

Soccer Stipend:

CP Reports that there is $999.00 of CDBG money available which could be used for youth and family outreach.
MOTION: BP: EPIC moves that $999.00 of its CDBG money be used youth and family outreach. RC seconded.
Discussion: Midtown Phillips provided gym space free in a partnership with East Phillips. EPIC hopes to share costs for some gym rental space with Midtown on additional days.
PW At a rental fee of $100 per week for the second gym (The fist gym is free), will this money last for more than 10 weeks?
BP No, but EPIC will be sharing this burden with Midtown Phillips. As an outreach program of EPIC and Midtown, we will need to raise more money and that seems possible.
Motion Passed unanimously.



Garry Schiff Report:

Vacant and Boarded:
2908 16th Ave. S. has been boarded for over a year and it therefore has lost its
variances and as such it is now recognized as a duplex instead of a six-plex. The owner, Phil Owens, has apparently sold the building and it is now occupied illegally. It is also unclear as to whether or not the new owner is aware of the zoning change. In any case GS will call the police and have the building vacated.
2909 16th Ave. S, has sold.
1537 26th St. has been vacant and boarded for more than a year and has therefore lost its variance which no longer allows it, (a four-plex) to be the second building on a single lot.
2923 16th Ave. S. is owned by a collective of California of Mortgage Companies. Ownership is changed every few months to avoid any ownership penalties. RC sees people entering the property from the garage and probably the house.
GS will board the garage.
Gustavous Adolphous – 1626 E. Lake St. will be torn down if owner cannot apply for rehab permits by Nov. 8, 2007.
Stately St. Three murders on this street this year. 1836 Stately St. is on the demo list.
2422 16th Ave. S. was demoed today.
19 boarded homes in East Phillips- 12 were a result of foreclosures. 11 were rentals purchased with $0 down. No maintenance – no water bills were paid and no mortgage payments were made.
Barriers on 25th St. will be removed within two weeks. GS will hold meetings on other traffic calming strategies in the area.
Cameras: CP NRP and perhaps Weed & Seed money is available for another portable camera.
GS Except for Stately St. which is the worst block in the City, Hannah’s block is now the worst in East Phillips (27th St. between 16th and 18th Avenues S.). we need a creative strategy for providing staff and funding to monitor existing and new cameras.
MOTION: RC Moved EPIC authorizes up to $15,000 of its NRP money to buy another portable camera for the MPD to be used in the East Phillips Neighborhood. Motion was seconded and passed.
It was noted that this would require another vote at our next EPIC GM Meeting.
HL What is current police staffing?
GS It is the highest in 5 years. When Bush eliminated Clinton’s Dollars for Cops program we lost a lot of cops. The City is incrementally increasing police budgets to compensate.
GS All variances will be denied for 2603 Bloomington Ave. S. There are many issues including parking. Another this to consider is that every Event Center” in the 3rd Precinct has at one time or another been cited as an illegal night club – EXCEPT Plaza Verde.
GS left the meeting.

Clean Sweep Report:

BP Clean Sweep 2007 is this Saturday. Come to the Welna Parking lot or the Messiah Community Center Parking lot at 9:00 AM, have breakfast and pick up your T-shirt, gloves, trash picker-upper and instructions and go out with your neighbors and sweep clean Phillips. Meet at Stewart Park at noon for lunch and music provided by Mad Dads.
A flyer is attached.

MOTION: BP Moved to accept the agenda and the 9/13/2007 minutes. Motion was seconded and passed.
Revisiting the Biomass Plant:
JT reported that a meeting on the Biomass Plant was held at the Franklin Library. Many opponents were there but no representatives from East Phillips attended.
CP EPIC had not been informed or invited. Lets decide that we research the pros and cons.
TO DO: JT Concurred and suggested we get both sides of the issue and make an informed decision.

Allina Jobs Program:

CP In Jan. 2006, EPIC voted to give Allina $5,000.00 NRP Phase 1 money in exchange for jobs, training and housing. This incentive for Allina was to be a forgivable loan program dependent on Allina’s performance and the longevity of the jobs. At that time West Phillips contributed $100,000.00 to the program. Over the year the other neighborhoods all pulled out. We don’t know what is still in the original contract. If we put $5,000 into this what will we get? If we don’t, what will we loose?
TO DO: BP suggested we research this issue as well. All agreed.

