Columbia Park Neighborhood Association

Meeting Minutes Jan-March 2007

Minutes from January 2007 meeting of the CPNA Board

COLUMBIA PARK NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

BOARD MEETING MINUTES: 1/22/07

_____________________________________________________________


Call to order: 6:15

Present: Liz Wielinski, Ciara Schlichting, Melody Devine, Wes VanVickle, Tracy Rognrud, Kathy Buchanan.

Addition to agenda: Old business - Scotty, potential neighborhood ID sign designer

Motion to approve tonight’s amended agenda; seconded and approved.

Motion to approve minutes from 11/20/06; seconded and approved by all, with one abstention due to absence at 11/20 meeting.


Reports from the Officers:

President Liz Wielinski announces the resignation of Mary Strobl, bookkeeper. There was an ad for the position placed in the Northeaster newspaper at the end of December, as well as in January’s NRP Link newsletter. The end of year paperwork was completed.

Also, Judy Meyer, the Vice President of the neighborhood association is moving out of the city and is resigning from this position. The Board accepted her letter of resignation.

Liz introduces Kathy Buchanan, the first applicant to respond to the bookkeeping ad in the Northeaster. She lives nearby in Columbia Heights and is a retired art teacher. Kathy leaves the room momentarily while the Board discusses hiring her for the position. A motion is made to hire Kathy Buchanan as the new bookkeeper; seconded, all ayes.

Kathy accepts the position and introduces herself further. The Board members make their introductions.


Guest Speaker: Sheila Biernet is here to tell us about the Get Fit Twin Cities program going on. Sheila is a community organizer at NorthEast Neighborhood Services, specializing in fitness and walking motivation. She helped organize the Frosty Challenge in November and December of 2006 and is now organizing and registering teams of 2 - 10 people for a Minneapolis vs. St. Paul Get Fit Challenge. Online registration is available, and she is encouraging neighborhoods to sign up as teams. There are many free and discounted fitness opportunities to those who join the Challenge.


Guest pop-in: Bev Banks of the Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) stopped by to drop off Minneapolis Community Engagement Surveys to get out to the neighborhood. We will insert them into our neighborhood newsletter that will be going out soon. She also dropped off copies of a recent NRP Publication, a primer about the organization. Tracy will put some into the neighborhood’s information file at the NE Library.


Bookkeeper Report:


Liz Wielinski, filling in, reports that the checking account balance is $6331.15.

Total funds leftover from NRP Phase I: $6564.74.

CPED funds: $0. Funds for 2007 have been applied for, and we will be getting $2,000 for the entire year.


Open Spaces/Mississippi Task Force:

Above the Falls Citizen Advisory Council (AFCAC): Ciara Schlicting tells about Coloplast, a Danish company that will be moving its headquarters to the West River Road and Plymouth Avenue area. This could create a lot of jobs, positive effects.

Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority (HCRRA) Contract: Tracy has not yet contacted them regarding the neighborhood’s contract with them regarding the Gateway area. The contract is set to expire in 2007. She will do this.

Parks: Liz reports that the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board (MPRB) is planning to rebuild Parade Stadium with a grant received from the NFL and bonding from the city. Improvements will include artificial turf, sound system, electronic scoreboards, and more. This is not meant to be used by DeLaSalle High School, and the proposed stadium on Nicollet Island is working its way through the court system. In related news, since concerts are no longer allowed on Nicollet Island, the MPRB is considering using the Father Hennepin “stage” located near the Stone Arch Bridge as an alternative. This is a very small area, not really suitable for such events. Note: Our neighborhood may want to weigh in on this when the time comes.


Crime/Safety/Housing:

Northeast Citizen Patrol (NECP): Wes VanVickle relays that his wife, Sara, will help take on some of the Patrol Leader duties for the Columbia Park walking group. Judy Meyer has had this position since the group began last year, but is moving out of the area. Judy gave Wes and Sara a list of neighbors who expressed interest in participating in the walking patrol, which will resume in the Spring. They are currently meeting the first Wednesday of each month at Columbia Grounds Coffee Shop.

Shoreham Area Advisory Council (SAAC): Liz recaps the history of SAAC for the benefit of those unaware. At a recent meeting, she learned that existing roundhouses are rare, numbering less than 100. Preserving the roundhouse would be a big draw for any future development. Money is an issue. The area holds a 17 acre piece of land with a lot of potential for development, possible transit hub, possibly involving street cars.

