Carol Pass, Chair, EPIC
eastphillips-epic.com
Friends of East Phillips and near by neighborhoods,
First, we have lawn signs to oppose the Midtown wood burning power plant if you choose to do so. Call if you want one. We could use a donation in return, but it is not necessary.
Then, here is stuff to help compose a letter to the Mayor and City Council. The extension of the option to buy the burner site is on Friday, so if anyone writes an email before Friday, that should be the request to the Council and Mayor, based on the points listed. People should try to sound uniquely different if possible, and use letterhead if they can.
We also need to write the legislators, especially these on this list. Soon! It is some work, but it is all crucial to our neighborhood.
It would be good if folks could add these letters to our archive of letters. We have been sending a stack of these to other people, like various members of the MPCA and other potential supporters. If you are willing to share your letter, email it to cpass@runbox.com.
If you have questions, you can call me at 612-280-8418.
With regard to the legislature:
Today, the Senate Committee on the Environment today gutted our senate bill, SF 3393, which previously said:
Under Permits.
(a) the MPCA may NOT grant a permit in a community with the following conditions:
1) the facility is within a half mile of a federally designated super fund site,
2) has a majority of low-income people of color and Native Americans,
3) has a disproportionate number of children with lead poisoning, asthma, and other environmentally related health problems,
4) is located in an urban area that has had numerous air quality alert days of dangerous air quality for sensitive populations between Feb. 2007 and Feb. 2008, and
5) is located near he junctions of several heavily trafficked state and county highways and two one-way streets which carry both truck and auto traffic.
The committee eliminated the word “NOT” and said the MPCA MAY permit under these circumstances. Unbelievable!! Most of these new “concessions” of the developers had already been agreed to and/or were already required by the MPCA anyway, so they conceded almost nothing.
Here are the conditions they added:
“Paragraph (b) the facility agrees to
1) Also they changed “5 or 6 jobs” to 35 % of all jobs. This sounds a lot bigger. The senate committee thought this was a concession, not knowing there were only 20 jobs in all, so 5 or 6 come here and 15 go elsewhere. Most of us believe that the pollution is not worth 5 or 6 jobs.
2) Equip all diesel trucks bring fuel to the plant with advanced filter systems that reduce emissions from diesel exhaust;
3) Report quarterly to the community where the facility is located on actual emission levels as measured by the PCA’s 24-hour emissions testing; and
4) Refrain from using refuse-derived fuel (RDF) (i.e. garbage)
First, 1) and 4) were part of the project already, so they conceded little new.
Second, and this is most important, none of this addresses the pollution coming out of the stack itself. That is the real objection, nearly a million pounds per year, plus the fact that, if the developers spent more on pollution control, the community would be protected more.
Third, the MPCA has acknowledged on p. of their Technical Support Document (TSP) and in testimony before the State Senate and House, that they do not even know how to test for some of the worst pollutants such as Mercury, Dioxins and others (TSP, pps. 145-149). The documents are full of “build-first-and-test-later” statements for the worst of the emissions (TSP p. )
Fourth, even though the MPCA tests the facility and reports to the community, there is nothing here that allows the community to do anything about what is going on. It is powerless.
Fifth, while Refuse-derived fuel is prohibited by this, but treated wood, such as plywood, is not and this is just as bad. Kandiyohi has agreed not to burn wood products with added polluting materials mixed in, but this has not been included in the legislation. They also wish to do experimental burns on various materials.
Basically, add all this up and it amounts to gambling with the lives of the families and children here, lives already being gambled on by the pollution already here. The real beneficiaries of this project will be the financial gainers on the other side of town. The losers paying for this in terms of risk to their health and the health of their children are all on this side of town, the poor part of town. This is not a pretty picture, but this is what is going on.
More info on burner and letter writing - go here: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dd9thxh2_48gfvnmb8p
Thanks for helping.
-Carol Pass
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
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 28th St. and 20th 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 9th 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
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Midtown Burner Update
So are you still on the fence with the burner issue??
Here are a few facts that might allow you to get on
board with raising some serious issues about the public
and/or nonpublic process that has gone on regarding the Burner, if you are not
comfortable with opposing the Burner itself, though I am hoping you will arrive at
that point in the near future. Butfirst of all, if you provided a letter of support, at least you could rescind it on these grounds. We have rescinded support and the
EPIC signature from the Good Neighborhood Agreement, but last I heard the Kandiyohi Development project (KDP) guys were not telling anyone and last time
I looked, they still had our names on as supporters and signers.
It seems to many of us that anyone, whether they believe the project may be
valuable or not, certainly should be at least be objecting to the public
procedure and the governmental evaluative process that has allowed it to
come this far. That process seems deeply flawed and pretty inexcusable.
I don’t believe your organization can be on record or even silent about
such a poor process that leaves public health and right-to-know concerns
in the dust, without serious cost to your organization’s credibility. At
the least, this should be in the forefront of some of your organization’s
present concerns.