Future Funding of Minneapolis Neighborhoods through NRP:

CP reported she on a trip to Des Moines, Iowa, taken by NRP Staff and members of the NRP Policy Board and many other neighborhood workers. The mission was to learn from other cities about how to better serve our neighborhoods and explain how NRP works. People in Iowa were very impressed at how innovative and successful the program has been and they were astonished that Mayor Rybak is intent on terminating it. CP stated that when the Des Moines city staff hosting the conference were asked if they would consider just giving the funding to the neighborhoods for them to decide on their own projects (as Mpls. does under NRP), they remarked,”Oh, we would never do that!”
TO DO: CP explained that NRP ends in 2009 if it is not renewed for another 20 years. This coupled with the Mayor’s determination to end the program makes it imperative that EPIC very quickly spend its NRP allocation. Unspent funds may end up going back to the City.

MOTION: Motion to adjourn. Motion Passed

Submitted by Brad Pass on 6/24/2007

May 2007 Garden SC Meeting

East Phillips Community 17th Ave. Garden

Steering Committee Meeting Minutes

5/5/07

Present: Eric Refsell, Brad Pass, Kevin Chavis, Cynthia Aguirre, and Linda Leonard

The meeting was called to order and the committee approved the draft agenda with a few additions; sub-groups in the garden, the mural and common harvesting, and a plan for trees.

Elections
Officers were elected by volunteering/consenting; Brad Pass - Chair, Kevin Chavis –Vice-chair, Cynthia Aguirre – Treasurer, Eric Refsell – Secretary, and Linda Leonard - GI liaison.

Financials
The garden’s financial spreadsheet was looked over and discussed. Exact numbers for assets and expenses will need to be determined. Cynthia as Treasurer has taken the responsibility to re-calculate the spreadsheet/financial statement.

Sub-groups in the garden
The steering committee was unanimous in the belief that allowing sub-groups in the garden fosters a divisive environment non-conducive to core community garden principles. It was then determined that a policy would have to be enacted and applied across the board, including participating school groups, bringing up safety and liability concerns. Garden rules and regulations are binding, and interested gardeners must show up to at least one meeting personally in order to pay plot dues and sign the “Garden Use Agreement”. Gardeners will be assigned plots according to the stated conditions and if there are more interested gardeners than available plots, prospective gardeners shall have to draw lots. It was noted that sub-groups of gardeners all “occupying” the same plot may give rise to unfair voting practices and new voting guidelines were briefly discussed. Additionally, the distribution of literature was discussed and the committee was concerned about misrepresentation of the garden. So far, the committee has resolved itself to the following actions: contacting Nathan Secor to discuss safety and liability issues regarding the children under his care, and asking the general membership to make a decision regarding the herb garden, the butterfly garden and other areas that can be potentially used as arable plots. Further action and discussion was tabled in light of time constraints.

Compost
Eric will be spearheading a compost clean-up initiative and will report back.

Parade of Gardens
The decision to enter the Parade of Gardens will be passed on to the general membership. If gardeners chose to enter the Parade, it was emphasized that work toward this goal should start sooner than later, including the organization of a committee.

Group Work Days
Committee members acknowledged that the last plan for group work days did not work. A new plan, then, will have to be devised. It was noted that there is no definitive list of group chores and responsibilities. It was also noted that any new plan must require all gardeners to contribute. There were no conclusive actions taken as this topic requires further discussion and input from the general membership.

Trees in the Garden
It was noted that there is an existing report regarding trees in the garden. The committee decided to review this report and pass it along to the general membership for discussion and voting.

Fiskars Tools
Discussion centered on bringing new committee members up to speed on the background. It was decided that the steering committee will need to talk to Lynne Mayo personally to try and resolve this situation outside of general garden meeting time.

Announcements to the general membership:
Brad Pass will be donating a rain barrel in order to collect and use rainwater that lands on the garden shed. It will be located on the West side of the shed, and any plantings that are located there will have to be removed.

Phillips East Yahoo Group Started

Just started the Phillips East Yahoo Group that can easily be found in the regional section under Minneapolis.

