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MINUTES of the MHNA General Membership Meeting Tuesday Jan 16, 2007

Univ. Lutheran Church of Hope, 601 13th Ave SE, Fellowship Hall

1. Meeting called to order at 7:30pm. The agenda was approved (A Fraser).
2. The November meeting minutes were approved (A Fraser).
3. Council member Diane Hofstede announced several openings in city advisory committees – to get the list go to the city’s website:
   www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us
   She sends out a Third Ward monthly newsletter. To get on the e-list contact her at:
   Diane.Hofstede@ci.minneapolis.mn.usThe Third Ward Summit will take place next October. It brings together neighborhoods and city departments and the next theme will be “ Creative Corridor”.CM Hofstede also spoke about the CARE Committee, which meets the third Wed of the month to strategize ways city agencies can help neighborhoods solve problems, such as problem properties. Sometimes it takes many departments/jurisdictions to get results – Mike Freeman, Hennepin County, is very engaged now. Next meeting is Feb 21, 7 pm at Fairview Park, 609 29th Ave No.A Blue Ribbon Task Force concentrating on River developments has been organized. Our rep is a North Loop resident, but Arvonne Fraser is also on the committee looking out for us.There is an opening on the Dinkytown Special Services Advisory Board. The board makes recommendations on requests and complaints of property owners, occupants and users of properties within the district. Applications are available at City Hall or at city’s website:
   www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/citywork/clerk/boards/open/index.asp.
4. Board Actions taken earlier tonight:
   • The board approved a draft budget of $26,000 for MHNA operations in 2007. A fund raising committee has been formed to plan and implement long range funding.
   • The University Impact Study was discussed. It is now available electronically. Some comments we have collected: needs are great and immediate/study strategies too cumbersome, under funded, will take too long. Executive Committee will write a letter on behalf of MHNA, generally supporting with some suggestions.
   • The U of MN is updating their Campus Master Plan. Katie Fournier, of SECIA, was selected to serve on the steering committee. We were not asked and we were not officially informed about Katie’s selection or the selection process. A motion was passed to write a letter to President Bruininks strongly recommending that he rectify the situation as soon as possible by inviting a representative of each adjacent neighborhood, chosen by the neighborhood, to join the committee if he wants us to believe the U is acting on good faith with regard to its neighbors.
   • The city’s policy report on Community Engagement was discussed. A meeting is being held Jan 31 at Marcy Open School. The 43 page report is available online. There is is a need to keep people in the loop via 2-way dialog in city decisions. Right now, neighborhood groups provide that means of communications. Some neighborhood groups have composed a joint letter we are asked to sign, as well as add our own statements about citizen participation and city governance. Melissa attended some of their meetings and the sentiment is strong that if the official meetings aren’t well attended, that will be a signal that people aren’t interested. So all are urged to attend. A motion passed to authorize the Executive Committee to write our official response.
   • CM Diane Hofstede asked the board about extending the current boundaries of the Central Ave. planning study all the way to the river. The study was going to end at Broadway. East Hennepin would be included. A motion approving MHNA’s participation in the extended boundaries Central Ave. planning study was approved.
   • Safety & Livability – No actions, just updates. They are still tracking problem properties at 501 4th St SE; 729 8th Ave SE.and several rental properties with outstanding Inspections citations. Housing Code violations, predatory lease practices and the T-Mobile tower on Andrews House. are items still being addressed by the committee. The M-H Citizens Patrol still goes out Sat mornings – all are invited to join. These hearty souls stroll the neighborhood and notate/call in suspicious behavior and housing code violations. They start off at Dunn Bros, 8 am. Contact Tom Lincoln, Chair.
   • Student Affairs – The committee is trying to identify main priorities, specifically Housing and Safety and how to get more students to participate in our organization. Contact Doug Carlson and Casey Briscoe.
   • NRP – The MHNA board considered moving $39,142 in NRP funds in order to sustain MHNA’s Citizen Participation activities in 2008 and 2009. Funds will come from reallocating $39,142 from programs that are unlikely to be fully implemented. Also, NRP this year didn’t spend $5954 it had planned for administration. There are no NRP funds slated for NRP activities in 2008, but it looks like some money ($7000) will carry over from 2007. In 2009, there is $30,488 in the NRP budget for administration. The plan for the coming years is to have MHNA and NRP as more integrated, with easy- to administer programs handed off to others including existing committees. A motion passed (Doug Carlson) that we approve of the NRP motion to use NRP funds to sustain MHNA. A second motion, that we approve the principle of reallocating $39,142 in NRP money from programs unlikely to go forward (Dutch Elm Disease Prevention, Rain Gardens, Lead Phytoremediation, etc) toward MHNA administration with the understanding that we are going to re-budget and slim down the budget to make these funds last as long as possible, passed unanimously. At the Feb MHNA General membership meeting, a wider community vote will be needed.
   • Another round of the Owner Occupied Housing Fix Up program is planned for the spring. Fourteen rental properties were fixed up in 2006. A new student liaison, Sydne Westorff, was introduced. She is a fourth year student originally form Duluth and now living here and studying philosophy. She is meeting with different student groups to gather information at this time.
