who’s online newsletter

WHO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
February 19^th, 2008
RESIDENTS: Corbin Connell, Crystal Christianson, Daniel Jackson, Beverly Roberts, George Roberts, Carol Olson, Henry Ford, Heather Frazier, James Nelson, Nicole Doran, Peter Wright, Toni Huggar
CITY REPS: Elfric Porte [CPED], Don Samuels [5^th Ward Alderman]

Download pdf version here.

1. Introductions
2. Background
• In the past year, Committee met with block club leaders, GMHC, City of Lakes Community Land Trust, Neighborhood Housing Services, and the City of Minneapolis CPED concerning the foreclosure issue.
• A plan for creating partnerships around goals our community develops began to emerge
• These meeting focused on (a) understanding the scope of the problem on the Northside, and (2) developing a plan for a pilot project in our community
3. Scope of Foreclosure Issue in North Minneapolis
• Elfric Porte presented a map of the whole Northside, indicating (1000+) 2007 foreclosures and all homesteaded properties, and gave a brief overview
• Elfric suggested we expand our consideration of “problem properties” to include any home which is derelict, unoccupied, or in need of repair
• Resources available through the City, to our community include:
    - Housing Ownership Center – contract w/ Habitat for Humanity to do foreclosure counseling [located at Neighborhood Housing Services]
    - Ordinance 249 which lists boarded/vacant houses, and gives City authority to
        1) rehab sub-code home and assess owner [not currently utilized]
        2) demo structure and assess costs to owner [utilized but less preferred]
        3) resolution agreement w/ owner to remove blight [most preferred option]
- $10 million pool of funds (GMCH) plus $1 million from Family Housing fund and $1 million from City to purchase, rehab and market homes
• After overview, review potential pilot project: Homewood Artists Cluster map
    - Penn Avenue to Upton Avenue North; Plymouth Avenue to 14^th Street North
    - Nine foreclosure properties in this area: City resources could be brought to bear
    - Build community consensus on pilot project goals and area designated
4. Discussion of Community Goals - General Questions/Comments
• Corbin Connell: empty houses seem an improvement over difficult tenants.  Can City and community work together to insure absentee landlords and speculators do not introduce a whole new cadre of problem neighbors to our community?
• Crystal Christianson: Is there a mechanism for notifying community before homes get demoed by the City.   Can we get the 249 list?
• Peter Wright: is there a way for homeowners who have decided to stay to recoup some of their lost investment?
• Beverly Roberts: what we are trying to do, locally, is develop a pilot project to show viability of identifying a group of homes to rehab, identifying a target market (i.e. young artists and their families), creating a list of goals, establishing partnerships with organizations and agencies who can assist us in reaching those goals
• Elfric Porte: let’s look at the suggested target area and see if it fits our needs.  General agreement at first, then discussion.
• Daniel Jackson: let’s be sure the proposed area is a good place to start.
• Corbin Connell: enumerated several reasons for supporting this target area, including  
   - the symbolic importance of beginning with the area of most immediate impact from Uncle Bill’s
   - the area includes the Russell-Sheridan-Thomas homes discussed earlier this year with GMHC
    - the area contains several parcel ready for economic development
    - going with this selection allows us to get moving quickly
    - the area is not in Homewood proper but gains stability from the existing stability in Homewood
    - proximity to Penn/Plymouth (U of M and NorthPoint development projects)
    - not entirely foreclosed (there is some existing homestead stability within area)
    - proximity to the park and bike path
    - centrally located w/in the neighborhood (benefits tend to radiate outward).
• James Nelson: Plymouth is a main avenue.  We should look at both sides of street.
5. Action Plan
• Community members will do a walk-around survey of all boarded, vacant or derelict homes in a slightly larger area than target area
       Queen Avenue North / 12^th-16^th: George & Bev Roberts
       Russell Avenue North / 12^th-16^th: Toni Huggar
       Sheridan Avenue North / 12^th-16^th: Corbin Connell
       Thomas Avenue North / 12^th-16^th: Daniel Jackson
       Upton Avenue North / 12^th-16^th: Crystal Christianson
• Information will be gathered and forwarded to Bev Roberts (bev@homewoodstudios.com) by Friday, February 22^nd
• Report will be sent to Elfric who will get new maps made for next meeting
• Final decision on target area and goals will be made at next meeting
• Community members invited to “think big” about goals for target area: what defines our wishes for this area? Who can we bring on as partners to help us make it happen?
6. Next Meeting – Thursday, February 28^th, 6:30p at Homewood Studios
[residents not able to attend encouraged to e-mail / phone questions and concerns to Bev Roberts for inclusion at next meeting]