West Bank Community Coalition (WBCC)
CITIZEN ADVISORY COMMITTEE (CAC)
The board appointed Tim Schwarz, a former WBCC board member and a community member, to serve as its representative on the Central Corridor Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC).
CAPACITY-BUILDING
To strengthen WBCC’s capacity for community outreach, board members discussed the possibility of undergoing some kind of training sessions on the subject (for which it is contracted to carry out). Tim Mungavan, executive director of the West Bank Community development Corporation and the grassroots Dania Partners, said it would provide much-needed support to WBCC as NRP comes to a close in 2009. It “looks at what kind of approaches are most successful in mobilizing residents around issues,” he said, adding that the training would bring “basic training about how to increase citizen participation and how to create positive change in the neighborhood.”
Potentially, those sessions could be followed-up with a visioning process led by consultant Roger Meyer, he said. For additional guidance, Mungavan directed board members to a city document entitled, “Effective Neighborhood Organizations,” which contains information that pre-date NRP (part of a packet he passed out to board members).
BOARD OPENINGS
Two seats on the board – reserved for people who rent homes in the neighborhood – still need to be filled (which Warsame Hassan and Abdirizak Abdi vacated). Board members will elect people to those seats at the WBCC meeting on March 19. Anyone who is interested in running for a seat should contact the WBCC at 338-5282, ext. 224 or e-mail cedarriversidenrp@hotmail.com.
DISTRICT COLLABORATIVE COUNCIL (DCC)
WBCC needs a representative to serve on the Central Corridor’s District Collaborative Council (DCC). Any resident is eligible for the DCC. To learn more, call the WBCC at 338-5282, ext. 224 or e-mail cedarriversidenrp@hotmail.com.
NRP STEERING COMMITTEE
To counter NRP staffer Robert Thompson’s critical assessment of the WBCC’s ability to deal with NRP dollars, the board is sending a rebuttal to the NRP office that states its side of the situation. Some board members have expressed frustration that as a result of Thompson’s comments, WBCC’s NRP Steering Committee independently took steps to become incorporated as a separate entity from the board to gain complete control over Cedar-Riverside’s NRP finances. NRP steering committee member Jean-Lawrence Caron said that whatever tensions it may have stirred, going forward, fellow committee members have said they want to work with the WBCC “together to focus on respective goals.”
SAFETY COMMITTEE
Safety committee representative Jim Russom said that although there continues to be some illegal activity (unspecified) on Cedar Avenue between Fourth and Seventh streets, overall, crime in the neighborhood has dipped about 16 percent over the past month (as of that day), according to the most recent crime statistics from the police department, he said.
CITY COUNCIL MEMBER REPORT
The light rail train station stop that will be built near Cedar and Riverside Avenues on Washington Avenue is probably going to be at-grade, according to Ward 2 City Council Member Cam Gordon. That will potentially close off Washington to regular vehicles, Gordon said, so there will need to be traffic mitigation efforts.
Additionally, the City Council moved to spend $1.2 million on a bike tunnel under the new 35W bridge to help connect the downtown area with the U of M campus, he said.
In other news, the restaurant/bar Sgt. Preston’s, which is under new ownership, has recently been granted an entertainment license that will enable it to provide live music several times a week.
GOOD NEIGHBOR AGREEMENT
WBCC approved a “good neighbor agreement” between Fairview Hospital and the surrounding community. WBCC board member Mike Christianson and Robin Garwood, assistant to City Council member Cam Gordon (Ward 2) helped draft the agreement. The purpose of the agreement is to ensure that as the hospital expansion begins, community members’ concerns about traffic, congestion and other related issues are addressed. For example, many residents oppose closing the strip of South Seventh Street near the hospital during the construction, according to Doris Wickstrom, a board member who serves on the land use committee. Recently, the land use committee formed a taskforce, she added. Some community members are also hoping to leverage Fairview resources for other projects; they want the hospital’s help in restoring the nearby Riverside Park (getting a grant for the project with the help of the hospital’s grant writer, for instance), Wickstrom said.
UNIVERSITY DISTRICT ALLIANCE PARTNERSHIP
WBCC approved a motion to submit a proposal to the University District Alliance Partnership, lobbying for a grant that would allow it to install additional way-finding beacons at the Cedar Riverside LRT station. The partnership was established to improve areas surrounding the U of M. Recently the partnership issued a “request for ideas” for a demonstration project.
CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT
The WBCC Executive Committee will write a letter responding to the city’s plan for reworking its community engagement system after NRP ends, currently referred to as the “Framework for the Future.” Board members didn’t express any particular opinions one way or another about the plan during the board meeting. It is also expected to react to an earlier report the community engagement taskforce put together. The board adopted the city’s “core principles of community engagement,” as requested by city officials.
BRIAN COYLE YOUTH BASKETBALL
Board member Ben Marcy encouraged people to attend the Brian Coyle Community Center’s Youth Council basketball game when the team competes with a group from the Humphrey Institute on March 7 at 6 p.m.
NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, March 19, 6 p.m.
MEETINGS: Third Wednesday of the month
Brian Coyle Community Center, 420 15th Ave. S.
CONTACT: 338-5282, ext. 224
www.westbankcc.org
e-mail: cedarriversidenrp@hotmail.com or nrp@westbankcc.org.
BORDERS: The neighborhood is bounded by I-35W on the northwest, I-94 on the south and the Mississippi River on the northeast.
last revised: March 3, 2008