BOARD MEETING MINUTES – Monday, August 17, 2015 – 7:00 p.m., Fuller Park
Board members present: Ryan Fisher, Dan Williams, Lauren Anderson, Eric David, Andrew Buss, Joy Gottschalk, Dick Fiala, Laura Silver, Sandra Bartsias, Andrea Siegel, Karen Costello, Dylan Sirny, Steve Bieringer
Board members absent: Mary Jane Mitchell, Virgil Petrie
Also present: Councilmember John Quincy, Tjody deVaal, Suzanne Kramer, and Peter Alexander
Called to order: 7:07pm
August 3 Budget Priority Planning Meeting Follow-up
On August 3rd 2015 the board held a special Budget Priority Planning meeting to identify neighborhood development priorities and better utilize Tangletown’s city funds from the Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) and Community Participation Program (CPP) programs. Each board member proposed ideas which were combined with similar ideas from other members into groups which were voted on by the board. The six groups with the most votes were slotted into the six defined CPP categories, and two board members assigned to each priority as team leads. Team leads then developed and presented an action plan at the the regular August 17th meeting.
Fuller Park (Steve, Virgil): the team will meet with Minneapolis Parks staff at Fuller Park to identify common priorities and discuss ideas from the Budget Priority meeting. The team will continue to solicit feedback from the board and neighborhood on ways to improve Fuller Park. Some possible ideas include adding A/C to the community center building, improving grass in the park, adding more shade structures, opening the bathrooms on Sundays, and better park signage.
Board Development (Karen, Andrew, Dick): the team proposed creating a “TNA Board 101” resource for new and existing board members, including an updated board manual, bios of board members, simple explanations of board financal procedures and NRP/CPP plans, and written explanations of board procedures and customs. The team also proposed “welcome baskets” for new neighborhood residents and talking to other neighborhood coordinators to determine what has worked in the past for improving board participation and procedures. The team would also like to reach out to existing block leaders and foster new block leader development.
Utility Box Wraps (Dan, Andrea): the team proposed a process identify existing resources from the previous 2012 wrapping effort, contact local artists to fill any gaps from the previous effort, solicit neighborhood ideas and approval, and submit designs to the city for Spring/Summer 2016 completion. The city has a number of pre-approved designs we could use, but the team would also like some neighborhood specific art which shows how Tangletown is unique. If custom designs are used the board must identify an artist curator and pay artists an honorarium for their work. The team must also contact artists from the 2012 effort to ensure they are still OK with their art being used for utility boxes.
Sustainability/Green Team (Lauren, Joy): the team identified city-wide organics recycling as a major focus, since it will be rolling out in Tangletown in Spring 2016 and the Sustainability committee would like encourage as many residents as possible to utilize it. The team proposed adding more resources to the TNA website, writing an ongoing series of poses and articles about organics, creating yard signs to raise awareness of organics recycling, and possibly fostering “organics block captains” to serve as resources for neighbors with questions. The team is planning a neighborhood event in Spring 2016 to educate residents about the city organics program, with a follow-up training event for those who miss the first one. The team proposed creating a video about organics featuring neighborhood residents.
The team will also research available organics recycling resources, encourage local stores to carry compostable bags in visible locations, offering free and low-cost compostable supplies for National Night Out block parties, and reach out to neighborhood businesses about participating in the city organics recycling program.
The team is also interested in organizing a Fuller Park/Minnehaha Creek Earth Day cleanup event.
Website/Communications (Eric, Dylan, Ryan, Laura): the team has identified a short-term goal of overhauling the TNA website by December 2015, including a refreshed design which might require outside design/development and thus TNA funding. Other ideas were a website business directory and a welcome package for new businesses in the neighborhood.
School Relationships (Mary Jane, Sandra): the team has identified contacts at Ramsey, Washburn, and the Washburn Foundation and will reach out to them to renew contact. The team proposed investigating grants for some of the ongoing school programs, and inviting students to become more involved in our 4th of July parade. The team also discussed funding some community education programs so they are free to participants.
Budget Priority Meeting Next Steps
Team leads should prepare detailed plans and preliminary budgets for discussion at the regular September meeing. Budgets should split funding requests into Phase 1 (by May 2016) and Phase 2 (after May) to match up with CPP funding guidelines (?). Teams should also submit articles for the TNA website hilighting their initiatives immediately after the September meeting so they can be included in the fall newsletter.
Officer Reports:
Secretary – A motion to approve the July 2015 minutes was made, seconded and approved.
Treasurer – The NCR account is at $12,776.73 and the Tangletown account is at $18,470.88, not including the city reimbursement for NCR/CPP contracts for 2014. A motion to approve the financials report was made, seconded and approved.
Committee Reports:
Committees will be rebranded next month to more closely align with our neighborhood priorities and CPP categories.
Sustainability – Nothing to report.
Arts – Nothing to report.
NRP – Nothing to report.
Communication – Nothing to report.
Business – Nothing to report.
Coordinator Update
None
Partner and Other Announcements
Joy has been researching community solar gardens with the intention of getting neighborhood residents involved. She reached out Linden Hills which has gone through the process of organizing and applying for a solar garden on the Linden Hill Coop, and talked to some developers of solar gardens. Councilperson John Quincy and a staff member from the Minneaplis city sustainability office agreed to meet with interested board members about solar gardens. Joy asked for interested board members to become more involved in the initiative.
Sandra shared information about bike tuneup stations which she thinks would be a great addition to the neighborhood. These small stations have an air pump and simple tools for bike repair. There are currently only 10 tuneup stations through Minnesota, mostly in the Twin Cities area, but none in Tangletown. The Board suggested the Minnehaha Creek trail as a good location.
Adjourned: 8:27pm
Minutes submitted by Dan Williams, TNA Secretary