KFNA Green Committee Meeting Minutes
Garden Event Meeting Minutes
May 2010
Led by Sarah Linnes-Robinson, also present Sarah Gleason
Purpose:
To gather neighbors interested in building the connections between gardeners in Kingfield and identify a number of green garden events possibilities for 2010, and a few neighbors to begin working on each.
Introductions including background and interests
- Mollie Dean, master gardener active at Sabathani program, interested to help organize classes
- Teona Hasbrouk, has been attending gardening meetings all year, interested in classes and community building
- Mari O’Rourke, veggie gardener from years ago now teaching grandkids, will help with Garden tour
- Karen Huot, member of Pleasant Community Garden, interested in activities at the garden
- Marnie Peichel, active in the creation of the community garden and supporting member of the garden, will lead the Garden Tour planning
- Genevieve Lueck, member of Pleasant Community Garden, interested in activities at the garden
- Rachel Lewis, new in community interested in making connections
- Arika Paukner, Volunteer Program Coordinator at the MN Arboretum and has experience with kids and teens gardening, interested in involving youth in involvement in the community through gardens and growing
- Suzie Lillyblad, member of Pleasant Community Garden and interested in events at the garden and local points of interest (like Java Jacks and Anodyne)
- Mary Vorndran, baker at Java Jacks and partner of a member of Pleasant Community Garden, interested in sharing baking and cooking knowledge and building connections with Java Jacks
- Theresa Lien, member of Pleasant Community Garden and owner of anodyne, interested in using Anodyne as a cooking site and garden as gathering space in the neighborhood
- Jackie Hayes, owner of the land where the Pleasant community Garden is, interested in events that complement the center for performing arts and build its reputation as a community resource.
Brainstorm of projects and events and responsibilities
Community Garden Team Building and Promotion to the Neighborhood
- Master Gardener come to the Garden for walk-through: Molly, maybe as a pairing to also walk through Sabathani plots
- Celebrate 38 : bake sale, garden ambassadors showing it off, hands on youth activity during event
- Community Garden group go on the Tour of community Gardens together
Other Community building Ideas throughout Neighborhood
- Garden Tour in Kingfield—Marnie lead, date July 29, assistants Mari and Arika (Arika cannot attend event but can help beforehand)
- Promote Master Gardeners at the FM
- Chickens in Kingfield
- Puppet show or Open Eye Driveway theater
Hands on events with youth—Arika and Luke
- Worm composting
- Seed planting
- Cooking and eating
Fundraiser
- Blue Sky Sales—end of August and September
- Sale of extra produce—could also sell to Java Jacks
- Bakers and a bake sale, Java Jacks (Suzie and Mary) and Anodyne (Theresa, Crystal and Kyle)
- Concerts in the garden
Food creation events
- Karen’s son makes underground pizzas
- Progressive cook-off, fall, Anodyne and Java jacks?
- Solar oven
- Potluck/harvest party
Classes
- Herb use: soaps (Marnie), recopies (Mary and Suzie), Healing (Linda), paper (Arika), drying (Marianna Padilla)
- Cooking
- Shade veggie gardening
- Space saving gardening
- Gardening 101 and oh-oh
- Drying and preserving
- Rain barrel making
- Worm composter making
Next Steps:
Garden Tour
- Confirm Garden tour date works with CFPA, person responsible—Sarah Gleason
- See if Community Garden wants to join in the garden tour as a site—Marnie Peichel
- Identify co-tour leader—Sarah’s will advertise for secondary to Marnie/Mari O’Rourke and Arika Paukner are also interested in helping with this project.
- Tickets sales and tour worker identification—Sarah G will create FM schedule sign-up and recruit neighbors to assist with tour details (site identification, brochure and ticket creation, party planning, ticket sales, welcoming, etc.) Marnie committed to market on July 11
Food movies
- Check with Lake country to see if we can have a blanket permission to use their wall—Sarah LR
Youth Events
- Arrange days and events at the market to track interest back to the community garden—Sarah LR coordinate market days and activities
Community Garden Building
- Master Gardener come to the Garden for walk-through: Molly, maybe as a pairing to also walk through Sabathani plots
Minutes provided by Linnes-Robinson.
Joint Green Committee/Community Garden Meeting 2/18/10
Present:Â Â Marnie Peichel, Darrel Gerber, Teaona Hasbrouk, Cindy Skriens (from Pilgrim), and Sarah Linnes-Robinson
Discussion of Open House on 2/28/10:
Background: CFPA is hosting event, activities happening from 1-4 PM, Community Garden project promoted to be there with applications available and people to ask questions to. Attendance at last month’s open house was good.
