Kingfield Neighborhood Association

Board of Directors Meeting

May 19, 2004

Board members present: Thor Anderson, Rosemary Dolata, Rolf Johnson, Arthur Knowles, Ben Kristensen, Erik Lindseth, David Motzenbecker, Mari O’Rourke, Dave Saddoris, Niki Valens, Sean Wherley

Board members absent:  David Muschenheim, Paige Fitzgerald

Others present: Chris Deparde, Bob Gilbert (Southwest Journal), Martha Ingram, Sarah Linnes-Robinson, Jim Russell, Jody Tooley

Meeting called to order at 7:07 p.m.

Community Forum:
Jody Tooley of Judson Church discussed its May 22 festival from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the intersection of 41st Street and Harriet Avenue.

Rosemary moved to suspend the agenda and hold elections for board officers.  Erik seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously.

Board Elections:
Sean nominated Ben Kristensen for treasurer.  Arthur seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously.

Erik nominated Rosemary Dolata for vice president.  Niki seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously.

Arthur nominated David Motzenbecker for president.  Niki seconded the motion.  Thor nominated Sean Wherley for president.  Arthur seconded the motion.  Each candidate answered questions from board members and a secret ballot was conducted.  David was announced the winner.

Sean Wherley nominated himself for secretary.  Erik seconded the motion.  Arthur amended the motion to indicate that the secretary responsibilities would rotate to a different board member each month.  The secretary would be expected to compile a schedule and ensure that minutes are submitted.  Rosemary seconded the amendment.  The amendment passed unanimously.  The amended motion passed unanimously.

Secretary’s Report:
The April 14, 2004 minutes misspelled the names of David Motzenbecker, Kevin Bakewell, and Niki Valens.  It was clarified that the NRP Steering Committee allocated $182,000 for new lighting on Nicollet Avenue, not the city, as indicated on the April 14 minutes.  One final correction was made to reflect that the Corridor Housing Initiative is running three “tracks” of concurrent designs, not “tracts” as indicated in the April 14 minutes.  Erik moved to adopt the amended April 14, 2004 minutes.  Arthur seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously.

Treasurer’s Report:
Ben indicated that he is pursuing a new bank for KFNA’s banking needs.  Currently, several former board members have authorization to sign KFNA checks despite Ben’s requests to Wells Fargo that the names be removed.  Niki suggested he consider First National Bank of the Lakes because it is independent and offers more personalized service.  Erik asked Ben to bring a list of prospective banks to a future board meeting to gain board approval.

The board agreed that KFNA’s bookkeeper, Nancy, should attend the board’s June meeting to discuss various expense items.  Arthur moved to adopt the treasurer’s report.  Sean seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously.

Committee Reports:
David Motzenbecker urged the NRP Steering Committee to refrain from spending any additional money at MLK park including the the $23,000 which theoretically remainedremaining from the renovation of the MLK Park’s multi-media room but was Plan Modified away from the strategy at the April 2003 Annual Meeting.   until it is determined how much the Minneapolis Park Board owes KFNA.  Sarah said the project’s contract was never closed and that the Park Board has erroneously claimed the remainder and billed KFNA an equal amount.  She said the Park Board indicated that it soon hopes to remedy the situation, but because KFNA never received a final bill on the project, it may be hard to prove that KFNA does not owe the Park Board this money.  .

Arthur reminded committees to elect chairs of each body and to submit a roster of active committee members to David Motzenbecker for approval.

David Motzenbecker urged the festival committee to pursue new, free bands for the July 31 event.  Mari offered to help find these acts.  Sean indicated that the committee is pursuing free entertainment.

Sarah distributed the committee sign-up sheet.  David Motzenbecker asked each board member to sign-up to serve on at least one committee.  Sarah said that task forces do not require formal, approved membership.

Goals for 2004-2005:
David Motzenbecker asked for ideas about what projects the board would like to pursue for the next year, and methods for increasing revenue.  Arthur asked Sean to clarify Sean’s goal to have the board approve an annual budget.  Sean said that optimally the board would approve a list of activities, the staff would create a corresponding budget, and the board would vote on the budget before the annual meeting.  Sean also suggested that the board consider devoting more staff resources to grant writing.  Sarah said the job posting for NRP Project Organizer requested grant writing experience.

