More Grant Opportunities

In the words of Matthew Lesko, TV pitchman, "You would be crazy to miss this opportunity." Here are some real funding sources that I found to pass on to you.

COMMUNITY GARDEN:
Fiskars Project Orange Thumb Grant Program Community groups are invited to apply for the 2010 Fiskars Project Orange Thumb Grant Program. Fiskars, a leading manufacturer of scissors and garden tools, will award grants worth up to $2,000 each in garden tools and green goods through the Orange Thumb program. The program is open to any community group with a gardening project. Eligible programs include garden projects geared toward community involvement, neighborhood beautification, sustainable agriculture, and/or horticultural education. Deadline: February 19, 2010.

BEACH CLEANUP: The City has been unsuccessful in two tries to secure DEED funds to clean up the South Shore Beach. Could this Blandin grant opportunity—under the economic initiatives category—be used for the South Shore beach investigation/cleanup? Blandin Foundation Grants are awarded in six strategic focus areas. Each addresses a unique aspect of rural life, with the common vision of healthy rural communities grounded in strong economies, where burdens and benefits are widely shared. 1) Economic initiatives; 2) Educational attainment; 3) Fairness and opportunity; 4) Develop diverse leaders; 5) Rural voice; and 6) Intercultural competency. (Web site); Due March 15, 2010 (letters of inquiry are recommended prior to submission)

LIBRARY LOTTERY
Sisters in Crime announce their "We Love Libraries" lottery. Monthly grants of $1,000 will be awarded from January through December 2010. All U.S. libraries are eligible.

Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment
Got a HISTORY PROJECT? A portion of the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, was appropriated to the Minnesota Historical Society for history-related projects around the state. The Statewide Historical and Cultural Grants program, is seeded by a pool of $6.75 million to be awarded in the 2010-11 biennium for "projects of enduring value for the cause of history and historic preservation." Minnesota Historical Society Grants

FOLLOW-UP
Last month I posted the Pepsi Refresh Everything grant opportunity and at least one local go-getter, Nate Dorr accepted my challenge and applied for $25,000 funding to support the Bemidji Skatepark. You can vote for Bemidji's project here.

Move the Skate Park Funding Request to No.1; VOTE NOW!

The local group that is working to fund the Bemidji Skate Park has entered a contest to receive $25,000 from the Pepsi Refresh Everything competition. Lead by Nate Dorr, the group has already raised $150,000 toward their goal to build a world class skate venue in Bemidji City Park. Winners are based on the online voting results. You can vote for Bemidji's projet here. Bemidji's application is currently in 12th place. Only the top ten get funded.



From the group's submission:

We have a final design complete that can be found on our website, Bemidji Skate Park. It will have bowls and transitions, as well as street plaza style terrain. It will be Minnesota's first six foot tall park, since we were successful in our efforts to work with the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust adjusting their skatepark policies statewide.We were one of three projects worldwide to receive Tony Hawk Foundation's maximum grant of $25,000 because of our vision, organization, and low-income rural community. Other funders include Burton Snowboards, Nike, Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community ($25,000), Neilson Foundation ($100,000), and many smaller business and community donations. Our local Home Depot is behind the project, and will help us with this community build project. The park will be free to use, will last for decades, and will get kids and adults off the couch and outside!

Vote now!

Why Are You Picking on Bemidji, Gov. Pawlenty?

A war of words between the City of Bemidji and Tim Pawlenty continued with more comments on the Governor's radio show Friday morning.

The exchange began last week when the Governor blasted Bemidji for raising the levy to offset the Governor's LGA cuts. The Mayor's response in The Pioneer and the Star Tribune corrected inaccuracies in Pawlenty's comments and explained the increase. But that didn't stop Pawlenty from going on the attack again today, complaining that "50% of the City's budget is from state aid."

Here are the facts from the City's Truth in Taxation Report:

Sources of funds: Taxes 32%, fines, licenses, interest 32%, State aid 36%
(There are more details and comparisons with other comparable cities in the report.)

I can't explain the LGA formula. I'm not sure who can. But I have always considered our role as a regional center as one reason that Bemidji should benefit from LGA. We serve the region as a government, healthcare, education and retail center. The negative side of that is that 43% of the property in the city is non-taxable. The positive side is that our community remits a lot of sales and income tax dollars to the state. LGA is one way the state compensates our community for our regional role.