Items we will bring:
- Table
- watering can (for name suggestions)
- applications
- site drawings( need to be mounted)
- copies of rules
- visual of mission and vision for gardens
- signup with check boxes for contact and skills
- list of brainstormed garden names (Teaona is entering names)
- veggie baked goods for sale (pending approval of property owner)
Need at least one person for 3, 1-hour shifts 12:45-1 /2-3/3-4:15
Discussion of March 18 Meeting:
Applications will be in and it is expected we will do a lottery, will do for garden plots and also alternates so if needed, we won’t need to do this later in the season. Will also plan April 10 mandatory garden gathering. Additionally create gardener lists and get resources for classes to them along with notification of their approval for plot.
Discussion of April 10 Mandatory Meeting for all Gardeners:
All gardeners will meet and brief welcome provided. Break up into Garden Groups and do a team-building /visioning exercise (drawing?) …as well as discuss group experience, skills, and expectations (to be determined). Return to main group and present all or part. Presentation to group of: kfna’s expectations, timeline, present list of resources to get started, etc???
Set work dates and tasks, give budgets, recruit for overarching team, set regular meeting for this team, elect garden coordinators…
Other:
The more we discuss structure the more important the role of this gardens (plural) overarching team appears to be to build the networking and set the tone for collaboration instead of competition. Two points to this: I am once again attaching the “areas of activity chartâ€; the last three categories on this speak to some of the things this team will be doing including helping plan events and build community across the gardens and to non-gardeners and home gardeners, overseeing and possibly organizing or providing what education and resources gardens need and want, and fundraising (via events and possibly grants). Also, whether you plan to garden at a site or not, I need to know from those of you who have put time into this project thus far if you would consider being interested in serving on this team. You can dwell on it and let me know individually if you want. I would like to have at least a handful of people committed to this to be able to talk to the importance of the team at the April 10 meeting and encourage reps from both gardens to participate.
Needs:
I need those researching grants (Nicole and Sarah) to compile their info and get me any leads, tips, etc in the next week or so.
I need a few folks to begin researching some info to give to the garden groups including (just to help them hit the ground running):
- Local tiller rentals, contact info, costs
- Local mulch sources and delivery options
- Soil testing options
- Classes and resources
- ??????
- We can brainstorm more
I need someone to help with data entry of the sorting of the gardeners for lotteries (if necessary) between March 16 and 18
Laura Miller
If okayed—people to bake veggie treats for the 2/28 open house: ideas were zucchini bread and carrot cake…others?
Laura Miller
As stated earlier I need people to take a shift at the open house 2/28
Laura Miller: baked good
1:45-3Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Marnie Peichel: zucchnini bread
Marsha Huha—pumpkin muffins!
Sherrie Kamm —carrot bars
I need people to consider being part of the overarching garden team and take a role in the planning and execution of the April 10 meeting.
Notes provided by Linnes-Robinson 2/19/10
KFNA Green Committee
1/21/10
Teaona Hasbrouck []
Laura Miller []
Sherrie Kamm []
Marnie Peichel []
Tracine D. Asberry []
Jackie Hayes
JobyLynn Sassily James
Scott Bordon
Not Attending:
Karen Pieper
Dave Saddoris
Mollie Dean
*****
Introductions
Goals of meeting: Provide overview of Community Garden project. Proof and edit docs for immediate distribution. Initiate establishment of oversight team.
Items:
- Site Plans
- Project Timeline
- Provide Overview of Garden Project organizational structure
- Garden rules including:
- Temp vs. Permanent
- Budget items and current budget
- Garden Class outline—set dates
- Other
Kingfield Neighborhood Association Green Committee Meeting,
November 19, 2009Â Minutes
7pm at MLK Park
Present: JobyLynn Sassily James, Alex Anderson, Karen Pieper and Sarah Linnes-Robinson
Absent: David Saddoris, Michelle Wood, Marshall Onsrud and Scott Bordon
Review and discussion of last month’s meeting with a focus on how to get these projects started.
Alley Graffiti Project is completed—very successfully for those blocks. JobyLynn asked if we could continue the project with Community Initiated money. Linnes-Robinson confirmed the project could be done with these funds but the grant provided funding for the administration oversight and community organizing of the project by KFNA besides the artist’ fee. The artist provided a lot of administrative support for the project while receiving a fairly modest stipend per project; final discussion has not occurred with the artist about if she would be interested in continuing this project next year or if she had recommendations to changes to it. KFNA’s time cost into the project equaled $900 of Sarah Gleason’s time not counting the outreach she did at the Farmers’ Market. Linnes-Robinson suggested we should look at other neighborhoods (she thinks it might have been the Standish-Ericson Neighborhood) including a stencil mural project conducted this summer to see if there might be ways to streamline our process.
CEE filed a report for 86 neighbors in October that had their home visits. KFNA is reimbursing all households $20 for bookkeeping reasons but has made it clear (since some indicated we should keep the money) that they are all welcome to donate it back to KFNA. We have had mostly favorable and a few not-so glowing reports of the workshops and home visits. Generally, people felt like they learned a few things and the visits were in no way a waste of money. CEE is still asking for a decision on how KFNA wants to allocate additional money to the project. KFNA had originally indicated an interest of putting an additional $50,000 of Phase II money toward the project (outside of our administrative and organizing time) but then decided to take the $20 per household from this $50,000. In conversation this evening, however, Linnes-Robinson recommended that we might want to consider contracting even more at this time. She will ask Saddoris to crunch some number on a better interest/repayment schedule rate for neighbors while still bringing in enough money to continue bringing in money for KFNA. We will coordinate this conversation with Redevelopment.