All past funds to pay for the SAAC have been from the Audubon Neighborhood Association, and Holland has allowed SAAC to use its office space. Audubon would like to see other neighborhoods including Columbia Park neighborhood consider helping fund

 

SAAC staff, since the area is within our borders. Liz asks whether we want to do this. We could use some of our leftover NRP Phase I funds, but we are also considering using that money for neighborhood ID signs. We won’t be getting that much

Money for NRP Phase II. Use of money is yet undecided. We are still investigating the costs of the signs.

501 36 ½ Avenue NE: Liz attended the zoning meeting regarding the variance requested for this property, a small sized empty lot. The variance was passed. She viewed the plans and after learning more information, believes it will be a great addition to the neighborhood. It doesn’t look like it will be just a rental flip, and it will be a good size for a family. She brought copies of the house plans. The plan won some kind of small city lot design award.

Other news: The house next to Melody’s on Van Buren has had some suspicious activity. It was sold for a questionable amount, yet the city has it listed as vacant. It has a water shut-off sign on the door and the walk isn‘t shoveled. It is homesteaded, so we will watch out for rental. Liz asks how it can be homesteaded if it is listed as vacant. Melody will look into this.

Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) Phase II: When Bev Banks dropped in tonight, Melody and Liz told her that the February council meeting conflicts with our CPNA meeting, but that March would work. They will remind Bev about this.


Old Business:

Winter Newsletter: Peter will be turning it in to the printer as soon as he adds in Tracy’s last minute submissions. The NRP survey is going to be inserted into the hand-delivered neighborhood issues.

CPNA Website: Liz started a new Yahoo news group and sent out invitations to join it to Board members. The old site was a mess and Liz can now access it in order to update it. There is a link to it from the Northeast Beat site, so we want to keep it current. We should be able to put information onto it, like our newsletters. New email address is: CPNA-NRP@yahoogroups.com .

Neighborhood ID Signs: Melody’s friend Scotty, an artist and graphic designer, is here to show us some of his work and hear about design ideas for the ID signs. He has a lot of experience, lives in northeast Minneapolis, and owns a gallery in the area too. He may be expensive, but he works quickly. We are still unsure of the printing costs, but we now know that we would be able to use three colors nicely. Tracy will attempt to get an estimate from some sign companies. Scotty suggests trying online too. We need to decide on the number of signs we want too. We agree that we may want to order extra signs for any replacements necessary in the future. We will need to confirm our sign-making budget before we know if or how much we can pay an artist.

New Business:

There is a new Central Avenue Committee being formed by Paul Ostrow and their first meeting is tomorrow night (1-23-07). Paul asked Sue Bembenek to be on the committee. This is a different committee than the one out of Audubon neighborhood. If we need to appoint someone to the committee as a neighborhood we can do it at the next meeting.

Northeast Beat: This is a newish online news forum specific to Northeast Minneapolis. It was started by a local, Dan Haugen, a reporter for the Downtown Journal. He wants to encourage citizen journalism and support local happenings. The website is www.northeastbeat.com .

Community Engagement Meetings: The next meeting in our area is next week, January 31st, 7:00-8:30 p.m., at the Firefighters Hall and Museum at 664 22nd Ave. NE. The City put out a 42-page report that seems to say that the small neighborhood organizations might be replaced by bigger precinct-like areas of representation. NRP is very involved in this, and hope people will attend these meetings to respond. Liz and Tracy will be going.

Motion to adjourn CPNA meeting at 8:08 p.m.. Seconded, all ayes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minutes from February 2007 meeting of the CPNA Board

COLUMBIA PARK NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

BOARD MEETING MINUTES: 2/26/07

______________________________________________________________________

 

 


Call to order 6:25 P.M.

Present: Liz Wielinski, Kathy Buchanan, Wes VanVickle, Tracy Rognrud, Sue Bembenek, Peter Doughty.

Notes: With Peter’s arrival we have a quorum; he has to leave early at 7:15. Sue volunteers to bring a battery for the wall clock next time.

Addition to agenda: Gateway tree trimming (Sue Bembenek), under Open Spaces.

Motion to approve amended agenda; seconded and approved.

Motion to approve minutes from 1/22/07; seconded and approved.


Open Spaces/Mississippi Task Force


AFCAC Update: Ciara Schlichting won’t be able to go to 1/23 meeting due to a death in her family. Liz asks if anyone present can go: no volunteers, so Liz will attend AFCAC meeting.


