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West Calhoun Neighborhood Council Agenda

Monthly Board Meeting, 6PM, August 6, 2019

6:00 – Welcome from Chair and announcements 

6:05 – Approval of July minutes and receipt of Treasurer’s Report

6:15 – Committee Reports

• Safety
• Discussion of City/County response to safety questions posed by the committee.
• Greenspace
• Proposal for greenspace improvements
• Environment
• Tree Trust
• Community Engagement and Outreach

• Results of the meeting at the Be
• Movie Night
• Land Use

7:25 New Business

7:30 – Adjourn

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Next meeting – October 1st • 6:00 • Bakken

West Calhoun Neighborhood Council

Monthly Meeting Minutes
Bakken Museum

Date: July 2, 2019

Called to order: 6:01pm

Presided by: Allan Campbell, Chair

Note taker: Molly Fleming

In attendance: Allan Campbell, Richard Logan, John Bordwell, Lynette Davis, Kate Redden, Victoria Hoshal, David Stougaard

Absent: Jeff Idelkope, Paul Legler, Martha Yunker, Michael Sanders

Guests: Leanna Stefanik and Pete Keely – Presenters on the proposed apartment building at 31st St and France Ave.

Announcements: 

• No meeting in September due to Labor Day weekend. There will be a meeting in August. The October meeting will take place at the Be apartment building instead of the Bakken to allow more renters to visit a meeting if they wish to.

Approval of June minutes – Minutes shared via email

• Approved with minor changes

Treasurer Report – Report distributed at meeting

• Business as usual. WCNC is in a good financial position.

Presentation of proposed plans for apartment building at 3820 31st St W by Collage Architects and At Home Apartments

• The presenters began with an introduction of At Home Apartments. They own and operate several apartment buildings in the West Calhoun neighborhood. They are a local company.
• This project will demolish and replace three duplexes that are owned by At Home.
• The proposed design has 45 parking spaces and 48 units. 
• The monthly rent for these units would be  about $2 per square foot, significantly more than the rent of the duplexes. However, there are more units and the price is slightly below market rates due to the absence of an amenity package.
• The expected timeline is to break ground in the fall and finish in 12 months.
• The construction of this project will include the creation of a sidewalk along the 31st St side.
• Several WCNC board members asked that they try and preserve as many mature trees as possible.
• The board encouraged the developer to hold firm on the number of parking spaces despite the City’s encouragement of fewer spaces.
• There were also questions about the plan for the portion of France Ave. WCNC, Collage Architects and At Home Apartments have all been told by the city that there is a plan for the France Ave dead end at the Greenway, but no plan has been shared with anyone.

Land Use Updates

• Testimony on hotel. Public Hearing before the Planning Commission scheduled for July 8th.

Communications, Outreach and Events Updates

• There will be a Community Meeting at the Be on 7/24 with a speaker from the LRT project. There will also be copies of the survey for people to fill out. Pizza will be served. An announcement of this meeting will be in the mailed newsletter. 
• The discussion over whether to accept money from Bader Development for the purposes of a branding study came up again. Board members didn’t want to use the firm Bader recommended, and wanted more ownership of the rebranding effort to ensure a grassroots approach was followed. Molly Fleming will reach out to NCR to see if CPP funds can be used to hire a branding specialist of WCNC’s choosing.
• WCNC decided not to move forward with light post banners until more is known about the neighborhood name change and rebranding efforts.
• Movie Night is August 10th. WCNC will use the opportunity to sell Hennepin and Lake Community Wine Tasting tickets. They also want to take the opportunity to present a plaque to honor the late Earl Bakken.

Safety Updates

• The next community meeting’s speaker will hopefully be from the Fire Marshall’s office to speak about a community wide safety plan in the event of an emergency.

Greenspace and Environment did not have reports

Adjourn

Meeting adjourned: 7:35

Submitted by: Molly Fleming

West Calhoun Neighborhood Association 

Monthly Meeting Minutes
Bakken Museum

Date: June 4, 2019

Called to order: 6:01pm

Presided by: Allan Campbell, Chair

Note taker: Molly Fleming

In attendance: Allan Campbell, Richard Logan, Paul Legler, John Bordwell, Lynette Davis, Kate Redden, Michael Sanders, Victoria Hoshal, Martha Yunker, David Stougaard

Absent: Jeff Idelkope

Guests: Katie Burns, Audubon Society, Several members of the public

Announcements

• The Safety Walk will be held on June 6th. Most elected officials who represent the neighborhood will be there or will be sending a representative. 
• On Thursday, June 13th the Bakken will be partnering with France 44 to put on their first Bakkenalia event of the season. Tickets are available on the Bakken website.

