MINUTES of the MHNA General Membership Meeting
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
University Lutheran Church of Hope, 601 13th Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN
1. President Arvonne Fraser called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm.
2. A motion to approve (Swanson) the March minutes was made, seconded and passed.
3. Board actions from earlier tonight were read: Land Use – The board voted to uphold the Land Use committee’s motion to support extending the University District moratorium for 6 months because we need more time to evaluate the ZPRR report. The board voted in favor of the Land Use committee’s recommendation to support the new proposal for Sidney Hall/ Dinkydome. The new building is 6 stories with retail on first floor, and studio, and 1-3 bedroom apartments above. The board urged members to attend the June 29th public hearing at Van Cleve Park on the recommendations of the ZPRR committee. There is a 45day comment period.
Safety & Livability – The Welcome Students sign program will be returning late August/early Sept. People who signed up for signs last year will be contacted again, anyone else interested in posting signs call the office.
4. President Fraser reported on the MHNA loan activity at CEE. These are fixed rate (5% interest) loans for fixing up properties that are 1-4 units. A postcard reminding property owners about the program will be sent out soon.
5. Elections- Five director seats are open. A slate of candidates who have offered to run was presented: incumbents Bo Sherman, Brian Lundgren, Eric Nauman; Ardes Jonson and Kelly Phillips. Nominations from the floor were solicited but none were received. A motion to approve the slate ( Kepner) was passed. Elections for four officers followed. Nominations were solicited from the floor for each office. A slate of incumbents was presented: President Arvonne Fraser, Vice President Bob Distad, Secretary Steve Swanson, Treasurer Paul White. Board member Gordon Kepner made a motion: “Seeing none contested, that we approve the slate by acclamation”. Motion passed unanimously.
6. Committee chairs summarized MHNA accomplishments this year. Jo Radzwill, chair of Land Use, reported on the many development proposals that were reviewed, particularly Sidney Hall/Dinkydome, and the valuable work on preserving Florence Court while approving new construction.
Eric Nauman, Safety & Livability chair, reported on the success of the Welcome Students program and the police buyback program. Crime issues have not been so serious this year, mostly crimes of opportunity as students move in or out.
Melissa Bean and CM Hofstede informed the group of various University District Alliance activities this year. The Phase I Planning documents will be coming to the neighborhoods for review soon. A workshop on district demographics and sustainability will be held August 15th.The Cedar Riverside Streetscape project is in the planning phase, assisted by Seward ReDesign. Five homes in the district were on the MSP Home Tour in April. Homebuyer Incentive loans are being offered – so far one loan has closed. They are forgivable loans of $10,000 for down payment on owner- occupied homes in the district. A campaign to preserve home ownership also included a yard signs campaign and an “options to buy” program with Greater Metropolitan Housing Corp. The Alliance has purchased several homes that will be refurbished and sold to owner occupants. The first one is in SE Como.
7. Certificates of appreciation were handed out to Kelly Phillips, Larry Prinds, Dan Lanske, Cordelia Pierson, Robin Nelson, Jan Morse, Doug Carlson, Norman Lynskey and Leonard Paredes for their work on behalf of MHNA.
8. A certificate of appreciation was also presented to Council Member Diane Hofstede. She thanked MHNA for our good work. The Heritage Preservation Commission and Zoning & Planning committee upheld the preservation of 1019 University. The Central Corridor Washington Ave route is being closely evaluated at the federal level now. The effects of state funding on the city’s budget were discussed. The city reduced its budget for the next 2 years in anticipation of the cuts. In late Sept there will be another Third Ward Summit. A new Second Precinct Commander has been chosen- Bryan Schafer. Retiring Inspector Skomra was recently recognized at city council. Beekeeping is now allowed in the city.
A question from the audience about increased truck traffic on 4th St SE, shaking the houses, was asked. CM Hofstede said she would check with Commissioner Peter McLaughlin as it’s a county road. Apparently the “No Trucks” signs have been removed. A study of Granary Road, using the railroad trench under Dinkytown, is currently underway. A summary of University District Alliance accomplishments was discussed. The Alliance will return to the legislature with a report on the kind of organization they have officially created so that eventually it will be eligible for funding.
