April open houses at Dar Al Hijrah Islamic Civic Center

The WBCC and Dar Al-Hijrah Cultural Center are sponsoring two open houses at the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Civic Center, located at 504 Cedar Ave.

The open houses are scheduled for April 2 and April 16. The events begin with a 5:30 gathering followed by dinner, a short presentation and time to mingle, 6–8 p.m.

The theme of the open house is “The mosque as a place of spirituality and learning.” Board member Abdisamad Ibrahim passed out flyers for the open house and an open letter inviting the community to attend the open house “to learn more about the activities of the mosque and the role it plays in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood.”

An information sheet with general information and helpful guidelines pertinent to visiting a mosque was also distributed. The information is available online at http://daralhijrah.com/visiting_a_mosque.html.

“This is fantastic,” said Marcy, who said the events represent a great opportunity for open dialogue for all parts of the community. Flyers will be distributed to non-Somali areas and will also be mailed and emailed to local businesses and organizations.

Call 612.227.3933 or visit www.daralhijrah.com for further information.

Peace Circles update

Abdullahi Mohammed updated the board, saying that two workshops for elders have been held, during which they discussed “ways and means to promote peace in the neighborhood.”

Board member Abia Ali asked if workshop attendees would be participating in safety walks around the community. Board member Doris Wickstrom explained that the program is “more an educational program.” Mohammed added that, while that there was “no need to collide” with the safety program and that the peace project was geared toward conflict resolution, it was a place for recruiting participants for the safety walks. “Let the options be known,” said Marcy.

Wickstrom said that a fall event to share results of the peace project workshops would be organized.

WBCC website updated

Board secretary Sophia Ginis announced that the WBCC website, www.westbankcc.org, has been updated.

University District Partnership Alliance (UDPA) update

A resolution of commitment to be part of the UDPA was approved by the board. Wickstrom expressed her interest in remaining the “main” WBCC representative for UDPA; board member Tim Marass volunteered to serve as alternate.

Land Use Committee (LUC) update

The board passed a resolution approving sending a letter of support for the African Development Center project. Details about the center were outlined in the LUC meeting minutes distributed by Wickstrom. The center will be located on the site of the old North Country Co-Op at 1927-29 S. 5th St. Construction is due to begin the last week of April 2009 with completion projected for September 2009. The letter, which will be sent to members of the Minneapolis Department of Community Planning and Economic Development and to Council Member Cam Gordon, urges approval of $200,000 of Great Streets gap financing for the project.

The board also passed a resolution to support and fundraise for the paving of the “wayfinding beacons” on Sixth Street and Cedar Avenue and Sixth Street and 16th Avenue. Potential funding avenues include Good Neighbor funds, Cedar-Riverside Partners and the Neighborhood Revitalization Program.

Safety Committee update

Board member Russom Solomon reported that crime was 6 percent lower this year compared to last year, according to Luther Krueger of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD). Concerns over the potential for an increase of crime as the weather warms was discussed, and Solomon said that the number of safety walks would increase as the weather improves. A letter will be prepared to send to local businesses to address problems of graffiti and burned-out light bulbs. Solomon said that he feels “good attention” is being paid to the Cedar-Riverside area by the MPD.

Park updates

Board member Andy Lee announced that the first-ever Earth Day cleanup of Riverside Park will take place on April 18, 9:30 a.m.–noon. The board passed a resolution approving release of $4,800 from the Good Neighbor funds to help fund the ecological restoration and management plan regarding buckthorn remediation in the park.

Rosemary Knutson of the Bluff Street Park Task Force addressed the board and introduced Zev Radziwill, marketing director of the digital-consulting firm Implex. Radziwill is donating his time to create a website for the park, with a long-range end goal of chaining together websites for all the parks in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood.

“We want to keep the momentum going” for the Bluff Street Park project, said Radziwill. He hopes to have that website up and running in 60 days, he told the board. The future site will be www.bluffstreetpark.org.

