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