Downtown
Minutes from
A regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of
Directors of the Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association, Inc. (DMNA)
was held on
With a quorum present, Monroe Bell, Chair, called the meeting to order at
The Chair first reported on several housekeeping matters –
letters written to the Unbank Company, and Childrens First Incorporated expressing neighborhood support
for their request for zoning or planning permission; application for Citizen
Participation contract for downtown east/downtown west/north loop for year beginning
June 1st; million dollar directors and officers insurance policy – and provided
supportive documentation for board members' review. Other matters for which
the Chair did not have documentation on but expressed desire for the board to
work on were:
The Chair indicated that there were three profoundly important matters on which the board must vote on that evening since they involved more than half a million dollars in tax money: the contract with NRP for the First Step implementation phase; a proposed contract with Scott Engel as coordinator of the First Step implementation phase; and a resolution mandating a standing committee for the First Step implementation phase.
These matters were deferred for later discussion in order to
take action on the March minutes. The Chair proposed an addendum (see attached
Addendum) to replace paragraph 5 on page 2 under DMNA Audit of the March 9 minutes.
Michael moved that the Chair's proposed addendum be added to the March 9 minutes
to give further interpretation of what transpired in March concerning the State
Auditor's report.
The Chair then summarized decisions recently reached by the Executive Committee that did not require board action: until further notice, hold all monthly board of directors meetings in Room 310 of the Minneapolis Central Library; to expedite phone messages, change DMNA's phone number on the letterhead to Scott Engel's number; to hasten responses to incoming mail, encourage contacts at various organizations to use the Chair's home mailing address; appoint Carletta as recording secretary to prepare board minutes and other pertinent documents as the Executive Committee requires.
The Chair then introduced Councilmember Lisa Goodman who thanked
Ashu, Monroe and Jonathan for attending the partnering
session with Ryan Construction and Target. Lisa announced that the City of
There being no additional questions of Lisa, she stated that
she would continue to attend the board's meetings upon the Chair's invitation,
but if others had issues they would like for her to address they could attend
her monthly luncheon meetings, this month's host being Ted Mondale at the Acadia
Café on April 28. For greater accessibility to parking and public transportation,
consideration is being given to holding Lisa's future meetings at
The Chair then distributed the NRP First Step contract (approved by the Mayor and the City Council in January 1999) empowering the board with the responsibility of distributing and monitoring the use of approximately a half million dollars for the implementation of DMNA's respective programs. A few of the people who had been working on this effort for nearly 4 years were present. After some discussion about what funds - repeatable and nonrepeatable – would actually enter the board's checking account (e.g., in Year 1 up to $18,720 for salary of implementation coordinator and $6,780 for implementation facility/supplies repeatable for a second year, and an additional $25,500 for salary of housing coordinator nonrepeatable; $25,000 for the ambassador and marketing programs for which the board will be the contract manager) and what funds would go directly to a program recipient (e.g., $50,000+/- to the Minneapolis Police Department for cops on horseback and bicycles; $50,000+/- to the Minneapolis Public Schools for summer theatre programs; $166,000 to the Minneapolis Public Works Department for kiosks, additional skyway signage and welcoming materials), the contract was approved by unanimous vote. Michael noted that despite this distinction (whether the funds entered the board's account or the program recipient's account) that legally speaking the board would be responsible for the whole bundle.
The Chair distributed the NRP Implementation Coordinator contract with Scott Engel (attached). After some discussion, the contract as presented was approved without opposition.
Turning to the Implementation Standing Committee, no resolution was successfully made. However, it was stated that in addition to the six nonboard members, Ashu and Larry would serve on this committee along with the Chair. Scott updated the board on the first two meetings of this committee which no action required by the board.
With two vacancies currently on the board, the Chair requested
nominations. Three names were offered: Bob Saginaw nominated Andy Hauer; Dee Cotton nominated Bruce Stillman;
and Joan Willshire who was present, nominated herself.
Due to the recent mishap on the Nicollet Mall concerning Officer ________________,
Officer Luther Krueger introduced to the board his new partner who would be
serving the downtown community, Mike Frye, who has had recent experience in
the
The meeting was adjourned at _______
Addendum to DMNA Board Minutes of