Dave Saddoris asked if KFNA historically tried to raise revenue from events.  Mari discussed the possibility of raising funds through dues or membership in KFNA.  Rosemary opposed such an idea.  David Motzenbecker asked board members to think more about projects and programs they would like to implement in the next year.

Old Business:
David Motzenbecker announced that Mulroy’s sought approval from the KFNA Zoning Sub-Committee and KFNA Redevelopment Committee to combine operations from his 43rd and Nicollet shop and 43rd Street shop to at Nicollet and 39th Street.  . To move his operations he was required to file for a zoning change combined with a Conditional Use Permit or a Non-Conforming Use Permit.  The zoning he requested was a C4; this was denied by the committees and the city.  The neighborhood supported his move with a Non-Confomring Use Permit or, if needed, an up-zoning to C2.  David Motzenbecker said that neither he nor KFNA received any negative responses about the zoning change following a notice being mailed to homes in a predetermined radius.  The city council is expected to vote on the zoning change in the coming months.

Sarah reported that a successor for Liz Gibson-Gasset, NRP Project Organizer, has not been hired.  KFNA offered the job to a candidate but she declined.  Interviews with two different candidates are expected next week.  If neither of those candidates is suitable, Sarah said that she would consider reposting the job.  Sean asked if a candidate is offered the job can the person start working without board approval.  Sarah said the hiring would be contingent on receiving board approval.

Sarah said that four artists were paired last night with businesses to initiate four neighborhood murals.  Painting is scheduled to begin July 14.  Sarah also discussed the prospect of a mosaic in Kingfield, possibly at King Park.

New Business:
David Motzenbecker discussed the creation of KFNA loans for helping small businesses in the neighborhood.  He cited the example of Nook and Cranny, a lawn care service that operates out of the owner’s home, which is looking to expand but may move out of Kingfield.  David said KFNA could help in such a case with closing costs for acquiring a new building, relocation costs, or issuing a forgivable loan dependent.

Erik asked if Nook and Cranny would move out of Kingfield without assistance from KFNA.  If no, then KFNA should consider how to maximize its role in aiding businesses.  Sarah mentioned that creating something similar to the low-interest loan business-match program offered through the city’s office of Community Planning and Economic Development) could also be considered.  David Motzenbecker said the matter will be discussed further at a future board meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 9:02 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Sean Wherley, Board Secretary.

David Motzenbecker                                       Sean Wherley
President                                                         Secretary

KING FIELD NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

APRIL 14, 2004

Board members present:  David Muschenheim, Paige Fitzgerald, David Moztenbecker, Tony Aspholm, Tom Buller, Art Knowles, Martha Ingram, Erik Lindseth, Sean Wherley, Rosemary Dolata, Thor Anderson

Board members absent:  Ben Kristensen

Others present:  Robyn Repya, Sarah Linnes-Robinson, Liz Gibson-Gasset, Erik Linnes Bagley, and Sarah’s sister.

The meeting was called to order at 7:04 PM.

Community Forum – no issues raised.

Secretary’s report
It was clarified that Rosemary will explain the CHI at the annual meeting rather than David.  The amended minutes were approved unanimously.

Treasurer’s Report
Sean questioned the purpose of $638 payment to Steve Jevning.  It was for the Greenway Project.  The receipts are on file.  The motion to accept the February and March reports passed unanimously.

Annual Meeting Planning
Elected officials have been invited to attend: City council members Nizolek and Lillegren, State Representatives Walker and Horenstein and Senator Dibble, and County Commissioner Dorfman.  The agenda is:

Pot-luck
General Overview
Reports on Board activities by board members, six presenters
Election
Nominations
Speeches and questions
Voting
Elected Officials presentations
Election results

Board members should wear their tee shirts.  Volunteer sign up sheets and a donation jar will be available.

CHI Update
The CHI plan was circulated to board members.  The three tracts are designed to run concurrently.  The next meeting will be May 6.  A core group will work and two large events will happen to reach out to the neighborhood.
We will work with the Lyndale Neighborhood with them as a stakeholder.  KFN is the main sponsor of the project that runs from 32nd to 46th Streets along Nicollet Avenue.