The site is at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phillipseast

Instead of participating in a Blog that the entire world can see, one can communicate solely with local members of the community.

East Phillips at a glance

Comparison statistics for the City of Minneapolis are shown in [brackets].

SIZE 0.4 square miles [54.9]

POPULATION

• Individuals: 4,147 [382,618]
• Households: 1,090 [162,352]
• Families: 751 [73,939]
• Children under 18: 1,697 - 40.9% of population [84,169 - 22.0%]

DIVERSITY

• Native American: 943 - 22.7% of population [8,378 - 2.2% of City]
• Black: 967 - 23.3% [68,818 - 18.0%]
• Latino: 1,121 - 27.0% [29,175 - 7.6%]
• Asian: 309 - 7.5% [23,744 - 6.2%]
• White: 975 - 23.5% [249,186 - 65.1%]
• Total non-white: 3,172 - 76.5% [133,432 - 34.9%]

MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME

$24,049 [$48,602]

MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME

$23,346 [$37,974]

FAMILIES BELOW POVERTY

260 - 34.6% of neighborhood families [8,868 - 11.9%]

CHILDREN LIVING IN POVERTY

665 - 40.8% of all neighborhood children [20,477 - 25.1%]

UNEMPLOYMENT

187 - 11.5% of workers [12,778 - 5.8%]

HOUSING

• Total number of housing units: 1,162 [168,606]
• Vacant units: 72 - 6.2% of neighborhood units [6,254 - 3.7%]
• Owner occupied units: 342 - 29.4% [83,408 - 51.4%]
• Renter-occupied units: 748 - 64.4% [78,944 - 48.6%]

Data source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000

prepared by community design group // www.c-d-g.org

Why this blog?

The East Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis has no website. Nor does the community organization that serves it have a website and make clear what its operations are. Therefore this blog is meant to be a community asset and improve local communication.

Anyone living or has had lived in East Philips neighborhood of Minneapolis is welcome to join this blog.

EPIC Information

Anyone who want to contact our neighborhood organization:

East Phillips Improvement Coalition

2536 18th Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55404


Staff Contact
Carol Pass

bpass at usinternet.com


Board Chairperson
Carol Pass

EPIC Membership Meeting - July 2005

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
SWMCB = Solid Waste Management Coordinating Board

PRESENT

Mary Gonsior (MG), Hannah Lieder (HL), Linda Leonard (LL), Carol Pass (CP), Albin Dittli (AD), Cynthia Aquirre (CA)

Directors not Present: Andy Engebretson (out of town), Rosie Cruz (out of town) and Earl Sims (unknown reason)

Observers: Laverne Turner (LT) was present during discussion of first item.

Meeting was called to order at 10:15 by CP. Agenda was distributed. MG was designated as recording secretary. Quorum was established (6 directors present.)

Announcements
MG reported that she hasn’t completed the draft letter to introduce board Directors to community organizations.

Minutes
The minutes from the last Board Meeting (6/18/2005) were not completed yet.

Agenda
The agenda was approved with the following changes: Response to Robert Thompson’s email (added.) Issues surrounding the letters Lynn handed out (moved to top of the agenda.) Garden Policy item (moved to #2 on agenda.)

NEW BUSINESS

Issues surrounding the letters in Lynne Mayo’s handout at the June GMM
HL asked why we were addressing these issues again when we already discussed this and made policies about this. CP responded that we need to request a response from NRP (Robert Miller,) apologizing for telling community members that the process that was followed by the community from the October GMM until the Annual Meeting in 2005 was “illegal” and to address other related gossip and hearsay that is being spread through the EPIC community and other neighborhoods.

CP proposed requesting a 2-3 hour meeting with Robert Miller to present the legitimacy of the process followed by the community. (Robert Miller has already agreed to grant such a request.) At this meeting, CP will present all the minutes from all the meetings from October 2004 through the Annual Meeting, EPIC Bylaws, letters from the community, letters from attorneys, etc. EPIC will formally request that NRP correct the misunderstandings and rumors that abound regarding the following four points.

