October 19, 2021 Minutes

ANA Meeting Minutes

10/19/21 / 6:30 PM / Zoom

BOARD ATTENDEES

Adriana Dobrzycka, Eli Johnson, Ethan Komoroski, Vikisha Goberdhan, Nikki Lindberg, Kevin Ross

NOT IN ATTENDANCE: Samantha Bild, Joel Federer, Janhel Leandre, Sharla McIntosh-Ziegler, Judy Vecere

OTHER ATTENDEES

Lauren Anderson (Coordinator), Jordan Nelson (Armatage Park Director), Charlie Rybak (Southwest Voices)

THE MEETING

September meeting minutes approved via email. Updated financials were sent via email.

6:34    Welcome and Introductions (Kevin Ross)

6:35    Park Update (Jordan Nelson, Armatage Park Director)

  • Reopening plans have been pushed off until November. Tentative date to reopen is November 8, but will be re-evaluated in early November.
  • They do remain open for athletics and rentals/reservations during current program hours (3-9 weekdays, 9-6 Saturday, closed Sunday).
  • Fall outdoor athletics are wrapping up (football 200-220 kids, soccer 250 kids). Volleyball (youth and adult) is starting.
  • The park will have drop-in programs during MEA (open gym, art/craft, games).
  • The park staff said the September event was great.
  • The tomato plants outside the front door are able to be used by the community. Originally they had been used for some of the programming (Rec Plus made salsa).

6:43    Southwest Voices (Charlie Rybak) 

  • An online media resource for southwest Minneapolis, to help fill the void left from the closure of the Southwest Journal. Hope to focus on what’s happening at the schools, with city council, in the neighborhoods, in a manner that is positive and unifying for the city.
  • Have been operating for about 3 weeks, and are about to hire their founding editor.
  • The intent is to provide free content. You can sign up for a daily newsletter. Through a membership model they hope to support the work.
  • Because of the natural symbiotic relationship between neighborhoods and a media outlet, a partnership opportunity has been presented to neighborhood organizations in their news area. Participating neighborhoods will receive a portion of proceeds and memberships as outlined in the agreement (see attachment).
  • Kevin invited Southwest Voices to participate in our welcome bag. They have a flyer that they can contribute at this time.
  • Motion to sign the agreement with SW Voices. Seconded. Motion carries.

7:00    Bylaws (edits and approval)

  • For full language, see attachment.
  • Motion to adopt the bylaws. Seconded. Motion carries.

7:15    Plan Mod (edits and approval)

  • To see neighborhood engagement results and full language, see attachment.
  • Motion allocate funds as outlined in the plan modification. Seconded. Motion carries.

7:30    ADA & Language Access Policies

  • Due to concerns about being able to live up to the expectations outlined in the boilerplate policy language, both policies have been tabled to November. Volunteers will get proposed language to Lauren by November 9 for the board to review.
    • Kevin and Ethan will work on the ADA Policy
    • Adriana and Nikki will work on the Language Access Policy

7:50    Rain Garden Program Recommendations (Ethan Komoroski)

  • Due to budget cuts, the Green Team is proposing to scale back the program.
    • They propose to reduce the allocation to $4,000, and to have the ANA pay $200 (for the design fee) for each garden and the garden recipient would pay for the remaining portion (typically about $800 but depends on the size of the garden, etc.). This structure would allow for (6) gardens for non-financially burdened households and (2) additional gardens reserved for low-income applicants or for one at an apartment site.
    • If we are able to connect with Xerxes Manor, it could be a good stepping stone to building relationships with the renters in that area.
    • Would like to reevaluate in a year.
    • The program continues to be in partnership with Metro Blooms.
  • In prior years we have allocated $8,000 for 15 installations. The gardens cost about $1,000/installation (which reflects a great savings through a “bulk” installation, since a similar garden done by an individual homeowner is typically at least $2,000).
  • Motion to approve a $4,000 maximum to support the rain garden program. Seconded. Motion carries.

8:00    Coordinator’s Report

  • 2022 Committee Planning
    • A planning template will be given to each committee to help in their 2022 planning
    • Each committee will present in December (max 10 minutes from each group)
      • Initial calendaring
      • Estimate of volunteer needs
      • Estimated attendance
      • $500 for CE, $500 SEO, $200 (beyond the rain garden program), Welcome bag program
      • How the event works towards our goals
        • Sponsorship program (work to develop parameters and recommendations for where businesses can support our work)
    • 15 sign-ups for the Halloween tours
      • Prior winners, are they eligible again? Yes, at this point.
    • Lauren’s hours were high the past couple months because of events and items due to the city. She will be working with limited hours for the rest of the year to help stay on budget.
    • Our speaker was stolen out of her car before the Sept event, but she luckily has been able to replace it with a used version through FB Marketplace.

8:10    Committees (3 minute updates)

  • Community Engagement
    • Welcome bag folks noted it had been hard to find people at home, but that seems to be improving
  • Safety, Equity & Outreach
    • The Sept 25 Community Helper Event went great
    • The Oct 7 Jim Crow of the North Screening & Discussion was well attended and went well
    • The Oct 16 Ballot question forum was well attended (both in-person and online)  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C9jE4kJZrA&t=263s)
  • Green Team
    • Oct 2 Fall Clean-up went well
    • $4,000 was approved for rain gardens in 2022
    • Announcement about a new shop, Zeroish (50th & Penn) that seems like a great partnership opportunity

8:15    New Business

  • Request was made to invite our future Park Board representative to attend our meetings with some regularity.

Meeting adjourned at 8:29

UPCOMING MEETINGS/EVENTS

  • October 22 – 31 – Halloween Decoration Tour (6:00-8:00pm, armatage.org)
  • November 1  – Community Engagement Committee (6:00-7:00pm, Armatage Park)
  • November 6 – Safety, Equity & Outreach Committee (10:00-11:00am, Armatage Park)
  • November 11 – Green Team Meeting (7:00-8:30pm, Zoom)
  • November 16 – Monthly Meeting (6:30-8:30pm, Zoom)