Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Meeting Summary for Nov. 25th Meeting


Welcome and Call to Order of the Board (Erika Martin, President presiding) at 6:35p

Attorney General’s Report–Westerberg presents; copies of the report were distributed for review; Mohr moved (Fuehrer second) the resolution that the report be adopted; discussion of its significance focused on the breakdown of the expenses into programming, administrative and fundraising costs and on the legal obligation of the board to review financials and provide oversight of financial dealings of the organization; unanimous approval
Financial Reports Quarterly Approval – Westerberg presents; Rosbacka moved (Mohr second) to approve the first quarter financials; copies of the financial reports were distributed for review; this approval was held over from our October meeting due to the community discussion at that earlier meeting; no discussion/questions regarding the reports – unanimous approval.

Neighborhood Honor Roll Submissions – staff – Two names had been submitted by neighbors for the city-wide honor roll, one additional submission made by board members. All three submissions were unanimously approved. (Look for the announcement coming soon about these neighborhood activists!!)

 2014 Budget and Workplan– staff presented the proposed budget for 2014, which reflected a reduction in the increase the City had told us we would be receiving. That reduction was a result of using different data sets to outline the boundaries of the district council. The budget reflects a change in staffing with a new programming focus on youth. Discussion focused on the details of the budget and how our organization might raise more money. Staff presented the draft workplan for our city contract, explaining that the two sections of our historic contracts (Citizen Participation and Crime Prevention) will be merged this year into a single Community Engagement contract. Such a merger better reflects the philosophy of this organization and of the district council system as a whole. Staff went through the 5 goals that were proposed for next year. The new goal is the focus on youth work. Mohr moved approval (Nixon second) unanimous approval.

Transit Equity Covenant (Draft) - Melendez presented the background on the development of covenant based on his work as an organizer in the Fostering East Side Transit Equity Conversations (FESTEC) project operating this fall as a collaboration between eastside district councils and other organizations; He summarized the recent town hall and the work FESTEC has been doing to include people who have not been heard from before about what was wanted with regard to transit. The covenant is a set of principles that can guide community response to the multitude of transportation projects that are looming on the horizon and include principles on equity in housing, jobs, construction mitigation, access and safety. Melendez moved (Clark second) that the covenant be adopted; discussion centered on whether adoption obligated our organization to specific responses. The document is a framework of principles rather than specifics and is a living document. Unanimous approval.
Updates on projects - several local projects were summarized regarding their on-going work.
         
 THERE WILL BE NO BOARD MEETING IN DECEMBER!!

This Weekend - More Compost Site Hours


This is because the weather has been so odd this fall, and all our leaves fell at once!!
Ramsey County Residents Will Have an Extra Weekend to Drop Off Yard Waste
Yard waste collection sites will be open the following days and times Nov. 25 – Dec. 1:
Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.;
Saturday, 9 a.m.  to 5 p.m.;
Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

After Dec. 1, yard waste sites will switch to winter hours, with only the Midway, Frank & Sims, and White Bear Township sites open only on the second Saturdays and Sundays of each month, from December thru March.

Talk Transportation with Met Council and State Officials


Minnesota Department of Transportation Commissioner Charlie Zelle and Metropolitan Council Chair Sue Haigh invite the public to attend town hall meetings on transportation, including transit, on several dates in December. The meetings that are closest to the eastside are listed below.
All meetings are from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.·
  •        Tuesday, Dec. 10 at St. Paul Union Depot, Veterans Gallery, 214 E. 4th Street., St. Paul
  •          Thursday, Dec. 12 at Century College, 3300 Century Ave. N., Room #2315, White Bear Lake

·       
Zelle and Haigh will lead a discussion about transportation, how it affects quality of life, its link to Minnesota’s economy and the importance of investing in this state asset. The officials will also take feedback and answer questions about Minnesota’s transportation system. Local MnDOT officials will be available to answer questions, as well.
Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend. Additional information is available at www.mndot.gov/minnesotago/.
To request an ASL or foreign language interpreter, or other reasonable accommodation, call Janet Miller at 651-366-4720 or 1-800-657-3774 (Greater Minnesota), 711 or 1-800-627-3529 (Minnesota Relay). You also may send an email to ADArequest.dot@state.mn.us.

Monday, November 25, 2013

Local Road Closure

Winthrop will be totally closed between Falcon and Glenridge starting today - November 25 - through Wednesday the 27th for water main work.

There will also be some continued lane closures on White Bear near Old Hudson as they continue to work out the water main issues there.

And you all know that the lane closures on Warner Road will go on into 2015, right?? Fixing/redoing the bridge over Childs Road...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Garbage vs Recycling? We know which is better...


The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has been studying our habits when it comes to throwing stuff in the trash...
  • The amount of plastic thrown away has increased from 11 percent of the waste stream to 18 percent since 2000.
  • Paper in the waste stream has decreased from 34 percent to 25 percent, likely due to decreased printing of newspapers.
  • Twelve thousand tons, or 24 million pounds, of aluminum beverage containers were discarded in Minnesota in 2012—the equivalent of 3.6 million aluminum cans per day.
  • Over 543,000 tons (1 billion pounds) of recyclable paper were discarded in Minnesota in 2012.
  • 21,000 tons (41 million pounds) of PET beverage container plastic were discarded in 2012.
  • Organics (food) accounts for 31 percent of the waste stream, which is a 21 percent increase from the 2000 study.
The 2013 waste composition study indicates there is less paper and less glass in the waste stream, but more plastic and more food waste. This speaks to the need to find a way to recycle more types of plastics, and to establish more organics collection opportunities to handle the large amount of food waste that is being thrown away.
“The organics information is the most obvious issue we can, and will, address with more organics recycling and composting,” the MPCA’s Peder Sandhei said. “There are many findings to discuss and strategize to improve from this report, but the main point is that we’re discarding valuable resources, and jobs are lost with every garbage truck that’s emptied.”
The study also shows that Minnesotans are discarding a large amount of material that is currently recyclable -- material that can be used to create jobs in the local economy. Some of the Minnesota companies that make or produce products out of recycled material are Rock-Tenn in St. Paul; Bedford Technology in Worthington; By The Yard in Jordan; Master Mark in Paynesville; Liberty Paper in Becker; New Page in Duluth; and Gerdau Ameristeel in South St. Paul.

Ok folks, better recycling is coming to Saint Paul next spring - with more plastics able to be collected, with single stream and so on. The County will allow collection of organics at the compost site - next year... In the meantime, we can still be doing better than this!! And Gerdau Steel is a business in OUR neighborhood!!