Gateway:

It is noted that the gold lock for the fire hydrant is in the locked meeting room closet.

Sue has turned over the gardener’s information and duties to Tracy. Tracy will send out the renewal letters to previous gardeners in April. Open gardening plots will be offered first come, first serve.

Since our garden plot rental sign was stolen last year, Tracy will make a laminated tagboard sign advertising garden plots using one of the wire frames from the “Slow Down” signs. This will be placed at the Gateway site in April.

Concerning the upcoming expiration of the Gateway Contract between the City and the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority (HCRRA), Tracy has been in contact with

John Tripp and Jessica Galatz at HCRRA. The process of renewing the lease has begun. They see no obstacles to extending the lease for another 5 years. Jessica will keep Tracy informed about the status of the situation.

Sue would like to find out what is going on with the section of land behind the Gateway area. It used to have all kinds of rubble piled on it and we were thinking about having a dog run there at one time. She would like to find out if the soil is polluted or not, and if there are any plans to use the area. Tracy will ask Jessica at the HCRRA about this.

Tree trimming at Gateway: Sue has talked to Steve Dess at Learning for Leadership Charter School about having some of the high school kids trained to trim the 20 crab trees lining 37th Avenue, between University Avenue and 5th Street. She has been looking for someone to do the training. After a certain master gardener fell through, Lorrie Stromme suggested Northeast Tree, Inc. . Sue is proposing the neighborhood provide the training party a $100 stipend. The trainer would also oversee the project. Discussion: Liz is concerned about the neighborhood’s liability. Sue assures that we’re covered. Trees can be trimmed in Spring or Fall. There is a teacher at the school who can help. The stipend price would be much cheaper than the cost to hire a trimming service for the job. When the project is going on, we should be sure to get some pictures/story for the neighborhood newsletter. The school needs to do a community project. Peter moves to approve the $100 stipend; Wes seconds; all are in favor. Motion approved. Sue Bembenek will act as the liaison for this project.


Parks Update: Liz reports that Sheridan and Gluek Parks are both being redone this year. Sheridan Park is north of Broadway, and will be Sheridan Neighborhood’s park. There are plans to install a veteran’s memorial there; Ed Karbo has been lobbying for this memorial for a long time. Sheridan Neighborhood Organization plans to fundraise for the $600,000 needed for the project and its upkeep. This project is on the March agenda for the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board meeting. Gluek Park clean-up is completed, but there is discord between Bottineau Neighborhood and the Park Board about the plans for the new shelter and how it was presented to them. Bottineau presented an alternate plan, including the old shelter, and a way to pay for it. The plan was referred back to staff to take back to the community.

Liz also informs that the River District Manager, Jon Oyanagi, will be coming to our April meeting and asks if there is anything we would like to talk about. Liz already has a long list. Some additions include: the red slide, a way to put Waite Park’s recreational information at our neighborhood’s parks which are satellite parks, a sign that identifies the Rugby Pitch such as another wooden board on the existing sign, Columbia Park parking lot paved, tennis court resurfaced, sidewalk in front of Learning for Leadership building is very bad and up heaved, any news about a meeting about the repaving of Columbia Parkway and its costs.


Crime/Safety/Housing


Northeast Citizen Patrol (NECP)- Wes reports that the neighborhood walking group will begin again in the spring, but the date is yet to be determined.

Liz asks if anyone is getting duplicate emails of the NECP Crime Statistics. People are, so she will stop forwarding it to the CPNA Yahoo group mail. She also notes that there is a new publication called the Minneapolis Defender, which will be a fundraiser for the NECP.


The 2nd Precinct Advisory Council (2PAC)- Liz says that Judy Meyer, former member of 2PAC and CPNA, says that the meetings have revived and are now more vital. They meet the second Monday of the month at 6 PM at Monroe Village, which is across from the Police station. We no longer have a neighborhood representative on this Council. Is anyone interested? Not at this time.

Discussion: The last newsletter was really great. Thanks to Peter for putting it all together. Local delivery was delayed due to frigid weather. The neighborhood’s website is being updated by Liz; others are welcome to participate.


Shoreham Area Advisory Council (SAAC)- Liz reports that at the last meeting, they talked about a railroad safety bill introduced by Senator Pogemiller, in response to recent derailing. There is a struggle about revealing information about the cargo trains are carrying. In St. Paul, there is concern about emergency responders having a problem getting to the area soon enough. These are good things to know, since our neighborhood has so much train traffic. It’s a new bill that probably won’t get passed right away.