   • Land Use – The committee approved a motion to form a Marcy-Holmes Community Development Corporation, with start up funding from NRP. The CDC will market the neighborhood; rehabilitate and reposition apartment buildings as quality places to live; and support conversions of rental properties to owner occupied. The CDC asks for $70,000 from NRP for start up funding The funding would provide $25,000 for a marketing consultant to attract home buyers and high quality renters including university faculty and staff; $25,000 for a business plan and development consultant to plan for apartment redevelopment and owner occupancy programs; and $20,000 for MHNA administrative and financial support for entire CDC prior to creation of separate organization and assistance with obtaining financing and working with consultants approx 10 hours per week for two years.After initial start up, finding other financing is critical. The plan calls for buying 200 apartments, fixing them up and aggressively marketing them to people who want to live here and manage them in a different way. Also included – a direct subsidy for those converting non-owner occupied to owner-occupied that could serve to close the “gap” between the value of the property as a multi-unit rental house. For example a seven-bedroom house with each bedroom renting at $450 per month might be worth $425,000 as a rooming house but might be only worth $325,000 to a homebuyer interested in restoring it. The CDC could provide the gap financing of $100,000 in return for a second mortgage with two requirements: that the house have an owner occupant and that if it is sold before the end of the mortgage term, the CDC would share in any appreciation proportional to its investmentLand Use committee approved the request and a motion (Jo Radzwill) to ask for board approval passed. The money would come from NRP strategies previously approved – owner-occupancy conversion and faculty/senior housing. The proposal and funding have not yet been approved by NRP, but by this vote the Board is urging the NRP Committee to pursue this.
   • The CURA Housing Survey results are now available online and the student researcher will be at the Feb MHNA meeting to answer questions.
   • A U of MN plan to improve the looks of University Ave. from 35W to new stadium was reviewed by the Land Use Committee. The committee liked the design (includes burying overhead utility lines, installing pedestrian level lighting, replaces existing retaining walls with materials consistent with historic structures, U of MN banners, more boulevard trees, gateway signage at 10th & University/35W exit area) but questioned lack of incentives for property owners to comply. We will contact Susan Weinberg at the U for clarification.
   • We received a response from MPRB Commissioner Walt Dziedzic re: our query about establishing a dog park here on the East Bank of the Mississippi. The Park & Rec Board is in the midst of a Comprehensive Plan process and will be in a better position by late fall of 2007 when it is completed to assess the need for new facilities, parks and programs.
5. John Rasmussen, Director of Midway Contemporary Art, a new gallery in the neighborhood, was introduced. The nonprofit gallery specializes in emerging artists. They have been open since June, in the same building at second Ave SE & 6th St SE that houses Minuteman Press Printing. The gallery plans outdoor film screenings this spring and is currently undertaking a capital campaign to fund an art reference library. If people wish to receive gallery news sign up at: www.midwayart.org. It’s a small organization with lots of opportunities to get involved.
6. MSA President Max Page reported on a new program called “Lend A Hand Hear A Band”, being launched Feb 5. U students who complete10 hours of volunteer community service will get free admission to a concert by a name act in late April. Feel free to contact him with ideas. MHNA has already sent some. First and second year students are being targeted, with the hope that they will get out a bit into the neighborhoods and make some connections and feel more at ease when they eventually move off campus.
7. Misc. – R & R Social Club is offering a live band and salsa lessons Jan 24th at Vic’s, St Anthony main. Karen Quiroz Bly is singing at Jitter’s Jan 23. We still have some openings on the board – one regular member, one student rep (MSA), one clergy seat – contact the office if you would like to serve. A visitor from St Anthony West Neighborhood Organization who was at our meeting complimented us. He was impressed with tonight’s substantive accomplishments. Concerts may be coming to Father Hennepin Bluffs Park this summer. The city’s Pedestrian Lighting Policy is still in flux. Currently Public Works is looking at updating the entire lighting program due to some physical deterioration of older equipment. There is a great deal of controversy about the newer lights and whether or not to continue installing them. The Bridge newspaper has a new editor, Jeremy Stratton. We will invite him to our Feb meeting. MHNA’s newest intern, Andrew Bender Dahl was introduced. Andrew is working with the Restorative Justice Community Action program in our neighborhood, He has been collecting information on volunteer opportunities, attending community conferences, and setting up a website. Kendre Turinie announced the upcoming Rental Awareness Week, organized to educate students about what to look for when renting. Renters can also check the MSA Renter’s Surveys at www.msa.umn.edu. A show of hands approved holding our meetings in this room, Fellowship Hall, instead of Heritage Hall, from now on.

Meeting adjourned at 9 pm
Melissa Bean, Executive Director

• Sat Feb 10 Star Tribune – http://www.startribune.com/417/story/989406.html
• MN Daily – http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2007/02/09/70694
  http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2007/02/07/70638