ECCO Board Meeting Minutes for February 2, 2012

ECCO Board Meeting Minutes for February 2, 2012 at St. Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church

Minutes recorded and submitted by Harry Savage and Monica Smith and approved by the ECCO Board by electronic vote prior to publication.

Board Members Present: Sarah Sponheim, President; Blake Harper & Linda Todd, Co-VP; Glen Christianson, Treasurer; Harry Savage, Secretary; Anja Curiskis; Brad Durham; Gael Ellis; Judy Shields; and Jim Smith.

Board Members Absent: Kate Davenport and Heather Wulfsberg

Also present: Nancy Ward

ECCO Board President Sarah Sponheim called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m.

Approval of January meeting minutes:

The minutes from January’s ECCO Board meeting were unanimously approved with the following edits:

• Finance Committee Add “Finance Committee Chair Glen Christianson” to the second bullet point.
• ECCO Board Meeting Minutes Delete the following sentence: “ECCO is out of compliance with the bylaws because the staff person (not the secretary) has been keeping the minutes.” And replace it with: “ECCO is out of compliance with the bylaws because the staff person, at the president’s request, took minutes after the election of officers at the November meeting.”

The agenda was unanimously approved.

Announcements

• Neighborhood and Community Relations is holding their first annual neighborhood conference on Saturday, February 11. Board members and residents are invited to attend. Sarah Sponheim will be discussing ECCO’s organics program as part of a panel discussion at the conference  
• Revisions are being considered for the Urban Agriculture ordinance. Council Member Meg Tuthill has concerns about the lack of height restrictions for hoop houses (plastic growing houses) and the number of days per year residents will be allowed to sell produce from their homes. A public hearing will be held in March.
• The 5^th Precinct is considering a Law Enforcement Group for Uptown. Jim Smith, Co-Chair of the Livability Committee will contact Crime Prevention Specialist Chelsea Adams for more information.
• HUD released their 2012 Income Limits. The maximum income for ECCO’s home improvement loan program is based on 90% of HUD Income Limits (i.e. $59,580 for a family of 2).

Bylaws

Pursuant to a proposal submitted by Board member Gael Ellis and Board Vice President Blake Harper, the ECCO Board made the following revisions to the ECCO bylaws:

• The board unanimously approved a motion to add the underlined language to the Article 9, Section 1:
  ARTICLE 9 Officers of the Board
  SECTION 1 Election, Each year the Board of Directors shall elect all officers for a term of one year from the Board. The election shall be held at the first Board meeting following the Annual Meeting.  All officers shall be members of the Board of Directors excluding the past president. Prior to election of each officer the description of the position shall be read to the Board.
• The Board voted (7 yea, 3 oppose) to strike the suggested revision to Article 9, Section 2 of the bylaws (requesting that the Executive Committee review and comment on meeting agendas). Article 9, Section 2 will not be changed.
• The board unanimously approved a motion to add the underlined language to Article 9, Section 4:

ARTICLE 9 Officers of the Board
SECTION 4 Secretary,  It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Board to keep correct attendance and minutes of all meetings of the Organization and of the Board. He or she shall be responsible to perform a final review of the minutes prior to vote by the Board and submission for publication.

• The Board voted (8 yea, 2 oppose) to table the proposal to add a section about Staff to the ECCO bylaws.
• The Board voted (9 yea, 1 abstain) to approve the following motion: “To add the duties to keep correct attendance and minutes of all meeting of the Organization’s Board of Directors to ECCO Staff. These duties will be in addition to responsibilities currently held by staff. Minutes and Attendance will be subject to final review by the Secretary and vote of approval by the Board.”
• The Board voted (9 yea, 1 oppose) to approve the following motion: “The secretary shall no longer receive $50 per month compensation.”

Tree Task Force, Nancy Ward

The Tree Task Force is working to protect the urban canopy. The most immediate threat is the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). They are investigating the cost for treating ash trees in the neighborhood.

The Tree Task Force is requesting that the remaining NRP Phase I and II tree funds ($5,700) be allocated to the Task Force to support the health of all trees in the neighborhood (not just boulevard trees). Funds would be used for tree treatment and watering bags. They are also requesting $2,000 (ball park estimate) from the CPP funds to be used for communication and outreach.

Nancy Ward with be meeting with Park Board Commissioner Tabb to discuss EAB.

Treasurer’s Report

Treasurer Glen Christianson outlined ECCO’s sources of financing: ECCO funds (unrestricted money from fundraising such as Wine Tasting, CES award, etc); CPP funds (restricted to community engagement and administration, to be spent by June 30, 2012); and NRP funds (restricted to NRP initiatives outlined in the Phase I and II plans).

Social Committee, Judy Shields

Judy Shields discussed ideas for nine ECCO social events in 2012 with a budget of $1,500 ($400 of which is for food). Budget also includes a new neighbor welcome kit. Judy would also like to revisit ideas generated at last October’s annual meeting.

CPP and NRP Budget

Monica Smith presented expenditures to-date for the CPP and NRP programs.

Livability Committee, Jim Smith

Jim Smith will copy board members on the minutes from the first meeting of this committee.

A public hearing for a new full-service restaurant (Bar Louie, 1348 Lagoon) will be on February 6, 6 p.m. The restaurant has plans for 400 seats (including 150 on a patio) and is requesting late night hours.

Next meeting

The next meeting of the ECCO Board will be Thursday, March 1, 7:00 p.m. at St. Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church. Commissioner Anita Tabb will attend the meeting. Send suggestions for other agenda items to Sarah Sponheim.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.