Lighting Project
The City has allocated $182,000 for new lights on Nicollet.  We need to continue advancing this project.

Hiring Update
Forty-seven people applied for the job.  The Human Resources committee will select candidates to be interviewed and David and Sarah will do the interviewing. Sean moved that a job offer be made to the most qualified person with final approval being made by the board at its next meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

Mural Task Force
The Mural Committee has issued calls for artists, businesses with walls available for painting and for youth artists.  There is a need for board members to be liaisons with each of the mural projects.
Five people have volunteered to be on the committee:  Tony Ortega, an artist; Ricky Valens, owner of Victors Café; Ellen Keller, youth artist; Erik Lindseth, board member; and Kevin Blackwell from the neighborhood.  It was moved to appoint these five people to the Ad Hoc Committee for the Mural Projects.  The motion passed with out dissent.

35W Access Project
Sean reported that the Access Project is now connected to the Cross town Project with a total cost of $460M.  The Access portion has risen in price from $152M to $260M since January.  The State has committed funds for 2009 for the Access project.  The environmental assessment has been delayed.  No one is certain when it will happen.  The fifth lane in the middle of the roadway could become a toll lane.  The State is advocating for this.  Senator Dibble and Representative Horenstein are opposed to toll lanes.  It is not clear who has the final ay in these matters.  The highway will be at its capacity when it opens.

Festival
The King Field Neighborhood Festival is Saturday July 31st.  Board members need to help with the planning.

Hazardous Waste Drop Off
Saturday June 26 neighborhood residents will be able to drop off household hazardous was at the Park Board facility at 38th and Dupont.  Gay Noble and Dan Nizolek got things moving on the City side for this project.

The Newsletter deadline is Friday.

Martha graduates from law school on May 15.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 PM.

Minutes submitted by Tony Aspholm

Board President, Board Secretary,

KINGFIELD NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

BOARD OF DIRECTOR’S MEETING

MARCH 10, 2004

Board members present:  Tom Buller, Art Knowles, David Motzenbecker, Tony Aspholm, Erik Lindseth, Rosemary Dolata, Sean Wherley, Martha Ingram, Thor Anderson, Ben Kristensen

Board members not attending:  David Muschenheim, Paige Fitzgerald

Others present:  Sarah Linnes-Robinson, Robyn Repya

The meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM.

Community Forum—no topics were raised for discussion.

Secretary’s Report
The minutes were corrected to read:

The $679.45 in the Treasurer’s report consisted of $675 of rent categorized incorrectly, and $4.45 printing expense.  The 35W Access Project report stated that a public meeting would be held in March that is not scheduled.  The funding for the project is $152M.  The Conflict of interest policy needs review and approval.  The recent proposal is modeled on policies recommended by the Attorney General’s Office.  The Redevelopment Committee will remove Heather Martens and Mary Vanderford and add Margaret Sines.
The amended minutes were approved unanimously.

Treasurer’s Report
There are no problems currently.  The report is difficult to distribute in time for the Board Meetings because we now receive our bank statement at the end of the month just before the board meeting.  Approval was postponed definitely until the next meeting.

Other minutes
The Newsletter Committee is to be complimented for their hard work.  People like the new format.

Annual Meeting
There are no by-law changes or NRP program changes that need approval at the meeting this year.\
Six board members will remain on the board for another year and seven will be elected to a two-year term.
Speakers at the meeting could include the City Council members, Senator Dibble, Representative Horenstein, and the Mayor.  Board members making presentations include David Motzenbecker—Corridor Housing Initiative, Thor—News Letter, Erik—Fundraising, Art—NRP, Sean—35W Access Project, and Sarah—Mural Projects.
Election nominations, speeches and questions will take at least an hour.  Board members should bring a dish to the potluck.

Hiring Update
A job description and ads are ready to list the job Liz has the week of March 8.  We hope to have someone hired by the annual meeting.  It is a half time position.  Liz will stay through July in some capacity for the start of the Farmer’s Market, the Garage Sale and the Festival.

