Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting
Tilsner Artist Cooperative
7:00 PM, Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Conference Room
Members Present:
Deneen Gannon, President
Ruthie Lund, Vice President
Jennifer Dorris, Secretary
Kirk Sklar, Member at Large
Lorene McIntosh, Interim Member at Large
Absent:
Amelia Gluba, Treasurer
The 5 / 6 members present, represents an 86% Participation rate.
Visitors:
Michael Savage
Rob Kinney
Kjiersten Kinney
Stacey Forster
Joel Thingvall
David Koepplin
Jess Grams
Amy Bell
Dan Wieken
Visitors and members were welcomed to the meeting and Deneen Gannon, began the meeting at 7:01.
Update on Master Lease
January & February 2014 we plan to begin the heavy negotiating regarding the Master Lease then knock this out prior to the deadline of August 2014.
The Co-op is out of pro-bono hours with our lawyer Chase Buzzell and his bill to us for the continued Master Lease work is $1,600-1,900. We currently have $ 1,300. in the bank.
This led us to a brief discussion of suggestions of ways we might make additional monies for the cooperative. Our Outreach Committee initiated the can project: Kirsten Levisen, Jesika Quinn and Dale Baumgartner.
There will be a can crusher and an aluminum can collection bin in our work room that will become a reality by the end of November. A member of the Outreach Committee will make a weekly run to the recycle facility. Also discussed: the Laundry and how it’s proceeds are used for the cooperative. Another revenue stream c ould be leasing the Conference room to groups for Special Events.
Elevator Lease Addendum Update
We began the discussion about the Elevator Lease Addendum in the August 13th Board meeting. Where are we now in the process? As of the October Board meeting , residents asked Deneen to request that TCHDC revisit the last paragraph of the addendum as this was the area of the Addendum that individuals were finding offensive. This concern was taken and shared at the October Management meeting and TCHDC has removed the last paragraph which now reads something like ‘I have read the Elevator Lease Addendum and acknowledge this’ by signature. The addendum has been signed by most parties. There is ongoing discussion between TCHDC counsel and a Tilsner resident regarding what defines ‘reasonable accommodation’ during an elevator outage.
The Board consulted Chase Buzzell, asking if TCHDC can legally do the Addendum. His answer was ‘yes they can’. When the Board was made aware of the Elevator Addendum, we researched the legality of the document and found that TCHDC has a duty to communicate plans for and estimated time frames for future work done on the elevator. This was not part of the Addendum drafted by TCHDC, so Deneen Gannon, President of the Tilsner Cooperative drafted a paragraph to be added to the addendum stating these duties and TCHDC complied. To date, one individual has moved to a lower floor due to the anticipated hardship an extended elevator outage would pose on their life.
The suggestion was made, in the event of the extended elevator outage, that our Management company look into the possibility of having the parking spots in front of our building changed to short term (30 minutes) parking so that individuals loading and unloading in the front would have one less floor to climb by accessing their floor from the front of the building.
Lowertown First Fridays
The December event for First Fridays is the Holiday Bazaar. Electric candles in our windows will herald our participation. Numerous buildings are participating. This is actually a two day event, Friday, December 6, and Saturday, December 7th. At the Tilsner on Saturday we are having a Kid’s Event. At 10:00 AM, The Tilsner kids will be creating stuff to sell at the Bazaar. Residents are asked to contribute any extra art supplies that the kids might use to make cool gifts… and baked goodies would also be accepted and used to fuel the excitement.
If you want to participate in this event, put an electric candle in your window. Let Dale Baumgartner know of your intention to be involved and he will know how many candles to order. It could be visually stunning to see the Tilsner lit with tapers!
LT FF’s Meetings: - Tuesday Nov 19th, 6:30 Golden’s D
- Wednesday, December 11th, 6:30 Golden’s Deli
SPAC (St. Paul Art Collective) is seriously considering going to one Art Crawl a year, the Spring Crawl, and beefing up the First Friday efforts throughout Lowertown. What are your thoughts about this? Some members suggested that we move to a Second Saturday Concept as Friday’s are very difficult to get to after a busy work week.
A suggestion was made that this would leave the opportunity for the Tilsner to consider putting on a Haunted House here as a Fund Raising venture for the Cooperative in the Fall. The general consensus of those attending was in favor of this idea, and the recommendation was made that we discuss this again soon with interested individuals.
Tilsner Website
Proposals from formal web design companies bids have come back from the Twin Cities Designers Guild ranging from $ 7,500 to $25,000. For this reason, we are still looking for help, because we have no funds to cover this.
Jason Christiansen and Nate from the Northern are interested in collaborating and putting up a site that would suit the Tilsner. Mike Savage gave us the history of the background of our Website saga. Karl Warner began this and it was picked up by Jeffrey James and Tilsner artists just never filled it. There was a website committee in the past that disintegrated over time. Having a website put up by a Tilsner resident would be an Amazing feat! We will continue to explore the options currently available to us.