The Community Garden Project was briefly discussed since there was a Van Nest site planning meeting following the evening’s green committee meeting. JobyLynn feels it is vital for the sites to have a physical presence now to generate interest and make them seem “more realâ€. It is vital that grant money be sought and raised for both the infrastructure costs of these gardens in 2010, as well as the ongoing administrative involvement of KFNA through the initial lease period (expected to be 3 years). It has been identified by at least one of the project owners, that KFNA’s involvement to handle any site issues and disputes for the initial establishment of the project is a condition of the project moving forward on their land.
Utility Box Wrap Update: We did receive an extension for the Clean City Grant so will install the wraps next spring. The art show theme this year is also named ‘Thinking Out of the Box, so even without the boxes wrapped we can figure out how to incorporate publicity for the project. Linnes-Robinson admitted confusion about the approval of the project which was approved by the art’s commission as a “pilotâ€. She stated she did not know if it was a pilot for the art’s commission, or if the pilot extended to the public works department so if we placed some of the artwork now, could we add a few more later or do we have to wait the whole two years to see if it is successful. She will get some clarification. Linnes-Robinson also admitted she never imagined how technical the process was; many of the images they received were not high enough quality to blow up so large and John Barber had put in a good share of time manipulating images to fit the 5-sided template which ranges in size on all dimensions. She expressed her gratitude to him, with which this project would not have been able to have gotten this far.
The committee quickly discussed HOURCAR and that there was still some room in the grant for printing or organizing before the end of the year. After talking about door-hangers there was interest in helping HOURCAR with this outreach and interest in recruiting from Kingfield HOURCAR members to do it to build the community of HOURCAR in the neighborhood. Alex suggested it could be as low key as meet for coffee at Anodyne before heading out. Linnes-Robinson will contact Christopher at HOURCAR and see what their schedule is for outreach—this winter, or next spring.
A brief discussion about rain barrels for the gardens and for neighbors was held. Linnes-Robinson will discuss the when and how of this with Steve Jevning.
The meeting was called due to the arrival of Community Garden Site Planning folks.
Minutes provided by Sarah Linnes-Robinson, Executive Director.
Kingfield Neighborhood Association
Green Committee Meeting, Thursday Oct 15, 2009
Minutes
7pm at MLK Park
Present: JobyLynn Sassily James, David Saddoris, Michelle Wood, Marshall Onsrud and Scott Bordon
Committee Chair JobyLynn lead the meeting.
Brief update on Interstate 35W sound wall. There will be plantings and vines. MNDOT to pay for two years. Gateway/Murals are still an option but MNDOT is not allocating any money.
One alley/garage mural has been completed and three are pending. In area of 1st/Nicollet Blaisdell.
Center for Energy and Environment (CEE) workshops were held. About 253 people signed up for workshop and about same number signed up for home visit. Kingfield is model neighborhood. Tentatively more workshops in March. There have been 30 home visits so far. Now people are looking for bids. KFNA has $10,000 total available for loans. There are other outside programs available. CEE website has more information. There may be furnace program through CenterPoint. And a 2010 program for insulation and air sealing. Suggestion was made to look into Longfellow neighborhood program.
We need coordination between Green innovation and Redevelopment/Housing. Question is how much money is available. Need to consult with Sarah-Linnes Robinson, Executive Director (normally attends Green meeting but we knew in advance she would not be present). Dave Saddoris explained loaned money has to be designated however returned/repaid money can be used without designation restrictions. Dave suggested adjusting loan program others supported looking at reviewing terms. Ideas included raising minimum loan amount (fees such as origination and loan serving fees reduce what comes back to KFNA—lower percent of loan comes back to KFNA on small loans). We should also look at length of loans. All present supported idea of getting money out in loans so we would have flexibility in utilizing funds repaid. Belief is there is some Phase I and Phase II money available.
JobyLynn brought up Community Gardens. She voiced concerns about amount of time staff will have to spend and what money will cover it. There have been issues surrounding participation by community members and there have been some conflicts. JobyLynn would like to see greater neighborhood participation and see some new faces involved especially those that have not been part of KFNA activities. Suggestion made to look to Incarnation Church for outreach. Action item was proposed. Marshall, Michelle and JobyLynn plan to layout/stakeout Van Nest Community Garden Site. Meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday October, 20.
Utility Box Wrap Update: Wrap will happen next spring. Dave suggested/asked if we could pay to print wraps now (in order to use funds) and then install in spring. Idea presented to have Art Crawl for utility boxes and then at art show promote prints.
Clean Water Action: Announcement made that Darrell Gerber (Kingfield Resident and Green Committee member) is involved in making video about environmental activism). Contact him if interested.