Successful greater Minnesota communities like Bemidji are important assets for the state. In tough economic times the Governor should be supporting communities, not disparaging them.

Vote for Your Scupture Choice by February 6th

What sculpture subject should be chosen to represent Bemidji? About 10 2-foot-tall sculptures will be manufactured and then given to local artists to decorate before they are placed throughout the city.

The poll is at The Bemidji Pioneer. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the question. Voting ends Saturday, February 6th!

Here's the vote as of 2-05-10:

Results Votes
beaver 108 (31.2%)
canoe 26 ( 7.5%)
fish 46 (13.3%)
frog 10 ( 2.9%)
Sm.Paul Bunyan 109 (31.5%)
turtle 17 ( 4.9%)
other 30 ( 8.7%)
Total Votes: 346

Don’t Look Back. Look What’s Ahead in Twenty-Ten

This is the time of year when the Mayor gives the state of the city address (The Pioneer recap) and “looking back” stories appear in newspapers and blogs; But I’d rather look forward to 2010.

Is 2010 the year that this statue in Library Park is replaced?  A committee has been working on it.

Five more things to watch in 2010.

1.    Annexation—a done deal? The City council has voted to move forward with annexation, but there’s a fly in the ointment. Some Birchmont Drive residents filed a lawsuit against Northern Township to protest their assessments for the city utilities that were extended a year ago, including eight property owners that are in the annexation area.  The lawsuit against Northern Township concluded that new appraisals must be done, but they won’t be completed until summer.  Both the city and township are reluctant to move forward with annexation of these properties until the issue is resolved.  The sooner, the better. The city would like to complete the annexation prior to the April 1 Census in order to count 900 new residents in the city. There is also the matter of notifying new residents of their polling place for the November elections.

2.    Joint Planning—expanding role? Understanding the joint planning agreement is like peeling and onion: there are a lot of layers. I’m pretty sure the elected officials that signed the agreement didn’t understand all of the implications at the time, including one that came to light last week. The council discussed the potential for annexing a portion of Eckles Township during a council goal setting meeting. Oops! Can’t do that. The city has no planner and no zoning code, both having been replaced by a third party.

The city’s influence over planning—both staff’s and council’s—has been diluted by the agreement; and the city’s ability to unilaterally make any planning decisions, including annexation decisions, has been surrendered. Meanwhile, the joint planning board says they want an expanded role for planning--more than just code administration and enforcement.

3.    PEG access—has its time arrived? Could 2010 be the year that the Public, Educational, and Government use channels become reality? A definition:

P.E.G. Access: Cable channels that are given to communities as compensation by cable providers who lay cables under public rights-of-way (streets, sidewalks, etc.) These facilities, sometimes called community media centers, exist primarily to give local residents access to television equipment, training and noncommercial time on designated cable channels.

Fees to support PEG access are accumulating, but so far community members have been unsuccessful in their efforts to get traction on setting up the channels.  Local supporters have been at many council meetings and at least two committee meetings with council members. Volunteers are requesting action on the process that will give life to community media access. Players that need to come together include the council, the city attorney (rules, you know), and the two cable companies: Midcontinent and Paul Bunyan Television. Here is a concise Q and A explaining PEG access.

4.    Development continues—what recession? It appears that development in the city, lead by Menards, will continue at a brisk pace in 2010.  Here’s a recap of projects expected to get underway this year:

• Menards construction
• Headwaters Housing Development Corporation 20-unit Supportive Housing development north of Bi-CAP
• House of Hospitality facility construction
• Doubletree Hotel construction adjacent to the Green Mill
• Bowling Alley construction in Bardwell Park
• Airport Terminal expansion
• Paul Bunyan Transit Terminal expansion
• 12-unit Multi-family Residential building on 26th St. (Whelan)

Some other development “Maybes”

• 32-unit Multi-family Residential development north of Bi-CAP (Kuepers)
• O’Reilly Auto Parts? They are actively seeking a location on PB Dr. NW
• CVS Pharmacy? They generally follow Walgreens into a community and are actively expanding in the state
• Culvers Restaurant on one of the Menards outlots? They have a symbiotic relationship
• Convention hotel? A development team out of Duluth is expected to make a proposal in early 2010 for a hotel connected to the convention center.