The other news is that there will be a community meeting about the ground water clean-up on the Cedar Services site. It will take place here, at the Columbia Golf Manor, on the 2nd Monday in April.


Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) Phase II: Bev and Liz are able to communicate better now, via our website. Tracy will call Bev Banks at NRP to make sure we are on the March agenda. If we aren’t, find out why not. Tracy will let Liz know. Liz will let Melody and Ciara know and they will make plans to meet as an NRP committee, then attend the March NRP committee to present the neighborhood’s NRP Phase II Plan.

Sue volunteers to check into when our neighborhood is scheduled for the upcoming inspections.


Old Business:


Vacant lot between VanBuren and Architect alleyways- Tracy called Jeff Strand of the Department of Hennepin County Land Forfeitures. It seems the land was offered for sale to adjoining owners in September of 1991. The lot is 1-3 feet below grade and is 93 feet x 115 feet x 160 feet. Many unpurchased parcels of land like this are being evaluated and will be offered at public auction in May of this year. Jeff suggested a seasonal garden permit as well as an idea about working with the MPRB to get a public use deed from the County, like the Bancroft neighborhood did with their Meridian Garden. He is sending a temporary garden permit for us to consider. Sue wonders what will happen if it goes unused, if it is polluted, and whether it could be turned into a rain garden. Peter describes the plot and its surround. Liz asks if an adjoining property could make it part of their property, then vacate the alley. Peter says no, it would block access to other homes.


Central Avenue Committee Representative- The volunteers are Sue Bembenek and Nils Jensen. Vote: Sue Bembenek is nominated to be the neighborhood’s representative; seconded. Nils voted to be the alternate representative. Sue suggests inviting Columbia Heights to join the Committee since they are so close. Peter has to leave.


Neighborhood Identification Signs- Tracy reports what she found out from Gopher Sign Company, a sign printing company that she called. They advised us to keep the design very simple. The pricing for a 2 color sign, with the background color as a fixed part at no charge, would be 10 signs for $480, 20 signs for $770. The prices may come in at less than that. This company seems good because they have done Minneapolis neighborhood signs before and are familiar with the specs required. We still need to consider the price of brackets and possible sign posts planted. Liz adds that she has been noticing that most existing poles are already being used to capacity, so we’ll probably end up needing some posts. All agree that sign prices seem reasonable, and the project doable.


New Business


Neighborhood Policing Plan meeting representative- Liz asks if anyone can attend this meeting on Tuesday, March 13th. No volunteers, so Liz will go to this first meeting. Some safety issues in our neighborhood include safety at the parks, traffic issues, and the Gateway. As far as business representatives, Sue suggests contacting Frank, the owner of Custom Business Forms. Tracy agrees to contact him to ask, and let Sue know. If not, Sue will see if the owner of Automobile Giant is interested. Both business owners have had safety issues in the past.


CPNA’s 2007 Annual Meeting- Discussion about preparing for the meeting. Maybe an ad in the Northeaster; plan to put a colored insert in next neighborhood newsletter; need to reserve the big room (Liz will do this); speakers: ask representative from Rugby team (Tracy will do); ask Steve Dess to come to tell about Charter School (Tracy will do).


May newsletter- Plan to add colored insert notice about annual meeting. Sue wants to put in an article about nuisance signs.


Bookkeeper report:

Checkbook balance of $9679.76.

Motion to adjourn at 7:47 p.m.; seconded. All ayes.

Meeting adjourned at 7:47 p.m..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minutes from March 2007 meeting of the CPNA Board

COLUMBIA PARK NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

BOARD MEETING MINUTES 3/19/07

____________________________________________________________________


Present: Liz Wielinski, Ciara Schlichting, Melody Devine, Tracy Rognrud, Bev Banks, Lorrie Stromme, Kathy Buchanan, Peter Doughty

Call to order: 6:05 P.M.

Additions to the agenda: Bev Banks to NRP, vacant lot at 501 36 ½ Street and vacant house next to Melody to Old Business.

Motion to approve amended agenda; seconded and approved.

Motion to approve 2/26 minutes with corrections; seconded and approved.


Open Spaces/Mississippi Task Force


Above the Falls Citizen Advisory Council (AFCAC )update: AFCAC meeting was cancelled. Nothing to report.


