Dayton’s Bluff Community Council Board of Directors Meeting
Date/Time: Monday July 20th, 7:00-8:30 PM
Location: East Side Enterprise Center- 804 Margret Street
Board Session 7:00-8:30 PM
1. Introductions & Call to Order (5 minutes) Liz Matakis a. Approval Of Minutes – May 18th
b. Approval Of Agenda
2. Gateway Corridor (45 minutes) Bill Dermody, Lisa Leitner
3. Radio (5 minutes) Radio Team
a. Update
4. Committee Updates (10 minutes)
a. Community Engagement
b. Neighborhood Development
-Land Use
c. Internal Operations & Board Development
d. Business Development & Partnerships
5. Staff Reports (10 minutes) Support Team
a. Jesus
b. Nicole
c. Brenda
6. Executive Director Update (15 minutes) Deanna Abbott- Foster
a. Pedestrian Plan (attached)
b. Financial Update
7. Connect St. Paul (5 minutes) Liz Matakis
a. Document Attached
8. Announcements (5 minutes)
9. Adjourn
Next Meeting Monday August 17th 7-8:30 PM, Enterprise Center

By Tad Vezner
tvezner@pioneerpress.com

The first broadcast from St. Paul’s new East Side community radio station will hit the airwaves Friday — with organizers putting out a call for fresh, local talent.

“We want the voices that are unheard,” said Deanna Abbott-Foster, executive director of the Dayton’s Bluff Community Council, which owns and operates the new WEQY-FM, 104.7. “We’re absolutely committed to it being a local voice.”

The kickoff of “East Side Radio” commences with a block party that will close a stretch of the neighborhood’s main drag: East Seventh Street. And while the 100-watt broadcasts over the next week or so will likely be just music, the community council has a half-dozen hours of original talk and variety programming lined up once the testing phase is complete.

Read more.

Since March, youth interns working in the Conservation Crew have been collaborating with fifth grade science classes at Dayton’s Bluff Elementary School to renovate a rain garden at their school.
First, we used native plant seeds collected by Urban Roots interns in the fall to start the plants indoors. Urban Roots helped care for the plants until the time came for planting.

As the Dayton’s Bluff Elementary’s rain garden begins it’s overhaul, fifth and third graders have been coming out to work and plant side-by-side with our conservation crew.

The young students have enjoyed getting outside and playing in the dirt. They are pleased with their rain garden and are excited to keep an eye on their plants as they bloom. Take a look at planting day!

Learn more. 

By Frederick Melo
fmelo@pioneerpress.com

With the Nov. 3 election five months away, the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce’s Political Action Committee has endorsed five candidates for St. Paul City Council, most of them incumbents, as well as Rebecca Noecker for the open seat in Ward 2.

The PAC, however, decided not to throw its support to Ward 1 council member Dai Thao or any of his three challengers, and it also chose not to back Jane Prince, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor-endorsed candidate for the open seat in Ward 7.

Each candidate supported by the PAC will receive $600, the maximum donation allowed under campaign finance rules. More candidates may yet materialize, as the political filing period runs from July 28 to Aug. 11.

Read more. 

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.

E.D. 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

St. Paul police officer Nicole Carle and Metro Transit officer Leonard Mitchell weren’t looking for suspects Friday afternoon as they patrolled bustling Payne Avenue on St. Paul’s East Side.

They were searching for handshakes and friendly “hellos.”

Friday was the first day of a policing partnership that paired St. Paul and Metro Transit officers to police part of the Payne-Phalen neighborhood on foot and try to make positive contact with kids, business owners and other residents.

St. Paul police and transit officials are intensifying their presence in one of the most troubled areas in the east metropolitan area, as a law enforcement officers try to stem the usual uptick in crime and violence in the summer months.

Read more.

Open house scheduled for May 30

With a studio location in place, equipment purchased, and some programming beginning to form, the East Side’s own community radio station, 104.7 WEQY, is on its way to being ready for broadcasting.

“We have all the equipment; we have the antenna,” reports Brenda Reid, project manager for the Dayton’s Bluff Community Council.

The radio station will be designed to serve East Siders, providing local radio content to the majority of the East Side. The station comes out of a 2013 effort by the Dayton’s Bluff Community Council to secure a signal from the FCC during a brief application window. The community council has since secured funding through St. Paul STAR funds to help offset the station’s startup costs.

Read more.

Learning Session 6:30-7:00 PM

Organization: Connect Saint Paul

Guest Speaker: Tom Goldstein

More Information: www.connectsaintpaul.org

Board Session 7:00-8:30 PM

1. Introductions & Call to Order (5 minutes)  Liz Matakis, President

a. Approval Of Minutes – April 20th

b. Approval Of Agenda

2. Executive Director Update (45  minutes)  Deanna Abbott-Foster

– Guest Speaker: John Vaughn

3. Radio  (10 minutes) Radio Team

a. Update

4. Committee Updates  ( 20 minutes)

a. Community Engagement

b. Neighborhood Development

-Land Use

c. Internal Operations & Board Development

d. Business Development & Partnerships

6. Announcements  (10 minutes)

– Summer Board Session

7. Adjourn

Next Meeting Monday June 15th 6:30-8:30 PM, Enterprise Center

Dayton’s Bluff Community Council is looking for a high school Junior or Senior to be a part of our youth and equity community engagement work.  This is a summer position beginning June 8, 2015 to August 21, 2015. Students would receive organizer training that allow youth to become effective advocates to address issues in their community.  The Youth Engagement Worker will participate in meetings and training to build knowledge and skills around equity and community engagement, perform community outreach, and work with adult and teen staff to plan events and programs to advance our mission.

WHY JOIN?

–       Gain skills to advocate and educate on issue you care about

–       Looks great on a college applications

–       Learn the value of service and community building

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

-Work with staff and board to execute community engagement projects

-Demonstrate commitment to goals and mission of Dayton’s Bluff Community Council

– Attend and participate in staff planning meetings

– Assist staff in developing equity framework for programs and events

-assist in developing outreach plan

-assist in outreach activities including flyering, door knocking and one to ones

SPECIFIC JOB KNOWLEDGE, SKILL AND ABILITY

Must be organized and able to multi-task

Must be detail oriented

Must possess excellent writing and verbal communications skills

To apply please send resume and letter of interest to Nicole@daytonsbluff.org