Franklin Avenue Planning

SNG Treasurer Diann Anders announced three Franklin Avenue Planning events in April. Two “Walk[s] on the Avenue” will take place April 17 and 19. A community-wide workshop will be held April 26 at Matthews Park. Anders asked that each board member make five calls inviting people to the events. A list of Seward residents was passed around and members were asked to sign-up to call several people from the list, or add the names of others they planned to call.

Auditor’s report update: Anders said Mike Wilson, the CPA performing SNG’s 2006 financial audit, has confirmed that the missing housing advance money (roughly $110,000 in NRP funds) he notified the board of last month was found to have been deposited in SNG accounts. “So that issue has been resolved,” Anders said. The finance committee is drafting a response to Wilson’s report next week and Anders said the final version of Wilson’s audit is expected in April. An executive committee meeting to discuss the audit is set for April 16.

Conversion of accounting methods

SNG is in the process of switching from a cash accounting system to accrual accounting. “We’re hoping that by April we can bring a financial report from Quickbooks,” Anders said, referring to the new accounting software that SNG purchased, in part, to abolish the transfer of data to Excel when making viewable statements for the board. Mains mentioned that SNG purchased three copies of the software for a total of $99 because of its non-profit status.

Environmental committee report: Board member Hal Johnson presented environmental news on behalf of Carol Greenwood. On March 30 the environmental committee will sponsor the first in a series of meetings intended to promote neighborly interaction, he said. This month’s topic is sustainable gardening; the meeting will be held at the Birchwood Cafe. “Every month we’re going to have a different topic decided on by the group,” said board member Susan Andre, who conceived of the idea.

Johnson briefly mentioned that the Eco Energy Project had recently made the front page of the Minneapolis paper, adding that Ward 2 Council Member Cam Gordon would likely have additional information.

News from City Hall

Gordon told the board that city staff has determined that a commitment letter from Xcel Energy is not an appropriate letter of commitment and must be resubmitted. There are still numerous other hurdles that must be overcome before the project could get underway, Gordon said. The results of an environmental assessment worksheet are not yet available, he said.

Mains asked Gordon how much had been budgeted in the Central Corridor light rail project for traffic mitigation in the surrounding neighborhoods if parts of Washington Avenue become permanently closed to vehicular traffic. Gordon said about $29 million had been promised at this point. “We’d appreciate you keeping Franklin [Avenue] in the mix,” Mains said about the congestion problem. Gordon said he does, and would make Seward and Cedar-Riverside priorities.

Crime and safety committee:

Committee chair Ross Gabrick made several announcements about upcoming events: a community block leader training Monday, March 31, 6:30–8:30 p.m.; and a rental property owner’s workshop on Thursday, April 10, 5–9 p.m.

The crime and safety committee recently applied for a graffiti micro-prevention grant in the amount of $10,000. Gabrick said he will find out this Friday if SNG was awarded the grant. Susan Andre asked if the crime and safety committee had been tracking who was responsible for the tagging (presumably based on how tags are “signed”). Gabrick said one condition of the grant is that the neighborhood organization keep an inventory of responsible parties.

Charlie Hoffmann asked if the demolition of one part of the Riverside Market building, in particular a wall featuring graffiti art, has increased the amount of graffiti elsewhere in the neighborhood. Gabrick said he hadn’t seen an immediate increase, though it may be too soon to tell.

On a separate subject, Gabrick said the March crime and safety meeting at Seward Towers had been well attended (approximately 50 people turned out). Nasra Noor, an independent contractor who works for SNG, interpreted the meeting, Gabrick said. “She’s a dynamo,” he said, referring to Noor’s translation abilities.

Mains asked if there were plans to hold future meetings at the Towers. Gabrick said no dates were currently scheduled, but that he hoped to have additional meeting there. Cam Gordon also suggested two other possible gathering places in the neighborhood, including the high-rise at 2121 Minnehaha Ave.

The next crime and safety meeting will be held April 14 at 7 p.m. The topic of the meeting will be child protection.

Community development committee

Charlie Hoffman presented a motion to the board from the community development committee requesting that the city grant a variance to the owner of AA Equipment allowing the business to park vehicles and storage trailers on an unpaved lot near the business (2212 Minnehaha Ave.)

Mains, after temporarily handing over chair responsibilities to Gabrick so that he could speak about the issue, said he is “always nervous about granting a variance” because a variance stays with a property even if the ownership changes hands. It would be better to modify the motion to say that SNG would like to see the city delay enforcement for a year, and then, if that’s not possible, state that SNG supports a variance, Mains said.

Gordon weighed-in, saying he thought it might be more beneficial to look at creative solutions rather than requesting a variance. The motion was then amended to include Mains’s stipulation (via a vote of the board) and subsequently approved.

Hoffman said the issue of potentially designating 29th Avenue and 24th Street in Seward “bike priority streets” drew about 30 or so people to the last development meeting alone.

