DISTRICT 10 COMO COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Board Meeting
November 18, 2008 – 7:00p.m.
Historic Streetcar Station
1224 N. Lexington Parkway
St. Paul, MN
The agenda and supporting materials were mailed to directors prior to the meeting.
Directors present: David Arbeit, Ted Sheu, Marcy Micek, Lori Klongtruatroke, Misty
Havens, Marc Prokosch , Chris Martineau, Matt Schmitt, Barbara Frick, Scott Baker,
John Bjork, Barbara Clark, Ken Kunkle, Mike MacDonald.
Directors absent:
Directors excused: Sehoya Cotner
Staff present: Camille Schafer, Rhonda Debough
1. Call to Order
David Arbeit called the meeting to order at 7:08p.m.
2. Review, Amend, Approve Agenda
The November agenda was approved.
3. Community Section
A. Councilmember Lee Helgen from Ward 5 spoke. He discussed:
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• The unique relationship that the City Council and the Community Council
have.
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• The Lexington & Larpenteur node study and what the community is looking
for.
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• The Como Pool and the surrounding area will have community input
involved.
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• The Como Circulator, which will help alleviate traffic concerns.
David asked Councilmember Helgen about the best ways to contact him.
Councilmember Helgen stated that Leila is a good contact Mondays, Fridays and
part of Tuesdays. Jennifer Dunn & Donna Sanders also are good contacts.
Ken asked Councilmember Helgen about the arson on Hamline and Larpenteur.
Councilmember Helgen explains that a former tenant firebombed the building.
B. Deb Robinson, community member, spoke about the Como Outdoor Woodlands
Classroom and the CIB process. Board members Matt Schmitt and Sehoya
Cotner are members of the Outdoor Woodlands Advisory Committee. She
encouraged the Board to appoint representatives to one of the three CIB task
forces. She noted that the Board wrote a letter of support for the classroom
project two years ago.
4. Review and amend minutes
The October minutes has the wrong date at the bottom of the first page and it needs to
be changed. There is spelling change for the Directors Present. October minutes
approved.
5. Board Updates
A. Board Chair Report - David
David noted the importance of the large turnouts at the October Annual meeting
and the Sholom Home Community meeting and that they represented a positive
sign of community interest and energy. He also reported that District 10 has been
offered a seat on the Como Pool Planning committee by the City and that an
application form is posted online for people who are interested. The Chairs from
the Environment, Land Use and Neighborhood Relations committees and former
Board member Chai Insook have been asked to review the candidates and make a
recommendation to the Chair, who hopes to make an appointment by the end of
the month.
B. Financial report – Marcy
Marcy reported that it is timely that we are organizing a Development Committee.
She invited Leah Johnson, a Development Committee member, to talk about
Board engagement and Board funding. She noted that the primary directive of the
Development Committee would be to raise funds, but that to do that we need to be
able to ell the community how we will spend funds. She also emphasized the
importance of a a strong and committed Board and the need for Committees to
identify their priorities.
C. Committee Reports
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• Communications Committee (Matt)
The Communication Committee had a good meeting. They will be wrapping
up the newsletter. There will be a new website subcommittee that Misty will
be part of. This could be a possible point of revenue with local businesses.
How can it communicate with the board to get interests noticed? And if
information needs to be shared in a timely manner, get a hold of Misty or
Matt. David asked Matt to allow the Board to view the newsletter prior to
going to press.
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• Neighborhood Safety Committee (Marc)
There are vacant housing issues. The committee is rebuilding the
neighborhood block program. There was a guest from the Western District
Police Dept. who answered questions. Panod will make a map to help with
the making of the block program. The committee needs to continue with a
larger audience.
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• Land Use Committee (Ted)
There is a pressing issue with the Metro Deaf School wanting to expand. Tom
from their architecture firm briefly explained the expansion. Diane Sherwood
(Founder of the school) explained the history of the Metro Deaf School.
There is a pending merge with Gustavus, increasing the population at the
school from 70 to 110. The gym will be able to be rented by the community.
The merge takes place in December and construction is to start in March of
’09 and finish in the fall. David thanks the school for coming forward and
thinking about how they can work with the community.