Conflict of Interest Policy
Section 6, item 2, could exclude a person from voting but should not exclude the person from the discussion.  We will strike “discussion and.”
Section 6, we could add a second signature line to the statement for the second year of a board member’s term.
Section 3, item 5—strike the “s” on others.
Section 6, item 4 strikes the work “that.”
The Conflict of Interest Policy was approved unanimously as amended.

Mural Program
The scope of the mural services is sent to CPED for contracts to do the murals for the various business owners.  These murals are considered grants for façade improvement.  We need to submit application in April to receive funds in July.  The scope of services is outlined in the two-page proposal.  The proposal was approved with Rosemary abstaining.

CHI Grant
The kick off meeting is March 11, 7 PM at King Park.  The intent of the grant is to bring together groups from throughout the City to look at Nicollet Avenue for areas that could be used for affordable housing, transit, etc.  The grant is to do neighborhood outreach for the project.  The goal is to get something built.

Newsletter
Do Good Biz is the distributor for the new format Newsletter.  Thor distributed the latest copy and explained the format.  Discussion about layout and format was lively.  It was questioned if we should list all donors by name.  Some people prefer to be listed as anonymous.  It was suggested that articles about new businesses should list their names and addresses.

Habitat for Humanity
The house is built.  The open house has happened.  The new owners are living there.
KFNA committed $5,000 to the project early on.  We have not put this money into the project as yet.  We will send a letter to Habitat offering our donation if they are free to accept NRP money.
3618 First Avenue is being remodeled and will be part of the Minneapolis/St. Paul home tour the first weekend of May.

35W Access Project
Tony reported on a meeting March 9 that he attended for Sean.  Wells Fargo reported on the work to their campus on 28th Street and 5th Avenue.  When it is completed there will be 4300 people working there.  Allina discussed the recent decision to relocate 1000 of their employees to the Sears sites on Lake Street.
The Hennepin County board and the Minneapolis City Council will be voting on the project in the coming months.  The project is likely to pass each group.  Both the County and the City are requiring that the center lane of 35W be reserved for transit or HOV-3.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 PM.

David Motzenbecker, President               Tony Aspholm, Secretary

Kingfield Neighborhood Association Board of Directors Meeting Minutes February 11, 2004

Board members present: Martha Ingram, Tony Aspholm, Rosemary Dolata, David Motzenbecker, Art Knowles, Ben Kristensen, Sean Wherley, Dave Muschenheim, Tom Buller, Erik Lindseth

Members absent: Paige Fitzgerald, Thor Anderson

Others present: Robyn Repya, Sarah Linnes-Robinson, and Liz Gibson-Gasset

The meeting was called to order at 7:09 PM.

No one was present for the Community Forum.

Vice President Rosemary Dolata was nominated and was willing to serve. She was elected unanimously with only her abstaining from the vote.

Secretary’s Report

The December minutes were changed to reflect Martha Ingram’s name being Martha rather than Margaret. The fund raising letter credited solely to Sean was actually a project of the whole board.

The January minutes should read that the conflict of interest material that was distributed went to the Ad Hoc committee. The group mentioned in the Corridor Housing Initiative is actually the American Institute of Architects Minnesota.

Both minutes were approved unanimously as amended.

Treasurer’s Report
Ben reported that we are sending out our tax form to the IRS.

Sean asked what was printed for $679.45 and what the event was that cost $2500. The event was a social service grant to the Underground who used it for an event. Grants will be listed on the reports as grants from now on.

The report was approved without dissent with Tom abstaining.

Other Committee Minutes
Tom asked if the Redevelopment meeting was as contentious as it appears in the minutes when the Corazon Community issues were discussed. The feeling was that the meeting was positive on the whole. There was a lot of consensus and coming to terms with what the building codes allow. City codes will not resolve this issue.

35W
Sean reported that the 35W Access Project was approved by the City Council on a conceptual level. There will be a public meeting in March on the environmental impact study.

The Crosstown/35W project will begin in 2005. Taking property will begin this summer. Light-rail transit has been removed from the plan in favor of highway lanes. Engineers say it will be at capacity when it opens. The Lake Street and Cross-town projects were defeated ten years ago. The project was divided into smaller pieces and promoted again. Senator Dibble and Representative Horenstein support a HOV or transit lane along the whole project. Funding for the project is $152M but there are no commitments yet for the funds. The City approved a fifth lane as long as it is HOV or transit. Kingfield is the only neighborhood opposed to the project. It is not clear who is opposed to the Cross-town project.