Robert Miller and Barb Lickness need to apologize for telling community members and the former Board Directors that the process followed by the community between the October 2004 GMM and the 2005 Annual Meeting was not legitimate and was not legal. Both need to confirm that they conducted no investigation of the claims made by the former Board Directors regarding their accusations against community members.
Robert Miller and Barb Lickness need to confirm that they released information to the public regarding accusations towards community members that EPIC staffer, Rebekah Cross, was abused and confirm that her claim of harassment, and/or hostile work environment was never established. Both need to apologize to the community for releasing information about Rebekah’s claim to the public, and confirm that the information was hearsay only and that NRP made no investigation regarding Rebekah’s claim.
Robert Miller needs to confirm that the MN Legislature requires neighborhoods to spend 52% of NRP Phase I funds on housing. In addition, because POP wrote only 18% in the original plan, he needs to confirm that it was responsible for EPIC to spend as much remaining NRP funds as possible on housing.
Robert Miller needs to confirm that all neighborhoods will be required to spend 70% of Phase II NRP funds on housing and that NRP won’t even consider plans spending less than 70% on housing.

Motion (MG, LL)
CP will meet with Robert Miller as soon as possible and present the aforementioned information. EPIC will request (in writing) that the four points listed above be addressed publicly, in writing, by Robert Miller and Barb Lickness. If EPIC does not receive a satisfactory response by August 1, 2005, EPIC will file a grievance against NRP. Motion passed.

Garden Policy: Response to Corrie Zoll’s email.
A group of gardeners asked the EPIC Board to resolve concerns brought about by discovery of an advertisement for “A Composter in Every Back Yard” youth composting and waste awareness program. Responding to EPIC’s inquiry, Corrie Zoll of the Green Institute (GI,) responded by email. Corrie referenced a Use Agreement between GI and the East Phillips 17th Avenue Community Garden dated August 9, 2004 that was signed by Christine Rangen, Daniel Thomas, Lynne Mayo, Judith Schwartzbacker and Aden Awil. Corrie worked with Lynne Mayo to secure a grant from the Solid Waste Management Coordinating Board (SWMCB) in 2004 because he understood that “Lynne Mayo is the representative appointed by [the East Phillips 17th Avenue Community Garden Steering Committee] to represent the East Phillips 17th Avenue Community Garden.”

CP drafted a response to Corrie Zoll’s email concerning the following points.

The committee called EPC 17th Ave. Garden Committee is the same committee known as East Phillips 17th Avenue Community Garden Steering Committee. The name was abbreviated for convenience.
According to GI and EPIC records, the garden steering committee is to be composed of two EPIC Board Directors, two active gardeners and one at-large individual from EPIC neighborhood (approved by both groups.)
EPIC has never appointed a “representative” from the steering committee to the GI. Instead, our relationship with GI is governed by the motions of an official garden committee with oversight from EPIC, with decisions conveyed to the GI in the form of motions.
EPIC has determined that the signers of the August 9, 2004 “Use Agreement” do not meet the criteria for the official “garden committee,” having no EPIC Directors present on the committee. In addition, the “Use Agreement” was not signed by an EPIC Director.
A garden steering committee was not formed in the spring of 2004 due to remediation issues in the garden.
AD and CA (EPIC Directors and active gardeners in 2005) attempted to investigate the 2004 “Use Agreement” by a “garden steering committee.” They requested documentation from Lynne Mayo who failed to provide any records.
There are no sign-in sheets of meetings, minutes, or financial records of dues/expenses for the garden in 2004. There are no records of any process followed to select a steering committee, sign the “Use Agreement” or designate Lynne Mayo as an official “representative” of the committee.
Irrespective of providing a monthly garden report to EPIC since last September, Lynne Mayo never reported to the garden group or EPIC that she submitted a proposal for the “A Composter in Every Back Yard” program, or that she received a grant from SWMCB. Nor did she report to the garden group or EPIC that the GI agreed to act as fiscal agent for the EPC 17th Ave. Garden Committee.
AD and CA could find no active gardeners (2005) who had been informed of or invited to participate in the “A Composter in Every Back Yard” program prior to public advertisement in June 2005.
The “A Composter in Every Back Yard” program represents a departure from the EPIC policy describing the beneficiaries of the garden, namely the residents of East Phillips neighborhood. The program advertisement is addressed to all Minneapolis students, college students and parents.
EPIC’s has additional concerns about the program including safety and liability issues, community notification, financial oversight and program evaluation.
By providing fiscal agency to this unrecognized garden committee, the GI has endangered the credibility, reputation and financial future of the 17th Avenue Community Garden, EPC 17th Ave. Garden Committee, EPIC and itself.

