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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-11-17 PACKET 04.A.i.REQUEST OF CITY COUNCIL ACTION COUNCIL AGENDA MEETING ITEM # Lj DATE 11/17/10 - *REPARED BY: Administration i •. r • 91 .- ►/ III ► I A ■ COUNCIL ACTION REQUEST Accept Human Services /Human Rights meeting Minutes for file for April - September 2010 Accept minutes BUDGET IMPLICATION \ #_\ J i C S 1 � l O N 1 ADVISORY COMMISSION ACTION ❑ PLANNING ❑ PUBLIC SAFETY ❑ PUBLIC WORKS ❑ PARKS AND RECREATION ® HUMAN SERVICES /RIGHTS ❑ ECONOMIC DEV. AUTHORITY SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS REVIEWED APPROVED DENIED ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ d r IN City Administrator Date COUNCIL ACTT N TAKEN: /APPROVED DENIED OTHER 111-11112 .. • MEE City of Cottage Grove Human Services /Fights Commission Meeting Minutes Wednesday, April 14, 2010 Members Present: Francisco Gonzalez Tanweer (TJ) Janjua, Chair Laurie Steiger Members Absent: Mia Naseth-Phillips, Sofia Vitale-Gill Council Liaison: Jen Peterson Staff Liaison: Ken Smith Others Present: Rick Johnson 1. Call to Order At 7:01 PM the meeting was called to order by TJ. 2. Approval of Minutes from March 10, 2010. TJ made a motion to approve the March 10, 2010 minutes. Laurie seconded the motion. 3. Vice-Chair Nominee With the departure of Sue the Commission needed to pick a new Vice-Chair. TJ asked if anyone was interested in the position. Laurie stated that she would be interested in becoming Vice- Chair. TJ said he would check with Mia and Sophie and bring it back for next month's meeting. 4. New Commission Members With several open seats and the departure of Sue and Sophie in June the Commission is looking for 2 regular seats and 2 student seats. Doug Amos interviewed for one position earlier in the evening. Francisco brought Rick Johnson to the meeting to see what the Commission was all about. Rick expressed interest in the Commission and said he would fill out an application. 6.2010 Census Everyone in the group has turned in their census. TJ believes responding to census shows civic responsibility. 7. Diversity Highlight of the Month Laurie mentioned an experience whereby some grade school children were talking about skin color and when she asked what color they thought she was they replied, "peach." 8. City Update Council Member Jen Petersen gave an update of City happenings stating that the social host ordinance passed. TJ asked about the status of the 3M incinerator. Council Member Peterson replied that dates have not been announced by the MPCA for the next meeting. Jen also talked about removing water with PFC's and having it discharged into the river. She stated that Cottage Grove and Woodbury would like to see the water treated and used. Jen mentioned that Ken was coordinating the City's efforts to become a Beyond the Yellow Ribbon City. 9. Miscellaneous Commissioner Laurie Steiger informed the members that she would be starting her bee hives on April 24 Ken was checking on the number of members the Commission should have. The group talked about upcoming FacingRace awards event. Members stated if they were able to attend or not. Ken informed the group that the City Administrator would like the group to begin working on their strategic plan for 2010. The Commission chose June 9th as the day they would start working on the strategic plan. 10. Adjournment A motion was made at 7:56 p.m. by Francisco Gonzalez to adjourn the meeting and seconded by Laurie. Respectfully submitted by; Kenneth L. Smith ,Community Services and Communications Coordinator N City of Cottage Grove Human Services/Fights Commission Meeting Minutes Wednesday, May 12, 2010 Members Present: Francisco Gonzalez Tanweer (TJ) Janjua, Chair Laurie Steiger Mia Naseth-Phillips Doug Amos Members Absent: Sofia Vitale-Gill Council Liaison: Jen Peterson Staff Liaison: Ken Smith Others Present: Rick Johnson 1. Call to Order At 7:06 PM the meeting was called to order by TJ. 2. Welcome new Commission Member Douglas Amos Everyone introduced themselves and welcomed Doug to the Commission. He has been in education for 25 years, in the business world for many years, and has a PHD in Educational Technology. Rich Johnson also introduced himself and said he worked for the State Workers' Comp Board fraud unit. He is into carpentry, bass tournaments and is a union steward. 