Sagrado Corazon Zoning
The meeting turned out well. David Motzenbecker believes KFNA has completed its role to facilitate the difficulties.

By-Law Changes
Several changes and clarifications to the by-laws were discussed and voted on.

Article 3: section E– the words “at a meet of the Members” will be inserted after the word business.

Article 4: section A– the words “residents of the neighborhood” will be replaced by the word “Members”.

Article 4: section D–the words “number of” will be inserted between the word highest and votes.

Article 4: section F–the word three will replace the word four to describe the number of meetings a director is allowed to miss before they may be considered for removal.

Article 6: section D–the words “a majority of the Board may assign to” will be struck and the words “shall perform” will be added after the words Vice President.

Article 7: section A–the words “the affirmative vote of” will be removed after the words resolutions approved by. The words “currently holding office” will be removed after the words majority of the Directors. The words “must be” will replace the word “are” before the words appointed by the President.

Article 8: section C–the word “keep” will be replaced by the word “retain”. The words “a period of” will be removed.

The above changes to the by-laws were approved unanimously.

Conflict of Interest
Erik mentioned that the Conflict of Interest policy needs more work. The recent proposal reflects policies at the Attorney General’s office.

Recruitment
Each board member is encouraged to find another person willing to run for the board.

Yemaya Insurance
Sarah reported that the insurance industry often values modern art as the price that was paid for it. Our insurance on the mural is for $3500 with a $500 deductible. This costs $25 per year.

E-mail List
We are testing a new provider. The service will cost $35 per year. It should be operating by the end of the week. The transition looks to be going smoothly.

Web Page
Les Phillips, a friend of Dave Brauer, will take over the web page this month. He will update the site and perform the work as a volunteer through the spring when the page will be reevaluated in terms of its use, format etc. We may then contract for the service with a provider. Typically people who maintain websites are not the people who design them.

Accounting Procedures
A vendor fixed a couple problems we had with reporting on projects. We now will be able to get past years data and be able to print forms.

Event Update
The Kingfield Cabaret has been moved to July 31, as this is when the mobile stage was available.

Hazardous Waste
The neighborhood pickup will take place at 3800 Bryant at the Park Board Building. Echo and Lyndale neighborhoods will collaborate on this project in the fall.

Board Coffee
David Muschenheim will host a coffee at his home on Wednesday, March 31 to encourage people to run for the board.

Committee Member
Margaret Sines has not been officially approved as a member of the Redevelopment Committee. David will appoint her. She was praised for the good work she has done for the committee.

NRP
There is a proposal to change the formula for determining funding levels for NRP funds from the formula used in Phase I. The first time the emphasis was placed 52% for the size of the neighborhood based on population and housing units, 30% on poverty, and 18% on the condition of the neighborhood. The new formula would be 30% on size, 35% on poverty and 35% on condition. Housing issues will receive 70% of the money in Phase II.

Affordable Housing Reserve Fund
The Corridor Initiation Project was cancelled leaving $4M to reallocate. The question is how to divide this up among the 68 neighborhoods. It was suggested we propose using the money to support projects along corridors in the City. This will concentrate the focus of the funds and encourage neighborhoods to work together.

Early Access Money
We used early access money years ago for housing projects. These funds would allow us to draw Phase II money early for a project of up to $100,000.

Community Oriented Police
The Police Department received $1M from NRP for the precincts to spend any way they want. We don’t have any safety strategies in place that we could ask these funds to be applied toward.

CHI
The Corridor Housing Initiative grant that KFNA received was the only one awarded in the City.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 PM.

David Motzenbecker, President

Tony Aspholm, Secretary and Minutes submitter

January 14, 2004

Board members in attendance: Sean Wherley, Rosemary Dolata, Martha Ingram, Tom Buller, Paige Fitzgerald, Ben Kristensen, Tony Aspholm, Erik Lindseth, David Muschenheim, Art Knowles, Thor Anderson

Board members absent: David Motzenbecker, Heather Martens

Others present: Sarah Linnes-Robinson, Liz Gibson-Gasset, Robyn Repya, and Dan Niziolek

Art Knowles called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM.