Facebook Page
The consensus of the group was that it is important to have a form of communication for the co-operative members. Those attending also voiced that it is important to have difficult conversations regarding Tilsner issues solely among Tilsner residents. The floor was opened for anyone to discuss their concerns and issues as evidenced in posts from Facebook earlier in the week, but no one who actively participated in the Facebook conversations was present at the Board meeting to discuss those in this forum.
Looking at the actual Facebook page, there are 117 members: 35 Tilsner Resident members (30%) and 82 Non-Resident members (70%)
From the Posting initiated on November 2nd:
Seen by 49 people:
- 25 live at the Tilsner
- 24 Non-Resident Members
Questions for us to consider:
1. Who has the right to be on the page?
2. Is it an open or closed page?
3. Is this the way we want to address internal issues?
4. Has anyone noticed that ‘TIlsner Artist’ was added to the group last Friday? (11/8)
Currently the only Administrator of the Page is Deneen Gannon. Mike Savage removed himself as Administrator when he resigned from the Board in July of 2012. Deneen will make additional Administrator designations immediately.
This group discussed a variety of options / recommendations: They included having a private page for residents only and having a public Facebook page, a “Likes Page” . This will be taken to the All Co-op Meeting next week for further discussion.
Agenda for All Co-op Meeting Next Week
-Ruthie
-Discussion around John Peter’s pet snake
-Board Elections
-Committee Chair Updates
-Q & A for the Board
1. The issue was brought up about the changing face of Lowertown and the competing lofts that are now in direct competition with the Tilsner for Artists. Examples of the competition are: Jackson Flats, the Schmidt, the Renaissance Box. The specific question to REE is what are we doing to stay competitive with them? Recommendations were made to give extended leases and perhaps to reward tenants for staying in an effort to keep them here at the Tilsner. The kitchens have not been updated in 20 years. It is not unreasonable to expect updated kitchens in units that are paying 60% of market rate.
2. Can I put up an Art Wire up outside my Space, outside my front door, to put art on? Yes. We used to have a Gallery Committee and we think it might be a good idea if this committee came back into being so that lines could be defined and people would know where the designated space of common areas are located.
3. Could we consider placing the strips / chain system like are in the front gallery on first front floor on all our wall space on all floors? This would protect the walls from damage from Art Crawl to Art Crawl and would provide a more professional, gallery type atmosphere in our halls.
4. After this paint job on 4th, 5th, and 6th floors, do we have the same paint available to us when we repair the walls? We would like some. The black paint that was used on the railing is already flaking off because it was not primed or sanded prior to painting.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. Submitted by Jennifer Dorris, Secretary 11/15/13
Tilsner Artist Cooperative
7:00 PM, Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Conference Room
Members Present:
Deneen Gannon, President
Ruthie Lund, Vice President
Jennifer Dorris, Secretary
Kirk Sklar, Member at Large
Lorene McIntosh, Interim Member at Large
Absent:
Amelia Gluba, Treasurer
The 5 / 6 members present, represents an 86% Participation rate.
Visitors:
Michael Savage
Rob Kinney
Kjiersten Kinney
Stacey Forster
Joel Thingvall
David Koepplin
Jess Grams
Amy Bell
Dan Wieken
Visitors and members were welcomed to the meeting and Deneen Gannon, began the meeting at 7:01.
Update on Master Lease
January & February 2014 we plan to begin the heavy negotiating regarding the Master Lease then knock this out prior to the deadline of August 2014.
The Co-op is out of pro-bono hours with our lawyer Chase Buzzell and his bill to us for the continued Master Lease work is $1,600-1,900. We currently have $ 1,300. in the bank.
This led us to a brief discussion of suggestions of ways we might make additional monies for the cooperative. Our Outreach Committee initiated the can project: Kirsten Levisen, Jesika Quinn and Dale Baumgartner.
There will be a can crusher and an aluminum can collection bin in our work room that will become a reality by the end of November. A member of the Outreach Committee will make a weekly run to the recycle facility. Also discussed: the Laundry and how it’s proceeds are used for the cooperative. Another revenue stream c ould be leasing the Conference room to groups for Special Events.
Elevator Lease Addendum Update
We began the discussion about the Elevator Lease Addendum in the August 13th Board meeting. Where are we now in the process? As of the October Board meeting , residents asked Deneen to request that TCHDC revisit the last paragraph of the addendum as this was the area of the Addendum that individuals were finding offensive. This concern was taken and shared at the October Management meeting and TCHDC has removed the last paragraph which now reads something like ‘I have read the Elevator Lease Addendum and acknowledge this’ by signature. The addendum has been signed by most parties. There is ongoing discussion between TCHDC counsel and a Tilsner resident regarding what defines ‘reasonable accommodation’ during an elevator outage.
The Board consulted Chase Buzzell, asking if TCHDC can legally do the Addendum. His answer was ‘yes they can’. When the Board was made aware of the Elevator Addendum, we researched the legality of the document and found that TCHDC has a duty to communicate plans for and estimated time frames for future work done on the elevator. This was not part of the Addendum drafted by TCHDC, so Deneen Gannon, President of the Tilsner Cooperative drafted a paragraph to be added to the addendum stating these duties and TCHDC complied. To date, one individual has moved to a lower floor due to the anticipated hardship an extended elevator outage would pose on their life.
