July 2015

BOARD MEETING MINUTES – Monday, July 20, 2015 – 7:00 p.m., Fuller Park

Board members present: Steve Bieringer, Ryan Fisher, Lauren Anderson, Eric David, Andrew Buss, Joy Gottschalk, Dick Fiala, Virgil Petrie, Dan Williams, Andrea Siegel, Laura Silver, Karen Costello

Board members absent: Sandra Bartsias

Also present: Councilmember John Quincy, Jack Whitehurst (NCR), Abby Rowan (staff), Tjody deVaal, Cecelia Caspram, Arun Caspram

Called to order: 7:05pm

Elections of officers for 2015-2016
Dan Williams will take on the secretary role – thank you, Dan! The nomination was seconded and approved by the full board. Current officers were confirmed for a second year including Steve Bieringer as President, Andrea Siegel as Vice President and Sandra Bartsias as Treasurer.

TNA 4th of July Event
TNA spent $1,767.96 and brought in $2,568.00 on this year’s 4th of July event for a total profit of $800.04 despite spending $250 more on this year’s band. 2014’s event was in the red and had a total of $2,859.32 in expenditures. Attendance felt lighter, which may have been because the holiday fell on a Saturday this year and more residents were out of town. Abby coordinated the prize drawing from the pool of attendees who signed up to receive TNA e-news at the event. The board approved a $20 gift certificate for the prize recipient. The board also discussed reaching out to businesses next year both to have an info table and to donate prizes so TNA can have door prize drawings.

Planning notes and 2016 recommendations:
Food: The food trucks were great but there were requests for more kid-friendly food like hot dogs. The fruit water provided by Hector was a huge hit – we offered huge portion sizes and ran out partway through the event. The board would like to keep the fruit water ticket price at 1 and offer smaller cups next year.
Organics recycling: There was a mixup with the organics recycling container reservations so the board will make sure to reserve organics clear streams far in advance and double check with park staff.
Parade: Joy recommended getting double the balloons because they’re such a great addition to the parade and we consistently run out.
Setup: Abby brought up the idea to reserve Fuller Park’s multipurpose room the night before to pull out supplies and stage for set-up.
Games: The board also discussed increasing the number of games led by Fuller park staff to the level of previous years. Councilmember Quincy recommended contacting a local church youth group or even student government or service groups at Washburn High School or Ramsey Middle School to help plan throughout the year and staff activities. Partner groups could potentially help benefit from any proceeds collected at the event.

Tangletown survey request by Madelyn Sundberg (U of M grad student)
Madelyn is surveying SW Mpls neighborhood residents about neighborhood heritage as part of her graduate research. The board will send out survey information to residents using our neighborhood e-list and will be able to see results collected through Madelyn’s research.

Jack Whitehurst – City of Minneapolis Neighborhood Specialist
Jack distributed information on TNA’s NRP Phase I, II and III funding allocations and expenditures. There are $15,959.71 remaining in Phase I funds allocated for the business node improvement fund and Washburn water tower grounds renovations. There are just over $91,000 of unfrozen Phase II funds that can be put under contract. TNA would like to roll over these last Phase I funds to Phase II and place them under contract (some $2,000 may be under contract to the park board for Fuller Park grass). The board went through Phase III contracts and discussed potential corrections to the City’s records to reflect funds paid over the past year for the Fuller Park shade structures, 54th and Lyndale Neighborhood Priority Plan streetscape upgrades, and neighborhood bike racks.

TNA has $72,800 remaining on the 2014-2016 Community Participation Program contract, which runs through December 31, 2016. Ryan inquired on the possibility of receiving monthly reports from NCR on pending contracts and balances that board members could receive four days before the board meeting so TNA can keep better tabs on neighborhood contracts. The board will meet on Monday, August 3rd at 7pm at Fuller Park to discuss plans for future neighborhood projects and strategies to reallocated the remaining Phase I and Phase II funds.

Officer Reports:
Secretary – A motion to approve the June 2015 minutes was made, seconded and approved.
Treasurer – The NCR account is at $15,187.95 and the Tangletown account is at $18,470.88. A motion to approve the financials report was made, seconded and approved.

Committee Reports:
Sustainability – Nothing to report.
Arts – Nothing to report.
NRP – Abby will take over the administration of the business façade grant program.
Communication – Nothing to report.

Coordinator Update
Abby reported that she covered her updates for the board earlier in the meeting. Thanks for a great 4th of July event, Abby!

Partner and Other Announcements
Ryan attended a 46th Street meeting this week – the City is currently doing speed studies and will be looking at strategies to calm traffic as part of the resurfacing on 46th St between Cedar and Hiawatha.

Lauren announced that the MPRB is holding its final SW area meeting on closing the neighborhood parks funding gap next Tuesday, July 28th from 6-8pm at Lynnhurst Recreation Center. Board members are encouraged to attend!

Adjourned: 8:45pm

Minutes submitted by Dan Williams (TNA Secretary) and Lauren Anderson (former TNA Secretary)