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Home My WebLink AboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 03/12/2020APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2020 7:00 P.M., Eden Prairie Center Office of Housing and Community Services COMMISSION MEMBERS: Greg Leeper (Chair), Shahram Missaghi, (Vice Chair), Katherine Lucht, Leslie Philmon, Rehmatbai Sumra; Sana Elassar, Philip Skeie, Asad Aliweyd, Tyler Aman STUDENT MEMBERS: Caprice Steidle, Najma Ali, Nicole Mayer, Stavan Bhakta, Winifred Halm De-Souza COMMISSION STAFF: Megan Yerks, Staff Liaison Julie Krull, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Vice Chair Missaghi called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m. Commission Members Chair Leeper, Sumra, and Aman and Student Members Ali and Mayer were absent. II. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS Jonathan Stanley, of the Eden Prairie Housing Task Force, was the guest speaker for the evening. III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Lucht moved, seconded by Elassar, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 6-0. IV. APPROVAL OF THE FEBRUARY 13, 2020 MEETING MINUTES MOTION: Skeie moved, seconded by Philmon, to approve the February 13, 2020 minutes. Motion carried 6-0. V. LOCAL NON-PROFIT PRESENTATIONS A. EDEN PRAIRIE HOUSING TASK FORCE – JONATHAN STANLEY Jonathan Stanley, Housing Manager for the Eden Prairie Task Force started his presentation by stating that the task force has been around for approximately nine months. He said he is the staff liaison for the Housing Task Force. He said part of HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES March 12, 2020 Page 2 the task force is to have consultations with developers. Some of the developers are as follows: - Owen Metz, Dominium - Janice Thelen, Sand Companies - Deidre Schmidt, Common Bond Communities - Marney Olson, City of St. Louis Park - PROP - Homeline - Residents of Columbine Townhomes - Janet Jeremiah and Julie Klima, City of Eden Prairie Mr. Stanley discussed the areas of focus and research. They are as follows: - Existing programs the City uses to assist low income households. - Financing tools the City uses to create and preserve affordable housing. - Inclusionary housing – percent off units has to be affordable. - Naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH) preservation. - Tenant Protection Ordinance (projects tenants for specified time periods when the buildings are sold. - Affordable housing trust funds. - “Out of the Box” housing strategies and ideas (e.g. nontraditional housing types, renter focused advocacy materials, unique partnerships. Some of the Inclusionary Housing Decisions include: - Be mandatory. - Apply to any development. - Stipulate a set amount of affordability. - Apply to both rental and for-sale housing. - Apply for 15, 20 or 30 years, by example. - Apply to rehabilitations and new construction. - Offer alternative ways to meet policy. - Allow a “payment in lieu”. Or they can: - Be voluntary. - Apply minimum size threshold. - Offer developers a range of options. - Apply just to rental. - Apply in perpetuity. Mr. Stanley shared some Inclusionary Housing Policy recommendations: - Triggered by request for PUD zoning or comp plan change or financial assistance. - Applies to all multi or single family developments of 15 units or more. - For multi-families, a developer chooses 5% at 30% of AMI, 10% at 50% of AMI. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES March 12, 2020 Page 3 Some cost offsets in use by other local cities are as follows: - Density bonus - Parking reduction - Unit size reduction - Development fee waivers - Landscape fee reduction - Expedited plan review The following are additional areas of focus for the task force: - Public Land Purchase/Disposition through RFP - Tax abatement partial or full, temporary or permanent - Reduction or waiver fees - Adjustment to local controls - Streamlined/shortened enticement process - Affordable Housing Trust Fund/payment in lieu - MN Housing Impact Fund - HRA levy - Pooled TIF and ideas for deployment - LRT Transit Station opportunities - Community Fix Up Fund - Analysis of housing elements in Aspire 2040 - Affirmative Fair Housing Market Plans - Acceptance of Housing Choice Vouchers - Property Tax Reduction Aliweyd commented he liked the way the Housing Task Force is moving. VI. STAFF REPORT – MEGAN YERKS A. RENEWALS FOR COMMSIONERS: Lucht and Sumra’s terms ended. Lucht re-applied. There will also be a new commissioner starting in April. The student commissioner terms end in May. B. OHCS UPDATES 1. Census 2020 Outreach Activities – The Census day is April 1st. Execution will happen on that day. The City will be monitoring low response areas and work with them. 2. Community Foundation – is doing strategic planning for community gap in Eden Prairie- they are looking at poverty levels. 