DISTRICT 10 COMO COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Board Meeting
March 18, 2008, 7:00 p.m.
Historic Streetcar Station
1224 N. Lexington Parkway
St. Paul, MN
Directors present: David Arbeit, Tony Hainault, Chai Insook, Kim Klose, Luke Kuhl, Mike
MacDonald, John Marino, Dennis O’Rourke, Sue Phillips, Marc Prokosch, Matt Schmitt, Nathan
Volz
Directors excused: Sehoya Cotner, Sharon Frisell
Directors Absent: Marcy Micek
Staff and guests present: Sue McCall, Community Organizer; Russ Stark, City Council
Member
BOARD SECTION
1. Call to Order
David Arbeit called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m.
2. Review, Amend, Approve the Agenda
Amend the date, change it to March 18. Mike moved to approve the agenda as amended.
Marc seconded the motion. The motion passed with unanimous approval.
Action item –museum sign-up list (Sundays, 12-4 pm) was circulated so people could sign
up. Board members can also sign-up online.
COMMUNITY SECTION
3. Community Section
A. Invited speaker: Russ Stark, City Council, Ward 4. Introduced himself to Board and
community, providing his background and current interests. His current goals include:
transportation, development, light rail, commercial corridors, livable communities,
sustainability issues, green buildings. His biggest issue is housing foreclosures, vacant
housing. There are currently 1600 vacant houses in St. Paul (about 2% of the total). He
would like to look for solutions other than demolition. Other neighborhood specific
issues of interest: the park; maintaining the dialogue between community & City; desire
to get cars out of the park; light rail; and Rock-Tenn recycling – desire to keep the jobs
while reducing pollution.
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There were several questions from Board/community regarding light rail and the central
corridor, reducing traffic in the park, the proposed water park, the housing/foreclosure
issue, the new District Council Coordinator position, and the best way for District 10 to
work with his office.
B. Janice Rettman: Announced that Met Council has proposed a bus route (Route 83) to aid
transportation with the Central Corridor.
4. Community Section closed, return to Board business 7:55
5. Review, Amend, Approve February Minutes
Dennis moved to accept the minutes. Tony seconded the motion. Chai asked for clarification
between excused and absent: Excused means the board member notified David or Sue
McCall of a planned absence. Absent means you’re just not here. Proposed: Edit the
February minutes to show Chai to “Excused.” The adopted minutes passed with unanimous
approval. There is a typo on page 6 – the word should be “that” rather than “than”. Tony
moved the minutes be accepted as amended, John seconded the motion. The motion passed
with unanimous approval.
6. Board Updates
A. Board Chair Report
1) Orientation of new members held 3/19/08. We currently have 15 Board members, 11
are new to the Board (having served less than one year).
2) Marc P. will chair the Safety/Crime committee.
3) Exec committee minutes are included in the Board packet.
4) If members need approval on an item, materials should be forwarded to the Executive
Committee to either act on the issue or add it to the agenda for next Board meeting.
5) Sunday Museum sign-up. Members can sign up on the website.
6) Bob Bierscheid, Director of St. Paul Parks and Recreation, has been invited to the
April meeting and will be added to the agenda. Possible discussion topics include
update on the Park and the possibility of a circulator.
7) Kim is offering to create calendar for internal use, depicting a visual time line of
activities, deadlines, events, etc.
Action item: Sue M. will populate the calendar on the website with Sunday museum sign
up selections. Board chairs please send any calendar items to Kim.
B. Financial reports (Review and accept financial reports)
1) Marcy is not present, we can’t discuss much in her absence. David distributed
handouts for review. The last item on page 1 under Assets refers to reimbursements.
David encouraged members to complete work plans so that we can complete our
contract with City and begin receiving reimbursements. Target due date for work
plans is 3/31/08. David suggests we not act on the financial report and tabled it until
next month when Marcy is present.
Action item: Request that Marcy move staff vacation time to the liability section.
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C. Staff report (activities, issues, crime statistics, etc.)
1) Sue M. included handout in the packet.
2) District coordinator position – interviews will be held soon.
3) Ward 5 - District 6 is applying for a grant from Police Department for youth outreach.
District 10 is listed as a partner, with the possibility of North Dale used as a facility.
Sue M doesn’t have a copy of the grant proposal.
4) Clean-up issues: Participants include Districts 10, 11, 12, 13, and Falcon Heights.
Eureka. The hauler has requested the same traffic director (Janice Rettman) for the
upcoming event. Last year there was a problem with curbside dumping, but it
occurred in another district, not District 10.
5) National Night Out (NNO) kickoff party is scheduled for May. The kickoff provides
resources for block leaders/parties, mayors attend, ideas for tools/resources are
available. NNO is scheduled for August. Crime prevention is a significant
component of our work plans and contract. The Board does not meet in August to
encourage high Board participation in NNO in August.
