ECCO Meeting Minutes for May 6, 2010

ECCO Meeting Minutes for May 6, 2010

Meetings are held at St. Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church at 7:00

Minutes submitted by R. Kean

Attendance

Board members: Ruth Cain, Glen Christianson, Brad Durham, John Ellis, Robert Kean, Ralph Knox, Tim Norkus Crampton, Judy Shields, Nancy Ward (President).

Others in attendance: Monica Smith (NRP Coordinator), Councilman Meg Tuthill, Sarah Sponheim (Chair Environmental Committee).

Announcements and Community Forum

· Meg Tuthill is hosting a meeting of Uptown neighborhood and business representatives (May 12, Joyce United Church) to find solutions to late night noise in the business core. Ruth Cain was nominated to represent the ECCO board

· Lakewood will be having an open house when their new mausoleum is completed. Details will be distributed when available.

· Nancy Ward will be attending a street painting event on May 22, in another neighborhood, to get a better idea of the process and requirements. This idea is being considered for East Calhoun as an exercise to build community and calm traffic.

· On May 20 (Bryant Square Park 6:30 p.m.), there will be a Town Hall meeting (Discussion and Q & A) with Meg Tuthill- Ward 10 City Council Member and 30 Year Small Business Owner- about why businesses and neighborhoods need to work together, support each other, and nurture one another as Uptown evolves.

· The ECCO Super sale will take place on Saturday June 5 (9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.). Contact Sylvia at 824-9200 to register (registration cost is $5.00).

· Robert Kean reported on the April 22 meeting of the Lakes District Council. The majority of the meeting was dedicated to a presentation and discussion of the impact of Emerald Ash Borer on trees in Minneapolis. Ralph Sievert (Forestry, Park Board) will be available to give his presentation to neighborhood groups.

Meg Tuthill Update

· In addition to the above events, Meg will be hosting a brown-bag lunch meeting at the 5^th Precinct building May 11, 11:00-1:00. Please stop by one of these events if you wish to discuss an issue or concern with Meg.

· City inspectors have been looking at sidewalks and marking sections with polka dots if they need to be replaced (due to tripping hazard from unevenness). Please call Meg’s office if you believe that your sidewalks have been marked in error. Also, please let her know if you would like to replace your entire sidewalk (not just marked sections). Note that homeowners will be assessed for all these repairs.

· Please report major potholes to 311, being as specific as possible regarding the location. The city is relying more on citizen reports this year to prioritize street repairs.

· Call Meg’s office to sign up for her newsletter.

Review and approve minutes

· The April minutes were approved.

Treasurer’s Report

· The Treasurer distributed a spreadsheet summarizing the current financial status of the Board. There has been no income yet this year. There is some concern about the fate of the Wine tasting event, as this is one of our largest sources of income. On the positive side, we have obtained a substantial saving on our insurance this year (cost of $155 compared to a budget of $1000).

Committee Reports:

Environment

· The committee conducted a census of green carts and mapped them. Follow-up activities are planned to encourage more participation in organics recycling. Residents will also be advised that the city will replace current trash bins with smaller one on request.

· The committee is still planning to organize a neighborhood informational meeting on the Emerald Ash Borer.

· It was noted that Aveda (and Juut Salon) accept plastic caps for recycling, and also that Whole foods will accept #5 plastic items for recycling.

Safety

· A block leader training event is coming up. Details will be distributed.

· The board approved a joint application (under security grant program) by 2 condo owners, for lighting improvements (cost of $375).

SECSE

· A neighborhood social potluck will be held Thursday May 20 from 6:00-7:30 at Lake Calhoun south of the tot lot.

· The board approved $250 (total) for food for the 3 summer socials.

· The wine tasting event will not be held in June as in past years. There is hope that it can be scheduled for the fall.

· A flyer was inserted in the UNN last month promoting the Joyce food shelf fundraiser. The board OK’d paying the $250 bill for the ad from NRP funds. However, it was noted that the board never gave approval for this expenditure and that in the future, approval should be obtained beforehand.

· The board discussed ideas for future social events.

Zoning

· There were no issues requiring board action in the past month. Todd Copenhaver, zoning committee chair, has resigned from the board (moved to another neighborhood). The president is getting communications in his absence, until a new chair is selected.

· Meg Tuthill noted that the City Council Committee of the Whole will be meeting to educate new committee members as to the content of the Uptown Small Area Plan.

NRP Phase 2 Report

· Monica Smith confirmed that the boulevard tree funds (grant to the Park Board) from Phase 1 was all spent, and resulted in 61 trees being planted.

· Monica presented an alternate option for “energy audits” under Phase 2. The alternate would involve a contract with a company CEE. CEE would work with the neighborhood to host a workshop on energy conservation. Residents would then be able to schedule a home visit with CEE which would include installation of some energy saving products. The board approved the use of CEE for implementation of the Energy Audit program.

· Monica presented a proposed revised budget, which allocates about 90% of the total funds (as recently allowed by NRP). The board approved the revised budget.

· Monica presented a draft of program guidelines for the Home Improvement Grant and Low-interest Loan programs. The board approved the general scope and intent of these programs and authorized to steering team to finalize the details including selection of an organization to administer the funds. It was further decided that selection of recipients under the grant program should be done by lottery if applications (received by the initial deadline) exceed available funds. If possible, the grant program should not be launched until after the energy audit program, so that residents can include projects resulting from audit findings.

The next meeting is June 3.