Motion (LL, AD)
Send the draft letter to committee to be reworked into a shorter version, if possible. Submit the final draft to CA and HL before sending to GI. Motion passed.

Garden Policy: Proposal for Garden Agreement and Proposal for Garden Policies
CA reported that the 2005 garden steering committee is not functional. The current committee has an even number of representatives: three gardeners and one EPIC rep. CA will propose that the next garden group meeting elect a new, expanded steering committee and adopt garden policies. AD has prepared a set of policies governing operation of the garden that will be submitted to the garden committee for adoption at their next meeting (in the garden at 10 AM on Saturday, July 9, 2005.) The proposal was written by several members of the garden group. In addition, AD prepared a Garden Use Agreement that adheres to the requirements of the GI. Both of these documents were designed to clarify the operations of the garden, the steering committee, the relationship to GI and to ensure that EPIC is informed about and participates in the operations and decisions made regarding the garden. These proposals will be presented for adoption by the garden group on Saturday. Anyone with comments or suggestions should submit them to AD before next Saturday.

Garden Policy: “A Composter in Every Back Yard” program
17th Avenue Garden members requested that EPIC respond to the program that Lynne Mayo advertised in the garden. HL asked if we could discuss next steps as they relate to requesting a response from Lynne Mayo and Corrie Zoll. CP recommended that we wait until we find out how those individuals respond to correspondence already sent to them. LL pointed out that EPIC is not responsible for the money that was acquired by Lynne, instead, EPIC can act as a fact-finding committee. The gardeners may choose to remove Lynne Mayo from leadership in the garden group. CP disagreed about EPIC’s liability regarding the grant and program, since it affects the credibility of EPIC and possible liability. CP reported that a letter was sent to SWMCB Waste Management Coordinating Board but no response has been received to date. HL pointed out that CA is the official representative of EPIC to the garden steering committee and recommended that CA be a point person for reporting on the progress of these issues.

Garden Report
A garden report will be placed on the agenda for the July GMM to report on the “A Composter in Every Back Yard” youth composting and waste awareness program and on the results of the July 9th garden meeting including any policies or other business that result from that meeting.

Announcements
The Twin Cities Training Program for Neighborhood Organizers is offering in-depth training for neighborhood volunteers. The training will take place once a week on Wednesdays for two hours for five weeks. The first meeting will be on Wednesday, July 13, 7:00 PM at racket Park, 2728 39th Ave. S. in Minneapolis.

501(c)(3) Application
Everything is completed with the exception of the budget. CP reported that the budget cannot be completed until we review four previous years of financial statements.

Carol, everyone was talking at once here… please add any relevant facts that are missing about the budget. There was something about Charlie Ravine and David Rubidor – couldn’t hear it on the tape.

Filing 2004 990 Annual Return
CP believes that we don’t need to file a 990 for 2004. This appears to be the responsibility of PPNA, as the fiscal agent for EPIC in 2004. EPIC appears as a line item in the PPNA budget.

Treasurer’s Report
The old checking account is closed and a new account has been opened. AE still needs to be added as a signer on the account. The current balance is $2,175.06. Checks have been ordered.

CP asked Bob Cooper about the CDBG funds. Cooper said that we can use the funds once we have confirmed to him that EPIC financial policies are in compliance with NRP financial policies. CP requested a copy of the NRP financial policies from Robert Thompson.

CP will give the insurance refund to CA for deposit.

Motion (MG, LL)
Motion to extend EPIC’s liability insurance using the insurance refund. Motion passed.

Community Survey
The revisions made by the Board at the previous meeting have been incorporated into the survey. The survey committee will continue to work out how to conduct the survey.

Terms of Board Directors
The following terms were assigned to Board Directors by acclamation.
One year terms: AE, AD, CP, HL
Two year terms: CA, MG, RC, LL, ES

Agenda for GMM
Submit agenda items to the chair.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:06 pm.

Respectfully submitted by Mary Gonsior, Secretary
EPIC BOARD MEETING
July 2, 2005 FINAL
2435 Bloomington Ave. S.

