ECCO Meeting Minutes for January 5, 2012

ECCO Meeting Minutes for January 5, 2012 at St. Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church

Minutes recorded and submitted by Harry Savage and Monica Smith.

Board Members Present: Sarah Sponheim, President; Blake Harper & Linda Todd, Co-VP; Glen Christianson, Treasurer; Harry Savage, Secretary; Anja Curiskis; Kate Davenport; Brad Durham; Gael Ellis; and Heather Wulfsberg.

Board Members Absent: Judy Shields and Jim Smith

Also present: CM Meg Tuthill and guest speaker Felicity Britton

ECCO Board President Sarah Sponheim called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.

The agenda was unanimously approved.

Meg Tuthill (City Council Member, Ward 10):

• Told Development is working on a proposal for 27^th  St and Lyndale Ave. with Trader Joe’s as the potential tenant. The site is not currently zone for that type of business and would require a zoning change to be permitted.
• The Kite Festival will be held on January 21 (one week later than original date of Jan 14 due to warm weather) noon-4 p.m. at Lake Harriet.
• The public hearing for Tao Natural Foods was held on January 5. Tao plans to expand their outdoor café from 16 to 48 seats, increase their indoor seating to 32 and have extended summer hours. They are also applying for a wine and beer license.
• The Planning Commission approved CM Schiff’s zoning code change for Conditional Use Permits.
• Meet with Meg is January 10, noon-1 p.m. at the 5th Precinct.

Guest Speaker: Felicity Britton, People for Parks

People for Parks (www.peopleforparks.net) is grass-roots non-profit organization that contributes volunteer time and money to projects and programs throughout the Minneapolis park system. The organization was created in 1977 to help fight Dutch Elm Disease. They have contributed $2 million to Minneapolis parks over the years.

A number of past projects were highlighted. People for Parks will be raising money to repair the ship mast of the USS Minneapolis at Lake Calhoun (near the Tin Fish).

Ways tot get involved: Become a member, nominate a project and spread the word about People for Parks.

Committee Reports

Green Team:

• Their next meeting is January 11 and will include a presentation from Take Back the Air, a citizen activist group focusing on backyard, controlled fires.
• The Green Team is partnering with East Isles for a screening of the green film “No Impact Man” on January 16, 7 p.m. at Grace Trinity Community Church (28^th and Humboldt).
• The Waste Watchers grant is complete but the project is ongoing. The final report is due soon.
• Kate Davenport and Sarah Sponheim met with volunteers from East Isles, The Wedge and  CARAG to address bigger waste reduction issues such as composting in multi unit  buildings and at large neighborhood events.
• Neighborhood and Community Relations (NCR) is holding a conference for neighborhood organization on February 11, the focus will be to share best practices and foster collaborative working among organizations.
• Minneapolis is revising its climate action plan. A kick off event will be held on February 1, 5:30 p.m. at the Downtown Library 5:30 p.m.

Finance Committee:

• The CPP funding has been extended until June 30, 2012 and ECCO will receive an additional $9,400 for this period. The board unanimously approved a motion to accept the budget allocation as presented by the Finance Committee.
• Committee should be thinking about their funding needs and submit ideas to Finance Committee Chair Glen Christianson by January 27^th. One idea mentioned was a community directory.
• The ECCO budget will be discussed at length at the February ECCO board meeting.

Livability Committee:

• The first meeting of this newly formed committee will be January 24, 7 p.m. at Dunn Bros at 34^th and Hennepin.

Tree Task Force:

• Rainbow Treecare attended the December meeting to discuss treatment options for Ash trees. The committee discussed offering options to residents to treat or replace Ash trees. Participation would be voluntary.
• Ralph Sievert, Director of Forestry for the Park Board will attend the January 17th TreeTask Force meeting (7 p.m. at St. Mary’s)

Uptown Neighborhood News (UNN):

• The UNN is hosting a public forum on January 9, 6:30 p.m. at St. Mary’s to hear from residents about ideas for the paper.

Monica Smith’s report:

• The NRP administration closed on December 31 and the workload has been transferred to NCR.
• The board unanimously approved the addition of radon and/or asbestos abatement to the list of home improvements that are eligible for funding through ECCO’s grant and loan program.
• The price for the Community Energy Services (CES) home visit will be going up in the spring. ECCO is reimbursing the $30 co-pay for the first 150 residents who participate in CES through the end of March. Information about this program can be found at www.eastcalhoun.org (NRP page).
• The new East Calhoun boundary signs have been hung. If anyone is interested in one of the old signs, please contact Monica Smith at nrp@eastcalhoun.org by February 15.
• The Public Utilities Commission is holding public hearing on January 10 and 12 regarding Excel Energy’s request for high voltage power lines along a section of the Midtown Greenway.
• The City of Lakes Loppet is scheduled for February 4-5. The route will be using portions of Lake St and Hennepin Ave.

ECCO Board Meeting Minutes

ECCO bylaws state “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.” 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. Sarah Sponheim proposed this revision to the bylaws. “It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Board to keep correct attendance of all meetings of the Organization and of the Board and to take meeting minutes when and if the Organization’s Staff is unable to do so.”

The Board wanted more time to discuss options and unanimously voted to table the discussion until the February meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:03 p.m.

Next meeting: Thursday, February 2, 7:00 p.m. at St. Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church.