HOURCAR: We talked about was to promote. JobyLynn thinking about transportation evolution idea and post card.
Brief discussion about rain barrels and ideas how to involve community. Suggestions included making them green or art. Consider Leonardo’s Basement Adult Build Night for Art Rain Barrels.
JobyLynn talked about re-branding of Kingfield. Examples such as Pledge to Unplug logo and Kingfield Farmers Market logo. Additional consideration should be given to branding/logo for each KFNA committee.
We discussed other ways to support “greening†Kingfield. Ideas includes compost facility/bins and knitting graffiti on chain link fences. 36Th & Nicollet was mentioned as location for knitting graffiti. Michelle said she would check to see if rights for movie Dirt are available. This could be follow up to Fresh.
Ideas for green tips on website included Bike vs. Drive Calculator (available at REI.com) or Organic Valley’s organic calculator.
Upcoming green related events can be found at 350.org. Activities will be held October 24 at 24 & Hennepin, U of M Coffman Union and Augsburg College.
There is need for more grant writing. Get more funding for existing projects such as community garden (Orange Thumb grant), graffiti and HOURCAR.
Minutes recorded October 15, 2009 and respectively submitted to JobyLynn Sassily James, Green Committee Chair and Sarah Linnes-Robinson, Executive Director, by Scott Bordon November 5, 2009.
Green MINUTES August 2009
Project Updates:
HourCar:
- Number of members who joined HOURCAR in Kingfield (or with Kingfield incentives): Â 7
- Number that joined across the whole network since our grant began in June 2009: 47 since 7/9/09, when the car launched; 95 since 6/1/09.
KFNA expenses to date:
· 40 hours KFNA Staff time/ well within grant range
· Car cost $4000 (already reimbursed)
· Other expenses—paint, printing misc.—maybe $100
Outreach ideas Brainstormed by Committee
· Turn in energy challenge and be entered in drawing
· Celebrate 38 and drop door prizes in the back of the car? Mugs, kingfield t’s, reusable shopping bags, blue sky…magnets
· RT??????
· Nicollet pothole
· Mannequin with HOURCAR t-shirt
· Logo of evolution of ape to man to car to…
· Post-it note on bluesky…or sticker…
· My other car is an hourcar bumper sticker…
· Drawing on the hour by HOURCAR and post it on the car
· Move the car around and, would you like to know more about HOURCAR?
· Sunshade with the bullets in the windshield…
· Yardsign
· It’s no trick—get a Treat co-marketing with anodyne….
· Screens for silkcreening
· Reverse marketing—getting current members to refer a friend and get something
Community gardens
· 2 sites confirmed/ potential new Blaisdell site
· Already spent about 40 hours on project estimated at about $1200,over what the grant will pay
· New budget submitted (and approved by City) to cover $450 of this (slight increase) plus tree removal
· 3 events and fundraiser happening in September
· 40-50 individuals on direct email list—online survey shows strong support for the project too.
Graffiti Prevention Grant
o Sound walls—secured an agreement and funding from MnDOT to plant walls and maintain for 2 years. Draft plan will be presented soon to staff that will review and be able to outline appropriate steps for a community presentation (if plan seems ok) or discussion (if there seem to be some issues in the plan)
o Utility boxes—image completed and test wrap done soon. The will arrange an inspection with the City. In the process of writing the call for photographs.
o Alley Prevention—one project in process. 2 or 3 more being discussed.
CEE Kingfield Residential Energy Efficiency Project:
· 20 hours spent by KFNA Staff so far
· 22 people confirmed for training
Grant ideas:
Build your own rain barrels (a the new community gardens next year and in partnership with Leonardo’s)
Minutes prepared by Linnes-Robinson.
Green Committee MINUTES
June 2009
Present: Dave Saddoris, JobyLynn Sassily James, Alex Anderson, Scott Bordon, Karen Pieper
Absent: Darrell Gerber, David Potosky, Marshall Onsrud, Mollie Dean
Also Present: Sarah Linnes-Robinson
Project Updates:
· HourCar—this coming Sunday is the first HourCar Day at the market—we will sign up people for energy challenge in exchange for waivered membership fee. The advertising on the bumper has still not been decided. The car is already here, however, and the Kingfield car will be the one at the market on Sunday.
· Graffiti Prevention Grant –discussed planting funding possibly avail be from Mendota and their lack of interest in providing funding for art as a graffiti prevention technique. The committee still felt a combo of both techniques on the corners as entrance ways and also to cut down on potential hiding spots for possible trouble-makers would be a good idea. Discussed higher level murals (not to the ground) with lower shrubs underneath. Linnes-Robinson will continue to work on plant species list and plan.
· BRT meeting—issues outlined of pedestrian and bike access to Hub as well as bike storage location.
