GRAND ROUNDS CONDEMNATIONS SEEN A POSSIBILITY
Board Member Connie Sullivan reported the possibility of residential and industrial property condemnations in completing the “missing link” in the city’s Grand Rounds parkway system. “There will be upset in Southeast Como,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan is a member of the citizen’s committee that will recommend parkway route and parkland options to the Park Board. A consultant is conducting a study. Public meetings will be scheduled in November and February. The study is expected to be completed in the spring.

Board member Joan Menken said the board should obtain information first about the likelihood of condemnation before alarming homeowners and drawing realtors. Menken said, however, there is reason to be optimistic about development of the parkway and a park in the area, especially in industrial areas. Completion of the project is expected to take a number of years, a Park and Recreation Board website states.

SAFETY, ARCHITECTURE WALK SET
Board member Jeremiah Peterson said a neighborhood safety and architectural review walk is scheduled for July 26. For information, contact James De Sota, neighborhood coordinator. See phone and email below.

BRIDAL VEIL CREEK, POND CLEAN-UP SUPPORTED
The board voted in favor of supporting the concept and planning for pollution remediation of Bridal Veil Creek and pond, in an industrial area next to Kasota Avenue. The plan proposes converting the pond into a pair of wetlands, fed by the creek flowing in a pipe, with a waterfall of one to three feet.

Peggy Booth, member of the SECIA Environmental Committee, told the board that the pond, located on city property, provides storm water collection. Booth said the creek flows year-round, and that fox, deer, pheasants are among wildlife that have been seen. From the pond, the creek flows underground to Bridal Veil Falls and into the Mississippi River.

However, it is an illusion that the pond is a green spot, Booth said, because it has been polluted by industry, including the Valentine-Clark wood treatment plant that operated upstream between 1915 and 1960. In fact, she said, the site was known as the Elm Street Ash Dump. Booth said the Kasota Ponds near Highway 280 remain more natural.

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency environmental planner Gary Krieger told the board the wetlands site would be maintained. Booth said interpretive signs would describe the wetlands as a “treatment system.”

NON-MOTORIZED TRANSPORTATION GRANTS FUNDED
Ward 2 Council Member Cam Gordon, in a report to SECIA, outlined the numerous bicycle projects in the second ward funded by non-motorized transportation grants. “I want this to be a beginning and plan to keep pushing to improve our system of bike and pedestrian transit in the city and the region,” Gordon said in the report. To see a list of the projects in Ward 2 and a map, go to Gordon’s on-line blog: http://secondward.blogspot.com.

DECISION ON BY-LAWS CHANGES POSTPONED
The board agreed to take time to think further about changes proposed in the By-laws. The board will decide at the August meeting whether to table, revise, or delay consideration of the changes until the annual meeting in October.

Jeane Moore, co-chair of the By-Laws committee, said changes are proposed to make it difficult for a hostile take-over of the board to take place. Acting President Wendy Menken said the changes are also intended to insure there are members with longer experience on the board.

Board member Connie Sullivan said the changes also address the inability to get enough people to join the board. She suggested the number of members be reduced.

TUTTLE BUILDING OPTIONS OUTLINED, TESTIMONY REQUESTED
President Menken reported that the university is studying potential uses for the former Tuttle School building. The school district closed the program this year and will transfer certain grades to Pratt School in Prospect Park.

Menken requested that letters be sent to the school board or speakers to testify at the July 17 meeting to say, “Please don’t tie our hands,” in reference to future uses for the building. The big question is whether the board will allow another school to use the building, she said.

Menken said, for instance, that a German emersion charter school program in St. Paul sent a letter to the Minneapolis school board indicating interest in space. Menken said she met with representatives from the charter school. Its program is K-3, but has plans for K-8. She said there a lot of German-based companies in Minnesota. Connie Sullivan said the school draws students from seven counties.

ASPHALTED YARD, CONCERN ABOUT VULNERABLE NEIGHBOR
Joan Menken, zoning committee, reported that the owner of a house at 18th and Como asphalted the space next to the house. The city turned down the owner’s request for a variance for parking.

Also, Wendy Menken reported that the owner has told the elderly neighbor next door where her property line is and the owner is blacktopping her property. Joan Menken described the neighbor as a vulnerable senior. Connie Sullivan said the neighbor would need a lawyer. Board member Tedd Johnson said he would contact Volunteers of America’s legal services.

ANNUAL MEETING SET OCTOBER 9
The board voted to schedule the annual meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 9, 6:30 p.m., at Van Cleve Park.

COMO COOKOUT PLANNED SEPT. 15
Neighborhood Coordinator De Sota said the annual Como Cookout will be held Sept. 15 at the Van Cleve park building. “We always need more volunteers” for planning and holding the picnic, he said. The cookout this year will feature information kiosks about the city’s Grand Rounds parkways, the Tuttle School building, a clotheslines grant, and a refrigerator replacement grant.

BOARD MEETING DATE CHANGED TO AUGUST 14
The board voted to change the August meeting date to the 14th to avoid conflicting with the Aug. 7 National Night Out events.

LETTER FAVORS FUNDS FOR COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
The board voted to write a letter to the city of St. Paul in support of funding a community organizer to work with neighborhoods and the Rock-Tenn Co. paper recycling facility in St. Paul. There are plans to convert the operation’s fuel source to biomass.

SEEKING GREAT CITY DESIGN WORKSHOP
The board voted in favor of sending a letter of interest in participating in the city’s second round of Great City Design Teams. Board member Marilyn Burns said participation would produce plans for the neighborhood at no cost. It would help address the question of how Southeast might become a green village, she suggested.

Members of the teams are volunteer architects, landscape architects, urban designers and developers who work with residents and community groups in selected neighborhoods.

SECIA AWARDED MICRO-GRANT TO REDUCE CO2
James De Sota, neighborhood coordinator, reported that SECIA was one of 20 groups to receive up to a $1,000 in energy-saving micro-grants from the city. The SECIA grant was awarded for retractable clotheslines. They will be demonstrated and handed out at the annual cookout at Van Cleve Park on Sept. 15.

U “WELCOME WEEK” TO START IN 2008
Kendre Turonie, university student affairs office coordinator, reported that the university would begin a “Welcome Week” for first-year students beginning in fall 2008. Turonie said this means those students will move to campus early, before Labor Day. She said she hopes to describe the program at future neighborhood meetings.

NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, August 14, 2007, (one week later due to National Night Out activities).

REGULAR MEETINGS: 1st Tuesday of the month, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. (New time to be evaluated in the fall.)
Van Cleve Park, 901 15th Ave. SE

CONTACT: Office, 837 SE 15th Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55414, phone 612-676-1731, James De Sota, neighborhood coordinator, secomo@secomo.org, website: www.secomo.org/site/center.html.

last revised: July 16, 2007

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