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, Jerrie Hayes,
Chair, convened the meeting at
No announcements were made.
Since no Land Use Committee meeting was held on August 1st due to National Night Out, no report was given. However, the Chair requested additional nominations for Land Use Committee Chair beyond her nominee of Mark Moller, Acting Chair, election of which to be held at the next Land Use Committee meeting on Tuesday, September 5. No additional nominations were offered.
Scott briefed the board on the police buyback program (i.e.,
bicycle, beat and mounted patrol) as it would run for the remainder of the year
and sought board approval for the contract terms as stipulated in the written
description included in the current meeting agenda package. The Chair moved
and
Andy presented a threefold proposal: (1) to reallocate $50,000 from the Downtown Development master planning program to the Housing Committee and apply for matching funds in order to develop a downtown Minneapolis housing master plan; (2) to reallocate the remaining $10,000 from Downtown Development to the Public Relations Committee to promote the housing master plan; and (3) to reallocate marketing funds from Crime and Safety to the Public Relations Committee to promote DMNA. Scott then explained what he perceived as the necessary steps to take to implement this proposal, that is, the First Step Plan modification process: public notification via local newspaper, followed by a 30 days written notification to the downtown community, then DMNA board discussion and balloting. After the Chain entertained questions and comments, Andy moved and the Chair seconded to refer the matter to the Housing Committee for further recommendations since it still has yet to meet and scope out an agenda. The motion was carried unanimously.
The Chair then asked Scott to postpone the remainder of his report to after Lisa’s presentation to accommodate her schedule.
Lisa advised that DMNA’s National Night Out, one
of the biggest she attended, was a huge success and congratulated the board
on its organization. There were 43 events this year in the 7th Ward, an increase
from last year of 8, and
Andy then advised Lisa of the difficulty pedestrians had accessing Nicollet
Mall during the International Society for Animal Genetics (ISAG) convention
held at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis on July 21-25, and the failure of the
Minneapolis Police Department to provide sufficient notification thereto. Lisa
stated that she felt the police department had done a fantastic job of notifying
the business community and residents in the immediate area, however, she agreed
that the communication was not as good as it could have been for the broader
community. Moreover, she felt that there were a lot of things that went right,
and that the money spent was a good insurance policy against the many millions
of dollars of damage that could have potentially occurred. Lisa also stated
that as a follow up to the public briefing for the City Council held on August
4th, there will be a public hearing on Wednesday, August 16th at
Returning to his Implementation Committee report Scott advised
the board that the kiosk program was moving forward nicely and that the steering
committee had selected a
Scott then updated the board on the mid-June kickoff of the ambassador program held at the IDS Center that received coverage in the Star Tribune.
Lastly, due to his eminent departure, Scott introduced Barbara Simpson Epps, his proposed interim replacement. Barbara then gave a brief summary of her 20+ year experience (past 12 years as an independent consultant, previous 6 years in corporate) with nonprofit organizations. Barbara’s professional experience included, among other activities, serving as a grant reviewer for several national foundations (St. Paul Companies, Philips, and Eli Lilly), and as vice president for several local organizations (Women Venture, Regional Goodwill Easter Seal). Thereafter, Andy moved, and Sue seconded to hire Barbara as interim DMNA/NRP Coordinator, subject to the terms and compensation to be negotiated with the Chair, and to appoint an ad hoc employment committee for the purpose of hiring a permanent DMNA/NRP Coordinator. The motion was carried unanimously.
The Chair then thanked Scott for all the incredible work he has done during her tenure on the board and advised him that he would be greatly missed.
Joan briefed the board on Jackie Cherryholmes’s
After entertaining further discussion, the Chair summed up by stating that in order to reach out to the different downtown constituencies and keep them informed of DMNA’s activities, the Public Relations committee proposed conducting satellite meetings in the respective neighborhoods and establishing a newsletter.
Housing Committee Update
Andy advised the board that his recent activities involved
meeting with individuals (beyond interested board members) with relevant expertise
to ascertain their level of interest in serving on the committee. In conjunction
with this effort, he has been developing the necessary tools the committee will
need when they convene. Andy then announced that the first official Housing
Committee meeting has been scheduled for
National Night Update
Andy echoed Lisa’s previous comments that it was a huge success,
and thanked
The meeting was adjourned at
Signed and approved by
______________________________
______________________________
Chair
Secretary
Attachments, if appropriate