Approval of May minutes – Minutes shared via email

• Approved

Treasurer Report – Report shared via email

• Business as usual. WCNC is in a good financial position.

Election of Officers

• All positions, Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer and Secretary were up for election. No one came forward to nominate themselves or others for these positions, so a unanimous vote re-elected the current officers into their same positions for another year. Allan Campbell will serve as Chair, Lynette Davis as Vice Chair and John Bordwell as Treasurer. 
• The WCNC bylaws state that Secretary is a position that does not need to be filled if no one wishes to fill it. No one volunteered or nominated another board members, so there will not be a Secretary for the next board year.

Presentation of the Bakken Plans from Michael Sanders

• The presentation began with an overview of the Bakken’s history
• The Bakken will be undergoing renovations to increase programmatic capacity and have the public face of the museum be facing the lake. These renovations will also increase exhibit space and allow for more community partnerships.
• Overall, the renovations will allow the Bakken to better utilize their space and be more recognizable as a neighborhood arts and culture institution.

Committee Reports: Re-formation of teams

• Allan Campbell gave a brief overview of each committee and passed around a sheet so that board members could sign up for committees.
• Each board member is expected to participate in at least 1 but preferably 2 committees.

Greenspace: Audubon Society Partnership

• Martha Yunker, Chair of the Greenspace Committee invited Katie Burns from the State Conservation Office and the Audubon Society to answer some questions about some ideas regarding the neighborhood greenspace. 
• The Greenspace Committee would like to see some of the West Calhoun neighborhood greenspace be turned into a bird friendly area/bird habitat zone. 
• Minnesota is in the Mississippi Flyway zone for migratory birds, and the Chain of Lakes area in Minneapolis is designated by the Audubon Society as a very important zone for birds. 
• This new space could be both bird friendly and have an education component.
• The Greenspace Committee is also interested in having a public art component.
• The Greenspace Committee is going to continue to pursue this idea and will have a formal proposal for the Board soon.

Southwest Service Area Master Plan Letter

• Paul Legler wrote a letter commenting on the SW Service Area Master Plan. He wanted the board to approve it to be sent to the Community Advisory Committee for this project and the Parks Board.
• Approved

Land Use Updates

• Victoria reported that she had heard from Robb Bader that the new Bader Development project won’t break ground until next spring.

Safety Update – Annual Safety Walk

• There is hope that this will become an annual event
• If this is going to be an annual event, the Board will pick a date and hold the event on that same date, or near it, every year.
• The date could possibly coincide with a city-wide safety week, but research will need to be done to see if the city has a program such as that.

Discussion: Street Renaming

• The comment period on the renaming of Calhoun Blvd and Calhoun Pkwy end on July 1st.
• There was discussion on the topic, however no formal stance was taken by the WCNC board in favor or against the renaming.

Coordinator’s Report

• The planning efforts for the Annual Hennepin and Lake Community Wine Tasting are underway. 
• Molly will split her billable hours for Wine Tasting tasks evenly between WCNC and EIRA
• There is interest in doing a buckthorn removal project with Tree Trust along the shore of Bde Maka Ska. Molly will reach out to the park board for permission.

Discussion of Funding for sidewalk on 30 ½ St

• The board is interested in how they can support or fund a project like this

Discussion of Branding Study

• Robb Bader of Bader Development approached Allan Campbell to offer financial support to hire a branding consultant to work on the potential name change of the neighborhood.
• The board expressed interest, but wanted to see if they could choose the firm.
• Allan will further the discussion with Robb Bader

Adjourn

Meeting adjourned: 7:34

Submitted by: Molly Fleming

West Calhoun Neighborhood Council

Annual General Membership Meeting Minutes
Bakken Museum

Date: May 14, 2019

Called to order: 6:00pm

Presided by: Allan Campbell, Chair

Note taker: Molly Fleming 

In attendance: Allan Campbell, Richard Logan, Paul Legler, John Bordwell, Lynette Davis, Kate Redden, Michael Sanders, Victoria Hoshal, 

Absent: Martha Yunker, Jeff Idelkope

Guests: City Council Member Linea Palmisano, Metropolitan Council Member, Linnea Atlas-Ingebretsen, Laura Hoffman representing County Commission Chair Marion Greene, Park Board Commissioner Meg Forney, David Davies from the SWLRT Project Office,  and many neighbors and members of the public

Introductions and Welcome – It was announced that one invited speaker, Park Board President Brad Bourn, would be unable to attend due to a Park Board budget meeting.

