Minutes from 2/23/15 Board Business Meeting

Call to Order: 6:40 pm by Acting Council President Tom Mohr.  Introductions conducted.

Financial Reports: G. Westerberg notes that we need approval of the quarterly report.  Motion made, seconded and approved on voice vote to accept the end of the second quarter fiscal year financial reports.

Staffing Update:  B. Leach provides an update on staffing.  Chia Lor has been hired to assist with the Annual Meeting.  A couple of additional funding sources are set to come in soon.  Chia’s wage is currently coming out of reserves but that will be shifted over as we receive the additional funding.

Capital Improvement Budget:  B. Leach provides a list of proposals and asks board member to rate their support of them by March 9. A brief overview of the projects is provided.

Request from Youth Programming:  C. Melendez asks for financial support for programming participants to cover individual transportation costs.  Motion by P. Fuehrer to purchase 50 single use bus tokens for use by Youth Programming while staff meets with SmartTrips and Metro Transit to explore other options/discounted fares.  Seconded by T. Turner.  Approved on voice vote.

BRT Update:  B. Leach provides a Gateway Corridor planning update on the BRT, especially regarding SunRay station planning.  They are still looking for feedback on the proposal. Community meeting at Grace Lutheran Church on Thursday, Feb 26, 5:30 – 8p

Ramsey County Update:  B. Leach provides an update on the recent County meeting she attended regarding White Bear Ave upgrades. Construction will begin in 2016.

Salvation Army:  B. Leach notes that Salvation Army is looking to take over the Empire Beauty and Napa building on Suburban Ave.   Questions regarding new proposal.

Annual Meeting:  C. Lor introduces herself. She notes that District 1 will be conducting open houses on March 28 and March 30.  Board members are required to participate on at least one of the two dates.  This year we will focus on voter education including voter participation (Voting 101), ranked choice voting (RCV) explanation and a sample RCV ballot.   It is noted that the Secretary of State offers liaison for voter translation services.  S. Ali notes that the Somali community tends to be very visual so video clips would be helpful.  S. Ali also reports on additional needs including more than 400 children under 18 years old that are in need of tutoring and academic help.

C. Lor asks that everyone assist with the Annual Meeting.  Additional ideas – video clips in additional languages, precinct finder and registration information.  It is noted that it would be good to get visual depictions of voting and situations. 

Activity Ideas for the meeting:

1)      A wheel of fortune spinner for an interactive station,

2)      Educational pamphlet/voting 101,

3)      Voter Assistance/Multiple Elections

4)      Find your precinct

5)      Become an election judge

6)      Ranked Choice Voting and Standard Voting

7)      Absentee Voting

8)      Completing your ballot

9)      Spoken word piece on voting/elections

 There are several vacant board seats available. We are especially interested in candidates from Eastview, Conway, from renter community, from communities of color, and from among women.

New Library Cards Coming

OLD Library, NEW Library - NEW CARDS!!

New library cards will soon be available at the Saint Paul Public Library, and anyone who gets a new card during the month of March will be entered into a drawing to win a gift card to a local Saint Paul business.

Last summer, the library held a contest to find artwork to adorn the new cards. Five Saint Paul artists have their work on the new cards, which will be available on March 1.

Anyone getting a new library card during the month of March will be entered into a drawing to win a $100 gift certificate to Micawber’s Books, Mississippi Market, or Ward 6 Food and Drink.  

Saint Paul residents can get a new card by bringing in a photo ID with current address, or a photo ID with a piece of recently received mail with current address to any Saint Paul Public Library location. For current Saint Paul Library card holders, upgrading to a newly designed library card is just one dollar.

How are things going at Conway Rec??

On Wednesday, March 4 at 6p there will be a community meeting at the Conway Rec Center (2090 Conway St) to hear from the Sanneh Foundation about how things are going and what their plans are now that Saint Paul Parks is totally out of the building.

No, this isn't happening, but do you want it? Is it somewhere else? Come find out...

This is a chance for community members to give input on what they would like to see, what is working well, and what isn't working so well.

Please join us for this important conversation. There is more than soccer happening there, and other activities are popping up across the district, so listen, learn and contribute to planning for a great neighborhood!!

January "Minutes" of D1 Board/Community meeting

On Monday, January 26, about 30 people from the community came together at the SunRay Library to talk about the future of the area. We had a short presentation from Acting President, Tom Mohr, about the changing demographics of our neighborhoods and then people talked about what changes we would like to see in our business areas, as a result of transit developments, and in amenities across the district.

There was discussion about rezoning to allow more mixed use in our current commercial areas, about the need for a senior center, for gathering spaces, and for bringing low cost or forgivable loan home improvement programs to the district. One of the ideas that came up was the need for a walkability study to be done. Another was how city processes needed to become less arduous.

All this input is taken into account as the district council works to develop its 10 year community plan. A draft of this plan will be completed within the next month or so, an opportunity for final community input on the document will be set up, and then the plan will be submitted to the city for approval.

Once the city approves the plan, it acts as a guide to how the city allocates funds and resources, how the district council can advocate for things in the district, and how potential developers look at opportunities here.

Our next Board Meeting will be February 23 from 6:30-8:30p in our office. This will be a working meeting of the board as it prepares for our March Annual Meeting.

Gateway Corridor OPEN HOUSES - Community Input

If you want to have a say about how the stations are developed for the planned Gateway Corridor

transit project (Bus Rapid Transit line along I-94), there are two meetings coming up. The first is Wednesday, February 25th from 5:30-8p at the Dayton's Bluff Rec Center - 800 Conway Street, and the second is on Thursday February 26th from 5:30-8p at Grace Lutheran Church - 1730 Old Hudson Rd. Both meetings will have short presentations at 6 and 7p. There will be free snacks and kids activities.

If you can't make the meetings but have comments about the station locations, what kind of redevelopment you would like to see, how to make safe pedestrian and bike connections, and about how to cross I-94, you can also call or email Bill Dermody at 651-266-6617 or bill.dermody@ci.stpaul.mn.us

This project is one of very very few projects that can bring redevelopment to our part of the city. YOUR INPUT IS IMPORTANT.