Downtown
Minutes from
The regularly scheduled meeting of the Board
of Directors of the Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association, Inc. (DMNA)
was held on
I. Call to Order and Announcements
With a quorum present, Mark Moller, Chair, called the meeting
to order at
The Chair announced the following:
¶ The McKinsey & Company summary report, and although he hadn’t a chance to read it thoroughly, encouraged all to take a look at it and submit feedback to the City of Minneapolis’ website (Attachment 1).
¶ The Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) Forum on Tuesday, July 16th, 12:00-1:30 p.m. at the University of Minnesota with Dr. Edward Goetz presenting a summary of the findings of a 2-year study of the Hollman Consent Decree in Minneapolis (Attachment 2).
¶ The full-time Development Director position for the Friends of the Mississippi River (FMR). This person will have primary responsibility for planning and implementing FMR’s fundraising activities. Application deadline is July 22nd but the position will remain open until filled (Attachment 3).
¶ The public hearing on the City Council’s interim moratorium on all new or expanded development in Downtown East/North Loop on Thursday, July 11th, 3:30 p.m. at the council’s chambers.
¶ The St. Anthony Heritage Trail and Mill Ruins Park tour and presentation on Wednesday, July 10th, 6:00 p.m., beginning at the Mills Ruins Park near the Stone Arch Bridge.
¶ Breakfast with Mayor Rybak at Jitters and The Times on Saturday, July 13th at 8:00-9:30 a.m.
II. Update from Councilmember Paul Zerby
Paul expressed his surprise at the minimal amount of feedback he has received thus far on the McKinsey & Company report, but surmised it may be due to the neighborhoods’ not having gone through all of the material and digesting its content. However, Paul advised that due to the dire economic times the city is experiencing, it would be good to coordinate the activities of the various city departments and agencies to efficiently use the limited resources for economic development.
Paul discussed and entertained questions concerning the City Council’s moratorium on all new development in the Downtown East/North Loop project area. Andy presented a resolution in favor of the establishment of said moratorium. The resolution was adopted by majority vote (Attachment 4).
After Paul discussed and entertained questions concerning the Block E project, Andy presented a resolution to address the developers’ noncompliance with the original design plans to provide: 24-hour public room access on both the first and second floors; enclosed glass exterior escalators; handicapped accessibility to all areas of the project; and ensuring “Times Square” style signage on the exterior of the project. The resolution was adopted by unanimous vote (Attachment 5).
III. Approval of Minutes from May 2002
Larry moved and Dee seconded to approve the minutes from the May 2002 board meeting. The motion was passed by majority vote (Attachment 6).
IV. Committee Reports
1. Staffing. Mark advised that to-date he was in receipt of 17 resumes for the Executive Director position and held out the possibility of hiring different people to handle three major responsibilities, specifically: driving the NRP plan to get it implemented; handling mail and other administrative tasks to ensure timely awareness and responsiveness to relevant projects; and assessing other program opportunities. Also, due to the volume of responses received, Mark suggested narrowing the candidates down to a manageable number for interview purposes with the Hiring Committee (comprised of Larry, Leslie, Mark, Gerry, and Carletta), then making a selection recommendation to the board for approval. Mark reminded the board that the total staffing budget approved for the next bi-annual period is $31,000.
2. Finance. Gerry advised that the board is
still on track with funding, but the one item that is not reflected in the F2002
Preliminary Budget vs. Actual as of May 2002 (Attachment 7) is the decrease
in total spending from MCDA (i.e., instead of receiving $4,000, received $2,100
for Citizen Participation Yr 27), and that she will need to redo the numbers
to reflect the category changes.
Gerry also advised that she has turned over all materials pulled together thus
far for the audit. Outstanding items to be submitted include: a copy of the
letter indicating proof of insurance paid; this year’s tax exempt status document;
and the 2002 board roster, all of which she will be able to submit soon.
3. Land Use. No report was submitted.
4. Governance. Since some members still did
not have a chance to review the proposed changes to the Bylaws, discussion was
postponed to the next regularly scheduled board meeting.
Gerry advised that as another audit point is submitting the revised Bylaws when
approved since it was indicated in last year’s audit that the By-laws were being
updated.
5. Public Relations. The Chair advised that due to the time and effort devoted to the recruiting and hiring process, no RFP has been submitted and is temporarily tabled until the new staff person comes on board.
V. Old Business
Andy advised that due to the a lack of a sight selected at this juncture, and the massive effort involved, he had decided to forego managing the project this year. The Chair advised that going forward, given the opportunity such an event creates for greater DMNA exposure, more advanced planning will need to be taken to garner all appropriate resources to ensure participation.
VI. New Business
Andy advised that the current item the Skyway Advisory Committee is looking at is skyway hours and access for conventions and are working with Dayton’s to comply.
The board also discussed the issue of outside café ordinance noncompliance on Nicollet Mall, the hazards related thereto, and procedures to take to ensure compliance.
VII. Adjournment
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Signed and approved by
_________________________
_________________________
Chair
Secretary
Attachment 1
[Memo from Mayor and City Council dated June 14, and McKinsey’s Report to the Mayor and City Council]
Attachment 2
[CURA Postcard]
Attachment 3
[Position Announcement]
Attachment 4
[Moratorium Resolution]
Attachment 5
[Block E Resolution]
Attachment 6
[Approved Minutes from May 14, 2002]
Attachment 7
[F2002 Preliminary Budget vs. Actual as of May 2002]