TANGLETOWN NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
BOARD MEETING MINUTES – Monday, March 18, 2013 7:00 p.m., Fuller Park
Board members present: Ryan Fisher – President, Steve Bieringer – Vice President, Sandra Bartsias – Treasurer, Carolyn Dungan – Secretary, Lauren Anderson, Mary Jane Mitchell, Tony Proell, Andrea Siegel, Lynell Voigt
Also present: Elise Griffin – Eco Education, Ella – Washburn Student, Eric David – Sustainability Committee member, Matt Perry – NEHBA President, Brad Bourn – Minneapolis Park Board Commissioner, Jim Heers
1. Call to Order 7:09
2. Elise Griffin from Eco Education and Ella, a student of Elise’s Urban Farm class at Washburn High School gave a Power Point presentation on the Urban Farm and Bee Project incorporating a five-year, and ten-year plan. The question was raised as to how the school will keep the farm going. Elise reported that they are getting commitments from teachers to include the garden and bees in their curriculum. Teachers can apply for up to $500 from Washburn High School Foundation in fall and in the spring for these classes. The board asked if the Washburn Urban Farm has reached out to local businesses for support, for example Tangletown Gardens. Elise said that they are just starting to reach out to those type of businesses for financial and in-kind donations.
A motion was made to grant $1,000 in matching funds to the WHS Urban Farm project.
A friendly amendment was suggested to reduce the grant to $500 pending a vote for another $500 next month. The amendment was approved.
The motion so amended seconded and carried, it was resolved that:
The TNA Board will contribute $500 to the Washburn High School Urban Farm project to cover the start up costs. The funds will be paid to Eco Education, the organization partnering with the school to undertake the Urban Farm project.
3. Brad Bourn, District 6 Minneapolis Park and Recreation Commissioner reported on the 2013 Park Board budget process and where they are at now and what their plans are for the upcoming year. Mike Schmidt, Assistant Superintendent for Environmental Stewardship has worked for the parks for thirty years and will be retiring on April 3, which is also the 130th anniversary of the Minneapolis Park Board. Brad asked the board members to send a letter of appreciation to Mike and encourage the community to do so as well. His address is: 2117 W. River Rd 55411.
The Park Board has a $60M budget, $47M coming from property taxes. The average home owner pays $20/month towards the park budget. In the last three years the board has shifted funds from administrative to operations and has increased services with lower increases in property tax levies (keeping levy increases at the rate of inflation). Some of the operations initiated are increased hours at public launches for Zebra mussel inspections, preservation of our tree canopy, increased life guard hours, a youth employment program and maintaining recreation center hours. There is going to be a sustainability study on recreation centers so Brad encouraged Tangletown to make sure we are using Fuller Recreation center and that the park maintain high use/enrollment in order to keep funding. Frank Hornstein, House Representative for District 61A has been working to establish a park dedication fee where developers would pay this fee for new construction projects within our parks. This fee applies to all parks in Minnesota except Minneapolis and we are missing an opportunity for a significant amount of money. The Safe Schools project in Minneapolis is looking at sharing information with schools and parks regarding students who use the parks for after school activities and programs. In regard to the shade structures that the board is looking at for the Fuller Park pool area, Brad said that the capital budget does not include funds for this. In regard to the commemorative plaque project, Brad said that the park board has some standardization policies but they hardly ever get in the way of these initiatives. People for Parks helps people like our board raise funds for this type of project. Steve explained that we have funding but need the parameters in order to follow park board ordinances and requirements for this type of project. Brad said that Jennifer Ringold, Minneapolis Park Board Manager – Community Engagement and Citywide Planning would be the one to talk to. There would most likely be a perpetuity disclaimer and that is probably the only stipulation the park board would have (nothing lasts forever). Steve can send an email to Brad at bbourn@minneapolisparks and he’ll get us in touch with Jennifer to work towards park board approval.
4. James Heers, Tangletown resident reported on the shade structures. Brad noted that Jennifer would also be the person to work with on the shade structures. James reported that the sales person put together a nice sketch of the pool area. There would be an eight week turnaround to get the shade structures installed. The park board can approve it to be contracted out instead of using the Park staff. The question was raised to Brad if it was possible for the park planning commission to approve a plan that would the shades in increments over the next few years. Brad said that yes, they approve such plans and that the park board does matching funding for these types of projects so if the total budget is $24,000 that we could possibly get a match of $12,000 from the board.
5. Newsletter – Articles should be sent to our Newsletter Editor, Tjody. Sandra will fund the postage account for the bulk mailing.
6. Annual meeting – the committee did not meet but will before the April meeting where they will propose the budget. Mary Jane noted that the sustainability committee will put together presentations for the meeting.
7. Survey – Ryan reported that the Survey Committee is making progress and that in the next couple of weeks a draft will be ready for board review.
8. Secretary – The Board minutes of the February 18, 2013 meeting were posted on the TNA website for Board approval.
Upon motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the minutes were approved as presented.
9. Treasurer reported on the various account balances and activities.
10. NUSA – There has been no response from Lance Knuckles about the bus and walking tour that would incorporate Tom Balcom’s Tangletown historical walking tour route.
11. Arts Committee – The RFP for the Innovative Graffiti Prevention Micro Grant provided by the City of Minneapolis is in progress. Tangletown is requested a matching grant towards the cost of wrapping ten to eleven utility boxes. Matt Perry suggested reaching out to Sara Linnes-Robinson of the Kingfield Neighborhood Association to get a copy of their RFP to use as a model.
12. Communications – This committee met and discussed establishing a neighborhood book club which will be advertised in the next newsletter.
13. Bike racks – Tony made businesses aware of 50% matching city grants if they are interested.
14. Garage Sales – Steve passed around proposal for more permanent signs. The cost per sign is $7.50 which would make the Garage Sales a non-profitable event. It was suggested that we raise the registration fee in order to cover the cost of the signs. Everyone who registers will be on the map and receive one yard sign with the option of purchasing more. Bridging is paying for the postcard/registration form that will be mailed soon.
On motion duly made, seconded and carried, it was resolved that:
The TNA Board will contribute $500 to the garage sale fund to cover operational costs including the initial outlay for the permanent signs.
15. Matt Perry, NEHBA President reported that the streetscapes project to which we donated money is awaiting the city to provide maintenance costs because the businesses will tax themselves for these costs. There is also still the need to establish a special service district. The petition deadline is April 1st and Matt is asking council members to push it through. NEHBA received another $50,000 for the 5th round of façade improvement matching grant funding. The maximum amount granted a business is $5,000 and it’s a 1:2 matching grant. Tangletown Neighborhood Association board signed a letter to support NEHBA getting the grant for Experience Southwest.
16. Carole Anderson from Fuller Park thanked the board for funding the Fuller Park Recreation Center improvements and reported that the park building will be open in the summer from 7am to 6pm.
17. 4th of July – Steve reported that we may need to look for another food vendor this year. It was decided that we should begin 4th of July event committee meetings next month to get the planning under way.
18. Discussed the urban farm project and how to fund it. A school grant program where they come to us with micro grant proposals.
19. There being no further business, on motion duly made, seconded and carried, the meeting was adjourned at 9:15pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Carolyn Dungan, TNA Secretary
Next Meeting: Monday, April 15, 2013 at Fuller Park.
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