Approval of April minutes – Minutes shared via email

• Approved

Approval of change of time of monthly meeting from 6pm on the second Tuesday of each month to 6pm on the First Tuesday of each month.

• Approved

Treasurer’s Report – Report shared via email

• All funds are present and accounted for.

Board Elections

• Ballots were passed out at the start of the meeting for the election. All 10 board members currently serving were running for re-election. There are 11 open seats on the board. When asked if anyone from the floor would like to put their name in for election to the board, David Stougaard volunteered. With 11 open seats and 11 candidates, there was no need for the ballot.
• A voice vote elected all 11 board members unanimously

Bylaws Change

• Changing Article IX, B, 5 to differentiate between the role of Treasurer and a contracted bookkeeper by adding the underlined words:

The duties of the treasurer shall be to pay bills approved by the person or persons authorized by the board to approve bills and to work with a bookkeeper or accountant to keep and record the financial transactions of the organization.

• Approved

Discussion of Neighborhood Survey Results

• The current results of the neighborhood survey were passed out to all in attendance.  65 people completed the survey thus far. The majority of respondents were homeowners. The results thus far showed that there is an almost even split between those who want to change the name of the neighborhood and those that don’t. Given that so few people have filled out the survey, and that the majority of respondents were homeowners and not renters in a majority renter neighborhood, many board members agreed that an ongoing engagement process will need to take place in order to get a more accurate and holistic idea of where the neighborhood falls on this issue. Some ideas were thrown out about how to do this, including hosting open houses, sending a dedicated postcard and keeping the survey open for longer. Other results of the survey conclude that neighbors are concerned with issues primarily relating to traffic control, density, green space and parking. Ideas for neighborhood events included park clean ups, happy hours and movie nights. This survey will be kept open so that more people can respond over a longer period of time.

Presentation by Metropolitan Council Member Lynnea Atlas-Ingebretson

CM Atlas-Ingebretson, who represents our 6^th District at the Met Council, spoke about the role of the Council in our neighborhood, discussing efforts to minimize disruptions from light rail construction and the need to create vibrant neighborhoods with job opportunities and affordable housing around light rail stations. Residents raised the issue that those living north of the railroad tracks would be cut off from the rest of the neighborhood and that bikers would be unable to reach the Midtown Greenway without taking the unacceptable risk of riding with automobile traffic over the Lake Street bridge. 

Presentation by City Council Member Linea Palmisano

CM Palmisano, who represents our 13^th Ward at City Council, recognized the need for infrastructure improvements in our neighborhood ahead of the increased density that is coming from the light rail station and the Calhoun Towers project and said she would continue to work with the neighborhood, but pointed out that many of the needed improvements were county responsibilities and needed funding from the county.

Remarks by Park Board Commissioner Meg Forney

Commissioner Forney, who is also a resident of our neighborhood, was unable to attend most of the meeting due to the Park Board budget meeting. However, she provided an update at the end of the meeting, followed by a discussion of the need for an appropriate name for our greenspace at the northwest corner of the lake and the need for a neighborhood park along Lake Street.

West Calhoun Neighborhood Council Agenda

Monthly Board Meeting, 6PM, July 2, 2019

6:00 – Welcome from Chair and announcements 

6:05 – Approval of June minutes and receipt of Treasurer’s Report

6:15 – Presentation by Collage Architects of a proposed 49-unit apartment building at 3820 31^st Street West

6:45 – Committee Reports

• Land Use
• Testimony on hotel. Public hearing before the Planning Commission scheduled for July 8th

• Communications, Outreach and Events

• Meeting/Social hour at the Be for further outreach on a possible neighborhood name change
• Discussion of using a branding firm to advise on the neighborhood name
• Discussion of light post Banners on Excelsior Blvd
• Movie night August 10^th – sale of wine tickets, need board members to show up

• Safety
• Greenspace
• Environment

7:25 New Business

7:30 – Adjourn

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Next meeting – August  6 • 6:00 • Bakken

West Calhoun Neighborhood Association

Monthly Meeting Minutes
Bakken Museum

Date: April 9, 2019

Called to order: 6:00pm

Presided by: Allan Campbell, Chair

Note taker: Anna Schmitz

In attendance: Allan Campbell, Richard Logan, Paul Legler, John Bordwell, Lynette Davis, Kate Redden, Michael Sanders, Victoria Hoshal, Jeff Idelkope

Absent: Martha Yunker

Guests: David Davies – Met Council; Planning team – Lake & Excelsior hotel project