The suggestion was made, in the event of the extended elevator outage, that our Management company look into the possibility of having the parking spots in front of our building changed to short term (30 minutes) parking so that individuals loading and unloading in the front would have one less floor to climb by accessing their floor from the front of the building.
Lowertown First Fridays
The December event for First Fridays is the Holiday Bazaar. Electric candles in our windows will herald our participation. Numerous buildings are participating. This is actually a two day event, Friday, December 6, and Saturday, December 7th. At the Tilsner on Saturday we are having a Kid’s Event. At 10:00 AM, The Tilsner kids will be creating stuff to sell at the Bazaar. Residents are asked to contribute any extra art supplies that the kids might use to make cool gifts… and baked goodies would also be accepted and used to fuel the excitement.
If you want to participate in this event, put an electric candle in your window. Let Dale Baumgartner know of your intention to be involved and he will know how many candles to order. It could be visually stunning to see the Tilsner lit with tapers!
LT FF’s Meetings: - Tuesday Nov 19th, 6:30 Golden’s D
- Wednesday, December 11th, 6:30 Golden’s Deli
SPAC (St. Paul Art Collective) is seriously considering going to one Art Crawl a year, the Spring Crawl, and beefing up the First Friday efforts throughout Lowertown. What are your thoughts about this? Some members suggested that we move to a Second Saturday Concept as Friday’s are very difficult to get to after a busy work week.
A suggestion was made that this would leave the opportunity for the Tilsner to consider putting on a Haunted House here as a Fund Raising venture for the Cooperative in the Fall. The general consensus of those attending was in favor of this idea, and the recommendation was made that we discuss this again soon with interested individuals.
Tilsner Website
Proposals from formal web design companies bids have come back from the Twin Cities Designers Guild ranging from $ 7,500 to $25,000. For this reason, we are still looking for help, because we have no funds to cover this.
Jason Christiansen and Nate from the Northern are interested in collaborating and putting up a site that would suit the Tilsner. Mike Savage gave us the history of the background of our Website saga. Karl Warner began this and it was picked up by Jeffrey James and Tilsner artists just never filled it. There was a website committee in the past that disintegrated over time. Having a website put up by a Tilsner resident would be an Amazing feat! We will continue to explore the options currently available to us.
Facebook Page
The consensus of the group was that it is important to have a form of communication for the co-operative members. Those attending also voiced that it is important to have difficult conversations regarding Tilsner issues solely among Tilsner residents. The floor was opened for anyone to discuss their concerns and issues as evidenced in posts from Facebook earlier in the week, but no one who actively participated in the Facebook conversations was present at the Board meeting to discuss those in this forum.
Looking at the actual Facebook page, there are 117 members: 35 Tilsner Resident members (30%) and 82 Non-Resident members (70%)
From the Posting initiated on November 2nd:
Seen by 49 people:
- 25 live at the Tilsner
- 24 Non-Resident Members
Questions for us to consider:
1. Who has the right to be on the page?
2. Is it an open or closed page?
3. Is this the way we want to address internal issues?
4. Has anyone noticed that ‘TIlsner Artist’ was added to the group last Friday? (11/8)
Currently the only Administrator of the Page is Deneen Gannon. Mike Savage removed himself as Administrator when he resigned from the Board in July of 2012. Deneen will make additional Administrator designations immediately.
This group discussed a variety of options / recommendations: They included having a private page for residents only and having a public Facebook page, a “Likes Page” . This will be taken to the All Co-op Meeting next week for further discussion.
Agenda for All Co-op Meeting Next Week
-Ruthie
-Discussion around John Peter’s pet snake
-Board Elections
-Committee Chair Updates
-Q & A for the Board
1. The issue was brought up about the changing face of Lowertown and the competing lofts that are now in direct competition with the Tilsner for Artists. Examples of the competition are: Jackson Flats, the Schmidt, the Renaissance Box. The specific question to REE is what are we doing to stay competitive with them? Recommendations were made to give extended leases and perhaps to reward tenants for staying in an effort to keep them here at the Tilsner. The kitchens have not been updated in 20 years. It is not unreasonable to expect updated kitchens in units that are paying 60% of market rate.
2. Can I put up an Art Wire up outside my Space, outside my front door, to put art on? Yes. We used to have a Gallery Committee and we think it might be a good idea if this committee came back into being so that lines could be defined and people would know where the designated space of common areas are located.
3. Could we consider placing the strips / chain system like are in the front gallery on first front floor on all our wall space on all floors? This would protect the walls from damage from Art Crawl to Art Crawl and would provide a more professional, gallery type atmosphere in our halls.
4. After this paint job on 4th, 5th, and 6th floors, do we have the same paint available to us when we repair the walls? We would like some. The black paint that was used on the railing is already flaking off because it was not primed or sanded prior to painting.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. Submitted by Jennifer Dorris, Secretary 11/15/13