Board Members Present: Carla Riehle, Sage Holben, Elizabeth Matakis, Alex Bajwa, Tong Thao, Rob Sebo Lubke, Colin Wilkinson, Jacob Lambert, Breann Tierschel, Bridger Merkt, Henry Garnica, Jessica Johnson,

Board Members Absent: Jesus Ramirez

Board Members w/ Scheduled Absence:  Rafael Espinosa

Meeting Called to Order at 7:40 pm by Elizabeth Matakis

Guest Speaker: Ellen Biales

Ellen visited to do an educational session on zoning and land use. The city takes land use recommendations from the district councils very seriously because the city funding for district councils are tied to land use. Full zoning codes are available online www.stpaul.gov under “I want to” and then “read city code.” The Early Notification System (ENS) for any land use issues that is utilized by the district council is also available online at www.stpaul.gov under e-subscriptions. A consistent review process on the district council side will help the city council’s review process and approval. A district plan, reviewed every 10 year, can help improve the land use process.

Minutes from 03/16/2015 approved

Add Breann Tierschel to Scheduled Absence

Approval of the Agenda: approved

-Add Sage Freedomworks, add Rob to agenda

Freedomworks – Sage:
Sage gave a review of her experience with Freedomworks and their quick acquisition of the old Sacred Heart Convent and its land use change. The overall perception of Freedomworks is softening up. There have been numerous community meetings already and will be more meetings to review the contentious shifting around of tenants in different buildings. The City Council will review the project at the end of the month. The community meeting on Monday April 27 will be more telling of how the community feels about the project. Neighborhood Dev. Comm. will write a letter to be reviewed by the Executive Committee on behalf of the full board.

Committee Reports:

Community Engagement:

  • Had a meeting with Mesa Latina about the May 1st march to the capitol. CEC will be marching from ESEC to the capitol to join Mesa Latina and other organizations to talk to legislators about drivers license for all. CEC is also involved with a district council collaboration called Dialogue to Action which is focused on working with 3 different city departments on racial equity.

Neighborhood Development:

  • The bike path plan will have a huge impact on the East Side, it is still in its early stages so we need to be more involved.
  • Rob invited a few people (4) off of the East St. Paul Facebook to a meeting at ESEC and realized that no one knew about the district council systems but want to get active. Rob encourages us to work with them.

Internal Operations & Board Development:

  • Did not meet last month but will continue to complete its three goals

Business Development and Partnerships:

  • Did not meet due to scheduling problems.
  • Brenda gave a very short presentation on the BizCAP program offered by the partners of ESEC, which offers a loan readiness support to businesses who have been denied a loan or are minority or women owners.

Radio Station:

  • The radio station is working now and Rob has completed his first show. The Advisory Committee has met on several occasion and is working hard to create a vision and mission statement as well as finding programing ideas. Rob will bring a mic next board meeting to record some drops.

 

Executive Director Updates:

Deanna gave an overview of the success stories of last year and the multiple economic victories with the STAR program. After the inception of the Make it Happen on E. 7t, DBCC is the primary implementer of the Near East Side Road Map, and the East Side will look greatly different from how it is now. Brenda will do some research on what the impact of the STAR grant has been, hopefully this will incentivize additional funding.  DBCC got the Carpenters Union to build a fence around the Children’s garden to the specifications of the Historic District. There are orders on the Phoenix Market to remove the art on their wall because it is considered an advertisement, there were suggestions to create a community mural on the side of Phoenix Market instead. Deanna requests that she would like more guidance about the work of the council and its direction.

Announcement:

  • Both of DBCC projects rank on the top 20 list, which is an awesome achievement!
  • Mounds Theater has a lot of things happening, contact Jessica Johnson or Alex Bajwa for more information!
  • MPLS/STP Home tour is still going on and still needs volunteers!
  • DB Senior Spaghetti Dinner @ First Lutheran Church tickets are on sale.
  • Nicole is creating the East Side Events Calendar, which will lessen the Announcements section on the agenda.

Motion to adjourn at 8:45 – Approved