· Bike rack celebration–Ideas kicked around for bike-awareness and events in n’hood including ‘pedalcloud’, bike through neighborhood and meet at market, bike decoration, and bike ride through neighborhood stopping at businesses that have racks. Maybe the Kingfield ice-cream flavor could also be bike or road themed this year: Tire Track or Nicollet Pothole.
· Bike cop bike bicycle match with CPaS—at $325 so far.
· Community gardens— Site at 43rd and Wentworth fell through due to out of town owners of the church not being open to the idea of others on their land. The group is pursuing other lots and has a couple of good potentials. Are researching tree trimming to gain more sunlight on two lots, as well as possible purchase or lease of two other lots. About 20 people are on the email list for interested people; eight in the core working group so far.
· 4307 Wentworth Garden—project will take place this weekend. Working with EnergyScapes has been easy and very fun and the project mood is good and all parties are feeling it has been a very successful partnership.
New Project Possibilities
Saddoris spoke with Metro Blooms and they indicated the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District has funds. Linnes-Robinson will investigate.
Minutes provided by Linnes-Robinson.
Minutes 5/21/09
7:00 PM at MLK Park
Present: Dave Saddoris, Darrell Gerber, JobyLynn Sassily James, Karen Pieper, Scott Bordon, ,Alex Anderson
Also Present: Becky Shed, Community Member; Sarah Linnes-Robinson, KFNA Staff; Ari Ofsevit, HourCar
The meeting opened with a review of membership (full roster attached) and leadership of the committee. Saddoris offered the chairman ship to the others claiming he did not have the time to dedicate to the running and management of the committee. After some discussion of responsibilities and tasks, Sassily James offered to chair the committee and Pieper offered to assist her with specific tasks, as needed.
Ari Ofsevit joined the meeting to talk to the committee about HourCar. Linnes-Robinson updated the committee about the recent grant received from the City of Minneapolis ($9000) to support the project and the matching funds committed from HourCar ($5000) and McKnight ($12,000) via HourCar. The KFNA Board approved the $1000 necessary toward the car to bring the Hub to the neighborhood for two years beginning the week of July 5th.
Ari walked through how HourCar works including Hour car’s services and responsibilities, membership numbers, car rules, driver reservations, HUB locations. Along with the committee he also discussed promotional opportunities in Kingfield, including outreach and marketing.
Commitments were made by volunteers to staff the market one Sunday in June and July along with HourCar staff. Other ideas were discussed but not decided on as to how to get people to sign up for the Energy Challenge, including waiving membership fees. Linnes-Robinson will investigate getting a ‘promo’ code from the Energy Challenge that can be entered into the HourCar website.
The color of the cars available are black and red—the committee asked if they could locate a blue or green one. Ari said they will look for one but to have a car on site by July 5th, they might need to choose one of the colors currently available. Red was preferred over black.
The committee covered really quickly the status of their other projects
Ongoing Project updates:
o BRT meeting—date and time confirmed. Asked for questions regarding Alex Anderson’s report on the student’s final report. Committee agreed issues remain the same: pleasant and easy access to station for users on foot or on bike, intended users of the station, bike parking, car parking, greening of station and area. Committee members stated they will be in attendance at the meeting on Monday June 1.
o Bike cop bike bicycle match with CPaS—proposed by Tom Parent at KFNA Board meeting. $235has been raised by the CPaS Committee with minimal outreach so far. The Green Committee likes this project and supports it for environmental reasons, even while recognizing the cops are not doing for that reason but for community policing ones. Instead of giving the committee money or a guarantee of matching dollars, however, they prefer to support them and assist them with fundraising to see if the goal of $800 can be met from citizen support.
o Community gardens—grant and organizing status. Regular meeting 2nd Monday each month beginning June 8. About 20 people on the email list for interested people.
o Green Tips—Staff is unable to keep up with finding and posting regular tips. Linnes-Robinson asked for help from committee members in finding and sending her short e-mail blurbs so a list can be there and items can just be plucked from it for insertion into the website. Gerber said he thinks he will be pulling similar info together for his work; he said as he does he will share it with KFNA. Linnes-Robinson also said that she wants to reorganize the web site so that all these green projects are found from the Green page link. Then all the green info, including tips would be easier for neighbors to find.
o 4307 Wentworth Garden—Linnes-Robinson updated the group that the home had been sold with a closing date of July 15th. The landscaping will be done before then so it does not need to be included in the purchase agreement. County, land trust, KFNA, home buyer, and volunteer landscaper designer all met on site earlier in the day to discuss possibilities; a plan will be presented at the Kingfield Market table on June 14 and recruitment of volunteers will be done both there, and via direct outreach on the street.
o BlueSky Guide Sales—committee members signed up for sales of this fundraising book at the market.