3. The City has been working with Hennepin County and Live Smoke Free to make sure they have an eye on this issue. A survey was done in the HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES March 12, 2020 Page 4 community and will be brought before the City Council. This is for tobacco based lite products. It does not include vaping or marijuana. This is addressing smoking in buildings. One of the main questions was does every unit need to be smoke free. This will go to the Council Workshop on April 7th. . C. HRDC UPCOMING NEWS 1. Coronavirus Update – Yerks said she has been working with different organizations for emergency response to families during this time. VI. OLD BUSINESS A. PEOPLEFEST! MEETING UPDATE Ali said they talked about making a website for this event. They also voted for funding $200 for the Land Acknowledgement Statement. The focus of the meeting was marketing and outreach. B. IFTAR PLANNING COMMITTEE UPDATE Aliweyd said they met a few weeks ago and talked about who should be invited. The event will be May 7th, from 6-10 pm at the Garden Room in the Eden Prairie City Center. 150 people will be invited and 75 will be from the Muslim community; the remainder 75 will be youth members, government official and others. Mo will be negotiating the price of food with caters. Elassar asked if this will be by location only. Aliweyd said it will be. Yerks said they discussed about talking with community leaders and giving them a number of people to invite. Vice Chair Missaghi asked if the media was going to cover this event. Aliweyd said it will be on the local Somali channel. Yerks said funding is basically for food and they need $2500 in donations and they currently have $1700 in confirmed donations. C. ONE EDEN PRAIRIE SUBCOMMITTEE UPDATE Elassar said Philmon, Lucht and herself had their first meeting. They will reach out to a person from the indigenous community to help draft the document. In regards to why treaties matter, this statement will be read at PeopleFest! D. PASSPORT TO POP CULTURE UPDATE Mayer said she is not sure of what is really going on with this as Steidle was taking the lead. Yerks said this event may be suspended because Steidle said the meeting was not well attended. HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES March 12, 2020 Page 5 E. MN DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS POLICY PRIORITIES 2020 Elassar said this was an email that was sent out by Yerks. The CROWN Act is to make sure people are not discriminated against because of their hair. They also discussed discrimination in “Equity and Pay”. VII. NEW BUSINESS A. CEDAW DISCUSSION This will be continued to the next meeting. B. HUMAN RIGHTS AWARDS NOMINATION REVIEW The following are the categories and nominees: YOUTH 1. Claire Willett – She was the only nominee and was voted to receive the award. NON-PROFIT 1. Chain Reaction Theater – Elassar stated this organization is in line with the Eden Prairie Manifesto 2. Esther Homes – This is a transitional housing program serving pregnant women and women with small children. 3. Free Bikes 4 Kidz – this organization provides free bikes to kids in need. Esther Homes was voted to receive the award. BUSINESS 1. Prime MD Service - this is a new service that gives transportation to individuals in need. They transport individuals to medical facilities. This is the first organization in the nation that offers this. 2. Umi’s Boutique – Somalia boutique It was decided to give Umi’s Boutique the award. There was some discussion on these two and the Commission would like to see Prime MD Service get some HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES March 12, 2020 Page 6 recognition for their services because they help people in need and can basically save lives by transporting them to their medical facilities. Elassar said she thinks it is important that this service gets recognized. Yerks said she would look into giving them an honorable mention and get the word out on their services. Lucht left during this discussion. INDIVIDUAL 1. Fadumo Hassen – Owner of Umi’s Boutique. She also ran for the school board and is dedicated to equity and equality issues. She is also very active in the community. 2. Farrah Osman – She is an active voice speaking for youth in the Somali community. 3. Fredrick Scales – leasing agent at Arrive Apartments. 4. Somaly Monterola Gomez - leasing agent at Arrive Apartments. 5. Zina Nur-Kadi – She is an advocate for kids in schools. It was decided to give the award to Zina Nur-Kadi. Yerks said because of the way Fredrick and Somaly handled an incident in the fitness center she would like to bring them to the attention of the EP Police Department for recognition. IX. UPCOMING MEETING A. TO BE DETERMINED – IT HAS BEEN TEMPORARIY CANCELED DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS X. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Skeie moved, seconded by Elassar, to adjourn the Human Rights & Diversity Commission meeting. Motion carried 5-0. The meeting was adjourned at 9:25 pm