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DISTRICT 10 COMO COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Board Meeting
January 15, 2007, 7:00 p.m.
Historic Streetcar Station
1224 N. Lexington Parkway
St. Paul, MN
The agenda and most supporting materials were mailed to directors prior to the meeting.
Directors present: David Arbeit, Sehoya Cotner, Sharon Frisell, Chai Insook, Luke Kuhl, Mike
MacDonald, John Marino, Marcy Micek, Dennis O’Rourke , Nancy Sabin, Matt Schmitt, Nathan
Volz.
Directors absent and excused: None
Staff and guests present: Sue McCall, Community Organizer
BOARD SECTION
1. Call to Order
David Arbeit called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.
2. Review, Amend, Approve December Agenda
David Arbeit moved to move item III B (MGM site update) before item III A (Election) because
Dwight Nelson needed to leave for another meeting. Dennis O’Rourke seconded the motion. The
motion passed with unanimous approval.
COMMUNITY SECTION
3. Community Section
A. MGM Site Update
Dwight Nelson gave a brief history of the issue with the MGM fence. On 12/28/07 the City
Attorney’s Office filed paperwork to compel MGM to put the fence back up. Neighbors have
heard nothing more, and MGM continues to use the alley for their delivery trucks. A judge
has been assigned to hear the case. Nancy Sabin asked if neighbors have had any
communication with MGM; Dwight replied that they are leaving it up to the city to do that.
St. Paul City Council Member Lee Helgen talked about the discussions the city has
conducted with MGM. A question and answer period followed. David pointed out that the
Board passed a resolution to send a letter of support to the city for enforcing the law.
B. Election for Vacant Positions (Treasurer, 2 at-large seats)
David Arbeit described the election process and invited nominations for the Treasurer
position. Deb Robinson nominated Kim Klose. Marcy Micek nominated herself. Deb
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Robinson withdrew her nomination of Kim. Marcy said a few words about herself. John
Marino said he felt that Marcy was doing a good job in her role as acting Treasurer.
David proposed that, since there was only one candidate for the Treasurer position, a voice
vote be taken. A voice vote was conducted, and Marcy Micek was unanimously elected as
Treasurer. This created a vacancy in the Secretary position.
David asked for nominations for the Secretary position. Deb Robinson nominated Kim Klose.
Kim introduced herself, and Nathan Volz said a few words about Kim as well. David Arbeit
proposed a voice vote, a voice vote was conducted, and Kim Klose was unanimously elected
as Secretary.
David called for nominations for the first at-large position. Dennis nominated Sue Phillips,
and Deb nominated Tony Hainault. Sehoya Cotner said a few words of support for Tony. Bill
Sylvester nominated Marc Prokosch, then withdrew the nomination, as he decided to
nominate Marc for the second at-large position. Sue Phillips and Tony Hainault introduced
themselves.
Motion: Nathan moved for a written ballot vote. Sehoya seconded the motion. The motion
passed with unanimous approval.
Paper ballots were distributed, the votes were counted, and Tony Hainult won the first at-
large position.
Bill Sylvester nominated Marc Prokosch and Dennis nominated Sue Phillips for the second
at-large position. Votes were submitted via paper ballot, and Sue was elected.
4. Review, Amend, Approve December Minutes
Board members pointed out changes/corrections to the December minutes.
Motion: David made a motion to approve the December minutes with requested changes. Chai
Insook seconded the motion. The motion passed with unanimous approval.
Action Item: Marcy Micek will make the requested changes to the December minutes.
5. Board Updates
A. Financial Reports
1. Review and Approve Financial Reports
Marcy reviewed the November balance sheet and income statement. She made a
correction to the first footnote on the income statement. Sue McCall stated that there will
be no significant changes in December from what was projected on the November
income statement.
Motion: Marcy made a motion to approve the November financial statements. Dennis
seconded the motion. The motion passed with unanimous approval.
2. Forward-looking Financial Reports
Marcy explained that she will be preparing monthly financial reports that not only look
back on the previous month and year-to-date, but will project expected revenues and
expenses forward through the end of the year. She and Sue worked closely on the
projected December financial reports, and the Board seemed pleased with the results.
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December financial reports were not available because the month and year had not yet
closed at the time of the Board meeting.
B. Staff Report (activities, issues, crime statistics, etc.)
Sue reviewed the staff report and answered questions from Board members.
C. Committee Chair Reports
Communications Committee – John Marino reported that the committee will be meeting next
Tuesday (01/22/08). They will be working with the Job Corps Center on the newsletter
schedule. John encouraged people to call the Midway Monitor to ask why a recent article
about increased attendance at Como Zoo said nothing about the impact on the neighborhood.
David reminded John that, if he contacts the Monitor, he should not represent himself as a
Board member. He suggested that John coordinate his interaction with the Monitor with the
Events and Activities Committee. Sharon Frisell thought this would be a good opportunity to
introduce the Monitor reporter to that committee.
Environment Committee – Mike MacDonald reported that the January committee meeting
will be held on 01/16/08. At the last meeting, they discussed 2008 goals. A discussion of the
CIB grants followed, after which Deb Robinson described what the Outdoor Classroom is.
