BOARD MEETING MINUTES – Monday, January 16, 2016 – 7:00 p.m., Dick’s House
Board members present: Justin Wills, Ryan Fisher, Dick Fiala, Kathy Kornblum, Dan Williams, Mary Jane Mitchell, Andrew Buss, Steve Bieringer, Briana Daymont
Board members absent: Sandra Bartsias, Eric David, Joy Glasser, Joy Gottschalk,
Also Present: Paul Sommers (Ramsey teacher), Nate Gotlieb (Southwest Journal reporter), Meg Forney (Minneapolis Parks & Recreation Board commissioner)
Called to order: 7:05pm
Officer Reports:
Secretary – Ryan moved to approve the December 2016 minutes, Kathy seconded. Voice vote, motion approved.
Treasurer – Ryan moved to approve the 2016 CPP reimbursement request. Steve seconded. Voice vote, motion approved.
Coordinator Update
The board had 10 applications for the coordinator position, and interviewed six candidates during early January. The coordinator committee extended an offer to Vanessa Haight, which she accepted. Dan moved to approve the 6-month
contract with Vanessa, Mary Jane seconded. Voice vote, motion approved.
Crosswalk at 49th & Wentworth
Kathy has no updates at this time.
Utility Box Wraps
The official Call For Artists has been written and sent to respondents from our fall 2016 newsletter posting. It will be made available on the TNA website and sent to other artist organizations as well.
Council Member Debate
The planning meeting for the debate was canceled as the City is concerned with a debate being held before a primary. As much of city neighborhood organization funding comes from the City, and due to the lack of diversity in the political views of currently declared candidates, the city would prefer not to fund what could be perceived as a partisan forum. Planning will probably wait until May/June.
Workshop: Psychology of Sustainable Behavior
The Sustainability committee is helping to organize a Feb 25th 9am workshop at the Lynnhurst Community Center, focusing on building skills to support voluntary behavior change. The workshop will be hosted by Dr. Christie Manning of Macalester College. The Sustainability committee requested a budget for $50 for refreshments. Mary Jane moved to approve up to $100 for refreshments. Ryan seconded. Voice vote, motion approved.
Green Day Event
The TNA annual Green Day event will be held Saturday April 29th and will focus on responsibly recycling, disposing, or donating stuff you don’t want. The Sustainability committee plans to have several metro organizations represented and give talks about how to dispose of unusual things responsibly. The event was already floated already on Nextdoor.com and received great response. The proposed budget of $800 includes $100 for flyers, $200 for food, $100 for the venue if we have to pay for it, $300 for honorariums (should presenters require compensation), and $100 for materials and decorations. No postcard mailing will be done as the newsletter will have just come out. Mary Jane moved to approve $800 for the event, Dan seconded. Voice vote, motion approved.
Ramsey Middle School Rename
Paul Sommers (a 6th grade teacher at Ramsey) presented about a student led campaign to rename Ramsey. The school community is exploring the history of Alexander Ramsey and searching for a new new name that would better reflect our values and inspire our students. Replacing signage is the largest cost ($6,000 – $18,000) and the students are exploring grants, businesses, and other sources for funding. Students and the community each nominate 4 – 5 name, which are then presented to the Ramsey site council. The site council determines top 5, a follow-up community meeting narrows those to a top 3 which are presented to school board, which then makes the final determination after legal and other review. The Board will add item to the TNA website directing to http://renamerms.weebly.com for more information, and also post on social media, possibly do a neighborhood email, and add an item to the upcoming neighborhood survey.
Nate from Southwest Journal
Nate recently started covering our neighborhood and was attending to introduce himself. Mary Jane will send him information about the spring sustainability/Green Day event. He would be our point of contact for events and other neighborhood information.
Lyndale Open Streets
The Minneapolis Bike Coalition and the Kenny neighborhood are looking to extend Lyndale Open Streets south from 42nd to 54th St. There would be some financial commitment of $5,000 total for all involved neighborhoods, and Kenny has already contributed a significant amount. Dick will follow up with Minneapolis Bike Coalition and Kenny to determine exact plans around funding, commitment, etc.
LaMac Cleaners
The Windom neighborhood would like to encourage LaMac dry-cleaners to stop using Perchloroethylene (PERC), a recognized carcinogen, which could cost LaMac up to $90,000 to replace machinery. Windom would like to partner with neighborhood for a matching grant and combine that with a City grant to help defray the cost of the switch. Ryan suggested deferring to Southwest Business Association to lead this, and/or requesting a business proposal with more details about how long the transition takes and what the costs are. Dick suggested inviting LaMac, a City Health Dept. contact, and Windom to discuss and clarify motivations, costs, and timing.
Meg Fourney on Parks
The Parks Board is developing a Lake Harriet/Calhoun master plan with a 45 day comment period begining January 18, followed by a public meeting. The board would like to utilize $3.7 million in funding which if unused sunsets July 1, 2018. The plan looks to improve the safety of intersections at the northeast corner of Calhoun and the southeast corner of Harriet for bike and pedestrian paths, especially for merging and cross traffic. There will also be an art grant to install works celebrating Cloud Man Village at the southeast corner of Lake Calhoun. Meg is worried that existing plans that only tweak traffic and include at-grade crossings, which could be less safe especially around high traffic intersections like Lake Street and Lagoon. Our Coordinator will add link to website pointing to the MPRB master plan for more information.
Spring Newsletter
Potential topics could include the annual garage sale, the spring Green Day event, the 4th of July event, utility box wraps public comment, etc. Ryan will ask Vanessa to touch base with Tjody and come up with timeline and topics. The newsletter should be completed by March 8th.
Adjourned: 8:44
Minutes submitted by Dan Williams, TNA Secretary