Potential Projects
o Graffiti Prevention Grant –the committee discussed the graffiti issues on the new soundwall—what would work best? Garden/plants/vines—thus a green project? Or a mural? A dual solution was thought to work—mural at the corner and fast growing plants needing no water along the stretch in front of the houses. Maintenance of plants was cited as a concern so lilacs and sumac were thought to work and spread easily. Linnes-Robinson said Glidden is working with MnDOT to get permission for the neighborhood to do this work, as well as money to do it hopefully.
o Transportation/Bike Related:
§ Blaisdell and 1st
This is not a project the committee has worked on but it was raised by new committee member Scott Bordon. He said there is interest from the city in proceeding with the biklanes on these streets. He agreed to speak with the City and find out the status and timing of this project and report back to the committee.
Projects not discussed this meeting:
o Divide and Conquer
o Recycling plastics (caps or yogurt containers) utilizing the block network, youth, or the market as a basis
o 40th Street
o bike rack celebration–maybe we can come up with a creative way to incentivize bike rack use and support adjacent businesses
The meeting was adjourned.
Minutes provided by Linnes-Robinson.
All Committee Bike Ride
April 2009
Attending: Alex Bauman, Lee Watkins, Darrell Gerber, Robyn Bipes, Alex Anderson, Scott Bordon, Dave Saddoris, Natalie Lenz,
The group met at MLK Park and charted a course up 1str Avenue to 36th and back down on Stevens to the park. The goal was to see the general state of things and look for redevelopment and greening opportunities, dog park sites, and anything else that stood out. As we went up first we noted the parking lot on 38th and 1st and wondered about the redevelopment plans by Macedonia Church for the vacant lot next to their building-Linnes-Robinson said she would check in with them as to the status of this project and their intentions with the parking lot. Continuing up first there were a number of falling down fences and a few folks wondered if we could 1. Make people fix then or 2. Provide an incentive for people to fix them. We spoke of the mural project organized by a 1st Avenue neighbors at 36th and Nicollet to occur in May of this year-and looked at that block, and the property where the murders took place in 2008 to see if possibly a garden of some type could be done on that block. The block has said , via this woman organizing the mural project, that boulevard gardens cannot exists due to the amount of traffic and salt on the street.
As we came down Stevens the new sound walls were obvious, and the general state of disrepair of the homes was too.  The vacant lot on the corner of 38th and Stevens was looked at-there was some recollection it was owned by the house next door and used to have a handicap entrance ramp running up to the house through the lot. It was stated that it is unfortunate that this lot is the entry point to the neighborhood.
There was one property, vacant with an open window, where a neighbor had seen people crawling through a few nights ago. 3912 and 3914 had an expired rental notice in the window and the house was empty of furniture’ it looked vacant and was assumed that people should not be accessing it in the middle of the night through a window. Staff will call 311. Riders were told if they ever see activity there to call 911. Otherwise to keep calling 311 every time they go past it until the property is secured.
At the park the riders looked at dog park possibilities on the park land, and the state of the pedestrian bridge. The funding from the City was discussed for improvements for this bridge -no solutions for the spending of $15,000 to really improve the bridge were agreed upon. It was agreed upon that generally the bridge is atrocious. The riders discussed which committee will oversee this and see if we can get it rolling-redevelopment or greens. Someone needs to take the lead.
The riders went to Blaisdell and looked at 3916 and 3912, which were both recently in foreclosure. The property is held by Bremer Bank who wants to buy the vacant lot to use the already poured slab for off-street parking, thus removing an impediment to them selling both lots. Bipes, a resident on this street, spoke of the problems they have had with this property and how she did not feel neighbors will support this solution. Linnes-Robinson said she would try and learn more about the motivations of the City and seller and if we can get a positive result from this transaction.
The group biked around the corner to VanNest to look at a potential community garden location. We passed a vacant and foreclosed house on the corner. The yard and fence were a mess-it was asked if neighbors could come clean up the property. The answer given was ‘not legally’.
The group biked up Nicolet to 38th-looked at 38th and Nicollet and discussed the HourCar grant for the location that was going to be submitted as well as the redevelopment plans by Michael Lander. The vacant businesses in the area were noted, and it was determined that Redevelopment should start keeping a list of these commercial vacancies. Up the alley to 36th and Nicollet, the group passed the 3700 project and talked of the delay in construction due to the reduced value of the tax-credits held for the property. Concern was expressed that if it was going to be delayed for very long, the property owners should deal with the hole in the ground.
The group looked at the wall at 36th and Nicollet where a mural will be painted this spring by youth from a local charter high school. The desire by MNDot to do staging at 3600 Nicollet was also discussed-this has not been approved yet by the City. We do not know the type of equipment or the timeline it would be staged there.
The riders then went over to Lyndale along 37th and talked of the Lyndale construction, and again of the mass of traffic projects going on around the neighborhood this summer. How to keep track of all of them and inform residents is daunting. We did not bike along 36th but the idea was brought up that when the community school gets established there, it would be great to have a clearer “pathway” across 36th for the kids walking.
The group headed down to 43rd and Wentworth to look at another potential community garden site-it is a large lot with good sun. It is raised off the street but seems to offer a great chance for a ‘street-level presence’ through a bench or other welcoming structure on the corner, as well it is already fenced and the chain link could be embellished with vines and art.