5.    November elections—a brand new council? The majority of the current council—Wards 2, 4, At-large and Mayor—are up for (re)election in 2010, meaning that a majority of the council could turnover.  With interest in this election already heating up, there will likely be no shortage of candidates for any of the Mayor and three council seats when filing opens in June. One more wrinkle in the local races: because of the Census and annexation, redistricting in 2012 will alter the lines of Wards 1, 2, and 3. Current W-3 council member Johnson will likely be redistricted out of his Ward in 2012—the year he is up for re-election. Will he avoid that prospect by running for the At-large council seat this year?

What do you think we should watch in 2010?

Weekly Bits from the City Newsletter 01-08-10

Broomball anyone? Find out about the new broomball league that starts Monday, January 10th plus many other Parks department activities and events in this week's City newsletter.  The newsletter is chock-full of information including year-end reports from the building and police departments, an update on a meeting with a convention hotel developer and an announcement of a visioning/planning process the council will conduct at their work session on Monday.  (By the way, do you find it supremely presumptuous that the council believes they can conduct a visioning and goal setting session for the community when they have NEVER asked the community to provide input on the vision and goals of the community?)
Here is a list of upcoming meetings from the newsletter:

Council Meeting Reminders:
Monday, January 11 5:00 p.m. Work Session – Governance/Planning Session with
Skyehill Governance Consulting
Tuesday, January 19 7:00 p.m. Council Meeting
Monday, January 25 5:30 p.m. Work Session - TBD

Greater Bemidji Area Joint Planning Board/Commission:
Wednesday, January 13 6:00 p.m. Board
Thursday, January 28 6:00 p.m. Commission

Other Meetings:
Monday, January 11 3:30 p.m. Heritage Preservation Commission (City Hall)
Tuesday, January 12 4:30 p.m. Parks & Trails Commission (Public Works)
Tuesday, January 12 6:00 p.m. Pioneer Fire Dept. Relief Association Mtg (Fire Hall)
Wednesday, January 13 4:15 p.m. Paul Bunyan Transit (City Hall)
Wednesday, January 20 7:00 p.m. Sustainability Committee (City Hall)
Thursday, January 21 6:00 p.m. KRL Board Meeting (Pine River)
Monday, January 25 8:30 a.m. BREC Advisory Board (City Hall)

One Week to the First Deadline: Pepsi Refresh Everything Grant Opportunity

Got an idea to improve the community? Pepsi is giving away up to 32 grants a month ranging in size from $5,000 to $250,000 for a total of up to $1.3 million per month.

We're looking for people, businesses, and non-profits with ideas that will have a positive impact. Look around your community and think about how you want to change it.

Anyone can submit an idea online at Refresh Everything. Pepsi is accepting 1000 ideas every month. Supporters go to the site and vote for their favorite ideas. Visitors can vote for up to 10 of their favorite ideas every day. If you submitted an idea, you are free to vote for your own. Voting starts on the 1st of the month and continues through the last day of every month. New ideas and Refresh Grant recipients will be accepted and awarded every month.

Six categories help you figure out where your idea fits in:

• Health—impact the health of anyone from hospitals and clinics to exercise programs
• Arts and Culture—celebrate the arts in all its forms
• Food and Shelter—provide things to eat, wear and live in—and sometimes all three
• The Planet—help improve the environment on a local or massive scale
• Neighborhoods—make any neighborhood a better place to live
• Education—help people learn and grow at any age

Dates to Remember:
January 13, 2010—first day to submit your idea
February 1, 2010—voting for ideas starts
March 1, 2010—first awardees announced

Off the top of my head, I can think nearly two dozen local initiatives that could benefit from this opportunity. . . . . .
Skate park, Science Center, Active Living, Dental Access Center, Sustainability Initiative, Evergreen Services, Peacemaker Resources, Community Resource Connections, BWELL, Historic Preservation, Sculpture Walk, BREC public art, Food Shelf, Soup Kitchen, Boys and Girls Club, Community Garden, 4-H, BYAC, Farmers Market, Headwaters School of Music. . . . . .

Who in Bemidji can be the first to submit an idea? Get your creative game on and get busy! Then tell the community so we can go online and vote for your great idea.