Thursday April 12, 2007

Linwood Recreation Center

Members Present: Barrera, Biron, Breymeier, Broton, Flahaven, Haas, Hedberg, Krogstad, Lein, Lucke, Odman, Ramberg, Rathman, Rulff, Sutherland, Wefel, White, Wichman, Winsor

Members Absent: Clapp-Smith, Verweij

Meeting began 7:03 p.m.

Past Minutes: Approval/ Correction of March Minutes
March Minutes approved with correction of name Doug Holtz under crime report.

President’s Report

Wefel stated that SHA is reforming the SHA Parking Committee. Winsor will put an article in The Summit newsletter about this for recruiting potential members.
An SHA planning calendar was given to members to set goals and priorities during the year and complete them before the October 2007 annual meeting.

Recruiting volunteers

Diane Hilden, SHA CP Coordinator, prepared map where there are block club members-are there opportunities for recruiting a block club leader? Winsor asked if we should define what it is that block club leaders do. Roy stated that we already have a block club manual available for this purpose. He said that he will put an article in the Summitt regarding this. Wefel suggested that Board members approach neighbors and friends to serve on committees. Winsor stated ir might be good to aproch neighbors and ask what they would like to see from SHA and committees.

Executive Director’s Report

Roy reported 2008 Republican Convention will bring several issues that affect our neighborhood and stated that Erin Dady from the Mayor’s office has agreed to meet with us in June. Odman felt we may want to wait until later. Hedberg felt that we should discuss pedestrian safety issues and how the traffic ramps being closed off may shunt traffic to our area. After a brief discussion, it was agreed to have her make a presentation at the June 2007 meeting.

New Business

Kurt Schroeder from the St. Paul Bicycle Advisory Board made a brief presentation about the draft City Bike Plan for increasing bike lanes, bike safety, bike parking, and generally making St. Paul a more bicycle friendly city. He distributed a map showing proposed bike lanes and trails. There is currently no website available but that is being developed as well. Winsor mentioned the Minneapolis Greenway and wondered if there was plan to connect with that and stated that federal funding should be available for that purpose. Meetings are the first Tuesday of every month at the Central Corridor Resource Center 1080 University Avenue, at 4:30 to 6:30 pm.

Noise

Odman stated that excessive noise from motorcycles, loud car stereos, bar patrons after closing and the like, are a concern. She stated that the City Attorney is interested in hearing about these issues as they arise. There was a general discussion about noise as a quality of life issue, and that as citizens we should contact the police to make sure existing ordinances are enforced when appropriate. Odman stated she was willing to write a letter to the City Attorney and copy Dave Thune about the situation for Board review in May.

GABA

Lucke stated that the GABA annual meeting took place on March 30, 2007 at the College Club. The new Executive Director David Regan was introduced. Parent Companion will be sponsoring the family area at Grand Old Days, D’Amico’s will have a jazz and wine area at Grand Old Day and Grand Hand Gallery is promoting an art area for the event between St. Albans and Dale.

Treasurer’s Report

Breymeier reported 2006 end of year donations exceeded expectations and improved our financial outlook modestly, but the overall picture is one that is still quite serious.

There was a discussion about placing 3 CDs for $10,000 each, in a more favorable interest bearing account. It was decided by unanimous voice vote to place one CD in a money market account and the other 2 in an account for 6 months at a rate of 4.9 percent.

Committee Reports

Communications: Odman asked the Board for any suggestions regarding the Communications Committee.

Development: Haas on vacation. A wrist band sales signup sheet was distributed. The Progressive Dinner will be on April 28, 2007.

Environment: Rulff distributed an e-mail asking for volunteers to assist with the Neighborhood Clean-up. The prairie burn is set to take place soon as weather permits.

Pedestrian Safety. Hedberg stated the committee is looking into Paint the Pavement for more secure pedestrian crossings. He also said they are seeing if a radar speed meter for our neighborhood can be purchased.

Zoning and Land Use

Flahaven stated that the owner of a Carriage House at 942 Summit has submitted an application for a proposed variance.

She also stated that Noodles and Company has submitted an application to locate a restaurant in the location of the former Italian Pie Shoppe at 777 Grand. SHA opposed Noodles coming onto Grand before in 2002, due to the fact that they were a fast food restaurant and that the increased traffic would pose a hazard to the neighborhood. Noodles submitted a new application wherein they have supposedly modified some of the elements where they were found to be fast food, to now qualify and be able to meet current zoning requirements.

Flahaven made a motion to send a letter to notify the Mayor and other city officials of SHA’s opposition to Noodles coming onto Grand Ave., and that the SHA Zoning and Land Use Committee will hold a hearing as soon as possible to gather comments from the community regarding the Noodles and Company application and file an appeal to the Board of Zoning Appeals. That motion carried with one abstention and one vote in opposition.

Board suggestions and additional information

White suggested a day to “put your car keys away for one day” in the community, to use mass transit or bike or walk to work. He added that we could do a picnic and or celebration along with other district councils or businesses in a collaborative effort.

Krogstad stated that she is leaving her alternate position on District Council Collaborative and will need to be replaced.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 pm.

Minutes submitted by Sutherland