D. Staff Report (Rhonda and Camille)
It was reported that a new IRS 990 form will be required for next year’s filing and
that it will require much more information from the Council, including adoption
of some formal policies that we do not currently have. Rhonda is leaving on
Friday for vacation and will return on December 3rd. She reported that Polic
statistics indicated that crime activity was relatively limited during the summer.
6. Discussion Items
A. Como Pool Planning Committee
There were four applications for the Pool Planning Committee. We have been
asked to name someone to represent District 10 by the end of the week, if
possible. The deadline is tomorrow for the applications. Ted will meet with the
chairs of the Environment and Neighborhood Relations committees to review the
applications and make a recommendation to David. David asked for the Board’s
approval to appoint a representative to the City’s committee, after receiving
advice based on the application review. The Board agreed by consensus. David
will ask Brad Meyer of the Parks and Recreation if we may also name an
alternate.
B. Committee Assignments
David requested that all committees adopt charters that clarify their purpose,
membership and other basic information. The bylaws require us to maintain
membership lists and the charters should specify how individuals become
members.
C. Priorities for 2009
Members discussed issues that they considered important to address in 2009. The
following issues were identified, but not ranked.
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• Sholom Home
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• State Fair and community relations – need security for certain events.
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• Connecting with East Side of the District.
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• Building relationships with Energy Par. Possibly create a sub-district.
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• Committee Chairs need to be a responsible party in updating the web site with
what they are doing. Misty suggests directions by the Communication
Committee for new people in how to do that.
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• Chris wants to contact each non-residential establishment in the Dist.
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• Communications (overall)
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• Chris suggests we keep regular communication with PED.
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• Priorities and unfinished business need to be the first thing to discuss.
7. Action Items
A. Approve Charter for Institutional Relations Committee
Chai Insook introduced action item EX111808-1 to approve a charter for an
Institutional Relations Committee, which has since been referred to as the
Neighborhood Relations Committee. As presented, the committee would actively
engage large institutions that have an impact on the community. A permanent
name is pending for this committee. Its focus will be to establish ongoing
relations with the institutions so that the Council could be proactive, rather than
reactive, to issues as they emerge. Chai identified possible members of the
committee, which will be a standing committee, not an ad-hoc committee. It
would be chaired by a Chris Martineau, with Chai as co-chair. Some members
expressed the need to be clear that committee will not supercede authorities of
other committees and asked for clarification of the outreach nature of this
committee.
David moved to approve Resolution EX111808-1 to create the Neighborhood
Relations Committee. Discussion resulted in a minor amendment to drop the last
sentence of the original resolution. Marcy seconded the motion.
The amended action item was unanimously approved to read: “Creation of a new
Neighborhood Relations Committee to be responsible for working closely with
institutions affecting the community.”
B. Approve Charter for Development Committee
Marcy introduced Action item EX111808-2 to create a Development Committee.
She discussed the new Development Committee and its purpose, which is to
expand the funding base for the Council. Barbara Clark noted that the name was
misleading and that something that clearly described its fund raising purpose be
used. Marcy agreed to work with the committee to suggest a new name. She also
asked David for a template to help guide the charter. David agreed to design and
provide a template.
David moved to approve Resolution EX111808-2 to create the Development
Committee. The motion was seconded and the action item unanimously approved
to read: “Creation of a new Development Committee to be responsible for
expanding the funding base for the Council.”
C. Committee Chair Appointment
David introduced Action Item CH111808-1 asking for Board approval of
Committee Chairs. The original motion was amended to include Scott Baker as
Board designated co-chair for the Sholom Home ad-hoc committee. It was
moved, seconded and unanimously approved to read as follows:
Approval of chairs for continuing and newly created Council committees and task
forces, as follows:
Land Use Committee: Ted Sheu
Communications Committee: Matt Schmitt
Neighborhood Safety Committee: Marc Prokosch
Environment Committee: Mike MacDonald
Neighborhood Relations Committee: Chris Martineau
Development Committee: Marcy Micek
By Law Review Task Force: Ted Sheu
Sholom Home Reuse Ad Hoc Committee: Scott Baker
D. Nominations for Neighborhood Honor Roll
Susan Jane Cheney recommended Jerome Wagner, David Arbeit recommended
Marylyn Deneen, and Dennis O’Rourke recommended Luke Kuhl as District 10
designees to be added to the City’s Neighborhood Honor Roll. The Board
unanimously endorsed the recommendations, which will be passed on to the City.
