February 2005 minutes

General

Chris wants to expand neighborhood knowledge of not only how to get involved with our meetings, but how to get involved in community improvements and planning in general. Hopefully, and so far it’s the case, each “issue area” has a natural “champion”, and meetings are a chance to hear updates from these leaders and learn how to get involved.

For advertising meetings, we have a small sized “sign” to post on a church or business bulletin board. The file will be emailed out (attached with the minutes) for people to print and help get to locations where people gather. Meeting minutes and the newsletter will help keep everyone up-to-date

Clark School PTO – working on memorial garden project, Fun Fair in the fall. Interested in any collaborative projects. Meets the first Monday of every month at the Clark School library.

Should try to work with Jackson-Via as south of Elliot goes there.

Safety
Next month will include neighborhood watch information from police. This month, Dwayne Jones spoke about helping ensure the department gets good funding from the City budget process by writing letters or speaking up at forums. He passed around a sign-up sheet. The next City budget forum is March 21. He will come back in March with more info.

Clean Up Day – April 9. (Karin McGrath-Dunn) Each of us should try to do something nice around our house, go meet our neighbor, etc. Also, there will be a community focus on Monticello Road (entire length). We can also take time to clear alleys of vegetation and check sidewalk areas for safety needs. The City Parks department may help try to arrange a central drop-off spot for vegetation. Meeting March 1, 7pm at Clark School library.

Fundraising
If you have interest in fundraising, let us know. Some ideas include community yard sales and making and selling “Belmont bat boxes” at some profit to go into the fund. Another idea is tickets for house and garden tours. Jeph knows where to get guano (bat dung) to attract the bats!

Traffic
City moving forward on items in our plan: Complete sidewalk at 613 Meridian, Clark School curb extensions, speed humps on Monticello Road, and raised crosswalks at Belmont Park and Industries for the Blind.