March 17, 2015 Minutes

Meeting was called to order at 6:32 by board president Denis Houle

ANA board members in attendance: Denis Houle, Sarah Broich, Nikki Lindberg, Bri Keeney, Jeff Forss, Tom Alagna, Kelly Falsani

Others in attendance: Tina Erazmus, ANA staff member; Nikki Friederich, Armatage Park Director; 5 interested neighbors

Park Update:

  • Summer guide is out and available online
  • Mpls Parks has a new website that is now launched- link is on Armatage website
  • Sports registration for spring is open (Kindergarten and up can register for sports at Kenny and Armatage)
  • There is a new process for food permits that includes fee; fee can be waived if requests come in before June 1st (trying to get this summer’s requests in by then)

Treasurer Update:

  • Lance was not present so no treasurer update

City Council Update:

  • City Council member sent update by email that included info on 54th street construction and other updates *Will be posted on website and emailed to board; also copied here:
  • 54th Street reconstruction:
    • Layout approval done, now in detailed design phase (will be looking at striping, trees, etc.). Website is up:http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/cip/all/WCMS1P-132238.
    • Per the City of Minneapolis lighting policy, a new lighting system will be installed unless owners/taxpayers representing 51% of the properties assessed influence area do not support the project.  The lighting petition is planned to be mailed out in May 2015.  It will be stated and highlighted in the lighting petition that letters not returned by the deadline will be counted in favor of the new street lighting project and the subsequent assessment.
    • The estimated cost for the entire lighting system and the estimated individual non-to-exceed assessment amount for each property will also be included on each lighting petition.  Based on the current cost estimate for the lighting system, the assessment rate for the lighting would be about $0.87/sq. ft.  The lighting assessment would be in addition to the street reconstruction assessment.
    •  The city-wide uniform assessment rate for street reconstruction is set each year.  The 2015 assessment rate is $0.82 / sq. ft. on residential properties.  54th Street will be assessed at the 2016 rate which is anticipated to be known in about December of 2015.  On average, the rate typically goes up a few cents each year.
    • Lighting and street reconstruction assessments are spread out over a 20-year period.
    • There will be 2 more meetings for the projects:  one in Winter of 2015/2016 for information on the assessments, and one in the Spring of 2016 to discuss the upcoming construction.
  • Neighborhood summit (for board members): Thursday, March 19 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Lynnhurst Park.
  • Curb side composting: Starting in August, Minneapolis Solid Waste and Recycling is rolling out the city’s new curbside composting pickup for residential customers. Rollout for the entire city should be complete by spring 2016. The new program is an opt-in system and you can sign up right now by emailing swrcustomer@minneapolismn.gov or calling 612.673.2917.
  • Construction & Demolition waste: continuing to have conversations about this issue. Our office is working with Council Member Andrew Johnson on this project, and a meeting is on the calendar to discuss with St. Paul Council President Russ Stark to explore a partnership in this project.
  • Airplane noise update: After a write-in campaign led by our office, and concurrently encouraged mac & faa staff to address lack of adherence to RUS. After the pressure (appearances at mac meetings, calls to staff & commissioners), the MAC got FAA to make changes Met with FAA control tower director last week. She agreed to extend the hours in which a southeast flow (over Eagan and MH) is used when winds will allow it. This is another (approx.) 45 minutes in the morning (until 7:15 a.m.). Evening hours still TBD but looking to go to a southeast flow as early as possible (right now doesn’t start until about 11:00 p.m.). More details will follow in an upcoming newsletter. (2014 noise contour analysis. Contours seemed to go further into East Harriet. The contours are shrinking in most places but expanding into Lynnhurst. )

Newsletter Update:

  • Got approval from NCR to pay Nikki for her work on newsletter; Nikki would need to abstain from votes pertaining to the newsletter. Recommended payment is $300 per newsletter.
  • There was a motion made by Kelly to have Nikki take over the newsletter for one year and to paid $300 per newsletter. Seconded by Sarah. The motion carried.
  • Today was deadline for newsletter content submission; will be emailed to board beginning of April for review.
  • There was discussion about back pay to Karen (person who was previously doing the newsletter); we were not able to find information about this in past ANA minutes. Tina will notify Karen of the decision tonight regarding the new direction of the newsletter. Karen will be nominated to be an Armatage Treasure to recognize her years of working on the newsletter.

Housing Loan Update:

  • Logo was created for this program
  • Program will be launched 4/27- applications will be available this day and GHMC will take calls with questions starting then; we will also have a table at SW Home Improvement fair with info (Tina will be at table giving info)

Ward 13 Summit hosted by Councilmember Palmisano:

  • Thursday, March 19th 6:30-8:30 Board presidents and board members are invited; Tina and Denis will attend and present 5 minutes on neighborhood updates
  • Denis said he plans to bring up city property tax system at this meeting (tax increases force people to move out of neighborhood). Would like to propose tax breaks for people with longevity in neighborhood.

NCEC update:

  • Neighborhoods 2020- current TIF funding runs out this year so thinking ahead to what neighborhoods will look like then. Current council not in favor of the neighborhood structure, so thinking about how to plan for this and address this.
  • There was a question from a neighbor about an article on a recent survey of neighborhood board members which found that neighborhood board members across the city are dominated by white homeowners. This has sparked conversation about how to encourage participation among diverse populations- NCR (Neighborhood Community Relations). (Many board members chose not to take survey because of the level of personal information it asked for; there was brief discussion about this. (Article stated that 52% of 820 responded.)

Summer Festival Discussion:

  • How will board share the responsibility this year?
  • ANA Coordinator suggestion: board takes over silent auction. There seemed to agreement about this.
  • Other ideas discussed were:
    • Get volunteer sign-up started at regular meetings
    • Get kids around Armatage Center involved
    • Brainstorm new ideas for silent auction
    • Attend Linden Hills Festival on May 17th to get ideas
    • Bring “game plan” and check in about it every board meeting

Annual Meeting Update:

  • It will be a “Spring Fling” theme
  • Coordinator has contacted Chief Harteau, Bees Knees about presenting and Settegrens about donating food
  • Coordinator will present a more solidified plan next month

Coordinator Update:

  • Announced that there is a free event 9-3 on March 21st, Community Connections (non)Conference. The theme is Creative Engagement and Action using arts and placemaking

There was a motion to adjourn. Motion was seconded and carried. Meeting adjourned at 7:25