8. Future Agendas
• Dog Park – a presentation for education
• Recognizing past Board members and Community members over the past year. It
is
possible to hold it at Marcy’s.
9. Adjourn
The meeting adjourned at 9:10pm.
Minutes submitted by Lori Klongtruatroke.
Action Item
DATE: 11/18/08
FROM: Executive Committee
ITEM: EX111808-1
ACTION REQUESTED: Creation of a new Neighborhood Relations Committee to be
responsible for working closely with institutions affecting the community, as described in
the draft committee charter.
BACKGROUND/ RATIONALE: The Council created the Events and Institutions
Committee as an ad hoc committee several years ago as a way to work more closely with
large institutions, notably the Parks and Recreation Department, Como Campus, and
State Fair, and help minimize their impact on D10 neighborhoods. This ad hoc
committee has sunsetted. The new committee would provide a permanent committee to
address relationships between institutions and the community.
IMPLEMENTATION: If approved by the Board, this committee would immediately
be authorized to finalize the draft committee charter prepared by Chai Insook, recruit
members, and begin to implement the charter.
ISSUES UNRESOLVED OR YET TO BE DETERMINED: Formalizing the
committee charter and recruiting members.
NOTE: The original resolution was amended at the November 18, 2008 Board meeting
to delete the last clause. The amended resolution adopted reads:
Creation of a new Neighborhood Relations Committee to be responsible for working
closely with institutions affecting the community.
Action Item
DATE: 11/18/08
FROM: Executive Committee
ITEM: EX111808-2
ACTION REQUESTED: Creation of a new Development Committee to be responsible
for expanding the funding base for the Council.
BACKGROUND/ RATIONALE: The Council’s ability to serve the community is
limited by its budget. Currently, almost all of the Council’s funds are derived from a
contract with the City for Citizen Participation and Neighborhood Safety. This source is
barely adequate to support basic Council operations and, moreover, some Council
expenses are not reimbursable under these contracts. Other funding sources are needed.
IMPLEMENTATION: If approved by the Board, this committee would immediately
be authorized to develop a committee charter and begin implementing it.
ISSUES UNRESOLVED OR YET TO BE DETERMINED: Formalizing the
committee charter and recruiting members.
Action Item
DATE: 11/18/08
FROM: Community Council Chair
ITEM: CH111808-1
ACTION REQUESTED: Approval of chairs for continuing and newly created Council
committees and task forces, as follows:
Land Use Committee: Ted Sheu
Communications Committee: Matt Schmitt
Neighborhood Safety Committee: Marc Prokosch
Environment Committee: Mike MacDonald
Neighborhood Relations Committee: Chris Martineau
Development Committee: Marcy Micek
By Law Review Task Force: Ted Sheu
Sholom Home Reuse Ad Hoc Committee: Scott Baker
BACKGROUND/ RATIONALE: Every Council committee must be chaired by a
member of the Council. The Board members recommended as committee chairs either
currently serve as committee chairs or have volunteered to chair committees that
currently have no designated chair. The Neighborhood Relations and Development
committees are newly proposed committees that, if authorized, would need Board
members as chairs.
IMPLEMENTATION: If approved by the Board, then newly designated committee
chairs will be responsible for developing a committee charter that, at a minimum,
describes its mission, rules for membership, and anything else pertinent to its successful
operation. They will be responsible for preparing and carrying out an annual work plan,
scheduling meetings, preparing agendas and minutes, and reporting about committee
activities to the Board.
ISSUES UNRESOLVED OR YET TO BE DETERMINED: Designate Board co-
chair for the Sholom Home Reuse Ad Hoc Committee.
NOTE: Scott Baker was designated as Board Co-Chair to the Sholom Home Reuse Ad
Hoc Committee as an amendment to the original resolution.