TANGLETOWN NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
BOARD MEETING MINUTES – Monday, October 15, 2012 7:00 p.m.,Fuller Park
Board members present: Ryan Fisher – President, Steve Bieringer – Vice President, Sandra Bartsias – Treasurer, Carolyn Dungan – Secretary, Birdie Cunningham, Jeff Gears, Mary Jane Mitchell, Tony Proell, Andrea Siegel, Charlie Siftar, Lynell Voigt
Also present: Tom Balcom – Historian, Tjody deVaal, Don Hall – resident, Matt Perry – NEHBA President, John Quincy – Ward 11 Council Member
1. Call to Order 7:07
2. Halloween Home Tour 10/28 – Jeff reported that only three houses are entered at this point. Therefore, the entry cutoff date will be pushed out to Wednesday, 10/20. Per Tjody we are officially calling the event the “Halloween Walking Tour.” Jeff made a motion for the board to approve a budget of $250 for the event. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Strategy for extending the reach to get more participants: E-News, Facebook, promote at the Lyndale bridge event on the 20th.
3. Lyndale Avenue reopening celebration 10/20 – the morning of the event Andrea will hide the Tangletown Troll somewhere on Lyndale Avenue. Sandra will hand out Halloween Tour flyers at the library at 12:30 during Tom’s history presentation. Shifts for TNA table: Ryan & Carolyn 11:00 – 2:00. Lynell and Mary Jane 2:00 – 4:00.
4. Fuller Park memorial plaque – Don Hall reported that Tom is putting together the history of Fuller Park booklet with pictures and information gathered from interviews with residents who attended the school. Tom will finish the publication by January. Tjody will bring to the board a proposal for the cost of the plaque that will be affixed to a boulder by the park building entrance. Mary Jane suggested that Tom put out a call in the Ward 11 newsletter to solicit additional information from residents about the school and park history. Carole is the point person for getting approval from the Park Board for the plaque. Tjody will reach out to Carole.
5. Responsible banking campaign – in the interest of time, Mary Jane will report on this at our next meeting.
6. Joan Hargrave was present to give a presentation on a proposal for Tangeltown residents to voluntarily commit to cease using lawn care products with pesticides. The TNA sustainability committee will partner with the initiators of this project and explore ideas for supporting the effort in Tangletown.
7. Neighborhood survey – Ryan reported that the survey committee met and discussed resources to tap into for help on the TNA survey of residents. The committee will meet again in the coming month and report progress at the November meeting.
8. John Quincy and Matt Perry reported on current events. The Lyndale opening ceremony on October 15th was covered on channel 11 news. John is working on the airport noise issues. The city gave feedback on the expansion of the airport and FAA reported on environmental impact and ways to achieve noise mitigation. The Mayor’s budge was released and the Ways and Means committee will present in November with a goal to approve a budget in mid December. Single sort recycling will be implemented city-wide in the spring. The vendor will be Waste Management. Residents will be issued a container similar to our trash containers but blue in color.
9. NCR neighborhood board training – Birdie reported that Lance provided a list of training courses available to the board. The list was circulated around the table to gauge interest in the courses offered. Birdie will follow up with Lance to ask if there are more sessions related specifically to board roles and responsibilities that would educate us on ways in which we can be a more effective and informed board. Carolyn requested that Birdie send the list of courses to the board in electronic format.
10. Secretary report – The September board meeting minutes were approved.
11. Treasurer’s report – Sandra reported that the NCR account balance is $17,585.44 and the TNA account balance is $10,503.24. Sandra is in the process of identifying the expenditures that are allowed to be reimbursed from the NRP account.
12. NUSA Conference (May 24-27) – Ryan reported that Lance is asking if TNA would like to present a program and/or be part of the tour of neighborhoods. John Quincy noted that this is a very important event and that there will be approximately 1,000 people from around the country. The last day of the conference will be focused solely on Minneapolis.
13. Arts Committee – Tjody reported that they have found another property for a mural. It’s the Sigh Yoga building on the East-facing wall. It will be painted on a board that will be attached to the building so the painting can be completed during the winter months.
14. Communications Committee – Carolyn reported that E-News could continue to be twice a year. There was discussion amongst the board members and it was agreed that E-News should get back to once a month and provide bullets as a feeder to drive residents to the full articles that will be posted on the website. Ryan noted that it would be easy to outline a job description for a communications specialist who could be responsible for sending E-News, updating the website and Facebook.
15. Sustainability Committee – Mary Jane will be setting up a meeting soon. As of now there is nothing new to report.
16. Wellness Committee – Sandra has not heard from Doug who was going to set up a meeting. Sandra noted that it would be nice to have a walking tour of Tangletown and provide a map. Ryan pointed out that Allina Health is giving money to organizations that are putting together walking tours, so the committee could investigate this potential source of funding.
17. Business Committee – Dylan was not present. Charlie stated that Dylan did organize a meeting but that Charlie was not at the meeting and so he can’t report on what was accomplished.
18. Nicollet East Harriet Business Association (NEHBA) – Matt Perry reported that the Lyndale Avenue project that began in 1994 is now complete and that the Commissioner will be using the Lyndale project to model the 15 mile Southwest light rail project. Matt pointed out that the Lyndale Avenue bridge project was so successful in part due to the head of planning, Bruce Chamberlin. Things such as the sign that notified residents not only the date but the exact time that the bridge would open was very helpful. In regard to the path under the bridge, Matt was under the impression that it would open in the next couple of weeks, but Tom Balcom stated that it may be delayed due to the Park Board’s lack of funds. Tom also noted that the bridge will eventually be painted. Matt pointed out that there will be a delay in the lights on the bridge due to a problem with the posts. Matt stated that the new NEHBA brochures were handed out and there was an add in the last Southwest Journal. Matt thanked the city for the grant that helps put these out and to the City Council Members. The Twin Cities Marathon had an Experience Southwest cheering zone. They won 3rd place and the prize was a donation to a charity of their choice. Matt asked for suggested charities.
19. Fuller Park – Carole was not present but Ryan said that she wants us to spread the word about the Halloween party at the park.
20. Additional announcements – There a couple of new businesses in the area – Blooma, a pre and post natal yoga studio is where the Boulevard theater used to be. The Lynn is a new coffee shop/restaurant around the corner from Patina. Matt also encouraged us to drop into the Little Bird and wish Jody happy one-year anniversary of opening the shop. The anniversary was on 9/21.
21. Adjournment 8:56pm
Next Meeting: Monday, November 19, 2012 at Fuller Park.