There was no community forum and no secretary’s report.

Treasurer’s Report
Sean asked how this year’s year-end balance compares to last year’s. Sarah replied that we have had more money in our bank account the last couple of years than is usual because the volume of programs is higher causing more money to pass through the account. Typically we have $50-100,000 in the bank. David Muschenheim asked how the money was invested. Sarah explained that NRP does not allow its funds to be invested. David suggested we put whatever funds we can in an ING savings account, which pays 2% interest and charges no fees. It was noted that last year we raised $3,000 in unrestricted funds and this year it will be about $10,000. Also there is $45,000 from a McKnight Foundation grant, which might be invested.

The fund raising letter has brought in $3800 from 88 donors and two business matches. It cost $1300 to send the letter.

The motion to accept the report was accepted unanimously.

Final Report of Auditors
The final report requests a response for three items based on the audit.

1. There is a double billing for $150 from 2002. A reversing entry will be made to correct this.
2. We don’t have adequate separation of duties. This was an issue last year also. We will continue to operate with as much separation of duties as the staff allows and will continue to maintain careful monthly scrutiny of financial operations with the treasurer and the board of directors.
3. We did not stamp every page of every invoice as paid. All invoices after April when we got the directive to stamp have been stamped. This policy will continue.

We will need an extension to file tax form 990.

Sean moved to approve the audit response. The motion passed unanimously.

NRP Funds
Sean complimented the Redevelopment Committee on the three proposals they developed for the use of $246,000 of NRP funds. Art reported that the committee is proceeding with planning while investigating the three options. The Housing Corridor project is a likely target for funding but we don’t have the final approval of this project as yet.

Calendar of Events
Sarah distributed a calendar of neighborhood events and wanted people to sign up for various things to increase board involvement. Dan Niziolek offered to do door knocking to recruit new board members.

Hazardous Waste Drop Off is an event that could replace the Clean Sweep of former years. The County has rigorous requirements for access at any site this event might be held.

June 5 is the neighborhood garage sale. Martha Ingram will help.

The Farmers’ Market begins in June and runs into October. David Muschenheim will help.

The Cabaret will be held Saturday August 14 at Martin Luther King Park. Sean and Thor will help.

The National Night Out is August 3. Erik and Rosemary will assist.

A Halloween Party is held October 31 at King Park.

There will be a Mural Project this summer that will include youth participation and up to ten businesses. They hope to do a mural a week through the summer.

The Art Show has been held in conjunction with the cabaret the last couple of years. Last year it was in the King Field Gym while all the other cabaret events and people were outside. The attendance was disappointing. The goal is to have the show be self-sustaining.

Conflict of Interest Statement
Erik distributed conflict of interest material he got from the Attorney General’s Office to use as a resource for out policy. The committee of Art, Erik and Paige will review it.

Transportation
A presentation on the Crosstown/35W work will be held at King Field Park on February 2 at 7 PM.

E-mail list
Our neighborhood list will be sent this week to a new provider and we should be back in business in a few days.

Accounting Procedures
A software expert from Peachtree Software will meet with the office staff in a couple weeks to discuss how to carry over balances beyond two years and avoid errors such as the Business Façade Improvement Program.

Fixed Asset Policy
Sarah is trying to get the value of Yemeya assessed. Art works will be a separate group of assets for us. Finding a qualified assessor is a challenge.

Corridor Housing Initiative
Our refined proposal is due back to them on January 26.

Rosemary will submit our name to a project from the Minnesota Institute of Architects who has a group of designers who create designs for non-profit housing projects.

The Center for Neighborhoods who is sponsoring the Housing Corridor Initiative offers a lot of technical support for projects but there is not a dollar amount for each group.

Redevelopment Committee
The meeting to discuss issues around Sagrado Corazon and the San Miguel School will be held at King Park on January 28. The City will send a representative from the zoning and redevelopment departments.

Yemeya
Art and Tom attended a celebration of the mural and its successful move on December 30 with 28 other people.

Vice President
An election for a new vice president for the board will be held in February. Heather Martens has resigned.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:17 PM.

David Motzenbecker, President
Tony Aspholm, Secretary Submitter of minutes