Gateway Tree Trimming Project: Sue Bembenek not available to report.


Parks: Liz Wielinski reports that Jon Oyanagi, River District Manager, will be coming to our April board meeting to discuss the neighborhood concerns regarding Parks issues. Other news is that the contract is up for Superintendent of Parks, Jon Gurban. There will be a discussion about it on Wednesday, 3/21 at 4:15. Also, there is a clean-up day in our neighborhood scheduled on Earth Day, Saturday 4/21, from 9:30 - noon. Liz will help hand out garbage bags and poke sticks at a table at Columbia playground area. The clean-up will start at the playground and continue along Columbia Parkway. This event is not on the official Park Board poster for Earth Day events, so tell neighbors and spread the word.


Central Avenue Group: Sue Bembenek is our neighborhood representative. She is not available to report, but will be attending the March 28th meeting for this committee.


Crime/Safety/Housing


Northeast Citizen Patrol (NECP): Wes VanVickle is not available to report. No information so far about when walking patrol will begin again. Note: Have information about how to join walking group in next newsletter.


Shoreham Area Advisory Council (SAAC): Liz announces that there will be a public meeting to update the community on the ongoing and proposed cleanup of the Soo Line Shoreham Yard Site on Monday, April 9th from 7 - 9 P.M. at the Columbia Golf Manor.

Also, Liz reports that Gayle Bonneville of SAAC is planning to hold a safety meeting on May 14th and is looking for a sponsor to help with the expenses which could include room rental, a newspaper ad, and possibly a stipend for any guest speakers. Tracy reminds about how the Learning for Leadership Charter School in our neighborhood had recently volunteered their space for public meetings. Liz asks if our neighborhood association would be willing to foot the bill. Bev Banks will verify if we can use funds for all of these things. The speaker may be Jim Clack, who runs the emergency preparedness plan for the city of Minneapolis. Expenses and options are discussed. One option is the new Salvation Army building: $60 for the big room, and $40 for the smaller one. They provide free coffee to meetings. The ad in the Northeaster would be $150. Costs for the meeting estimated to be about $200. Motion to provide up to $200 for said meeting; seconded, all in favor. Motion is passed unanimously.

Also noted, the recent railcar chlorine leakage incident in Lake City resulted in chlorine cars being parked in NE Minneapolis. Liz refers to the chlorine bombs used in Iraq…good time for a safety meeting.


Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) Phase II: Our task force members Melody Devine and Ciara Schlichting, will be going before the Board next week with the neighborhood’s plan, along with President Liz Wielinski. Since she has had problems sending things by computer lately, Bev Banks is here tonight to hand deliver copies of our final plan, with her comments attached. She discusses any changes with the task force.

Bev asks who we used for housing funding with Phase I. It was GMMHC, also known as the Northeast Resource Center. We would write the plan and hire an administrator to manage the funds. The Center for Energy and Environment (CEE) is the other group the task force would need to interview for implementation.


Pop in: Susan Joppa stops in to notify the board about some new information on the Teddy Morse property. There are still problems going on, including new ads for the duplex. Susan is not happy with the behavior of the renters or the landlord. Liz will talk to her later by phone.


NRP, continued: When asked about the actual presentation before the Board, Bev says that the members will already have copies of our plan, but they will want the representatives (Melody, Ciara, and Liz) to present it and summarize it. They won’t have to talk about the administration of the money, nor the implementation. Each of them could take a section; time to present, about ten minutes. Tracy asks when we would be able to get the money to people. Bev says about six months from now. The published agenda will be on the website for the task force to check the time of their scheduled presentation. Ciara asks about tech support for visuals. It depends if the tech person is there. The task force and Liz will meet after the meeting tonight.


Old Business


Neighborhood ID Signs: Tracy explains the estimates given by the sign printing company. Melody will relay the graphic design details to her friend Scottie, and then get an estimate for his design services and report that at the next board meeting. We need to keep in mind the costs for the brackets and some new sign posts since the space on existing signs is mostly taken already. We need to find out if we can even place any signs along St. Anthony Parkway. Larry Motsumoto or Nick Eoloff are working with the Public Works now. Liz will check on this with Judd Reitkerk and we will revisit this at next month’s meeting.