Knutson discussed a $2,500 fundraising goal to do a seed planting on the bluff and that it is hoped the website will help raise those funds.

An Earth Day cleanup is also planned for the bluff, Knutson said.

Bees in the city

Council Member Cam Gordon distributed a report to the board outlining 13 items. The last item described an ordinance, introduced along with Council Member Scott Benson, to allow people to keep bees in the city. The report states: “Allowing bees could bring two main benefits to the city: locally produced honey, and an increase in pollination, which can help increase the yields of gardens.” The regulations would be similar to the current ordinance on chickens in the city, which requires a large majority of neighbors agreeing to have the activity (in this case, bee keeping) nearby.

Earth Hour
A climate-change item in Gordon’s report was announcement of participation by the City of Minneapolis in the World Wildlife Fund Earth Hour, “a global statement of concern about climate change and of our commitment to finding solutions.” On Saturday, March 28 from 8:30 to 9:30, the lights on the Stone Arch Bridge and City Hall’s external lights will be turned off. Gordon encourages all citizens to turn their lights off during Earth Hour, as well.

Board retreat

The board spent nearly an hour discussing the outcomes of the March 14 retreat and a resolution developed from work during the retreat regarding board procedure. “A shared understanding of purpose and goals of WBCC,” “how WBCC gets things done,” and “actionable next steps for 2009 and who is accountable” were the defined outcomes of the retreat.

Broad discussion of the resolution ensued, with the sticking point being how to handle committee membership.

Board member Jim Ruiz asked if the proposals met with WBCC bylaws and suggested that things seemed “a little rushed to pass (the resolution) tonight.”

Wickstrom told Marcy it was “good you tackled this,” then commented that if WBCC was mainly to act as an organization representing residents, she wondered how to guarantee that happens in committees. She commented she did not want the process to be so “hard-fast and bureaucratic.”

Marcy disagreed, saying that to be a stronger organization, one needs to think about committee membership and define who members are.

Board member Bob Metcalf commented that a committee needed to consist of a “core” of people and have consistency.

Ginis commented that there was “nothing daunting here” and that people are never preventing from attending committee meetings. “It increases our formal capacity,” said Ginis. She added that, as WBCC is the officially recognized body for the neighborhood, “it makes sense to build in structure and accountability.”

Wickstrom said that the final resolution should speak to “how to work together.”

“I just want to get things done,” said Marcy.

Metcalf proposed minor amendments to the resolution and suggested tabling the matter of how to define committee membership. After some language tweaking and the recess caused by the fire alarm, the board reconvened on the sidewalk opposite the Coyle Center and passed the amendments and ultimately the resolution, tabling the details of committee membership.

Fire alarm disrupts end of meeting

With two minutes to go before the 8 p.m. close of the Brian Coyle Community Center, the board meeting was near the finish line. Board members had spent nearly an hour engaged in a long, sometimes heated discussion centered on a procedural resolution and hammering out modifications to the language.

At that moment, the center’s fire alarm system activated, sending a rolling, ear-piercing shriek throughout the building. WBCC board president Ben Marcy shouted out for a recess while board members and meeting attendees scurried for the exits.

Several minutes later, while the wail of two fire engines responding to the alarm drew closer, board members huddled together on the sidewalk across the street from the center in the biting March wind. Shouting over the wind and the screech of the fire alarm still sounding from the building, Marcy reconvened the meeting, and the board concluded its evening’s business.

(The next day, center direct Jennifer Blevins told The Bridge that the fire alarm ultimately went off three times that night due to a faulty part in the fire panel, and that repairs were being made. No actual fire took place.)

Next meeting: Wednesday, April 15, 6–8 p.m.
Brian Coyle Community Center, 420—15th Ave. S, Minneapolis
Contact:
West Bank Community Coalition
420—15th Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55454
612.876.9351
www.wbcc.org

last revised: April 2, 2009

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