HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 11.20.23CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS
Community Engagement Commission
City Hall
2077 West Larpenteur Avenue
MINUTES
November, 20 2023 at 6:30 P.M.
A. CALL TO ORDER: 6:33 PM
B. ROLL CALL:
Cooley-Kistler_X_ Ebbesen_X_ Lindstrom_X_ Stockford_X_
COUNCIL LIAISON:
Councilmember Wehyee___
STAFF PRESENT:
Van der Werff_X_
C. PRESENTATION:
D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
1. October, 16, 2023 Community Engagement Commission Meeting Minutes
Lindstrom motions to approve the meeting minutes; 4-0
E. AGENDA:
Neighborhood Liaison Handbook and List
Kris Grangaard joined to meeting to help understand the origin of the Neighborhood Liaison Handbook as she was one of the founders of the Neighborhood Commission.
Ebbesen explains that her goal for the Liaison program is to make it as simple as possible for people. She wants to have a point person in each area to spread info from the City, but
also for neighbors to spread info to each other and to check on each other. We can get more people involved by spreading information about the program at community events, such as handing
out snowman kits or s’mores packs.
Stockford introduces Kris Grangaard and spoke of her expertise and community involvement.
Grangaard talks about the Liaison program and what some of its goals were back in the day. Now the City is the keeper of all the names of the neighborhood liaisons and when it first
started off, the commission was in charge of that. There was not much City involvement. The goals and mission of the program was a lot different as there was a lot of concerns around
Y2K and ensuring safety of all neighbors. Security issues and data
privacy became more important and contact information could not be easily shared anymore. The list of Liaisons was handed to the City.
Van der Werff explains that contact information can be given out with permission.
Ebbesen agrees, communications easier today than 10 years ago and people tend to be hesitant to open the door for strangers. Nowadays, communications have improved tremendously, so there
isn’t always a need to go out and check on your neighbor.
Van der Werff wants to encourage community activities to get the energy going and it already exists in certain neighborhoods in town.
Ebbesen adds that this will hopefully increase the likelihood of identifying and getting more liaisons involved.
Stockford agrees and we can also go out and knock on doors for volunteers.
Lindstrom says it could be fun and motivational to see what other neighborhoods are doing.
Van der Werff likes that idea and states; events or neighborhood activities can be shared in the newsletter or on social media pages. For example, the Northome neighborhood had their
annual Halloween parade and potluck and van der Werff went out to take some pictures and interacted with the neighbors. Afterwards, it was shared in the newsletter.
Grangaard states that it is proven that having information on paper is still the most effective way for people to absorb information. So that could be a good way to share information.
Ebbesen states that the information would not be shared with the City and that this will be stressed in the new handbook as well. It’s just to be shared with neighbors and there could
be some occasional overlap for when the City wants to share info about an event. But they can share that with the neighborhood block captains, who then can share it with the rest of
the neighborhood.
An der Werff will check on the possibility to create Google Doc to edit the Liaison Handbook, but is not sure if it is allowed under Open Meeting Law. The League of Minnesota Cities
advised against it. If it’s not possible, the document will have to be created by someone and then brought to the meeting for comments/ edits.
Grangaard explains they used to have doorhangers that were handed out to new residents.
Van der Werff states she sends out welcome letters now to new residents that sign up for water through St. Paul. Falcon Heights receives a list for that. She is thinking of reaching
out to local businesses to see if they would be interested in adding a flyer or coupon to
the welcome packet. She states these, unfortunately, do not go out to apartment buildings as they do not have to sign up individually for water with St. Paul.
The commissioners discuss how to get apartment buildings involved and how to enter an apartment building safely.
Van der Werff suggest contacting the property managers and spreading information through them.
Human Rights Day/ Winter Coat Drive
Van der Werff explains they will have the Winter Coat Drive on December 9, 2023. She will promote it the week after Thanksgiving so it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.
Ebbesen wonders if she should still reach out to her medical contacts.
Van der Werff states we can keep those contacts as well as the one for the flu shot clinic and maybe use that for an event next year. She is planning on having the DEI community session
with Third Sphere in January. It will be an interactive learning session.
Snowman Kits
Commissioners discussed if it makes sense to use new scarves and mittens from Spire for the snowman kits or have them donated as well. They agreed to have them donated and Ebbesen will
be able to create the kits from scrap material at home.
Van der Werff will be able to create a registration and promote it in the newsletter/website and social media pages. For dates, the commission is looking at Presidents Day, which would
be February 11 – 19. Also, to allow for some snowfall. People can pick up kits at City Hall.
F. INFORMATION/ANNOUNCEMENT
Van der Werff will bring 2024 schedule for CEC meeting dates to the next commission meeting once they have been approved by the City Council. She states that there will be no meeting
for the CEC for the first two months of the year, because of how the Holidays fall in January and February and City Hall will be closed. She believes it would be beneficial to pick
a date to meet in January or February to keep momentum going with the CEC and there should also be a new Council Liaison that will be joining the meetings.
Grangaard provided some handouts from the Neighborhood Commission that explains some of its history.
No other announcements
G. ADJOURNMENT: 8:02 PM