3. Approval of Minutes from April 13, 2010. Laurie Steiger made a motion to approve the April 13, 2010 minutes. Mia Naseth-Phillips seconded the motion. 4. Vice-Chair Nominee With the departure of Sue the Commission needed to pick a new Vice-Chair. TJ asked if anyone was interested in the position. Laurie stated that she would be interested in becoming Vice- Chair. Francisco stated he would be interested in the post as well. Laure agreed to give the position to Francisco. Laurie made a motion to have Francisco become Vice Chair; it was seconded by Mia all were in favor. TJ welcomed Francisco to his new post. 1 1, 1 With several open seats and the departure of Sue and Sophie in June the Commission is looking for 2 regular seats and 2 student seats. Ken showed the Commission the applicants he's received • date. The Commission narrowed it down to Linda Lundstrom, Michael Zwakman, Rick Johnson. He would forward any additional applicants to the Commission as they came in. 6. Essay and Poster Contest Ken updated the Commission on the Essay and Poster contest. He showed the committee the essays and posters received to date. The Commission decided to extend the contest to June 9th to allow greater participation. Ken stated he would advertise the new date on the City's Facebook page. 7.2010 Census TJ announced that Cottage Grove had one of the highest census compliance rates in the State at between 86 and 89 %. He asked if anyone in the group wanted to write an article for the Bulletin thanking the residents of Cottage Grove for their compliance and reminding them of the importance of their actions. Francisco volunteered to write the article. 8. Strategic Plan TJ described the process used by the Commission to do the 2009 strategic plan. They used a professional facilitator and it was a daylong session. The Commission reviewed the 2009 plan and members made suggestions. Doug Amos suggested adding sexual orientation, Jen Peterson wanted something on disabled persons, and Laurie wanted language from the MN Statutes added. Francisco said he would write the 2010 plan and send it out for comments and editing. 9. Local Human Rights Commission Project Grant The Minnesota Human Rights Commission has a grant deadline for the Local Human Rights Commissions Project, the grant is up to $1,500 to develop a local commission's capacity building project or implement a civic engagement project and the deadline is June 2010. It was agreed that Mia would apply for the grant on behalf of the Commission. The goal is to use the grant to send Commission members to the Human Rights Day event in December 2010. Doug Amos asked how money was funneled to the Commission. He was told through donations. The group talked about the Clotheslines Project, citizen involvement, a census celebration and the Kia Yang book. 1.0. Diversity Highlight of the Month Cinco de Mayo was mentioned as a diversity event. Mia said she attended the event in St. Paul and said it was nice. Francisco described the historical significance of the day. It was discussed whether or not the Commission should have their own Facebook page. Ken said it was fine but could not be called a Cottage Grove City site and it was important to monitor. It was agreed to put more content on the Commission's page on the City's web site. N 12. Miscellaneous A motion was made by Laurie to not use the $87.67 in the Commission's account for member dues in the League of MN Human Rights Commission. TJ encouraged everyone to go the Human Rights Forum. 13. Adjournment A motion was made at 8:15 p.m. by Laurie to adjourn the meeting and seconded by Mia. Respectfully submitted by; Kenneth L. Smith ,Community Services and Communications Coordinator I City of Cottage Grove Human Services/Fights Commission Meeting Minutes Wednesday, June 9, 2010 Members Present: Francisco Gonzalez Tanweer (TJ) Janjua, Chair Laurie Steiger Mia Naseth-Phillips Doug Amos Sofia Vitale-Gill Members Absent: Council Liaison: Jen Peterson (absent) Staff Liaison: Ken Smith Others Present: Rick Johnson, Connie Seaburg, Jennifer Levitt, City Engineer 1. Call to Order At 7:05 p.m. the meeting was called to order by TJ. 2. Approval of Minutes from May 12, 2010. Doug made a motion to approve the May 12, 2010 minutes. Francisco seconded the motion. 3. New Commission Members Applications Prior to the meeting TJ, Francisco and Ken interviewed two applicants for the Committee. Connie Seaburg and Linda Lundstrom. They will interview more applicants in the coming weeks. So far, no youth have applied. 