The riders then went past the new King’s Bar whose windows just got uncovered, and back past 4100 and Pleasant where another smaller community garden is proposed.
The group retied their separate ways but really enjoyed the ride and thought it was not only a good annual event for the committees, but might be used for other groups such as garden tours.
Minutes provided by Linnes-Robinson.
Minutes 3/19/09
7:00 PM at MLK Park
The Green Committee received updates on program numbers for the Backyard Harvest Program (2 neighbors in Kingfield signed up as a result of the March 11 meeting at Butter) and discussed further support of this program (offer them a table at the annual meeting).
Updates on Community Garden Sites were provided-three potential sites with interested property owners have been identified. Neighbors (Kragenbring and Peichel) that attended last month’s meeting will continue working on this project but do not want to serve on the Green Committee. A meeting will be established to bring Gardening Matters together with potential site owners and gardeners in the near future. A support grant has been identified for this project and will be submitted.
Linnes-Robinson updated the group on a green tableware product donation received from Litin Eco for the Art Show. The committee agreed to work at the event and promote the products.
The Raingarden panting at 4307 Wentworth will be led by Douglas Owens Pike of EnergyScapes as a volunteer. Linnes-Robinson will work with him to identify neighbors that might be interested in volunteering alongside him. The committees of redevelopment and green are also being asked if they are interested in staffing the home tour, which will include this house.
A meeting on the BRT Station has not been confirmed yet.
New projects and stormwater issues were discussed–the committee decided that they needed to get out in the neighborhood and see what the physical environment of the neighborhood was like and if they saw opportunities for projects. It was decided their next meeting would be a neighborhood-wide tour on bikes.
The meeting was adjourned.
Minutes provided by Linnes-Robinson.
Minutes 2/19/09
7:00 PM at MLK Park
1)Â Â Â Â Discuss urban farming models and resources
City to increase urban gardening, committees and etc…
Contact: Kristin Clinger-Home Grown MPLS-673.2910
Community garden lots location ideas–
- *NE corner of 43rd Wentworth -church sideyard
- Jobylynn’s lot
- 41st and pleasant 1 ½ apartment
- Pat Mulroy’s lot….
…. research locations and send Gardenwerks the list.
….continue working with Butter and Backyard Harvest to host a meeting
2)Â Â Â Â Update on 3700 Nicollet green elements including a possible federal grant for a geothermal system
…
Value of tax credits has dropped from 97 cents on the dollar to about 67 cents on the dollar now, impacting financing of the project. The stimulus package is likely to provide an avenue for selling tax credits at attractive rates.   2010 ‘service funding’-Hennepin county budget, state, and various private funders….Groundbreaking October 2009-construction 9 months. General contractor Frericks Construction.
Walked through green elements …see attachment.
Side discussions:
- Cistern capacity? Designer of stormwater site: Spenser Jones, civil engineer and landscape architect. System includes a large underground infiltration system.
- Raingarden system? Hasn’t looked into it. Might be able to cut down on stormwater piping but may conflict with youth yard-use.
- Geothermal does not have cost savings calculated yet.
- Suggestion: look at solar hot water for business only-not all property which is what they originally did.
- Grey water reuse from sinks to initially heat water was looked at, but building was not tall enough to make it feasible.
- Request update on items from Kirk, keep us posted as items are selected or x-ed off. We will also flow information to Kirk as we hear of stimulus grants and opportunities.
- Green roof-has been off the table for awhile.
- State Department of Commerce may have funding for demonstration projects. Contact: Janet Streff.
3)Â Â Â Â Discuss potential organization/communication of resources for waste disposal (action item from Board meeting)
Action Step: Education of who will take what-including transfer station– …and education on where the materials go.
GREEN TIPS-do it, short and sweet, not all locations or materials at once.
4)Â Â Â Â Art show tie-ins (with recycle theme)
Work the bar and talk the products…general agreement.
Research: Where does the city compost go??
5)Â Â Â Â Neighbor interest for a plastic recycling program
Options we know about…Whole Foods and or East Side Co-op.
Tom Dunholdt? Board of East Side Co-op? What are they doing with the stuff? Farmer’s Market initiative to engage public and get face to face with folks-committee considering this.
Put locations for disposal on Green Tips-
Side conversation–Linden Hills Power and light presentation….how did you do it, how much capacity will it have when built? How can we get on board? Look into them holding a meeting here.
Additional random ideas to consider:
NNO-block captains and education…or us get a notice to them.
Get the city to tell people to hold green parties.
Mobile recycling fair-Eureka????
6)    Discuss the Blue Sky Guide fundraiser-including any required commitments for marketing. Committee decided to move ahead and utilize the Farmer’s Market to sell.
7)Â Â Â Â 4307 Wentworth-raingarden planning and planting.
Discussed how it could work and possible links with MetroBlooms. Decided before we commit to the county we need to know more from Douglas. Linnes-Robinson will talk with Douglas Owens Pike…how many volunteers needed? How long of a project? What if we can’t get the volunteers?