Here are some of the public process reasons for objecting:
1) Public Notice/Community Engagement: The land sale approval process
which happened in June, 2006, involved a process where the decision to
have a public hearing was made on a Friday (June 16, 2006) to happen on
the following Tuesday, June 20th, 2006. That’s onebusiness day, Monday,
for public notice. It is simply impossible for the public to respond to
such a decision in that amount of time. Given that, I can’t really believe
a response was intended. I don’t even know what the notification process
was/is for that sort of thing, but it is meaningless if it is one business
day, the preceding Monday.
2) Community Benefits: If you look at the document (I’ll send it as
an attachment) you will see on p. 6 that there is almost no real cost/benefit
analysis or due diligence of the “benefits” to the community and there
is not even a column for the negative cost to the community. In fact,
there has been no serious assessment of the cost to this community by
anyone, including the MPCA. See the Technical Support Document created
by the MPCA.
3) Overall Public Process: The MPCA report (Technical Support Document),
which inadvertently shows the potential public health cost to the community,
came out on November 11, 2007. This was long after variances and zoning
changes and almost all relevant decisions and approvals happened in city hall. Everything had moved ahead and was about to happen without asking the one
most important and relevant question, the public health question regarding
the surrounding community of minority and Indigenous people, many of whom
are children and many of whom have health challenges and almost all of whom
are economically struggling.
The whole process for something like this was backward. I think no one really
knew what they were inviting to occur here. We sure didn’t, nor did many
environmental organizations and some neighborhoods that are now rescinding
their support. Despite the fact that I am married to a board member of the
Green Institute, I knew nothing because of the gag order put on the GI
when Michael Krause left. The EPIC board had to figure out everything
through our own research by ourselves. Kandiyohi, the MPCA and governmental
bodies of every sort were no help.
4) Informed Consent: The words: “The facility will be a major source
of Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAP)” figuring prominently on page 2 of the
Technical Support Document prepared for this project have never been uttered
in any of the very polished presentations given by Kandiyohi Developers.
Furthermore, almost no neighborhoods and no governmental bodies haveheard a
serious rival point of view foregrounding either the Hazardous Air Pollution
and/or the environmental justice issues. Given the fact that many of the pollutants are carcinogenic, this is a travesty of public policy, but it also means that informed
consent has been prevented and not occurred all down the line.
5) Environmental Justice: The other issue that has never received visibility is the
environmental justice issue. In the ‘community benefits’ category of the ‘Request
for City Council Action From the Department of Public Works’ of June, 2006,
there are a few jobs, some property tax revenue and the ‘Suggestion of revenue
sharing with local community groups (no details provided)”, which never
materialized for near by residents. In fact there is almost no awareness of
the local neighborhood residents at all. The concrete reality of their lives
seems not to have figured in anywhere. The people not figuring in seems to be
the case everywhere I look, even in our own organization. I can acknowledge that
we made the same mistake. We now see this clearly and have acknowledged this,
but I am waiting for everyone else to acknowledge this also. The truth is:
Kandiyohi presented a very persuasive picture where care for the planet trumped awareness of the well-being of the struggling,impoverished,
immigrant and Indigenous people right in our midst, our very neighbors and friends.
My research is beginning to show that this may be a process occurring nationwide,
where the rush to ‘Save the Planet’ is causing corporations, government and the
public to ignore some of the most vulnerable people who appear to be in the
way. They often live in the places where people want to locate projects like
the Midtown wood burner and are least able to defend their communities against
these projects. To allow a passion for the ideal of saving the planet to cause
us to ignore orhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif blind us to caring for and protecting its more vulnerable people
would not be the first time lofty ideals have compelled people to roll over and
injure those who struggle to protect themselves. This a very old story in human history.
That is why the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency drafted
their "Environmental Policy" for just such a time as this. It states:
"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..."
This needs to be acted on.
One of the corporations involved in the Midtown Eco Energy burner,
CH2M Hill, has as its motto, “Solutions without Boundaries”. At this point
I would have to agree. The boundaries that are missing are moral boundaries.
We need to realize this and act. Think about it.
Carol Pass, President, East Phillips Improvement Coalition, EPIC
Here are a few facts that might allow you to get on
board with raising some serious issues about the public
and/or nonpublic process that has gone on regarding the Burner, if you are not
comfortable with opposing the Burner itself, though I am hoping you will arrive at
that point in the near future. Butfirst of all, if you provided a letter of support, at least you could rescind it on these grounds. We have rescinded support and the
EPIC signature from the Good Neighborhood Agreement, but last I heard the Kandiyohi Development project (KDP) guys were not telling anyone and last time
I looked, they still had our names on as supporters and signers.
It seems to many of us that anyone, whether they believe the project may be
valuable or not, certainly should be at least be objecting to the public
procedure and the governmental evaluative process that has allowed it to
come this far. That process seems deeply flawed and pretty inexcusable.
I don’t believe your organization can be on record or even silent about
such a poor process that leaves public health and right-to-know concerns
in the dust, without serious cost to your organization’s credibility. At
the least, this should be in the forefront of some of your organization’s
present concerns.
