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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994 02-15 HCM 1 MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE HOUSING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER IN THE COUNTY OF HENNEPIN AND THE STATE OF MINNESOTA REGULAR SESSION FEBRUARY 15, 1994 CITY HALL CALL TO ORDER The Brooklyn Center Housing Commission was called to order by Chairperson Robert Torres at 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Chairperson Robert Torres, Commissioners Ernie Erickson, Todd Cannon, Kathleen Carmody, Neal Nelson, Vince Opat and Keith Tuttle. Also present was Council Liaison Barb Kalligher and Community Development Specialist Tom Bublitz. Commissioners Jon Perkins and John Kalligher were absent and excused from this evening's meeting. APPROVAL OF AGENDA There was a motion by Commissioner Carmody and seconded by Commissioner Opat to approve the agenda, as submitted. The motion passed. APPROVAL OF MINUTES DECEMBER 21, 1993 There was a motion by Commissioner Carmody and seconded by Commissioner Opat to approve the minutes of the December 21, 1993 Housing Commission meeting, as submitted. The motion passed. The January, 1994 Housing Commission meeting was canceled due to weather conditions. GUEST SPEAKER AND DISCUSSION: DAN RYAN. CO -CHAIR OF THE BROOKLYN PARK "COME HOME TO THE PARK" COMMITTEE Mr. Dan Ryan, co -chair of the Brooklyn Park "Come Home to the Park" committee, began his presentation by explaining that the "Come Home to the Park" group has been meeting for two years and has been constantly redefining its mission and role. He explained the committee's efforts are to carry a "banner of community pride" and serve as a means of communication for various groups in the City. One of the goals of the group is to assemble existing organizations, from the Lions Club to Cub scouts to Rotary, etc., and bring them under a common banner to continue "doing what they are doing but to share their experiences with other groups. Mr. Ryan explained the concept for the "Come Home to the Park" idea began with a real estate continuing education course on the image of the City. Discussion emerged during this course that the first component needed to change for the overall image of the City to change is the impression of the real estate community of 2 -15 -94 -1- i Brooklyn Park. Additionally, at that time, Terry Troy, an apartment manager and owner in Brooklyn Park, had been experiencing some difficulty with his rental property and he approached the council to request a tripling of the police force. In response to his request, the council requested him to come up with some solutions other than increasing the size of the police department, which was not feasible. Mr. Ryan also pointed out that, with regard to the image of the community, even if you improve the image you need to communicate it because people tend to work on old information, and that change does not catch up with the old information. In order to begin the organization of "Come Home to the Park the Brooklyn_Park EDA contributed $50,000 to promote the image of the City. This began the process in what came to be known as "Come Home to the Park." He explained complete success is yet to be realized, but many things are already in place such as a new city ordinance which requires that if there are three police calls to an apartment unit, the unit is closed down and the tenant evicted. He pointed the Brooklyn Park apartment managers coalition is now using third -party screening and have moved into managing for the 1990's instead of the 1960's as they had been. He pointed out the "Come Home to the Park" committee interviewed five different public relations firms and selected one firm, but that all five of the firms suggested a name change for the City. He explained the word "Brooklyn" has negative connotations, being linked with the high crime and poverty in Brooklyn, New York. Also, the two cities of Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn Park are constantly mixed up in the media. He explained that in the "Come Home to the Park" effort, technically there is no committee but there were six individuals appointed by the council to establish an initial task force. He explained the group has grown to between 200 -250. He emphasized the fact that the group has consistently maintained a nonpolitical position and he felt very strongly that the committee would lose its effectiveness once it became political or if individuals used the committee as a stepping stone to political office. He emphasized his belief that citizens will not support the committee if it becomes political. Also, he pointed out the group did not want to be perceived as a completely city project, but gave the city credit for starting the overall program. Mr. Ryan pointed out that Brooklyn Park has had a significant advantage since it had a large amount of tax increment finance funds available to contribute to rehabilitating many of its apartment complexes, including one of the worst complexes in the City, formerly known as Cedarbrook and now converted to a senior citizen housing project called the Waterford. In this case as in other examples in the city, the City of Brooklyn Park has taken a position of being a limited partner with private sector partners 2 -15 -94 2 r in the rehabilitation of apartment units. Commissioner Tuttle inquired whether there were any positive results demonstrated on the single family side yet. Mr. Ryan explained that only within the last year has Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center been separated in the MLS real estate listing. As a result, he has been able to obtain separate data for Brooklyn Park and has noted that Brooklyn Park has had more homes sell in the last six months than any other Minnesota city. He explained 292 homes sold in Brooklyn Park in the last six