8)Â Â Â Â Earth Hour? …Â decided there are no strong connections to Kingfield building and residents
9)Â Â Â Â Presentations from sustainable builders on green options for interiors? Mike Otto construction?? We can invite him to a meeting and see what he has to say…
Meeting adjourned. /minutes provided by Linnes-Robinson, 2/19/09.
After the meeting Linnes-Robinson and Gerber discussed the 46th BRT Station-it was decided that Glidden should be asked if anything could come from us questioning the weak commitments and undecided aspects of the station related to bike parking, pedestrian access, greening, and car parking. Expecting she will respond the Metro Transit (MT) is not being responsive on this project we will still consider that it is worth telling them that these element of the station are important to us and that she should call a 4-neighborhood meeting with MT regarding the station plans.
Background from Glidden 2/09:
Regarding 46th Street BRT station. Here is what I know: 1) Bicycles – 4 lockers planned for the station, no commitment on other (racks); 2) Greening – Metro Transit has only agreed to planters, but these can only happen if there is a maintenance plan by the neighborhoods put in place. They aren’t agreeing to maintain; 3) There are no plans for “extra” parking – and we still have not received ridership data.
The design is pretty much set. We can call a neighborhood meeting anytime — if you want one we’ll get Metro Transit to commit.
I will forward your comments and questions to Metro Transit to get feedback if there is any room for input on these items – however, it has been like pulling teeth to get any response on anything. I have had to ask and ask and ask and ask (you get the picture) to get anything. This is embarrassing.
I’m copying Frank Hornstein & Scott Dibble here, because I want them to know how interested the neighborhood is in this.
Nicollet Square – Green Features
In hiring Cermak Rhoades, one of the deciding factors was that Michelle Baltus-Pribyl, the architect, has significant experience in Green design (sustainable, healthy, energy efficient). She is LEED certified.
Prior to demolition of the Werness Brothers Funeral Home, we contracted with the Green Institute’s Deconstruction Team to salvage building materials from the site. As a result, $28,500 in building materials were kept out of the land-fill. The estimated weight of those materials is 15,775 lbs. or about 8 tons.
We participated in the Multifamily Design Assistance Program, implemented by the Center for Energy and Environment (CEE) and funded by CenterPoint Energy, is an effort to get additional information regarding the energy use impact, operation and maintenance, and overall building durability of the design. The Multifamily Design Assistance Program uses an integrated systems approach to the buildings, equipment, staff and utilities, thereby capturing the total energy impacts of various measures.
As a result of participation in this program, we made modifications to the design of the building, to include upgrades in the building’s energy efficiency (i.e. changed window specified and showerheads). Such items were obvious changes from a cost benefit analysis. For instance the price difference between a 2.0 gpm showerhead to a 1.6 gp showerhead is negligible, but the cost savings add up to approximately $312 per year for the development.
Additionally we included alternates in the bidding process to get pricing for various other green features, including the following:
- Carpet Tile in lieu of broadloom carpet, $5000 add.
- Closed Cell Insulation in lieu of fiberglass insulation and vapor barrier, $22,940 add.
- Concrete Paving in lieu of asphalt at parking areas, $46,700 add.
- White EPDM membrane roof in lieu of standard EPDM membrane roof, $11,580 add.
- Non-toxic, biodegradable hydraulic elevator fluid in lieu of standard hydraulic elevator fluid, $1660 add.
- Pervious pavers at patio in lieu of colored concrete, $7175 add.
- Tab curtains and rods in lieu of blinds in dwelling units, $7600 add.
We have not yet determined, which of these alternatives we will choose, but will evaluate each one to determine if it is logical to pursue (for example, with the information I currently have – changing from bat insulation to closed cell insulation at a cost of $22,940 results in an estimated cost savings of $818 per year in heating and cooling, thus a 28 year pay back, likely difficult to get the public funders to go along with that one).
The development has an extensive underground storm water retention system, comprised of 9 foot diameter perforated pipes which will handle the storm water from the majority of the impervious surfaces (parking lots and building roof).
When I first brought it up, the design team was pretty sure the cost of geothermal heating and cooling would be cost prohibitive for this project, but I had them look into it anyway (in part for selfish reasons, I’ve always wanted to do such a system).  They did check into the viability of geothermal with the mechanical engineer, and from this very rough initial calculation, it would be in the range of $170-250k more than the system we currently have planned, plus we may want to still have a backup boiler in case of problems with the geothermal. The cost is high because we have a very limited site area, which means that the wells would have to go much deeper and likely be drilled through bedrock.
Even though we have a LEED certified architect on this deal, we are not pursuing LEED certification in part because we don’t feel that from a marketing standpoint it is worth the additional $50,000 or so in professional fees to get a third part LEED inspector to certify the building. Our architect did do an evaluation of the LEED for Homes checklist and it looks like we would easily achieve “certified” level without further upgrades.