September 2012

TANGLETOWN NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION BOARD MEETING MINUTES

Monday, September 17, 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, Jane Elias, Jeff Gears, Mary Jane Mitchell, Charlie Siftar, Dylan Sirny

Also present: Tjody deVaal, Matt Perry – NEHBA President, Tom Balcom – Historian

  1. Call to Order 7:08
  2. Halloween House Tour – Jeff reported that the date for the event has been set and will take place on October 28, the Sunday before Halloween.  Entries will be due by October 15 so that the map of participating houses can be completed and posted by the 19th.  There will be both a daytime and an evening tour.  Whether we will need transportation will depend on which houses register for the event and so will be determined after the 15th.  Ryan asked that a budget be submitted for approval at the next board meeting.  Mary Jane suggested selling cookies and refreshments at the end of the tour to recoup some of the costs.  The entry fee will be $5.00.  If we provide transportation there will be a small fee for each rider.  Steve offered to help with signage and posting of the tour maps using signs from the 4th of July event.
  3. Lyndale Avenue reopening celebration – Charlie and Sandra were both at the first planning meeting hosted by NEHBA and led by NEHBA coordinator Jennifer Borger on Thursday, September 6th.  Charlie reported that the bridge is expected to open on October 15th and the celebration will be held on the following Saturday, October 20th.  NEHBA asked that we highlight the event in our newsletter.  They also asked for volunteers to judge the sidewalk art contest and for a contribution towards funding the event.  The street and bridge will be open so it will be a sidewalk sale type of event where local vendors give demonstrations and donate refreshments.  Charlie informed Jennifer that the TNA board suggests a contest to find a troll that will be hidden somewhere under the bridge.  Steven made a motion to contribute $200.00 to the event.  The motion passed unanimously.
  4. Newsletter planning – Tjody pushed out the deadline for articles to tomorrow at midnight.  Ryan reported that we have plenty of money n the bulk mail account to cover the cost of mailing.  Ryan is going to ask for bids from other printers to determine if there is a more competitive price available for the printing and mailing of our communications.  We will continue to use Ideal Printing for the current newsletter.
  5. NCR neighborhood board training  – Birdie has contacted Lance Knuckles, our Community Participation Program (CPP) Specialist, and is waiting for him to get back to her with information on the training.
  6. Secretary report – The August board meeting minutes were approved.
  7. Treasurer’s report – Sandra reported that we received $18,000 in reimbursements, the NRP account has been closed, the TNA account balance is $8,594.99 and the NCR account balance is $20,770.44.  She will be working on the application for funding through December 2013.
  8. NUSA Conference planning – The conference is planned for May 24 – 27.  There is no new information but Ryan suggested we let Lance be our guide and that we should learn more as we get closer to the date of the conference.
  9. Arts Committee – Jane reported that the mural unveiling ceremony at Simply Jane Open Artist Studio went well but that the turn out was not as good as expected.  At the ceremony the TNA board was recognized for their support and Ta-Coumba Aiken, the muralist, was recognized and he spoke about the mural project.  The proposed pressboard murals at the Tangletown Bike Shop and the building across the street were both rejected by the property managers of those respective buildings.  The board suggested the following buildings as potential sites:  Fuller Park building, Ramsey Middle School building and the 46th and Nicollet strip mall.  Jane invited Elissa Cedarleaf Dahl, the art teacher at Ramsey Middle School to attend our next meeting to explore how the students can be involved in community events.
  10. Communications Committee and NRP committee did not meet, so there was no report from these committees.  However, Mary Jane reported that we have not paid out any more façade improvement grant funds.
  11. Survey Committee – The committee did not meet.  This newly formed committee consists of Carolyn, Lynell (who tabulated the last survey which was done via U.S. Mail), Birdie, Steve and Ryan.  Ryan volunteered to write a short article for the newsletter letting residents know that the survey will be coming out within the next few months.
  12. Sustainability Committee – Mary Jane reported that the committee exchanged ideas via email and came up with a list of possible initiatives including sponsoring the B.L.E.N.D. award program, organizing a bike/walk Tangletown event, hosting one of Hennepin County’s Master Recycler courses, underwriting boulevard tree plantings, offering loans or grants and workshops for the remedial treatment of arbor diseases, sponsoring rain garden workshops and discounts for rain barrels, sponsoring education workshops on organic lawn and garden care.
  13. Wellness Committee – Doug will be setting up a meeting.
  14. Nicollet East Harriet Business Association (NEHBA) – Matt Perry reported a victory for secondhand and vintage stores with the elimination of the ordinance that required there be a distance of at least 1,000 feet between these types of stores.  This change will allow the stores to “cluster”.  Next NEHBA will work towards the elimination of the  $5,000 bond requirement for the stores. Matt reported that business licensing fees will not increase next year.  The latest expansion of NEHBA to Xerxes will be the last one.  There were quite a few businesses at Xerxes and 50th and at Xerxes and 56th that signed up.  The fall version of the Experience Southwest brochures and posters will be out October 1 and the holiday issue will come out around Thanksgiving.
  15. Fuller Park – Carol was not present so there was not a park report.
  16. Fuller Park Plaque – Tom Balcom is working on the written history of the Fuller Elementary School and the conversion of the land to Fulller Park.  He gathered pictures from the school board and has been working on finding more resources to provide information.  Enrollment in the school ended in 1973 and the park opened in 1974.  The dedication of the plaque will coincide with the 40th anniversary of the park opening.  Tjody is working on the plaque, the dedication and an article in the current newsletter.
  17. Responsible Banking Campaign – Mary Jane sent information to the board prior to the meeting and asked that we consider supporting this initiative of JCA and NRCR that involves drafting and passing an ordinance to leverage the city’s deposits to require banks to modify more loans to prevent foreclosures and to restart small business lending across the city.
  18. Adjournment 8:43pm

Next Meeting: Monday, October 15, 2012 at Fuller Park.

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