4. Proposed Accessibility Task Force City Engineer Jennifer Levitt made a presentation to the Commission about establishing a Task Force from the HS/HR Commission to engage the public to help improve accessibility in the community. The key is to focus on the City's transportation network: roads, signal systems, sidewalks, trails and road intersections. It would be important to note if there are any recreational concerns related to the City's park facilities. The goal of task force would be to compile a list of projects and prioritize them. These would feed into City's CIP in later years. Committee decided to help collect data. The Committee would put a box at Strawberry Fest with questionnaire. Francisco said he worked on similar project at University. 5. Essay and Poster Contest Ken updated the Commission on the Essay and Poster contest. He showed the committee the essays and posters received to date. The Commission decided to display the winners' work at the City booth at Strawberry Fest. Members talked about staffing the booth and Laurie, Rick and TJ and Ken said they would be there. Rick said he would bring his wizard custom and help present award on stage. Mia and Sofia left the meeting at 7:50. 6.2010 Census Francisco announced that he sent his article to the Bulletin after he shared it with the Committee for comments. TJ announced that Cottage Grove had one of the highest census compliance rates in the State at between 86 and 89 %. 7. Strategic Plan Francisco shared the finished Strategic plan with the group. Comments were made about gender and age. Francisco said he would make changes and Laurie made a motion to approve the 2010 Strategic Plan which was seconded by Doug Amos. The Plan would be sent to Council for approval. 8. Diversity Highlight of the Month There was a fire at condos in Cottage Grove. There was a discussion about sending sympathy card. It was decided to hold off until we knew the complete story. 9. City Update Council Member Jen Peterson not present to do update. 10. Miscellaneous Doug Amos stated he would be away for three months on a work related matter. 11. Adjournment A motion was made at 8:35 p.m. by Laurie to adjourn the meeting and seconded by Doug. Respectfully submitted by; Kenneth L. Smith ,Community Services and Communications Coordinator I City of Cottage Grove Human Services/Rights Commission Meeting Minutes Wednesday, July 14, 2010 Members Present: Francisco Gonzalez, Vice Chair Laurie Steiger Mia Naseth-Phillips Doug Amos Members Absent: Tanweer (TJ) Janjua, Chair Council Liaison: Jen Peterson Staff Liaison: Ken Smith Others Present: Rick Johnson 1. Call to Order At 7:02 p.m. the meeting was called to order by Francisco Gonzalez, Vice Chair 2. Approval of Minutes from June 9, 2010. Laurie Steiger made a motion to approve the June 9, 2010 minutes. Doug Amos, seconded the motion. 3. New Commission Members Applications Ken Smith informed the Commission they must make a motion to approve Rick Johnson and Linda Lundstrom for seats on the HS/HR Commission. Francisco made the motion to approve Rick Johnson and Linda Lundstrom as Commission members on the HS/HR commission. Doug Amos seconded the motion and all present were in favor. Ken informed the Commission that he would put their recommendation before the City Council on the next Council Agenda. Ken mentioned that he had received an application from Brenna Masgai and that she was applying for the youth seat. Francisco said he would talk to TJ and set up an interview with her. 5. Diversity Highlight of the Mouth It was mentioned that the NAACP put forth a resolution asking the Tea Party to disassociate itself from the more racist elements in their organization. In return the head of the Tea Party called the NAACP racists. Rick talked about the police shooting that a Cottage Grove officer was involved in. 6. City Update Council Member Jen Peterson mentioned that she was in Washington D.C. at the Minnesota Transportation Alliance Conference. She mentioned the upcoming 3M incinerator community meeting to be held on August 4 Mia asked if the City has any say in the matter. Jen replied that Council can't do much. They expressed their concern and suggested air monitoring. She stated she has recently been at a BTYR community meeting at the Armory where the Action Plan was worked on. She informed the group that the City won a City of Excellence Award from the LMC for