JACC Housing and Development Committee meeting minutes for Dec. 14 , 2010.
After a potluck dinner provided by Jordan neighbors on the JACC Housing &
Development Committee, Decemberʻs meeting came to order @ 7:05 PM. The meeting was
held at the JACC office, located at 2009 James Av. N., Mpls.. The attendees were Daniel Rother
& Polly Peterson, co-chairpersons of the H&D committee, Megan Goodmundson & Todd Heintz
(members of the JACC board), Chic Hanssen & Deb Wagner (members of the H&D committee),
Roger Smithrud (a Jordan resident), Georgianna Yantos, Linda Tacke & Peggy Kotila (from the
Hawthorne neighborhood),Terry Egge & Marina Lyon from the Pohlad Foundation, Tom Leighton
From CPED, John Hoff ( of johnnynorthside.com), Anthony Taylor of Major Taylor Cycling Club
and Tracy Farr of Now Bikes & Fitness .
Decembersʼ agenda was reviewed by members of JACCʼs H&D committee and
approved.
The Novembersʼ Housing & Development Committee meeting minutes were also
reviewed by the committee and approved.
First on the agenda was Anthony Taylor and Tracy Farr, who came to introduce
themselves to the neighborhood group and talk about their proposal, to the RFP sent out by the
Minneapolis Health & Family Support Dept., for the Bike Walk Center to be located on the
northside. They are proposing a nonprofit retail bike shop with a small coffee shop within the
bike shop, to be located in Lowry/Penn Crossing Building with its store front on Lowry Av.. They
are partnering with the Cultural Wellness Center from the Powderhorn neighborhood as well as
EMERGE (Emerge Community Development) and NEON (Northside Economic Opportunity
Network) to successfully launch this nonprofit venture. The shop will sell new bicycles and
related equipment and have a repair and service department staffed by one full time mechanic
and a number of youth trainees from the north side neighborhoods. They also want to acquire
bicycles in need of repair to refurbish and sell as 2nd hand bicycles as well as use them to start
an Earn a Bike Program. They said their intention is to promote bicycling and fitness on the
north side through this new shop on Lowry Av. while connecting northsiders with existing fitness
programs like the Safe Routes to School Program and the Mountain Bike Program at Wirth
Parkway. Anthony stated he is the founder of the Major Taylor Bicycle Club and has been a
promoter of bicycling in the Twin City Area for 10 or more years. Tracy Farr stated that he is
currently a manager of a NOW Bikes & Fitness store in St. Paul and has been involved in Twin
City bicycling for 20 years and that he will be the general manager of the bike shop. They said
the coffee shop idea within the bike shop was added to help offset costs of running a bike shop
and to further promote the shop as a community place where people would meet.
After their presentation they were open to questions from the committee and guests.
There was a question from a committee (JACC board) member about the coffee shop area
start up costs and whether funding from the Health & Planning Dept. would be used for that.
Anthony stated that the funds would not be used to start up the coffee shop and that the money
to develop the coffee shop was coming from elsewhere. There was a question from guests
about the ability of their nonprofit partners to sustain their support for the bike/walk center and if
Anthony & Tracy had looked into those nonprofitʼs financial condition. A few guests felt that the
nonprofits supporting this proposal were not stable enough to ensure this proposal to be a
successful venture. Anthony stated that these nonprofits had been successfully around for
years and that it was not appropriate for Anthony & Tracy to be asked that question since they
were not privy to the nonprofits financial information and were not responsible for their financial
condition. There also was a question about why Anthony & Tracy (& the Cultural Wellness
Center) had not presented their proposal to the neighborhoods before their presentation to the
city council. They said they wanted to see how it was received by the Mpls. Health Dept. & the
city council before they presented it to the neighborhoods, that if it wasnʼt well received there
was no reason to spend the time going to all of the neighborhoods promoting it. After their
JACC Housing and Development Committee meeting minutes for Dec. 14 , 2010.
presentation to the city council they felt it was well received by the council and that their
proposal would be voted on and accepted at the next city council meeting. There were guests at
the H & D committee meeting who attended the first presentation to the city council who did not
agree with that assessment.
There was confusion by some people about what had happened to the Pohlad proposal
which had already been presented to the Jordan H & D committee and had the backing by the
JACC H & D committee and the JACC council. The Pohlad Foundation had pulled their proposal
from the competition. No reason was given at our meeting.
Although there were disagreements from the guests at the H & D committee meeting
about Anthony & Tracyʼs proposal, the general consensus from the Housing & Development
committee was support for the proposal, but since there was no action of support asked to be
taken by Anthony and Tracy, no motions were made to be voted on.
The only other item on the agenda was discussing what the H & D committee should
start working on in the new year. After babbling about what directions we should take for a few
minutes it was agreed that we werenʼt prepared to discuss any new focus.
Announcements:
No new announcements.
The meeting adjourned @ 8:40 PM.