February 2005

Agenda
February 21 2005

1. Officers reports- minutes, treasurer’s report
2. Neighborhood visitors and guests
3. NRP Plan modifications
B-ball court and balcony railing at Fuller Rus
4. TNA bookkeeping
5. Garage Sale ? Georgia
6. July 4th parade Karen
7. TNA Website
8. Old business
9. New business?

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Tangletown Neighborhood Association
Meeting Minutes – February 2005
[Minutes are draft only–will be addressed at March meeting].

Board members in attendance: Roger Hegeman, Georgia Stephens, Norman Foster, Lynell Voigt, Sarah Kalweit, Karen Larson

Call to order: 7:07

Officers’ reports/minutes:
January minutes approved unanimously
No officer reports

Neighborhood visitors and guests:
Resident Burke Hinds informed the board that Knox Presbyterian Church, 4747 Lyndale Ave, will present a children’s play on April 29, 30th, and possible 31st. He asked for it to be mentioned in the next issue of the Tangletown News.

Ann Geske of the SW Journal introduced herself and took notes for the regular neighborhood meeting update done by the paper.

Tom Balcom, resident and neighborhood historian, told the board about Ramsey International Fine Arts Center’s spring production of Oliver Twist. He is preparing an article for the Tangletown News that will tie this production with the school’s site’s history as an orphanage.

Tom also updated us on the recent Minnehaha Creek visions meeting. Three technical issues are being focused upon right now and they include water quality, macroinvertibrates in the creek, and fish. A series of meeting will be held to produce a plan on how to improve the creek. The next meeting will be held at the St. Louis Park city council chambers on March 22. Tom will keep us updated on the result of these meetings.

Roger suggested that Tom’s updates, as well as arts information, would be good material to add to our soon-to-be resurrected web site, Tangletown.org.

NRP Plan Modifications:
Rus Thomas, NRP Coordinator, said that out of 1800 NRP Phase II surveys mailed to residents, 398 were completed and returned. This is 22% and is a good response. A summary will be distributed after the results are tabulated.

There’s been a delay in both of our current NRP projects. The re-surfacing of the Fuller Park basketball court was not contracted in a timely manner, which has caused a delay, and the plan for resurfacing was reevaluated and rejected. It has been recommended that the court be torn up and re-laid for better durability and a longer life. The new contract requires additional funds that, if the board approves, are available and can be moved from the Business Façade Improvement Contract that has been terminated due to lack of business interest.

The project to make the Fuller Park balcony rail safer for small children has been delayed as well. The screen that was to be added to the existing railing was rejected and an alternative was offered. Custom-built wooden attachments have been recommended which will reduce the space between railings and prevent small children from getting caught or falling through the gaps. This plan requires additional funds as well. Another $1,713.00 is available and can be moved from the now-defunct Business Façade Contract pending board approval.

See below for wording of resolutions.

The resolutions for the Basketball Court (new solution) New Contract and Balcony Railing (new solution) Contract Amendment were put to a vote. Both resolutions passed.

Resident Shirley Unger expressed interest in how Phase II money will be used to satisfy the 70% affordable housing requirement. It is early in the process, so that has not been decided at this time. She distributed information about the organization SWING, Southwest Interfaith Neighborhood Group that is working to promote affordable housing in the area.

Garage Sale:
The Tangletown Neighborhood Garage Sale will be held Friday, May 6 and Saturday, May 7. Sarah Kalweit agreed to be the contact person, however, this year phone calls will be directed to the TNA voice mail and forwarded to Sarah as is appropriate. Sarah will receive help from Samantha Kealey, Karen Larson, and Catalina Chadbourn. Tickets will again be $10 and an ad will be placed in the Star Tribune and the SW Journal. Deadline for registration will be Friday, April 15. Sarah emphasized that more pre-sale publicity is needed this year.

July 4:
It was decided that a basic event would be planned (fire truck parade, balloons) in order to carry on this popular tradition in the neighborhood. However, additional attractions will be dependent on the volunteer response received to our stepped up recruiting efforts. These efforts will include: a form placed next to the Garage Sale form in the upcoming Tangletown News, making it visible and easy for residents to sign up to help. A board will be placed at Fuller Park with handouts that outline individual tasks and language that clearly communicates expectations such as “I will work a shift…”

TNA Bookkeeping:
Resident Ed Wunsch has requested that the TNA board show proof of compliance with neighborhood association finance regulations. A motion was made to increase frequency of duties performed by the TNA’s accountant so that reporting is completed and ready to present at each meeting. Motion carried 3 y, 1 n.

TNA Website:
Norman Foster said that more testing would be done before going live. He requested content and feedback about what we’d like to see incorporated into the site in terms of technical capabilities such as an instant voting function, etc. The url that will ultimately be used will be
http://www.Tangletown.org It is not live yet.

New business:
Georgia Stephens submitted her resignation from the Board, effective May 16, 2005, where at the 2005 Annual Meeting, a new Treasurer can be elected. She will continue reporting for and editing Tangletown News.

Meeting adjourned 8:50 p.m.

Submitted,
Karen Larson,
Secretary

Resolution 1:Basketball Court
The Tangletown Neighborhood Association accepts the Tangletown NRP Oversight/Steering Committee’s recommendation to implement a plan modification whereby:
$4,297.82 would be transferred from Business, Goal 1, objective 1, strategy1 Business Façade Improvement Grant Program to Parks and Public Spaces, Goal 1, Objective 1,Strategy 1 Fuller Park Basketball Court and directs its chair to sign any agreements or contractual documentation that is result of this action The board understands that this action is to place additional funds in the Basketball Court strategy to enable the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board to perform a complete overhaul of the basketball court at Fuller Park rather than the resurfacing of the court outlined in contract C-20034.

Resolution 2: Fuller Park Balcony Railing
The Tangletown Neighborhood Association accepts the Tangletown NRP Oversight/Steering Committee’s recommendation to implement a plan modification whereby:
$1,713.00 would be transferred from Business, Goal 1, objective 1, strategy1 Business Façade Improvement Grant Program to Parks and Public Spaces, Goal 1, Objective 2, Strategy 1 Fuller Park Balcony Railing and directs its chair to sign any agreements or contractual documentation that is result of this action. The board understands that this action is to place additional funds in the railing strategy to allow for a redesigned solution for the Fuller Park balcony railing and will result in an amendment to contract C-20035

Rationale:
The Business Façade Improvement Grant Program generated more than $150,000 in actual business façade improvements with $52,064.26 of Tangletown NRP dollars spent. During the fourth year of this program, no businesses requested funding. The contract was terminated leaving $17,935.74 to be redirected to other strategies in the Phase I Action Plan. Since the time of the original contracts for the basketball court and the balcony railing, September 2003, the Park Board has deemed the solutions prescribed to be unsatisfactory and not cost effective and has made new recommendations to the neighborhood.

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