ANA Meeting Minutes

ANA board members in attendance: Tom Alagna, Tina Erazmus, Kelly Falsani, Denis Houle, Steve Johnson, Nikki Lindberg, Betsen Philip, Noah Schuchman, Jim Steely, Alisha Strowbridge, Dan Sweeney. ANA staff member: Jen Swanson.

6 members of the neighborhood were also in attendance.

ANA Meeting

Vice President Alisha Strowbridge called the Neighborhood Meeting to order at 6:38 p.m.

Welcome & Introductions

Alisha welcomed everyone and we did roundtable introductions.

City Council Update – Betsy Hodges

The final Ward 13 breakfast will be held at 8:00 am, April 20 at the 50th St Cafe (former Pearson’s).

The Level 3 sex offender, Lamont Williams will be residing at 55xx Penn Ave. S. until his sentencing for robbery charges in June. There is little we else can do to affect the situation. Another notification will be sent to neighbors.

It was asked if Armatage can become a composting neighborhood. Betsy is meeting with someone soon about this issue, and we can readdress this possibility at our next meeting.

Concerns were raised by several residents about potholes and road conditions in Armatage (especially the south end of Penn). Extra funding was supported to double the number of crews working on pothole repair. Report potholes to 3-1-1 to help prioritize the worst offenders. The long-term repair of Penn is still in discussion. A resident asked about the state helping with the damage caused by extra traffic and trucks that used these roads during the 35/62 reconstruction, but Betsy doubts we will have much luck getting funds from that source, and need to look at the cities infrastructure plan and budget.

An inquiry was made about being able to obtain rain barrels, and it was mention in the Soutwest Journal. [To pre-order, visit recycleminnesota.org and select the date and location for your pick-up location. There are two styles of rain barrels available for $69 and a compost bin for $55. Photos and more info available online.]

It was asked how long we have until Minneapolis will switch yard waste collection bags to compostable materials only and will no long accept plastic. It will be in 2012. Related to recycling, it was asked if Minneapolis would simplify recycling to a single source collection versus our current sort collection. However, because single source is more costly, it is unlikely to change.

Concerns over the 2011 property tax increase, and what we might face in 2012 were raised. Betsy warns that 2012 will be bad, too, primarily because of the pension debt load that has to be paid in the short-term. This issue continues to be under discussion at the city, and is a source of great concern for Betsy.

Safety Update – Keith Swanson via notes to Jen Swanson

Since the last update there have been 3 burglaries and 4 thefts in Armatage.

However, a resident commented that there has been a lot more activity, claiming 60 break-ins in Armatage this year. There is a similiarity to many of the crimes (how they gain access, the types of items taken including food, etc.). Please watch out for your neighbors, and report any suspicious activity or person to 3-1-1. If you will be out of town, you can also call to alert Amy Lavendar so a patrol can be assigned to drive by.

[NOTE: Amy Lavendar was contacted after the meeting to clarify the claim of 60 break-ins. There had been six since January 1.]

An updated fact sheet on is available for the sex offender, and will be posted and distributed as previously mentioned.

Block leader training will be held April 20 at the 5th precinct and one will be hosted at Armatage Community Center on June 15. The training takes about 1 hour, and provides block leaders with ideas on how to gather neighborhood information, keep neighbors infomred, and types of events or activities including National Night Out.

365 Photography Project – Alisha Strowbridge

The deadline for photographer applications was April 15. We received 11 applications. Works samples and application summaries were used to determine the followin:

Project Administrator – Noah Schuchman
7 Photographers – Scott Beamish, Justin Bullis, Todd Cogan, Jessica Henrikson, Mike Levad, Janelle Nivens, and Misty Misterek
Back Up Photographers – Erik Gilig, Mark Noble, Noah Schuchman, and Cindy S.

Summer Festival – July 19 from 6:00-8:30 p.m. – Jen Swanson

Tom and Jake are excited to bring the Car Show back this year. We have the Showmobile, will ask Steve about the band, will contact the magician, rent the jumpers, have face painting, games and food. Assignments will be given next month.

Jerry Peterson was asked about the movie in the park, which will not be on the same night as the Festival this year, but instead will be on July 25.

Coordinator Update – Jen Swanson

Welcome packet bags will be in next week. Jen will work with Keith to distribute to new neighbors. We have 100 welcome bags available, and will see how many new residents we have had to determine how far back we will go (possible all new people in the past year).

As mentioned in the Safety Update, Armatage will be hosting a Block Leader Training here on June 15. Jen will need volunteers to help distribute flyers to unorganized blocks before the training.

The Armatage/Kenny Garage Sales will be held on Saturday, May 28. Registration forms are available at the Community Center and online and are due May 23. Jen will need some volunteers to help distribute the sale maps on the Thursday/Friday before the sales.

Community Energy Workshop was held in Armatage on April 5 and was very well attended. Residents can still attend future workshops: April 28 at Jefferson School or May 4 at South High School

There will be a Blood Drive held Saturday, April 30 from 10:00am-3:00pm at Armatage Park.

BLEND awards are issuing a call for nominations for thier awards presented in September. More information will be presented at the May meeting.

We are still looking for people interested in representing Armatage in the neighborhood dodge ball game. The deadline to register is May 6.

Neighborhood Community Engagement Commission (NCEC) – Matt Perry

This new funding program is in place (replacing the phasing out NRP program). Armatage was one of the first applications and budgets submitted and issued. We received the full $12,000 of funding we were eligibile for and requested. Neighborhood allocations are given based on a set of 8 criteria.

With the freezing of remaining NRP monies, NCEC will be hosting some community focus groups to dicuss the concerns and issues that may result from this including equity issues as well as the communication processes between the neighborhoods and the city.

Residents are welcome to attend any of the focus group meetings, but the one taking place in Southwest will be held April 25 at the Lyndale Farmstead center at 39thand Bryant.

A question was asked about who the NCEC is and how they got there. Matt summarized by explaining that the commission is made up of 16 people (8 appointees and 8 elected members). The elected members are voted by their district neighborhood association representative, for example Armatage is in District 2, so we elect in even years, and are one of 10 neighborhoods that voted for the representative currently serving on the commission. Elections for the odd numbered districts will be held in June. Their primary responsibility is to apply the 8 criteria in allocating the $3 million to neighborhoods. They are also looking at how to improve the diversity in all city and neighborhood groups to better reflect the population of Minneapolis and gain representation for populations that are currently under-engaged.

The ANA will need to do a 3-year plan. The guidelines for this plan should be refined after these focus groups. After the City Council responds to this information in June the NCEC plans to update the neighborhoods by September and plans will be due in January.

Officer Elections

Denis nominated Alisha Strowbridge for President. Betsen seconded.

Noah nominated Tom Alagna for Treasurer. Tina seconded.

Tina nominated Nikki Lindberg for Secretary. Tom seconded.

Denis Houle nominated himself for Vice President. Alisha seconded.

All nominations were accepted. It was moved to accept slate. Passed unapposed.

Conflict of Interest Forms- Jen Swanson

Jen distributed for signature and then collected Conflict of Interest for for all board members.

Meeting adjourned at 7:59 p.m.