City Looking for Brd of Zoning Appeals Members

The Mayor's Office is looking to appoint members to the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA); one member left earlier this year, the terms of two members and the alternate are up, and there is an opening for another alternate. The membership requirements are listed below. These folks help decide when a variance is awarded, and also deal with appeals of administrative decisions about zoning, etc. If you are interested, please ask fill out the application form on the City's website here: http://www.stpaul.gov/index.aspx?NID=560

The member requirements are:

Sec. 61.203. - Board of zoning appeals.

(a)        Creation and membership. There is hereby established a board of zoning appeals, which shall perform its duties and exercise its powers as provided by law in such a way that the objectives of this zoning code shall be observed, public safety secured, and substantial justice done. The board shall consist of seven (7) regular members and two (2) alternate members appointed by the mayor with the consent of the council. Of the regular members, one (1) member so appointed shall be a member of the planning commission with appointment coinciding with planning commission term. The appointments of the remaining six (6) of the members shall be for the following period: two (2) members for one (1) year, two (2) members for two (2) years, two (2) members for three (3) years. Following the original appointments, each member shall be appointed to hold office for the full three-year term. The regular members of the board of zoning appeals shall annually elect its own chairman, vice-chairman and secretary. Alternate members shall serve a term of three (3) years and may vote on matters before the board only in the absence of a regular member(s). The compensation of the appointed members of the board of zoning appeals shall be fixed by the council by resolution.

All members of the board of zoning appeals shall be qualified electors of the city and no member shall be an official or employee of the city.

The current BZA members are:

FIRST                                                                                                     DATE

APPOINTED         MEMBER                                                               TERM EXPIRES

04/87               MADDOX, JOYCE                          11/01/12

03/04               BOGEN, GLORIA                           12/31/14

03/00               COURTNEY, VINCENT                12/31/14

08/06               WARD, DANIEL                             12/31/14

                        Planning Commissioner

01/09               MORTON, GLADYS                       12/31/2013

01/95               WILSON, BUZZ                               11/01/2012

                        ALTERNATE

02/04               PORTER, MARILYN                     11/01/2012

If anyone wants more information about the BZA and what they do, they can contact Wendy Lane or the BZA staff person, Yaya Diatta (651-266-9080).

Status of the Conway Rec Talks

After our meeting with Parks on November 26, we have been lining up task force members for the Conway Community Advisory Group (CAG), and setting an initial schedule for our meetings. On Dec. 3, District 1 staff met with City Council President Kathy Lantry, Parks Director Mike Hahm, Deputy Director Kathy Korum, and Recreation Services Manager Gwen Peterson, to finalize the process by which the discussions will take place.

The Conway CAG will consist of 7 community members drawn from the varied interested parties and 3 parks officials (Hahm, Korum and Peterson). In addition, District 1 staff and Council President Lantry's office will attend to act as scribes and resources for the group. This group will begin meeting in early January, meet twice monthly for a while and then monthly, with the expectation that their work will be completed by the end of June. Minutes of those meetings will be posted here.

In between the CAG meetings, there will be several meetings of the community where everyone will be given the chance to provide input. The January and February District 1 board meetings will be largely devoted to gathering this input. The March Annual Meeting will be a series of open houses where the community can speak face-to-face with officials about this topic (among others). In addition, any group or any individual who would like to speak to someone about their ideas or concerns can contact the District 1 office and we will be happy to take your information back to the task force. (651.578.7600 or district1council@aol.com)

Information and updates will be periodically posted here, on our Facebook page and announced via our Twitter account. If you are on the E-democracy listserv, an announcement will also appear there, directing you to this blog. The District 1 News will also contain articles about the work that is being done.

We want this process to be as open and productive as possible so that Conway Rec remains the vital community center that it is and has been.

Thanks to every community member who attended the community meeting, who spoke up, emailed, called, wrote, or signed petitions. Your voices are powerful!

News from the Council

As you may have noticed, construction is well underway at the old Suburban Avenue carlot. Folks from Pawn America have told us that the pawn shop will be ready to open in January, and that Exchange Street, also in the same building, will open sometime in February. Testing and construction work is beginning on the other buildings and on the landscaping for the rain gardens, etc.

At Conway Rec Center, and unrelated to our recent community actions there, the totlot is open and in use, and the kids' mural is finally installed on the east wall of the center. This latter work was mysteriously delayed in installation since it was finished this summer. We are happy to see both projects completed.

Finally, a heads up that our office will be minimally staffed from Dec 17 until after the first of the new year. If you need a recycling bin before the new year, you must call no later than Tuesday Dec. 11. Otherwise, you can try calling ahead to see if someone will be there to hand them out, or just wait until after the first of the year.

Historic Black College Tour

Recently, 84 Minnesota students returned from a five day trip- touring colleges and universities in the South. The 8^th annual HBCU college tour, sponsored by the Education Ministry at Progressive Baptist Church (on Burns Avenue) in St. Paul, exposed students to campus life at various HBCUs in Oklahoma and Texas including: Langston University, Texas College, Wiley College, Prairie View A&M University, and Texas Southern University.

Every October, the Education Ministry takes students, who otherwise would not have an opportunity, on tours of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).  These tours have proven to be great successes as 95% of the students who have participated in these tours have gone on to pursue higher education.

It is the vision of Rev. Dr. Earl F. Miller; Senior Pastor, and JoAnn Clark; Education Ministry Chair, that every child be exposed to higher education.

“We are just living our mission of providing our youth with the tools and support necessary for educational and lifelong success.”  This is Mrs. JoAnn Clark’s passion; providing youth with an opportunity to succeed.  She is doing that through the Education Ministry at Progressive Baptist Church. (JoAnn is also a long-standing board member of the District 1 Community Council.)

Driven and motivated by her love for youth, JoAnn has orchestrated numerous programs which include mentor matching, tutoring, outreach and others. This ministry provides an atmosphere that is conducive to learning and allows individual intellectual growth. Progressive’s Education Ministry does not just stop at home.  It thrives on reaching all youth in the community, regardless of religious affiliation.

As stated by Rev. Dr. Earl F. Miller; “We want to expose young people to post high school educational opportunities and sometimes you have to go to those opportunities.”

Next fall, students will be headed to North Carolina. To find out more about the tour, to donate, or to inquire about participating in next year’s tour, email pbccollegetour@gmail.com or visit the website at www.wix.com/pbccollegetour/progressive