the City Jobs segment on Cottage Grove Spotlight cable show. She mentioned the City was getting a dog park and that the Red Rock Corridor had a meeting to discuss Park & Ride. She stated the City was in the planning stages for a new Public Safety /City Hall Building in the East Ravine area. Mia asked if anyone knew where she could get rain barrels. Ken suggested she contact Brian Voelker at Public Works. Council Member Peterson brought up that she was in contact with the Family Homeless Commission and that they were looking for a group that would be interested in their issues. She said she suggested the HS /HR Commission. She said she'd know more by the next meeting. Francisco asked what the plan entailed. Jen said they wished to emphasize the fact that just because you're not living on the street doesn't mean you're not homeless. Mia asked if there is a shelter in the area. Jen replied there are some transitional homes in Cottage Grove. Francisco stated that he worked in this area in Mankato before he was a lawyer and that he was surprised to see how many kids showed up. Jen remarked that gay & lesbian kids are a growing homeless population. 7. Miscellaneous Doug Amos saw Alice Cooper in Michigan and Mia asked if the Commission had received Sophie's resignation letter. She was told yes by Ken. 8. Adjournment A motion was made at 8:00 p.m. by Laurie to adjourn the meeting and seconded by Mia. Respectfully submitted by; Kenneth L. Smith ,Community Services and Communications Coordinator I City of Cottage Grove Human Services/Rights Commission Meeting Minutes Wednesday, August 11, 2010 Members Present Members Absent Council Liaison Staff Liaison Others Present: Laurie Steiger Rick Johnson Linda Lundstrom Tanweer (TJ) Janjua, Chair Francisco Gonzalez, Vice Chair, Doug Amos (excused), Mia Naseth- Phillips Jen Peterson (absent) Ken Smith 1. Call to Order At 7:10 p.m. the meeting was called to order by TJ who stated he needed to be out by 8:15. 2. Approval of Minutes from July 14, 201 Laurie Steiger made a motion to approve the July 14, 201 minutes. Rick Johnson seconded the motion. 3. New Commission Members Applications TJ welcomed the newest commission members Linda Lundstrom and Rick Johnson and asked them to talk about themselves to the other committee members. Linda said she was Social worker for the schools and Rick said he worked for the State of MN workers comp division. Other members informed the two about their jobs and expertise in the area of Human Rights. There was a brief discussion about the youth seat and it was decided that TJ and Francisco would interview Brenna Masgai and asked Ken to set it up. 5. Family Homeless Commission This discussion was tabled until September 8 because Council Member Jen Peterson was unable to attend the HS/HR meeting because she had a conflict with the City Council meeting. FE111111 111111 ilililiiiii IIII III III � 1 1 , III I rill I I � 11, ili: 1 1 1 11 t U-1 11" 1 TJ asked Laurie to investigate grants for the human rights day conference in December. The group was informed that Mia was also looking into other grants. Laurie said she would send a draft • the grant application to the Commission for approval • August 16, 21 1 7. Accessibility Task Force Ken made a brief presentation about his efforts to advertise the Accessibility Survey. He stated that some were given away at the Strawberry Fest, City Hall, and on the City's web page. Laurie asked for some surveys to hand out. 8. Diversity Highlight of the Month There was a brief discussion about the rash of shooting by police in Cottage Grove and TJ mentioned that today was the first day of Ramadan, a Muslim holiday that involves fasting. 9. City Update Because of Council Member Jen Peterson's absence Ken Smith gave the update. He mentioned that Sally's was moving into the old Subway near Target. He mentioned the current construction stage occurring on Hwy 61 and the 3M meeting at the Junior High. 10. Miscellaneous Laurie offered her thanks to Ken for all he does for the Commission and the other members agreed. He said thank you. 11. Adjournment A motion was made at 8:15 p.m. by Laurie to adjourn the meeting and seconded by Rick, all present were in favor. The next meeting is September 8, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted by; Kenneth L. Smith Community Services and Communications Coordinator N H uman Services/Human Rights Commission City of Cottage Grove, Minnesota Meeting Minutes Wednesday, September 8, 2010 Members Present: Francisco Gonzalez, Vice-Chair Linda Lundstrom Mia Naseth-Phillips Rick Johnson Members Absent: Tanweer 'TJ' Janjua, Chair Laurie Steiger Doug Amos Also Present: Jen Peterson, City Council Liaison Caron M. Stransky, City Clerk 1. Call to Order At 7:07 p.m., the meeting was called to order by Commission Vice-Chair Gonzalez. 