Board Minutes
7/20/15
Board Members Present: Rafael Espinosa, Carla Riehle, Elizabeth Matakis, Alex Bajwa, Jesus
Ramirez, Tong Thao Jacob Lambert, Breann Tierschel, Bridger Merkt, Henry Garnica,
Board Members w/ Scheduled Absence: Sage Holben, Rob Sebo Lubke, Jessica Johnson
Meeting Called to Order at 7:04 pm by Elizabeth Matakis
Guest Speakers:
Minutes from 5/18/15 approved
Agenda approved by Alex, second by Elizabeth with amendment to add Rainbow to the agenda
1. Lyssa Leitner and Bill Dermody gave a presentation on the Gateway Corridor.
a. Lyssa presented on the potential for the Red Rock corridor, planned to travel
south along highway 6, sharing parts of the route with Gateway. Lyssa also gave
a brief description of what to expect in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement,
which will be released at the end of 2015 with a 60 day comment period. Bill
Dermody gave an indepth
report on the Gateway Corridor and the station area
plans. The first stop of the Gateway on the East Side has two potential locations,
one on Maria and another on Mounds. The Earl St. station will be leveled with
Hudson blvd, making Hudson blvd a one way street for one block but preserving
parking. Bill also went over several street realignment, pedestrian bridges, and
zoning changes.The full Station Area Plan (SAP) can be found online at the
Gateway website and a public hearing about the SAP will be held on 7/24. After
that, a public comment period will start. Henry Garnica asked how much will the
project cost and who will eventually pay for the project. Lyssa explained that the
total project cost is $460 million, which will be split between several government
agencies. The project will be paid accordingly: 45% Federal funding, 35% County
(county transportation improvement budget), 10% State, 5% Ramsey, 5%
Washington. Rafael stated that transit works better when it is placed inside a
neighborhood instead of in the peripheries and questioned why the E. 7th st. and
Whitebear routes were not on the plan. Lyssa explained that the route would
require imminent domain on every single property past Forest and all along
Whitebear, which would not be ideal for their neighborhood.
2. Rainbow Espinosa
a. Asked about the details of the new 7th Street Live festival and how much vendors
are required to pay for a spot. The reason was to secure a spot for an ice cream
truck to sell ice cream to fundraise for her youth soccer team.
3. Radio: Brenda Reid
a. Build out of the new radio station is soon to be completed and will plan to be on
air by August 1st. There will also be a training for FCC rules and regulations
soon.
4. Committee Reports:
a. Community Engagement: n/a
b. Neighborhood Development: Prioritizing neighborhood pride campaign
and landlord/tenant issues.
i. Land use: The Freedomworks appeal was denied because the
purchase fell through.
c. Business Development: On track with STAR Fund, reported that the
$500,000 investment on E. 7th St. spurred over $1 million private
investment.
5. Staff Reports:
a. Jesus, Outreach
i. Jesus gave a report on the outreach done in the past weeks for the
employment fair by Mississippi Market. The outreach effort drew in
over 50 participants the first day for application and resume help. It
also drew in 70 participants on the second day for applications and
mock interviews. Jesus hopes to see the same model on other
business and jobs that are created on the East Side.
ii. Rafael asked if and how the council will keep track of applicants, in
which Jesus replied that with the sign in sheets and records from
Mississippi Market, data will be tracked and will see results at the
end of the year. The results will be used to hold Mississippi Market
accountable.
b. Brenda, BizCAP
i. Brenda gave a brief overview of the BizCAP program, which is a
loan readiness program aimed at minority or women owned
business or start ups. The program started in January in
partnership with ESEC program partners and will end at the end of
the year. Brenda explained that the money used in this program is
through a legislative appropriation.
c. Deanna:
i. If you want to make your street corner more pedestrian friendly,
contact Nicole
ii. Deanna gave a brief overview of financial profit, loss, grants, and
contractors currently working under DBCC. In the future, Deanna
will also be reporting financials from East Side Enterprise Center,
which DBCC is coowners
of.
6. Resolutions:
a. Vote to support Pedestrian Plan Resolution: First by Rafael, second by
Alex, Passed
b. Vote to support City Wide Fiber Resolution: First by Jesus, second by
Jacob, Passed
Motion to adjourn at 8:52 Approved