Land Use Committee – Luke Kuhl described the two handouts distributed at the beginning of
the meeting. The first was the minutes of the 01/07/08 Joint Land Use/Ad Hoc MGM
Committee meeting. The second, a draft resolution regarding the MGM issue, is item 6 A on
today’s agenda.
Liaison with District Councils Collaborative/Central Corridor – Sehoya Cotner reported that,
by 02/27/08, the Met Council is supposed to come to a decision about the number of light rail
stations to be built and where the rail line will run, but there is doubt whether this deadline
will be met. She stated that, if we as a council were to officially endorse anything, it would
probably be related to the number of stations. Sehoya also discussed the negative impact on
the neighborhoods around University Avenue if the additional stations were not built and if
the #16 bus service were to be cut. She would like to meet with our new board member,
Tony, to bring the facts around the light rail issue to the Board.
Events and Institutions Committee – Dennis O’Rourke reported that the committee is
working on its goal of continuing to engage community members. Two issues that the
committee has been discussing are a shuttle system for Como Park and a traffic-free zone
around the eastern end of Como Lake (perhaps on a Sunday). They will be meeting with Bob
Bierscheid, Director of St. Paul Park & Recreation, to explore these issues.
Chai Insook added that there have been complaints from the neighborhood about the Como
Lakeside Pavilion not being accessible when Black Bear Crossing is closed.
Dennis reported on the agreement between Lancer, provider of catering services to Como
Town, and the city. St. Paul gets a certain percent of the profit Lancer makes on the first $1.5
million in sales and nothing beyond that. In exchange for an extension of its exclusive
catering agreement, Lancer has agreed to give to the city some percent of profit beyond its
first $1.5 million.
Sharon Frisell said that she will be incorporating her role as liaison to the Job Corps Center
with the Events and Institutions Committee. She will be adding her updates to the
committee’s meeting minutes, but will also attend the next Communications Committee
meeting to discuss the communications component of her role.
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Sharon also reported that people from many groups attended the Neighborhood Advisory
group’s first quarterly meeting. The Job Corps Center’s next graduation is February 29, and
Sharon encouraged anyone who could to attend. David suggested that someone from the
Center come to one of our meetings to speak, and Nancy Sabin threw out the idea of
involving the students in crime prevention activities.
Crime Prevention Committee – Nancy reported on the meeting that Lee Helgen held. He
wants to make this a monthly meeting to discuss crime issues in our area. Nancy said that
there is a possibility of a youth safety program, but added that it is important to have these
types of ideas integrated with our work plans. Lee would like to have the work plans in six
weeks.
D. 2008 Work Plan Status
David reported that most committees have submitted draft work plans. At the last Executive
Committee meeting, Matt Schmidt and Marcy agreed to help David review them. David
encouraged anyone else interested in helping to contact him.
6. Action Items
A. Resolution (Land Use) – Letter to City about MGM
Motion: Luke Kuhl moved to adopt the resolution, with a change adding a fourth item
regarding temporary traffic barricades (currently listed under “Implementation” on the draft
resolution).
Dennis asked if there should be a fifth item regarding a court decision. David thought that
should be a separate resolution.
Amendment to Motion: Dennis moved to amend Luke’s motion to state that, if the court’s
judgment goes against us, the matter will go to the Executive Committee. Nancy seconded
the amended motion. The amended motion passed with unanimous approval.
B. Resolution – Appointment of Land Use Committee Chair
Motion: Marcy made a motion to approve Luke Kuhl as Chair of the Land Use Committee.
Sharon seconded the motion. The motion passed with unanimous approval.
C. Resolution – Appointment of Crime Prevention Committee Chair
David invited people to volunteer for this position. He asked Ramsey County Commissioner
Janice Rettman if the county committee chairs are assigned. Janice responded “yes”. Marcy
asked David to describe what is involved in this position. He discussed the role and also the
need to recruit members of the community to serve on the committee. Sue McCall reminded
the Board that they have a commitment to act on crime prevention initiatives, as it is 1/3 of
the Board budget. Sharon asked if we have tapped into the Neighborhood Block Club leaders.
Dennis suggested getting someone from the community, not necessarily a Board member, to
partner with a Board member to lead the committee.
7. Discussion Items
A. Ad Hoc Fundraising Committee
Matt stated that he and Marcy would like to be part of a committee to address the fundraising
for District 10.
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Action Item: The Communications Committee will discuss fundraising at its next meeting.
B. Meeting Times/Length
David asked if people were still ok with meeting needing to meet past 9:00. Sehoya asked if
anyone would prefer to meet from 6:30-9:00? Sharon prefers 7;00-9:30. It was generally
decided to continue starting meetings at 7:00.
Luke asked people to remember to review meeting minutes before the Board meeting if
possible. This saves time during the committee reports section of the meeting. Mike asked if
we could move the committee reports further down the agenda, but Nathan would like them
to be higher because of the Board’s history of cutting that section short when time ran out.
Nancy felt that people are less effective after any more than 2 hours in a meeting. Dennis
suggested returning to the practice of assigning times to the agenda.
C. Other Discussion Items
Nancy submitted her resignation from the Board. Nathan praised her for her work, and the
Board thanked her for her service.
8. Ajourn
The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Marcy Micek