Annual Meeting plans: Liz says the large room is reserved for the May meeting. Tracy reports that the Rugby representative will be coming to give an update. He wants to know how long he has and what we would like him to talk about. Response: tell him about 10 minutes to talk and 5 minutes for question, loosely. We want to know when they play. He could bring schedules, self-promote. Tracy still needs to make contact with Steve Dess at Learning for Leadership Charter School. He can have 15 minutes to talk, then take any questions. If we start at 6:30, speakers could have time after 7:00.

Other plans: Liz will invite Walt Dziedzic. Lorrie Stromme will invite councilman Paul Ostrow. Liz will write a president’s letter for the next newsletter and we will insert a colored flyer to invite neighbors to the meeting. Board members are elected at that meeting, and officers are elected at the June meeting. We, the CPNA Board, volunteer to bring food to serve- Liz, lemonade in the drink jug; Melody, her famous cheese plate; Ciara, a healthy snack; Tracy, bars; there will also be the regular snacks given by the Eastside Co-op. We already have paper products.


Newsletter: Peter wants to know when we want it to be in people’s hands. Answer: by May 13th weekend. Deadline needs to be FIRM. Peter needs a week to pull it together, then allow for printing, getting it to Norma to hand deliver. Deadline for spring newsletter is Wednesday, April 25th, FIRM.

Tracy will make sure businesses get the newsletter with the flyer insert.

Door prizes possible: Tracy will get a basket of snacks from husband Troy’s work. Liz might get a Michael’s gift certificate, will ask CVS, Heights movie theater, and Columbia golf course. Tracy will also talk to Honeywell about a donation, since they are in our neighborhood boundaries.


501 36 ½ Street Vacant Lot: Tracy called the number on a large sign on the lot. The number, 612-874-6000, was for Franklin National Bank, and the employee on the end of the line knew nothing about the property. He referred her to PPL to check if they had any information. No knowledge about the property on their end. Upon checking the city’s property tax information, it showed that Franklin National Bank of Minnesota was the owner and taxpayer. The Property ID # 02-029-24-21-0026. The most current sale, October 2004 for $18,500, warranty deed. The last information we knew about this property was that it had a variance request that passed, and was owned by two young men who planned to build a nice 3 bedroom home on the lot. Lorrie Stromme will check into this with Brian Schafer of City Planning. She will also check to see if there has been a foreclosure.


3606 Van Buren: House next to Melody is a vacant house with a history of problems. Currently, the back window is smashed out, the front screen door was hanging open, and there are shut-off notices stuck all over. She has called 911 at times, and has called 311 about boarding it up, twice. During the winter, the sidewalks weren’t shoveled. The inside of the house looks run down, viewed from the window. In contrast, records show that it was sold 9/2006 in a private transaction for $300 plus. She is concerned about possible copper theft, gas explosion. She called the gas company, which confirmed that the gas is still on, as of January. Lorrie Stromme will check on this property too.

Vacant alley lot between VanBuren and Architect: Discussion about possible use of this piece of land as a community garden. Issues: people drive on it, possible pollution, lack of water access. The lot is not good for building on. Discuss other options: Ciara suggests waiting to see if it fails to sell at auction and to adjacent property owners, then talk to city about it. We will wait to write any kind of article until later also. Public auction is May 9th.


New Business


Holland Neighborhood Hot Dish Event 2/21: Liz plans on entering her vegetarian Greek Wild Rice Hot Dish. She asks if we would like it to be entered under the Columbia Park neighborhood’s name or just her own name. All are ok with the neighborhood entry.


Mail bag: Tracy asks if anyone is interested in representing our neighborhood in the Northeast Parade. No interest.


Lorrie Stromme’s updates: She says that paving is planned for Columbia Parkway up to 5th Street sometime after July 4th this summer. There will be a community meeting soon about the assessments, etc. Liz will talk to Nick at MPRB about coming to our annual meeting instead. Lorrie offers graffiti handouts, advises early ordering of trees offered by city since they go fast. You can get a free permit to plant one on the boulevard. She reminds us about upcoming city inspections. Our neighborhood probably won’t get them until the end of summer.

Liz passes out copies of the Minneapolis Defender to view.


Bookkeeper Report: $8740.79

Kathy arrived mid-meeting, since she was meeting with Sue Bembenek for more training.

Tracy gives her check requests and a tax exempt form from Central Business Forms, our newsletter printer. Liz says the PO Box bill has already been paid, and we have the receipt from January to prove it if necessary. Tracy will talk to Post Office about it to confirm.

Motion to end meeting; seconded, passed.

Meeting adjourned at 8:24 P.M.