Here are some of the public process reasons for objecting:
1) Public Notice/Community Engagement: The land sale approval process
which happened in June, 2006, involved a process where the decision to
have a public hearing was made on a Friday (June 16, 2006) to happen on
the following Tuesday, June 20th, 2006. That’s onebusiness day, Monday,
for public notice. It is simply impossible for the public to respond to
such a decision in that amount of time. Given that, I can’t really believe
a response was intended. I don’t even know what the notification process
was/is for that sort of thing, but it is meaningless if it is one business
day, the preceding Monday.
2) Community Benefits: If you look at the document (I’ll send it as
an attachment) you will see on p. 6 that there is almost no real cost/benefit
analysis or due diligence of the “benefits” to the community and there
is not even a column for the negative cost to the community. In fact,
there has been no serious assessment of the cost to this community by
anyone, including the MPCA. See the Technical Support Document created
by the MPCA.
3) Overall Public Process: The MPCA report (Technical Support Document),
which inadvertently shows the potential public health cost to the community,
came out on November 11, 2007. This was long after variances and zoning
changes and almost all relevant decisions and approvals happened in city hall. Everything had moved ahead and was about to happen without asking the one
most important and relevant question, the public health question regarding
the surrounding community of minority and Indigenous people, many of whom
are children and many of whom have health challenges and almost all of whom
are economically struggling.
The whole process for something like this was backward. I think no one really
knew what they were inviting to occur here. We sure didn’t, nor did many
environmental organizations and some neighborhoods that are now rescinding
their support. Despite the fact that I am married to a board member of the
Green Institute, I knew nothing because of the gag order put on the GI
when Michael Krause left. The EPIC board had to figure out everything
through our own research by ourselves. Kandiyohi, the MPCA and governmental
bodies of every sort were no help.
4) Informed Consent: The words: “The facility will be a major source
of Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAP)” figuring prominently on page 2 of the
Technical Support Document prepared for this project have never been uttered
in any of the very polished presentations given by Kandiyohi Developers.
Furthermore, almost no neighborhoods and no governmental bodies haveheard a
serious rival point of view foregrounding either the Hazardous Air Pollution
and/or the environmental justice issues. Given the fact that many of the pollutants are carcinogenic, this is a travesty of public policy, but it also means that informed
consent has been prevented and not occurred all down the line.
5) Environmental Justice: The other issue that has never received visibility is the
environmental justice issue. In the ‘community benefits’ category of the ‘Request
for City Council Action From the Department of Public Works’ of June, 2006,
there are a few jobs, some property tax revenue and the ‘Suggestion of revenue
sharing with local community groups (no details provided)”, which never
materialized for near by residents. In fact there is almost no awareness of
the local neighborhood residents at all. The concrete reality of their lives
seems not to have figured in anywhere. The people not figuring in seems to be
the case everywhere I look, even in our own organization. I can acknowledge that
we made the same mistake. We now see this clearly and have acknowledged this,
but I am waiting for everyone else to acknowledge this also. The truth is:
Kandiyohi presented a very persuasive picture where care for the planet trumped awareness of the well-being of the struggling,impoverished,
immigrant and Indigenous people right in our midst, our very neighbors and friends.
My research is beginning to show that this may be a process occurring nationwide,
where the rush to ‘Save the Planet’ is causing corporations, government and the
public to ignore some of the most vulnerable people who appear to be in the
way. They often live in the places where people want to locate projects like
the Midtown wood burner and are least able to defend their communities against
these projects. To allow a passion for the ideal of saving the planet to cause
us to ignore orhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif blind us to caring for and protecting its more vulnerable people
would not be the first time lofty ideals have compelled people to roll over and
injure those who struggle to protect themselves. This a very old story in human history.
That is why the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency drafted
their "Environmental Policy" for just such a time as this. It states:
"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..."
This needs to be acted on.
One of the corporations involved in the Midtown Eco Energy burner,
CH2M Hill, has as its motto, “Solutions without Boundaries”. At this point
I would have to agree. The boundaries that are missing are moral boundaries.
We need to realize this and act. Think about it.
Carol Pass, President, East Phillips Improvement Coalition, EPIC
Monday, December 31, 2007
Blog Annual Statement 2007
Name of Blog: East Phillips Community Blog
Organizers: Kevin Chavis
Purpose: To disseminate information about the happenings in East Phillips in an accessible digital format. No profit is made (apart from knowledge) and sources are always stated explicitly.
Participating with this blog is available to others interested. Please e-mail KevinChavis AT Yahoo dot com with subject line:"East Phillips Community Blog"
54 visitors from 3 November 2007 until December 31, 2007
Organizers: Kevin Chavis
Purpose: To disseminate information about the happenings in East Phillips in an accessible digital format. No profit is made (apart from knowledge) and sources are always stated explicitly.
Participating with this blog is available to others interested. Please e-mail KevinChavis AT Yahoo dot com with subject line:"East Phillips Community Blog"
54 visitors from 3 November 2007 until December 31, 2007
Sunday, December 30, 2007
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
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
Thursday, October 11, 2007
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
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
Saturday, May 5, 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.
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