PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Several spots on the WBCC are open to neighborhood residents. Volunteers are also needed on a separate board that will examine riverfront redevelopment. There is also a vacancy on the District Collaborative Council that is “designed to facilitate neighborhood participation in shaping the direction of future Central Corridor light rail development” according to a statement on the WBCC website. Anyone interested in joining the boards should contact the WBCC.

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT REPORT
Eduardo Cardenas, a representative from the Philips’ neighborhood-based Waite House Community Center, introduced the idea of a shared civic engagement project with the Brian Coyle Center. A Waite House project will center on registering new voters and hosting political candidate forums, but Cardenas said he is hoping to incorporate other community initiatives of interest to West Bank residents.

CITY COUNCIL MEMBER REPORT
City Council member Cam Gordon expressed concern for safety in the area, pointing to the recent fatal stabbing of a 20-year-old man on the West Bank. Gordon suggested the neighborhood group consider getting beat cops to supplement regular police patrols of the area. (32 new officers have been hired to patrol the Minneapolis Police Department’s “Sector 2” which includes the West Bank, he said, adding that four others are on the way.)

On a different note, he said that he has hired a summer intern to work with some neighborhood initiatives including buckthorn removal and Riverside Park improvements. The intern, Andy Lee, will also research Student Ambassador programs, distribute student renter welcome packets and organize block clubs. Gordon also touched on other issues that he and fellow council members are working on. For example, he supported a ban on “booting” vehicles in private lots. (More information on the ban and other issues can be found in Gordon’s newsletter on the city’s website at www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us.)

LAND USE COMMITTEE
The board passed a motion that supports the formation of an advisory board that would examine possibilities for expanding the Brian Coyle Center. (The community advisory committee would serve the Pillsbury United Community, which is acquiring the building from the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.) At a May 28 Land Use Committee meeting, Jennifer Blevens, executive director of the Brian Coyle Center, said the building is in need of various repairs and the space isn’t up to par to meet its programming demands. At the board meeting, WBCC board member Doris Wickstrom said one option Pillsbury is considering is to build onto the existing site while the alternative would be to tear it down and rebuild on the parking lot. She said she wasn’t clear on the details yet, but that an advisory board would help determine the best solution.

WBCC-CRNRP
The Cedar-Riverside NRP taskforce is still in early stages as an independent organization. To make it self-sustaining, committee members are writing grants and fundraising. It is in the process of developing a webpage that could be added to the WBCC website. The committee wants to hire a staffperson, which some board members mentioned might be leveraged to help out with the coalition’s work, as well. (Currently, the WBCC is entirely volunteer-driven.) Further, the NRP office might relocate, in which case the WBCC may also be able to take advantage of a new office space.

SAFETY COMMITTEE
Citizen patrols are starting to walk through the neighborhood to keep an eye out for crime. The group, which meets at the Brian Coyle Center, goes out on Tuesday and Friday nights from 7-9 p.m. (Volunteers are always needed.)

BLUFF STREET TASKFORCE
There has been talk of making the bluffs surrounding the neighborhood’s Mississippi River crossing into a park along with a memorial to honor those who died in the 35W bridge collapse. Whether the park will be locally or nationally-owned is up in the air.

CENTRAL CORRIDOR
Jessica Hill, a representative from the Central Corridor Light Rail planning office, explained that the northern alignment — one of the options for light rail development through the neighborhood — is “officially dead” because it would have wiped out affordable housing and a historic bridge, among other things. The Metropolitan Council, which is in charge of the project, has selected an at-grade route down Washington Avenue, which is a less expensive alternative. Other facets of the project will be examined in more detail throughout public meetings next month.

BOHEMIAN FLATS DAY
Bohemian Flats Day, which celebrates the historic arrival of immigrants to a complex referred to as the Bohemian Flats is planned for August 16 in Riverside Park. More details about the event will be released later.

NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, July 16, 6 p.m.
MEETINGS: Third Wednesday of the month
Brian Coyle Community Center, 420 15th Ave. S.
CONTACT: 338-5282, ext. 224
www.westbankcc.org
e-mail: cedarriversidenrp@hotmail.com or nrp@westbankcc.org.
BORDERS: The neighborhood is bounded by I-35W on the northwest, I-94 on the south and the Mississippi River on the northeast.

last revised: July 9, 2008

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