EPIC COMMUNITY MEETING - January 2005

EPIC COMMUNITY MEETING
JANUARY 8, 2005
10:18 AM – 10:57 AM

PRESENT:
Directors: Carol Pass
Residents: Ryan Brueske, Jane Thomson, Amy Pass, Brad Pass, Dan Pass, Linda Leonard, Mary Gonsior, Cynthia Aguirre, Laverne Turner

The meeting was called to order by Carol Pass who noted that there was no quorum (a majority of the remaining board members -2 of 3- were not present.)

Motion 1 (CP, MG)
Motion to proceed with meeting as a neighborhood meeting to put together an agenda for the GMM on Thursday, January 13, 2005. (Passed unanimously.)

Motion 2 (BP, JT)
Motion to accept the agenda with the addition of Announcements. (Passed unanimously.)

Motion 3 (RB, MG)
Motion to elect CP to chair the meeting. (Passed unanimously.)

Announcement (JT)
The Greenway Coalition announced the locations for Arbor Day plantings for E. Phillips sites. These sites will include just east of 5th Avenue, 13-14th Avenues including the ramp, and Cedar – 28th Avenues. These are Phase I plantings. In addition, The Greenway Coalition will host an Arbor Day community planning meeting on Monday, January 24, 2005 at their office at 26th and Stevens Avenue. The time is to be determined. For more information, please call Theresa Nelson, Greening Manager at 612-879-0103.

Motion 4 (LL, BP)
Motion to commend Jane Thomson publicly for consistent, faithful, ongoing commitment to a task that benefits E. Phillips. The community is thankful to Jane for her work as Liaison to the Greenway Coalition. Her outstanding participation in this responsibility has been positive for the E. Phillips community.

Communication Strategies (RB)
In order to facilitate communication among residents of E. Phillips, Ryan has set up two private Yahoo Groups/e-mail lists. The goal is to spread out E. Phillips information more quickly and effectively. Residents are encouraged to distribute the information about the groups to their own contacts and ask them to sign up. (Do not sign up for others.) The groups have a web-like format also, where documents, pictures and calendars can be shared. In addition, subscribers may access e-mail archives. Mary offered to help if an EPIC Web site is developed.

eastphillipsnews
News from the East Phillips Neighborhood of Minneapolis.
Date Founded: Jan 8, 2005 Mailing list type: Announcement
Post message: eastphillipsnews@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe: eastphillipsnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe: eastphillipsnews-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

eastphillips
A discussion group for the residents of the East Phillips neighborhood in Minneapolis.
Date Founded: Jan 8, 2005 Mailing list type: Discussion
Post message: eastphillips@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe: eastphillips-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe: eastphillips-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Motion 5 (LL, JT)
Motion to entrust RB with the administration of the Yahoo discussion and news groups, to establish rules for participation and to monitor the groups. RB will have the authority to remove subscribers who violate those rules. (Passed unanimously.)

Minutes from previous meetings
There was no quorum at meetings that took place since October 14, 2004. There were two board members at the last board meeting in December. The only minutes that are available would be the Ad-hoc Committee meeting minutes. There is a question of whether those minutes are relevant in light of the resignation of six board members.

Motion 6 (LL, JT)
Motion to suspend with the minutes. (Passed unanimously.)

Treasurer’s Report
Margaret Kirkpatrick (MK) reported to CP that Elena of PPNA was not able to meet with EPIC representatives prior to Thursday’s GMM meeting (1/13/05.)

Meeting Adjourned
Suleman Mohamed (SM) arrived and since a quorum was then present, residents agreed to adjourn the EPIC community meeting at 10:57 AM to take up the EPIC board meeting.

EPIC BOARD MEETING
JANUARY 8, 2005
10:58 AM – 12:35 PM

PRESENT:
Directors: Carol Pass, Suleman Mohamed
Residents: Ryan Brueske, Jane Thomson, Amy Pass, Brad Pass, Dan Pass, Linda Leonard, Mary Gonsior, Cynthia Aguirre, Laverne Turner

Motion 1 (CP, SM)
Motion to call board meeting to order. (Passed unanimously.)

Motion 2 (CP, SM)
Motion to allow residents present at meeting to fully participate in discussion and vote on motions. (Passed unanimously.)