2. Approval of Minutes Motion by Commissioner Naseth-Phillips, Seconded by Commissioner Lundstrom, to approve the minutes of the August 11, 2010 meeting, as presented. Motion Carried. 4-0. 3. New Commission Member Applications — Youth Seat Commission Vice-Chair Gonzalez introduced Brenna Masgai, who he interviewed prior to the meeting for the Youth Seat on the Commission stating that Commission Chair Janjua will be meeting with her and the Commission will consider her appointment at the next meeting. Council Member Peterson stated she would be interested in participating in future Commission interviews. Human Services/Human Rights Commission Minutes of the September 8, 2010 Meeting 4. Family Homeless Committee Council Member Peterson stated she is a member of the Family Homeless Commission appointed by the Washington County Board of Commissioners. The Committee will be meeting on a monthly basis and are starting to prepare a Plan to end homelessness. She stated that a committee member is needed to attend meetings as needed. Council Member Peterson stated they are in the very early planning stages. Council Member Peterson stated there is an Expo on Tuesday, September 21, 2010, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., which will be held at the Community Thread Office at 2300 West Orleans Street in Stillwater, which is called the Building Better Lives Volunteer Expo. Council Member Peterson asked if this Commission has ever talked about 2 -1 -1, a United Way resource where an individual can call to get information about where you can turn to for child care, senior services, health services, kindergarten readiness, emergency preparedness, multi-cultural services available, including Hmong, Russian, Somalia, Spanish, and it is a State-wide service. Council Member Peterson stated that the Committee is looking for people to get involved, especially agencies that can offer services. She stated the Wilder Foundation just completed a study on homelessness to find out where people were coming from and the reason(s) behind their homelessness. 5. 2010 Human Rights Day Conference Commission Vice-Chair Gonzalez stated that all of the Commission Members, as well as Council Member Peterson are registered to attend the 27 Annual Human Rights Day Conference & Forum on Friday, December 3, 2010 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in St. Paul. 6. Accessibility Task Force Council Member Peterson stated she knows an individual who is very interested in identifying areas in the City • Cottage Grove that have handicap accessibility issues, and the Human Services/Human Rights Commission unanimously agreed with the concept • establishing a Task Force. Council Member Peterson suggesting that the Human Rights/Human Services Commission hold a future meeting at Norris Square to discuss accessibility issues and requested that the Communications Coordinator, Ken Smith, set up a meeting in the future. 1iTirMR=- AiE=- 7. Diversity Highlight of the Month Commissioner Johnson stated he was interested in receiving an update from Mr. Smith on the police investigation. Commissioner Naseth-Phillips stated that her daughter is attending a very diverse college in Philadelphia but the people are not `Minnesota Nice' and that has been hard for her daughter in acclimating to the faster pace, blunt and direct types in interaction, and she was surprised by the amount of poverty in the community. Commissioner Johnson highlighted a recent news segment on a church that held a meeting with the various religions. 8. City Update Council Member Peterson provided an update on the following: a. 2011-2012 City Preliminary Budget b. Public Safety/City Hall Complex c. Emerald Ashe Boar — Injections/Tree Removal d. Pine Tree Valley Park Building Renovation e. Red Rock Station f. 3M Incinerator g. Beyond the Yellow Ribbon City Designation 9. Miscellaneous None. 10. Adiournment Motion • Commissioner Naseth-Phillips, seconded • Commissioner Johnson, to i?.djourn to meeting at 8:12 p.m. Motion Carried. 4-0. Caron M. StranskS City Clerk I