Archive/history committee

Committee chair Dick Westby said he recently received a box of materials from David Norman’s house. Among the items in the box were first 25 editions of the Seward Profile, which started in 1969. Anders said the morgue (newspaper archives) at the SNG office is already close to complete.

Westby said he will meet with the father of board member Ross Gabrick in the near future to begin scanning photos of Seward School. Westby said he intends to begin organizing historical information about the neighborhood to eventually create a book that could be donated to a library of some sort. “The long range goal is to have a printed book, a historical story of Seward neighborhood,” he said, adding that he wants to put historical records together in a usable form.

There are multiple copies of documents and pictures that have yet to be gone through, Westby said.

Seward Community Arts Network (SCAN)

Mains said Erik Riese is drafting a proposal for the Seward Arts Festival. The SNG board president said per an agreement, Riese would not be paid until he brings money in.

Franklin Avenue Planning: Mains mentioned that the Franklin Avenue Planning committee has been bringing Bernie Waibel in as an independent contractor for 10–20 hours per week, using grant money to pay him.

Garage sale days: Anders said the citywide garage sale will be held May 16 and 17. Information is available on SNG’s website and those who are interested in participating can sign-up online.

Peace garden: There is currently a “scramble” to raise $4,000 to keep the Peace Garden program afloat this year, Westby said. “It’s been a very positive thing for young people and adults as well,” Westby said about the program’s history in Seward. Several donors have already pledged funds and businesses in the community — including the Birchwood — are helping to raise money, too. Westby asked SNG to encourage residents to donate as well, by putting a formal request on the organization’s website and in the SNG newsletter.

On the subject of youth programming, Anders said the board should enact stricter policies about who it hires to work with young people. “I don’t want this to be seen as anti-Peace Garden,” she said, adding that she strongly supports the program and its long-time coordinator, Anna Costello, but that to further ensure it is running quality programs and also, to “protect our butts,” SNG should adopt tougher standards.

A motion was subsequently presented to the board stating that all hired staff working with neighborhood youth be subject to a background check, at minimum. The motion carried with the full support of the board. Anders also said that a strong accounting of the program is needed, although several board members pointed out that the organization’s financial policies already require this.

Mains also said he was working on improving the contract forms SNG uses when working with independent contractors, to better protect both parties. The current forms the organization uses are very incomplete, he said.

Grant with Articulture

Board member Marne Zafar said she recently attended a conference with Noor where the two heard about a new grant being offered to neighborhood organizations pairing with an immigrant group and an arts organization. Zafar and Noor came up with the idea of an exhibit featuring traditional East African weaving. The pair met with several elders from the local Somali community where Zafar said the women were “struck that people other than them [would be] interested in their culture, their art form.

“Art can cross a lot of boundaries that way,” Zafar said, about using art to connect people. Since then, Zafar said she and Noor have been moving swiftly to apply for the $10,000 grant, which would be split with the non-profit Articulture. (Anders mentioned that Articulture will be a new organization in Seward; it’s moving in next to True Thai on East Franklin Avenue.)

Office space and copier update

Hoffman said Sierra Club’s national division, which has already begun “ramping up” for the Republican National Convention, has asked to rent space from SNG (more specifically a conference room) for a month. He said he is “modestly hopeful” they will contract for space for an extended period of time.

SNG is out of its maintenance contract on the copier it is leasing, Mains said. Brian Miller, executive director of Seward Redesign, told Mains that Redesign is considering buying out the lease on the copier, Mains said.

Board member resigns

Mains said board member Bill Svrluga (whose term was scheduled to end in November) submitted his resignation. (He did not indicate why Svrluga was leaving and Svrluga was not present at the meeting.) A motion was made (and approved) accepting Svrluga’s resignation. The board will send him a thank you card for his service to the organization.

Mains said the board is now down to 11 members, telling those at the meeting that it’s time to recruit more people. People should bring their recommendations forward, he said, and also think about how to encourage more diversity on the board.

Bring back the Seward Profile

Westby questioned the board’s visibility to the rest of the neighborhood. “If you don’t attend these meetings, you’re in the dark,” he said. The Bridge newspaper, he cited as an example, has far less Seward news than the Seward Profile did.

Zafar said the neighborhood group should “bring back the Seward Profile.” Anders said there had been talk of reviving the Profile as a quarterly and sending it to SNG members and donors. Kevin Brown is working on putting together something like that, Mains said.

The next SNG board meeting will take place on Wednesday, April 23, 7–9 p.m., at Seward Towers East, located at the intersection of East Franklin and 30th avenues. Enter on the north side of the building. Inside the main doors, take the door to the left that reads “Advantage Center.” Walk along the hallway and within the office at the end; take the stairs to the second floor.

Contact:
Seward Neighborhood Group
2323 E. Franklin Ave.,
Minneapolis, MN 55406
Phone: 612-338-6205

last revised: April 1, 2008

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