Board Resignations (CP)
The letter of resignation by Board Directors David Fisher, Glory Gloudemans, Andre Alexander, Mohamud Hussein, Paula Weikle and Sherman Wilburn was presented. The letter, which was addressed to Mr. Robert Miller, Executive Director of NRP was cc’d to Board Directors Carol Pass and Margaret Kirkpatrick (Suleman Mohamed was omitted.)

Carol: It is hard for the minority on the Board to be responsible for not carrying out the fiduciary responsibilities of the board. I disagree with the letter. As the minority, I could not pass motions, nor override the majority of the board. I don’t accept the letter’s version of what happened. This letter needs a response.

Other discussion: Does EPIC need to respond? EPIC should accept the resignations. EPIC should inform NRP, funders and public that EPIC intends to go forward. Some residents don’t know what has happened. EPIC has lost office, fiscal agent, and funds. EPIC is a corporation in good standing.

Motion 3 (CP, LL)
Motion to accept board resignations and draft a response letter. The letter will be addressed to the former Board Directors, the E. Phillips Community and will be cc’d to Mr. Robert Miller at NRP and PPNA. (Motion passed, 1 abstention [JT].)

The group formed a list of points to include in the response. MG will draft letter. The letter will accept the resignations, but will not accept the reasons given. The letter will note the omission of notifying Director S. Mohamed of the resignations. EPIC is a corporation in good standing with the State of Minnesota and intends to move forward. EPIC is taking the responsibility of sharing the resignation letter with the community.

Report on EPIC (CP)
EPIC is a corporation in good standing with the State of Minnesota. There is a list of unfinished business, including the status of EPIC’s 501(c)3 application. The IRS has indicated it will not communicate with CP or MK about this status.

Motion 4 (BP, AP)
Motion to establish a Directors Nominating Committee. The committee will present to the community at the January GMM. (passed unanimously.)

RB will chair the committee. Tasks include:
Job description for board directors.
Board director qualifications.
Board director nomination forms.
Board director agreement.
New board director information packet (to include EPIC’s mission statement and a copy of EPIC’s bylaws.)

Motion 5 (BP, LL)
Motion to review motions passed at the EPIC Community Meeting for ratification at this board meeting. (Passed unanimously.)

Motion 6 (BP, LL)
Motion to ratify motions passed at the EPIC Community Meeting. (Motion passed, 1 abstention [JT].)

Motion 7 (LL, MG)
Motion to recognize Carol Pass to office of President, and recognize Suleman Mohamed to office of Vice President. (Motion passed, 1 abstention [JT].)

Old Business
There are outstanding bills and requests are coming in from other groups. The organization needs a legal address in order to re-route correspondence. The organization needs to determine how to forward phone calls.

Motion 8 (LL, MG)
Motion to place items 1-8 on Thursday’s GMM agenda. (Passed unanimously.)

10/9/03, Motion to submit the 501(c)3 application in a timely way.
10/9/03, Motion to set up an ethics and conduct committee.
11/2003, Motion to set up professional board training.
2/2004, Motion to set up a program committee to work on the needs of youth.
8/2003, and 3/2004, Motion to implement a mediation process.
5/2004, Motion to set up the Strategic Planning committee to create a budget.
8/2003, Motion to tape EPIC board and general membership meetings.
7/2004, Motion to implement the resolution of the grievances filed at the beginning of the summer.

Pending Grievances
Item 8 above: EPIC agreed to create policies that give the community assurance that motions passed by EPIC will be carried forward by the board. This item will be included in the agenda for Thursday’s GMM and community will be invited to participate in forming policies and procedures.

GMM Agenda
SM requested ten minutes on the GMM agenda to allow Yusuf Mohamed to address residents concerning his housing situation.

Updated forwarding of mail and phone
Address correspondence to President.

Motion 9 (LL, MG)
Motion to write to NRP requesting the return of EPIC equipment and files, and instruct NRP to recognize new officers and change of address; write to PPNA requesting financial records. (Passed unanimously.)

Motion 10 (RB, LL)
Motion to seek legal aid/advice. (Passed unanimously.)

Motion 11 (LL, RB)
Motion to adjourn. (Passed unanimously.)

Minutes submitted by Mary Gonsior