Action items: David asked that Sue M. obtain a copy of the Ward 5 grant proposal. New
Safety/Crime prevention committee will generate ideas to reach out to include Energy
Park in NNO. Perhaps ask the Java Train to host an event on their patio.
D. Node Study/MGM update
1) Luke not present to provide an update.
2) David provided an overview of the issue to date: MGM took down the fence. The
City met with residents and filed a lawsuit. Lawsuit is still active.
3) Node Study: The physical boundaries are: Oxford, Dunlap, California, and the
Lexington/Larpenteur intersection. District 10 hosted a meeting held by City staff on
3/6/08. There were 45-50 people present, including residents, Board members, MGM
owner, Larry Soderholm, Planning Administrator, Yang Zhang, Department of
Planning & Economic Development and others. It was the first of two meetings. The
next one is a Charrette (interactive design session) scheduled for 3/27/08. Sue P.
shared the agenda. Some Board members plan to attend: Sue P, David, Tony. It is
very likely that the passion of the neighborhood will be represented. Luke arrived
and joined the Board meeting. It is not clear yet what the outcome will be. MGM did
not make any specific proposals.
Action item: David will post date/time/location of the Charrette on the website.
E. Committee Chair Reports
Communications Committee – John Marino
1) The Newsletter has been distributed. Timeline has been created, allowing for board
review, edits and then forward to Job Corps. John has set a meeting with Job Corps
and the mailing house to clarify roles/relationships/responsibilities.
2) Goal: make government fun for people. Walk them through the process, using local
items such as proposed water park.
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3) Community garage sale – plans advertise it in the newsletter and daily papers.
4) Fundraising - discussion about a possible ad-hoc committee to create fundraising
opportunities.
Action Item: Timeline for next newsletter: Articles are to be submitted to John by
5/9/08, he will send it to members for review by 5/18; members return comments to John
by 5/25, newsletter goes to Job Corps by 6/2/08.
Environment Committee – Mike MacDonald
1) Next meeting is scheduled for 3/19/08
2) Investigating residential buckthorn bust
3) Rain barrel workshop, planning is in process
4) Nominations for environmental awards: received approval from Executive
Committee and submitted it. Should receive notification by 4/1/08
5) Como Lake Spring cleanup scheduled for April 12. There is no official funding this
year. District 10 will serve as host, and receive marketing in return. Mike will
circulate a request for volunteers. John M. will post an announcement in the Bugle.
6) Hosted meeting for Parks Dept re: removal of invasive trees & underbrush, replant
with native grasses and oak trees.
Land Use Committee – Luke Kuhl
1) MGM, Node meeting updates provided earlier.
2) Sue Phillips will join this committee
Liaison with District Councils Collaborative/Central Corridor – No report.
Events and Institutions Committee – Dennis O’Rourke
1) Recently met with Russ Stark and Bob Bierscheid.
2) Committee members door knocked targeted neighborhood asking for input on
“traffic-free Sunday.” David suggested giving residents lots of advance warning and
time for input.
Crime Prevention Committee –
1) Marc is new Chair. He will put together calendar and work plan, aiming for first
week of April. Sehoya is willing to help.
F. 2008 Work Plan and contract status
1) 2008 Work plans:
a. How to edit them and submit them expeditiously. Sue M’s experience is valued
and important. We need to trust Sue’s judgment – work plans must include
measurable outcomes, strengths & weaknesses. David will ultimately sign off on
them.
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b. Change the schedule for next year. Desire to start before the elections
September/October), utilize expertise of outgoing members, get them approved
by new members December/January, then be in a good position to meet the City
time line requirements.
c. Plan to invite Beth Ulrich, grants management staff for city contracts, to a Board
meeting to present/review requirements and help us create work plans within
guidelines.
7. Action Items
A. Resolution (Executive Committee) – Policies and Procedures Guide
1) Title and language change to “Required Reserve” section on page 3. Change the
language to read “District 10 will strive to maintain a financial reserve adequate to
conduct for a period of three months.” Make it a statement of intent.
Action Items: Edits to P & P: Create consistent language - change all “Community
Organizer” to “staff.” Fix typo “10 business days” -remove the two Section 5, item 2
(page 3). Tony moved that the edits be made, and the Reserve section be changed as
noted. Marc P. seconded the motion. The motion passed.
8. Discussion Items
A. Other discussion items – Luke noted that the Zoo (polar bears and gorillas) are included
in the bonding bill at the legislature.
9. Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 9:25 p.m. Mike moved, Sue P. seconded the motion. The
motion passed with unanimous approval.
Minutes submitted by Kim Klose