Earth Day Clean Up on April 20th

Upcoming transportation workshop April 22nd at Central Library from 4-6pm

Approval of March minutes – Minutes shared via email

• Approved

John Bordwell elected as treasurer by e-vote between March and April meetings

Treasurer Report – Report shared via email

• Further rollover of past funds likely to come

Discussion of candidate for new coordinator

• Allan and Lynette met with Molly Fleming and spoke with supervisor, would recommend for position
• Would need to move board meeting dates to avoid conflict with East Isles
• Approved to move ahead with hiring at $28/hour

Discussion of plans for May Annual Public Meeting

• Allan asked Jack Whitehurst for renter-based speaker suggestions, but no specific suggestions
• Invited Commissioner Greene, Council Member Palmisano, Park Board Commissioner Brad Bourne
• May also invite Mayor Frey, Anna to contact for interest
• Interest in potentially inviting Planning Commission to speak on planned increase in density

Presentation by David Davies of Metro Transit on the schedule for light rail construction

• Opening in 2023, 14.5 miles, 16 stations
• Extension of Green Line, will connect to Blue Line
• Barriers will provide separation between pedestrians and traffic on Lake Street, sidewalk will be same width as it is currently
• How can bikes get down to Greenway? Can be taken down elevator
• Traffic will be stopped behind bus at bus stops
• Council has a construction schedule that is currently being reviewed
• Current construction activities along the corridor
  • Open the SWLRT Field Office
  • Pre-construction survey work
  • Encroachment survey and outreach
• Spring activities
  • Outreach/access plan meetings
  • Surveys
  • Kenilworth Trail closure, timing TBD
  • Clearing and grubbing, some trees will be removed, can email David to check on specific trees
  • Fencing
  • Rail delivery
• Pre- and post- construction survey process
  • Surveys have been sent out, need responses quickly
• Coordination and access
  • Traffic impacts under consideration, access must be maintained for businesses and residences
  • Cedar Lake Parkway construction happening spring/fall for ~6 months with closure for cars
• Safety procedures and communication
  • Coordinating with City to talk through details of emergency access
  • Continuing issue, meeting with cities to ensure coordination
• Construction measures
  • Taking potential construction issues into consideration in order to address before they come up
  • Construction workers are not allowed to park in residential areas, contracted company must submit parking plan
  • Calhoun Isles is sensitive area for vibrations
• David Davies contact: david.davies@metrotransit.org, 612-373-5336

Presentation on the Lake & Excelsior hotel proposal

• Long process with BP moving forward on site, was dragged out ~6 months longer than anticipated
• Construction contract will be with McGough
• Met with County ~3 weeks ago, County is excited about development and addition of landscaping/green space
• Hope for crossing safety to improve due to landscaping, sidewalk has been widened in crossing area and around the hotel area (going from 6’ to 10’)
• Have asked to take over maintenance of green space moving forward, adding in native plants and flowers
• Bus stop and bike racks incorporated, some kind of art element may be added to corner
• Look will be “sophistication paired with regionality of materials” paired with warmth/wood textures, brick/stone exterior
• Restaurant at end, outdoor seating and entrance to hotel/restaurant
• 9 stories tall with amenity deck on top, 124’ to top of amenity deck from ground
• Possibility of coworking space on second floor
• Not yet approved, Public Works meeting tomorrow on streets/sidewalks, submitting land use applications within this month
• Would start teardown in July pending approval
• Board expressed mixed opinions about the architecture and concern about the increased height. Would prefer architecture and art element (if any) that is representative of the neighborhood.

Greenspace Update

• No update

Banners Update

• Victoria likes designer suggested by Annie, suggests getting quotes and portfolios from two other designers. Board agreed.

Jiffy Lube Update

• Paragraph added to letter summarizing concerns re Jiffy Lube site development
• Approval for letter to come from the board

Safety Update – Annual Safety Walk, evacuation planning

• Richard is looking for date to re-establish safety walk as annual neighborhood event, communicating with Commissioner Greene and Councilmember Palmisano
• Richard notes that there is no training for apartment managers for emergency evacuation plans
• Noted that Sam from Met Council said she would get back to WCNC about emergency evacuation plan

Ideas about how to work with the Bakken

• Bakken will be doing complete remodel of lower level of building in keeping with new brand, identity, logo
  • Would like 20 min presentation in future meeting

Survey is at printers

Adjourn

Meeting adjourned: 7:30

Submitted by: Anna Schmitz

West Calhoun Neighborhood Association

Monthly Meeting Minutes
Bakken Museum

Date: March 12, 2019

Called to order: 6:00pm

Presided by: Allan Campbell, Chair

Note taker: Anna Schmitz

In attendance: Allan Campbell, Richard Logan, Martha Yunker, Paul Legler, Victoria Hoshal, Jeff Idelkope, John Bordwell, Lynette Davis

