Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association
Board of Directors Meeting Minutes, Tuesday, May 13, 2003
800 LaSalle Avenue South, Suite 131

I.          Call to Order and Announcements

With a quorum present, Tom Hoch called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.  Other board members present were:  Dee Cotten; Andrew Hauer; Leslie Hirsch; Mark Moller; Kim Motes, Vice Chair; Gene Nessly, Treasurer; and Carletta Sweet, Secretary.  Nonboard members in attendance included:  Inspector Robert Allen and Crime Prevention Specialist Luther Kruger from the 1st Precinct; June Harmon, financial consultant; Ellen Nigon, Skyway News; George Rosenquist; Al Smith; and Paul Zerby, 2nd Ward Councilmember.

Tom announced the new Central Library groundbreaking on Tuesday, May 20, 2003, 3:30 p.m. at 4th Street and Hennepin Avenue with Mayor Rybak, et.al.

II.        Downtown SafeZone Presentation

Inspector Allen and Luther Kruger distributed and presented the “SafeZone” proposal, which details the public and private partnership between the Minneapolis Police Department’s 1st Precinct and the Target Corporation to install security cameras on street corners along Nicollet Mall, Hennepin and First Avenues between Washington and 12th Streets as a deterrence to crime.  Target, which has a strong commitment to the community, public safety, and law enforcement, has agreed to purchase the cameras, and the Minneapolis Police Department would monitor them 24 hours a day/7 days a week.  The SafeZone proposal is currently being presented to neighborhood groups to ascertain level of interest and will then go before the City Council’s Public Safety and Regulatory Services Committee on May 21st.  If passed by the full City Council, the cameras may be installed in downtown Minneapolis as early as July.

Andy moved and Dee seconded to support the proposal.  The motion was carried unanimously.    

III.       Q&A with Councilmember Paul Zerby

Councilmember Zerby distributed a memo to the Public Safety & Regulatory Services Committee from the City Attorney’s Office dated May 7, 2003 regarding additional court options for livability offenses and explained the system the City is considering for processing these misdemeanor crimes more quickly.  Paul believes there are two neighborhoods that would be ideal for conducting a same day/night court pilot:  downtown Minneapolis and the U of M’s campus modeled after the “Eagles Court” in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  However, since the present court structure [in Hennepin County] is not currently designed to handle this proposed system, Paul advised that to implement a pilot project would require the support and resources of all stakeholders.     

Paul advised that he would be in support of the extension of bar closing time from 1:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. but for downtown only.  Inspector Allen commented that after having spoken to various bar owners, it really makes no difference whether it is 1 o’clock or 4 o’clock as long as law enforcement knows when bar closing will occur.

Since the Target Corporation’s withdrawal of support for the Skyway Senior Center, Paul wondered if DMNA had any interest and NRP funds available to support the organization.  DMNA indicated it had interest as well as the fact that it had given support and was revisiting the matter.   

IV.       National Night Out Presentation

Al Smith, a downtown resident, apprised the board of his recent efforts toward organizing downtown Minneapolis’ National Night Out event to be held on Tuesday, August 5, 2003, and requested a donation from DMNA.  After a brief discussion, Kim moved and Gene seconded to fund the cost of a band performing at the event.  Andy amended the motion for the amount not to exceed $750.  The motion, as amended, was carried unanimously.

V.        Financial Report from April 2003

June Harmon submitted and Gene Nessly explained the F2003 Budget vs. Actual as of April 2003, the Wells Fargo check register from April 1-30, 2003, and the April 2003 Profit & Loss statement.  These financial documents were unanimously received and filed.

VI. Consideration of Minutes from March and April 2003     

The approval of the minutes from March 2003 was carried by majority vote with Mark abstaining.  The approval of the minutes from April 2003, as amended by Andy to reflect the correct spelling of Lisa Goodman’s new assistant from “Cress” to “Kress”, was carried unanimously.

VII.     Land Use Committee Report

No items were considered for review.  The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 3, 2003 at 6:30 p.m.

VIII.    NRP Implementation Committee Update

Kim updated the board on its NRP Neighborhood Action Plan and the priorities established going forward which include:  affordable housing; the Minnesota Shubert Center; CCNP Restorative Justice and night court; public restrooms; Central library; Skyway Senior Center; community building events; and downtown beautification.  Next steps will be to further refine the plan and to allocate funds for each program.  The next NRP IC meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 29th at 5:30 p.m.

Tom read a letter from Diane Hofstede, Chair, NRP Policy Board, and Paul Ostrow, President, Minneapolis City Council, regarding a significant loss in local government aid and the allocation of $1 million of NRP Phase 2 funds to alleviate the budget cuts.  Due to a lack of clarity, the board took no action on the adoption of a resolution to support the initiative.

X.        Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 8:31 p.m.

Signed this ________ day of ________________________, 2003.

_______________________________                      _______________________________
Chair                                                                            Secretary