9. Kathleen Reilly reported on the SE Library and its attempts to be more involved in the community. She plans to meet soon w/ Commissioner McLaughlin about updating the facility. A series of support meetings for Hennepin County Libraries is scheduled and Kathleen invited all to attend.
10. Ardes Johnson reported that the Restorative Justice program has provided many young people doing community service here, especially trash pick up, and it has made a huge difference. She commended Sonny Schneiderhan for adopting two trash containers. It was also suggested we send a letter of thanks to University Lutheran Church of Hope for the meeting space they provide.
11. At 9 pm a motion to adjourn (G Kepner) was passed.
Minutes by Melissa Bean, MHNA Exec. Director
Board Items and Actions since June Meeting (No board meeting in July)
August 2009: A formal resolution to accept the two newest appointed board members was passed. They are Holly Engle representing MSA and Curt Naumann from Univ Baptist Church representing SE clergy.
The City has now approved the formation of a University Overlay District including the first two zoning code changes (defining porches and bedrooms city wide and requiring .5 parking spaces per bedroom in new construction here). This action came from the University District Alliance ZPRR committee’s recommendation.
The Heritage Preservation Commission did not approve of the demolition of 1019 University Ave SE. Owner Mark Freund will present plans for the site next door at 1013, which was approved for demo.
A grievance against MHNA was filed by an absentee landlord and is being mediated.
The board passed a motion of no objection to the granting of the variance for setback at 527 7th St SE and, in the absence of an architectural drawing, the board encouraged the homeowners to ensure that the final design preserves the character of the neighborhood and that the design is integrated into the style of the home.
September 2009
A board member brought up the problem of vacant, abandoned properties in the neighborhood and how owners could be encouraged to rehab them. The current MHNA/CEE revolving loan program is restricted to exterior improvements. Although we have very few condemned or vacant and boarded properties here, their effect on nearby properties can be significant. It is also very expensive to bring these properties back up to code. A motion to revise the program guidelines from “Loan dollars can only be used on exterior work” by adding: “Except: If the property is boarded and/or condemned. In that event loan dollars can also be used for interior work on code and safety items involving: plumbing, electrical, heating systems” was passed with the instruction that it be presented to the Oct General Membership for consideration by a larger group.
After the Land Use committee reviewed plans for 1013 University (2.5 story, wood frame construction, gabled, 26 bedrooms apartment building with 13 underground parking spaces) the board voted to not oppose the plan as presented, but to request that the committee could see the applications for the CUP and site plan once they have been finalized with CPED.
1120 8th St SE It was reported that a stop work order was placed on it after inspectors found it was not being built in accordance with the building plans as a single family dwelling. No certificate of occupancy will be issued until the walls are down, the parking area is redone and all fees are paid.
MHNA’s position on the proposed apartment building at 600 Main St SE has remained the same despite developer’s revised plans: We support our Master Plan, which calls for this parcel to be a transition space from the activity node at 6th Ave and the Stone Arch Bridge to the bike trail to Dinkytown and U of MN campus. MHNA’s policy, since 1999, has been that any land south of Main Street along the river should be reserved for river-related recreation only. At its Oct 2nd meeting, the City Council voted to uphold the Planning Commission and staff report to deny a variance and two conditional use permits for a development at 600 SE Main Street, which is within the Mississippi River Critical Area and Central Mississippi Regional Park boundary.
City Council Member Diane Hofstede voted with seven of her colleagues to deny all the 600 SE Main Street developer requests, upholding the staff report and Planning Commission.
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2009-10 MHNA Board of Directors
President Arvonne Fraser
Vice President Bob Distad
Secretary Steve Swanson
Treasurer Paul White
Directors: Bo Sherman Brian Lundgren
Ardes Johnson Eric Nauman
Kelly Phillips Gordon Kepner
Jo Radzwill Sonny Schneiderhan
Douglas Carlson Thomas Lincoln
Marnie Loven- Bell Holly Engle*
Curt Nauman*
* Appointed seats. We still have vacancies for these appointments: Grad or Prof Student Organization, NE Business Asoc. and Dinkytown Busines Asoc.