Absent: Michael Sanders

Guests: Kim Van Dyn Hoven, Nolan Properties Group; Kate Redden

Resignation of Tim Musson – letter of resignation received

Approval of February minutes – Minutes shared via email

• Approved

Treasurer Report – Report shared via email

• Waiting to hear from city how much CPP money will be received for this year, and when remaining funds can be spent

Kate Redden board application

• Approved

Update from hotel

• Allan, Annie, and Martha met, plans seem to remain largely the same
  • South sidewalk now 16 feet wide, outdoor terrace indent
  • Pedestrian galleria no longer a feature
  • Roof deck is new (no longer activity deck), will include a public restaurant
  • McGough construction will be developer
  • Construction will begin in last half of summer 2019
• Richard would like coordinated plan from major construction plans in area
• Lynette would like to go on record as not agreeing to height

Presentation: Proposal for Jiffy Lube site

• Corner of Abbott and Excelsior (3120 Excelsior)
• Repurposing from vacant Jiffy Lube to transit-oriented retail
• See as future main corridor with light rail coming in
• Update facade but keeping same footprint, potentially add patio, green space, bike parking, keep car parking
• 1-2 tenants, will depend on who’s interested, potentially restaurant, retail, fitness studio
• Will need to dig out and clean up pavement due to environmental safety investigation
• Board suggestion to widen sidewalk space by removing proposed fence/concrete around parking area
• Currently in process of getting building permitted in order to begin construction
• Abbott Ave will be slightly reconfigured, sidewalks added to back of Bader property, could happen spring 2019 and last for 1-2 years
• Aiming to have circular parking/movement area around property
• No planned dedicated pedestrian entrance on Excelsior for site, suggested by board
• Ultimate vision (in 10+ years) of ground floor retail with some residential units
• Water table contamination goes farther down than MN grant will fund
• Land Use Committee to come up with statement

Coordinator’s report: Anna on 2020

• Southwest letter will be tabled and followed up via email

Greenspace report

• Greenspace Committee met with Colleen O’Dell, Madeline and Cesca from Parks Department
• Long-range 20 year plan for West Calhoun green space calls for sidewalk crossing the space
• Would stand against changes on Calhoun Boulevard because of older trees on boulevard area
• Interested in a piece of public art, maintaining the natural quality of the lake and the wildlife, potentially adding binoculars or coordinating with Bakken
• Retention pond north of sidewalk going from parkway to boulevard
• Could be public art (possibly sculpture) around point of green space or educational piece, or grove of smaller flowering trees, pollinator plants along parkway between creek bed and road, benches and shade trees along edges
• Would have to be committed to spending money by end of 2019
• Will contact Audobon Society for information/input on how to attract and support migratory birds
• Martha to send out further materials to board

Survey ready for review

• Send edits to Anna by end of next week (3/22)
• Board approved for survey to be sent following edits

Greenway Cleanup plan

• Anna to coordinate with City, Park Department, Girl Scouts to set up cleaning Greenway section

Follow-up with City/County on February meeting

• Letter to County and City approved
• CIDNA and Kenwood having a meeting with Southwest Light Rail representatives on light rail timeline (March 20, 7pm at Kenwood Community Center, 2101 W Franklin Ave)

Ways to work with the Bakken

• Pushed to next meeting

Newsletter plan

• Newsletter to go out in early April
• Add bio of new board member
• Publicising May annual meeting
• Safety Walk could be added to next newsletter

Minikahda Clubhouse update

• Going to City for permit to expand clubhouse east toward the lake
• Two weeks from now there will be hearing where members of Land Use Committee could make comments
• Martha could acquire plans for expansion

Banners report

• No update on banners

Adjourn

Meeting adjourned: 7:34

Submitted by: Anna Schmitz

West Calhoun Neighborhood Council Agenda

Monthly Board Meeting, 6PM, March 12, 2019

6:00 – Welcome

6:03 – Treasurer’s Report

6:05 – Approval of Minutes

6:07 – New board member: Kate Redden

6:12 – Update from hotel

6:15 – Presentation: Proposal for Jiffy Lube site

6:40 – Coordinator’s report: Anna on 2020

6:50 – Greenspace report

7:00 – Survey ready for review

7:05 – Greenway Cleanup plan

7:10 – Follow-up with City/County on February meeting

7:15 – Ways to work with the Bakken

7:20 – Newsletter plan

7:25 – Minikahda Clubhouse update

7:28 – Banners report

7:30 – Adjourn

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Next meeting – April 9 • 6:00 • Bakken