months and that approximately 30% of the people buying homes in this group were people who had already lived in Brooklyn Park and were choosing to remain in the city. According to Mr. Ryan, Brooklyn Center has a relatively long time for a single family home to remain on the market before it is sold. His data indicated that 34% of the single family homes in Brooklyn Center went off the market due to a sale, but that two thirds did not sell. He pointed out that Brooklyn Park's percentage of going off the market due to a sale is 36 Plymouth's is 51 Overall, he pointed out that generally the housing market south of Highway 12 is where the market changes in terms of homes selling at a faster rate. Mr. Ryan pointed out that one of the goals of the committee is to get realtors to operate from a standpoint of fact and objectivity as opposed to rumor and innuendo when selling homes in Brooklyn Park. He pointed out the average value of homes in Brooklyn Park has increased over the past year. As an example of the efforts aimed at realtors, he explained the Minneapolis Ambassador's program, sponsored by Burnet Realty and includes 81 neighborhoods in Minneapolis where there are 81 ambassadors from Burnet Realty to communicate facts about the neighborhoods they represent. This is an effort to base home sales on objectivity and fact. Another effort he pointed out going on in Brooklyn Park is the Brooklyn Park Business and Community Development Association. He explained this organization is similar to a Chamber of Commerce organization. He explained the dues for this organization is $60.00 per membership. He explained the members in this group have worked with Dave Sebok, the City's Community Development Director, to create a gateway business alliance to do rehabilitation and loans in the gateway area, which is southern Brooklyn Park. Mr. Ryan pointed out that one of the issues discussed at various meetings of the "Come Home to the Park" committee was that there is nothing that makes Brooklyn Park distinct from other suburban communities in the metro area. This is not a negative, however, there is nothing distinctive about the community such as topography, housing, or any unique characteristics. The public relations firm retained by the city attempts to feed positive 2 -15 -94 -3- r information to the media about the city to help foster a positive image of the city. He explained the cost for this is approximately $2,000 per month to use the public relations firm. Mr. Ryan explained that Governor Carlson has recently become interested in the "Come Home to the Park" committee's efforts and that he will be meeting with Governor Carlson, along with Police Chief Don Davis of Brooklyn Park, this week to discuss the program. Mr. Ryan also pointed out that Deb Dahl, a city employee with the City of Brooklyn Park, works exclusively on the "Come Home to the Park" committee activities. She is the hub of communication for "Come Home to the Park" in the City. Currently, the City is paying her full salary, but the plan is to have the city pay half her salary with the "Come Home to the Park" group paying the remainder. In response to a question regarding the value of the PR firm, Mr. Ryan explained that he believes the group could not function effectively without a professional public relations firm and Deb Dahl's position. Mr. Ryan explained that he would be happy to provide any additional information the committee may be interested in, such as newsletters or other press release packets done by "Come Home to the Park". He pointed out Northwest Cable is doing a silent video collage on the "Come Home to the Park" theme. He also pointed out that the "Come Home to the Park" committee will be meeting within the next week, which will be the sixth committee meeting and the last of this type of meeting. He explained that after this last large meeting there will be quarterly meetings scheduled to be held at Park Center High School. Mr. Ryan thanked the Housing Commission for the opportunity to discuss the "Come Home to the Park" program and offered any additional assistance that he might be able to provide in the future. The Housing Commission members thanked Mr. Ryan for taking the time to speak to the commission this evening. Commission members discussed the information given to the commission by Mr. Ryan. Commission members focused on the efforts of the property managers group, as explained by Mr. Ryan, and the Community Development Specialist explained that the City of Brooklyn Center also has a property managers group that meets on a monthly basis and has a staff liaison in the Community Development department. He explained Matt Moore, the City's Housing Inspector, serves as the liaison to this group and they meet on a monthly basis to review common concerns about the rental community and also to hear various speakers on topics relevant to property and apartment management issues. Commissioner Opat suggested that for the next meeting the commission should outline ideas they have for any effort similar to the "Come Home to the Park" program. He suggested that each committee member bring this list to the meeting. 2 -15 -94 4 Commissioner Tuttle suggested that the commission focus on the housing aspect, since we are a housing commission and we are not in the same place as Brooklyn Park as when they started their "Come Home to the Park" committee. Commissioner Cannon stated that he would like to see the police activity reports at the next meeting. The Housing Commission directed the Community Development specialist to invite representatives from the Brooklyn Center property managers group to speak at the next meeting. ADJOURNMENT There was a motion by Commissioner Nelson and seconded by Commissioner Carmody to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed. The Brooklyn Center Housing Commission adjourned at 8:45 p.m. Chairperson 2 -15 -94 -5-