I received the following letter and think it is very important to pass
along. To save NRP we need to have as many people as possible notify their
City Council Member, and if possible attend the August 4th 1:30PM City
Council meeting. The compromise amended "Lane Resolution" will help to do
that. Council Member Lane is to be commended and thanked for working with
the Neighborhood Representatives and their fellow supporters on the NRP
Policy Board to accomplish this.
----------------------------------------------
>"Dear Members of the community;
I wanted to give you an update about current movement on the NRP Phase
II front.
In a nutshell, on March 21st, Council Member Barret Lane proposed
amendments to the City Ordinance regarding NRP in order to address
issues of NRP Phase II structure and funding. After several information
gathering endeavors over the past few months, including setting up a
task force to gather community input on NRP and working with the City
finance department to determine potential funding sources, Council
Member Lane has proposed further amendments to NRP that suggest a City
funding source for Phase II. Council Member Lane presented his proposal
to the NRP Policy Board on July 21st, at which time they voted on, and
passed, a compromise resolution (detailed below).
There is a VERY IMPORTANT joint public hearing of the City's Community
Development and Ways and Means Committees on Monday, August 4th at
1:30pm at City Hall. At this meeting, the Neighborhood Revitalization
Program, the proposed Lane ordinance and its amendments will be
discussed. NRP Policy Board Chair Diane Hofstede has stated that "I
strongly believe that we are on the home stretch" in terms of resolving
NRP Phase II issues.
The City Council will vote on the ordinance on Friday, August 22nd.
Input at the Public Hearing on the 4th is critical to the advancement of
NRP. I am writing to suggest that if you have time and are willing, you
could do 2 things to support the continuation of NRP:
1. Attend the meeting on the 4th of August (if you would like to
carpool, please meet at the LCC office at 1:00PM) and/or
2. Contact the Mayor (673-2100) and/or your Council Member and let them
know your opinion about the NRP resolution and related issues (Sandy
Colvin Roy - 673-2212; Gary Schiff - 673-2209; Dean Zimmerman - 673-2206;
Robert Lillegrin 673-2208; you get the idea 673-22- then your ward number)
For more information about Barret Lane's ordinance, visit the Ward 13
website at www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/council/ward13 and click on "City
Issues" in the left hand column.
For more information about lots of other NRP-related stuff, go to NENA's
website at www.nokomiseast.org and click on the "NRP" link in the upper
right hand corner.
Please call your Neighborhood Organization if you have comments or
questions regarding this matter. Hope to see SEE YOU ON THE 4TH.
NRP / Neighborhoods Update:
7/21 NRP Policy Board Resolution
July 23, 2003
NRP Policy Board meeting, 7/21/03
Resolution on NRP
and Future Funding
Whereas, the residents of Minneapolis
and the volunteers from Neighborhood
Organizations have contributed more
than a million hours of volunteer service
through the Neighborhood
Revitalization Program (NRP) to make this city a better
place to live, work, learn and play;
Whereas, volunteers have become more
connected to city government through their
involvement with their Neighborhood
Organization;
Whereas, the Teamworks evaluation of
NRP praised the program and found
statistically significant evidence
that NRP has improved the housing stock of the
city, increased home ownership rates
and fostered inter-governmental collaboration;
Whereas, citizens of this city believe
that NRP has greatly contributed to the
quality of life in the city and
allowed residents to directly participate in
decisions that affect them;
Whereas, the revisions to Chapter 419
of the Minneapolis Code of Ordinances
proposed by Council Member Barret Lane
update the legal framework for continuing
the Minneapolis Neighborhood
Revitalization Program (NRP);
Whereas, the "Analysis of Proposed NRP
Ordinance" presented by Patrick Born on June
4, 2003, defines the Common Project
revenues available for funding NRP through
2009;
Whereas, the residents of the city
have had the opportunity to express their
opinions regarding the continuation of
NRP and its funding, governance and
structure and have strongly supported:
Continuation of the NRP program
Using Community Development
Block Grant revenues to supplement the Common
Project revenues allocated to NRP
Funding for organizing and
citizen participation activities
Funding for implementation of
projects and programs identified in
Neighborhood Action Plans
Having an independent NRP
Policy Board
Having NRP staffed by employees
of the Policy Board
Strengthening the formal public
processes through which neighborhood
organizations can meaningfully
participate in city decisions
Whereas, the NRP Policy Board wants to
maximize the potential for continued success
of NRP, encourage even greater
resident participation, and recognize and work
within the changed financial
environment in which the program will need to operate;
Now, Therefore, BE IT RESOLVED, by the
NRP Policy Board as follows:
1.The Policy Board supports the
Lane Amendments as a way to resolve the
competing claims to Common
Project revenues;
2.NRP shall receive, beginning
with fiscal year 2003, the annual revenues
projected in the Common Project
Revenue review of June 4, 2003, under Case 1
(i.e. with the non-Common
Project revenues from the Target Center's finance
plan included in the analysis);
3.CDBG or other funding sources
shall be used, for qualifying activities,
programs and projects, to fill
the gap between $11 million and the amount in
line 2;
4.The NRP shall continue to be
governed by the Joint Powers Board established
in 1991;
5.The NRP Policy Board shall
continue to be responsible for the central office
staffing of the NRP program;
6.NRP shall waive claim to the
proceeds from the sale of Brookfield assets that
are a part of the Common
Project and are or have been foreclosed on as a
result of prior loan defaults
(i.e. Saks) and to any proceeds from the
Brookfield repayment due in
2009 that exceeds $20,000,000; and
7.The NRP shall receive all
interest earnings on any unexpected Phase I and
Phase II appropriated funds in
addition to the Common Project revenues in 1.
above.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NRP
Policy Board Chair is authorized to enter into
a Memorandum of Understanding with the
City that reflects the above statements.
-----------------------------------------------------
Jim Graham,
Ventura Village
>" We can only be what we give ourselves the power to be"
- A Cherokee Feast of Days
>"The people are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our
liberty."
- Thomas Jefferson
TEMPORARY REMINDER:
1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait.
2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject
(Mpls-specific, of course.)
________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy
Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
