BOARD MEETING MINUTES – Monday, August 19th, 2019 – 7:00 p.m., Fuller Park
Board members present: Dan Williams, Pat Collins, Brian McDonald, Dirk Nicholson, Carl Arrell, Kellie Hanson, Alyssa Thull, Craig Wiester, Dick Fiala, Brenda Anderson
Board members absent: John Dukich (LoA), Bernadette Tomko
Also present:Sally Bauer (TNA Executive Director), Carlos(Fuller Park), Councilmember Jeremy Schroeder, Pastor Mark Tiede (St. John’s Lutheran Church)
Called to order:7:00
Councilmember Jeremy Schroeder Update
Mayor Frey recently announced his proposed City budget; Jeremy is pushing to keep existing funding levels for neighborhood organizations like TNA. The budget recommends 14 additional policy officers (six traffic and eight beat cops). Jeremy thinks response times need to get better and the additional officers will help provide better coverage. The 2040 plan continues moving along; the Met Council will likely approve it next month and it will be done by end-of-year.
Sally asked about energy initiatives to make sure we don’t overlap with other efforts. Jeremy said it wasn’t highlighted by the Mayor but he doesn’t know of any cuts to energy programs. Part of the money is for energy benchmarking; we know big buildings emit lots of carbon but not how much they contribute to the City’s footprint.
Brian asked about I35W progress and Jeremy replied the project is on schedule with no big red flags. Kellie asked about new police officers in upcoming budget and Jeremy replied that he’s very interested in why the proposal was 14 and not some other number, and whether that number will help with any of the problems in Ward 11.
St. John’s
Pat met with Pastor Mark Tiede to discuss cooperation on initiatives like storm drain stenciling and cooking classes.
Officer Reports:
Secretary– Carl made a motion to approve the June and July minutes, Pat seconded. Voice vote, all in favor, motion approved.
Treasurer – Bryan reported a busy month for reimbursements due to the 4th of July event. TNA’s ledger is balanced and we should see about $30,000 of City reimbursements in the next month. The successful 4th of July event generated over $3,000 in revenue not including Sally’s staffing time. As agreed in previous meetings, Carl investigated bank account options. However many are not available for non-profit organizations so he will continue looking..
Committee Updates
Spaces: Dirk is writing a proposal for logo modification for lamp-post banners to be sent to designers. The alley cleanup event will be held on November 2 and Sally is researching dumpster options. Kellie will have proposals for a new Washburn Watertower plaque next meeting.
Engagement: the committee is planning a street-party-like adult oriented autumn event in response to broad support for such an event shown in our recent neighborhood survey. Possible options for this year include partnering with El Jefe and using their parking lot. Other possibilities include the 48th and Grand business node or Nicollet Ave near Wise Acre. Dirk suggested trying to partner with other organizations rather than just making them TNA-run events, and that other businesses would be more inclined to support these events if they are larger than just TNA. Brenda suggested “Tangletown Taps” with beer trucks to try a brew and meet your neighbors and neighborhood businesses. Sally would like to hold any such event on September 28th as that is far enough out for planning but not too late in the year for bad weather. Dick suggested showing the Gophers/Purdue game if it’s broadcast at the same time.
Discussion finalized on a fairly small event on September 28, partnering with El Jefe, using their parking lot, renting a stage, and one or two booking bands..
Dirk made a motion to approve a budget of $6,000 for the street party event. Kellie seconded. Voice vote all in favor, motion approved.
Environmental: Pat gave an update on energy rebate; the Center for Energy & Environment (CEE) wants to charge a 15% service fee for processing the rebate as part of homeowner payment for work performed. The committee decided that instead of handling rebates through CEE, TNA should handle reimbursement. The Organics outreach effort achieved 44 commitments and 24 sign-ups from door-knocking. The committee is also talking about an organics tour at the City facility in cooperation with NENA and Kingfield.
Finally, due to difficulty in quickly verifying a property’s rental/owner-occupied status, the committee also would like to modify the energy rebate budget of $25,000 to be first-come/first-served rather than originally approved split between owner-occupied and rental facilities.Alyssa made a motion to reclassify the previously approved $25,000 budget for energy rebates as first-come/first-served. Dirk seconded. Voice vote, all in favor, motion approved.
ED Report
The affordable housing property TNA was looking to help fund with a $90,000 housing loan through the City of Lakes Community Land Trust fell through and our funding will not be used by CLCLT. They will come back to TNA when a new property that meets our criteria becomes available.
Adjourned: 8:08
Minutes submitted by Dan Williams, TNA Secretary