Downtown
Minutes from
The regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Directors of the Downtown
Minneapolis Neighborhood Association, Inc. (DMNA) was held on
With a quorum present,
Mark Moller called the meeting to order at
After introductions, Paul Zerby discussed and took questions regarding the current status of the city’s budget process and another one of his concerns, racial profiling and how it relates to the Code 4 program.
Ann Calvert brought the board and guests up-to-date on the Guthrie project: the contract has now been signed and the schematic architectural plans were publicly unveiled on Thursday evening (February 7th) at an event held at The Depot. Ann also explained that the MDCA is in negotiations with Hennepin County over Parcel E (the site bounded by Chicago and Washington Avenues, and 2nd and 9th Streets) on a transaction that is part land acquisition/part lease to develop the property on the Washington side of the parcel with mixed-use development consisting of ground-level commercial with residential above to ensure the area gets knitted in with the Guthrie complex and the surrounding area. Ann further explained that there would be additional Planning Department and Heritage Preservation Commission reviews of the project needed before the formal review to be held this summer.
Scott presented and explained
architect Jean Nouvel’s site plans that just arrived from
Sheila explained the requisite
spaces needed to conduct the various programs at the complex: an 1,100-seat thrust stage auditorium for more classical performances;
a 700-seat proscenium stage for more intimate and contemporary works; and a 250-seat
studio space that would function as the research and development wing as well
as classroom space. Each theater will share the elevated lobby
space to allow synergy among the audiences and to capture the view of the river.
On the
Barbara Lichness accepted nominations and held elections resulting in the following: Mark Moller as Chair; Tom Hoch as Vice Chair; Gerry Spry for Treasurer; and Carletta Sweet as Secretary, each to serve 1-year terms.
Barbara advised the board that the plan recently passed the City Council’s development committee and that it will be up for its final approval at the February 15th City Council meeting. She believes everything in the plan was rendered a legal strategy and suggests that once the plan is finally approved DMNA should meet and prioritize projects (e.g., a scope of service and budget for the Theatre District; a scope of service and budget for the thermal equipment). It was agreed that Barbara would then oversee the scope of service and budget process and provide updates and documentation to the board.
1. Treasurer’s
Report. Mark advised that the audit is essentially complete
and that our No. 1 job going forward is to establish financial procedures and
incorporate them into the By-laws (Attachment 1). Gerry will coordinate
with Barbara to complete.
2. 2002 DMNA
Work Plan and Priorities. Tom, Mark and Carletta
met and identified NRP, staffing, public relations, and governance as the priority
objectives for 2002 (Attachment 2). After the Chair explained
the requirements to accomplish these objectives, the following committees were
formed:
Staffing Larry Calhoun, Mark Moller,
Gerry Spry
Public Relations Mark Moller, Carletta Sweet
Governance Dee Cotten, Tom Hoch, Gerry Spry
3. Team Norms and Operating Principles. Gerry and Larry met to develop team norms and operating principles based on input from the January 2002 DMNA board retreat (Attachment 3). Tom moved to approve the team norms and operating principles amending “Interaction with City” to “Interaction with Public at Large”. The motion was carried unanimously with the suggestion to create a poster version for the office.
The Chair moved to approve the minutes from August, October and November 2001. Andy moved to amend the minutes from November 2001, X, page 3, to read that Will Murden was elected to a 1-year term. The Chair then questioned whether it was at the October meeting when the board voted to remove a number of board members in anticipation of having a proper quorum for the November board meeting. The Secretary was asked to review the recording of the minutes for confirmation because the actions taken in November would be invalid if no action was taken on the removal of the board members. Thereafter the Chair withdrew his motion to approve and moved to table the minutes from August, October and November 2001.
The Chair distributed the NRP Training Schedule (Attachment 4) and advised he would be attending the Board Chair Peer Group session on March 9th and asked that if anyone attended any of the other training sessions to share their experience with the board.
The Chair distributed the
NRP Conflict of Interest Policy (Attachment 5) and explained that since
Carletta moved to continue board meetings on the second Tuesday
of every month at
The Chair asked board members who sit on other boards to share information about what’s going on at their meetings via email or on the DMNA website.
Andy raised the issue of the number of office keys and who is in possession of them. It is believed that there are six office keys: two in the possession of the past Chair, Jerrie Hayes (one to be passed on to the current Chair and the other to be passed on to the current Treasurer); one in the possession of the current Chair, Mark Moller; two office keys in the possession of Larry Calhoun (one taken from past member Monroe Bell) and one mail key as he will continue to handle the mail; and one in the possession of Carletta Sweet, Secretary. However, an official accounting of number of keys distributed to DMNA from Equity Partners will be required for certainty. Andy also raised the issue of the storage and location of DMNA’s financial records. Mark advised that all documents from the past couple years were located within the DMNA office and solicited the assistance of board members to pitch in and help organize the office. Discussion was also held regarding improving the appearance of the office to the public (i.e., organizing and beautifying the space).
The Chair then announced
the Downtown East/North
The regularly scheduled board meeting was adjourned at
Signed and approved by
_________________________
_________________________
Chair
Secretary
Attachment 1
[January/February 2002 Treasurer’s Report]
Attachment 2
[2002 DMNA Priorities]
Attachment 3
[Team norms and operating principles]
Attachment 4
[NRP training schedule]
Attachment 5
[NRP Conflict of Interest Policy]
Attachment 6
[Minutes from CCNP’s
Attachment 7
[John Thorp application]
Attachment 8
[Neighborhood conference notification]