This month is our annual Taste of Audubon. Bring your appetite and enjoy free food provided by neighborhood businesses.

This month’s agenda includes:

• State of the Neighborhood – ANA’s new president Matt Brown will review the work done by the board in 2008 and take a look at what’s coming up.
• Board Election – A community member will be elected to the remaining vacant position on the ANA Board

PDFs of February agenda and draft minutes of our December 2008 meeting are attached below.

On December 19th, the City’s Problem Properties Unit demolished a blighted duplex at 2632-34 Polk Street. To see this “urban renewal” in action, visit the photo gallery posted at the Eastside Defender.

The city of Minneapolis has posted tips for keeping yourself safe during the holidays. Find them here:

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/police/crime-prevention/docs/Hsholidy.pdf

According to Marketwatch.com (a business and investment website run by the Wall Street Journal), Minneapolis “far and away, remains where it's at for business.”

The NE Urban 4-H group was out in full force raking leaves for seniors as part of the NE Royalty Program's Annual Raking for Seniors event in November.

The Community Planning and Economic Development Department (CPED) is offering loan guarantees to help small businesses weather current market conditions.

Metro Plains received the go ahead from the City Council this past Friday for their new development on Lowry Avenue. This is the latest drawing for the apartments, which will continue to change until construction starts - estimated to be in Spring 2009.

BusinessWeek.com has identified Northeast Minneapolis as a great buying opportunity.

Like most neighborhoods, Audubon Park does have some problem properties. Thanks to the hard work of neighborhood volunteers, our number of problems will soon be reduced by one. 2632 Polk St. NE is set for demolition.

In order to pursue a renovation of the Hollywood Theater, several procedural steps must be taken. One of those steps is establishing a City-sanctioned project area. The Department of Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) has put together some specifics about the project area, the goal of the project, and some other guidelines.