BOARD MEETING MINUTES – Monday, August 15th, 2016 – 7:00 p.m., Fuller Park
Board members present: Dan Williams, Andrew Buss, Ryan Fisher, Joy Gottschalk, Dick Fiala, Briana Daymont, Joy Glasser, Steve Bieringer, Lauren Anderson, Justin Wills, Mary Jane Mitchell, Kathy Kornblum,
Board members absent: Sandra Bartsias, Eric David, Dick Wager,
Also present: Abby Rowan (TNA coordinator), Stacy Sorenson (City of Minneapolis NCR representative), Brittany Faust (Master Water Stewards), Kristine Maurer (Master Water Stewards), Councilmember John Quincy, Tjody DeVaal
Called to order: 7:03pm
Officer Reports:
Secretary – A motion to approve the July 2016 minutes was made, seconded and approved.
Treasurer – Justin presented the FY2016 profit & loss statement. Lauren moved to approve, Joy seconded. Voice vote, all in favor, none opposed. Motion approved.
Partner and Other Announcements
Councilmember John Qunicy talked about the City’s 5.5% levy request for this coming tax year. The base request was a 2% property tax increase; Minneapolis Parks & Recreation Board funding and an additional $20 million for streets and infrastructure brought the levy request to 4.9%. The extra 0.6% was added due to the failure of the Minnesota State Legislature to approve Local Government Aid during their session this year. If the Legislature returns for a special session and passes LGA funds, the levy request would drop back down to 4.9%. Councilmember Quincy said 70% of the City’s budget increases were in public safety, such as increasing the number of public safety officers and increasing their diversity.
The council also decided not to put the $15/hour minimum wage and police officer personal liability insurance initiatives on the ballot as the city attorney did not consider them charter-worthy initiatives. The council has not rejected the minimum wage initiative, but is waiting for the results of studies on wage impacts before making further decisions which could come in 2017.
The City is also planning an upcoming neighborhood coordination meeting and will solicit input from Tangletown and other neighborhood associations.
Leaf Raking
Kristine Maurer and Brittany Faust solicited support for their community leaf raking Master Water Steward project. Unraked leaves wash into storm sewers which drain to city lakes and streams, causing algae blooms which severly reduce water quality and prevent recreational activities. Their proposed event would gather community volunteers to rake leaves for those who are unable to do so, and possibly in neighborhood public spaces and business nodes. They would like to host a small educational event beforehand with tables from other water quality organizations and the Washburn Green Team, and provide refreshements (like fresh apple cider) and snacks. They asked for support from TNA for the sign-up process, publicity, and refreshments. Joy suggested adding a storm drain stenciling component, which other neighborhoods like Lynnhurst have done in the past.
Kristine and Brittany proposed Saturday October 22nd as the date, though Lauren suggested the first weekend in November since many trees in Tangletown hold their leaves longer. Laurent also suggested hilighting the event in the fall newsletter, the deadline for which is September 19th. Dick, Lauren, Mary Jane, and Kathy will co-lead the effort for the board.
NCR Overview
Stacy Sorenson from the City of Minneapolis presented an overview of the CPP and NCR programs, reimbursement guidelines, and processes. Before TNA can be reimbursed for an expense, funds must be under contract through CPP/NCR with some entity providing that service, which could be TNA itself, Minneapolis Public Works, or other entities. Contracts detail the work to be performed and the party responsible for doing the work. The city will often give an advance on contract funds to make it easier for neighborhoods to get things done. Approving a contract takes about 6 – 8 weeks after the paperwork is submitted.
Contracts (and thus any activities which TNA could be reimbursed for through CPP/NRP funds) should have an emphasis on educational activities and/or bringing people together, or other concrete neighborhood improvement projects. For example, the leaf-raking project could fall under community engagement and education, but festivals (like the TNA 4th of July event) are complicated because the city will not reimburse for food or entertainment, but can reimburse for community-building aspects of these events. Other examples of reimbursible items are newsletters, communications, web sites, event speakers, advertising, Neighborhood Priority Plans.
TNA needs to submit our 2015 CPP annual report before further reimbursement for any eligible expenses.
Stacy specifically called out the NRP Phase II funds which were contracted in 2007 and of which $85,000 are unspent. She suggested closing out that contract and rolling those funds over into a CPP strategy instead of leaving them in NRP. But 70% of these Phase II must still be allocated to housing (like home improvement loands or historic preservation) even if they are rolled over to CPP, and need a new CPP contract before they can be spent. Previously these funds were allocated to home improvement loans administered by Center for Energy and Environment but TNA pulled out of that program when CEE raised their administrative fees. Lauren asked if the city has another loan administrator and Stacy suggested Greater Metropolitan Housing Corporation. The City will prepare a report in October about TNAs current NRP and CPP funds status. Stacy volunteered to return next month to talk aobut the neighborhood board diversity survey and answer any further questions about CPP/NCR.
4th of July Recap
We have so far had 12 responses to our event survey, which include much positive feedback. Recommendations from the survey include easing the bottleneck at the face painting and balloon stations, more kid-friendly food options, adding family/adult games, and increased marketing of the event. The inflatables and dunk tank did not work as well as expected and TNA will negotiate with Diamond Lake Rental for discounts appropriate for the level of functionality the inflatables and tank provided.
NNO Compostables Recap
TNA purchased and provided compostable party supplies (plates, utensils, cups, bags) for 32 National Night Out party block leaders. Board members helped put together the supply kits and hand them out over two days. Kathy visited a few block parties and helped educate leaders about how to use supplies and acceptable compostable items. Suggestions for next year include more block leader education and having a demo setup at supply pickup time. Additional improvement suggestions for next year should be sent to Joy.
Projector and Microphone
Briana got quotes from Best Buy for projectors and wireless PA system, ranging from $300 to $670 for projectors and $234 for a wireless PA (one speaker and wireless mic). The board decided to focus on the higher-quality projector since it will address more use-cases and be more flexible.
Ryan asked about purchasing a screen since projecting on the wall at Fuller can be unreadable. Steve mentioned any screen would have to be retractable since the main room at Fuller is also a gym. Since screens had not previously been discussed and no quote was ready, a screen decision was tabled.
Dan moved to budget $1100 for the better-quality projector option and the wireless PA system. Lauren seconded. Voice vote, all in favor, none opposed. Motion approved. Briana will source the projector and PA.
Direction for the coming year
Joy compiled a list of activities and interest areas pulled from the TNA 2013 neighborhood survey and the mid-2015 TNA board brainstorming session, and asked current board members to indicate their interest in each of the items. Those items with the most interest could become TNA focus items for 2016.
Joy volunteered to lead a short sub-committee to push communication strategy (website calendar, etc) forward.
Briana volunteered to focus on utilizing housing-focused NRP Phase II funds. Justin expressed interest in dog parks, Ryan for Nice Ride, and Kathy/Joy/Lauren for sustainability. Dan will continue with utility box wraps.
Lauren encouraged high board turnout for our fall event. Kathy suggested focusing the event around water issues to tie in with leaf raking and drive signups for the raking event. Kristine Maurer suggested Peggy Knap from Freshwater Society as a speaker.
Fall Newsletter
Tjody set the article deadline for September 19th. Mary-Jane suggested an article about leaf-raking and water quality for the fall newsletter.
Miscellaneous
Joy solicited interest for a “Box With Your Board” activity with Title Boxing, a new business at Lyndale and 54th St, as a board-building and community outreach event. The board seemed generally interested an Joy will follow up.
Kids Vote Minneapolis is looking for volunteers; Tangletown will ask for vounteers in our communications and put a link on the website.
Adjourned: 8:30pm