PRESENT: Community Officers Wall and Frederichs, Katrina Shaw (President), Erin Snethen, Sue Fackler, Tom Luellen (Treasurer), Brenden Jensen, Carol Christensen, Karen Robertson (Secretary)
Community Officers’ Update – printed reports were distributed and the officers pointed out the new format for those, with more graphics. Between January 1 and March 20, the leading crime in the neighborhood was again auto thefts, mostly caused by folks leaving their cars unattended while warming up. There were two assault cases and one drug case.
Treasurer’s Report – Tom’s written report showed deposits of nearly $1400 (mostly from the chili feed), disbursements of $407 (chili feed expenses), for a balance as of March 20 of $29,962.75. The chili feed was a success, with about 77 people attending.
College Hill Clean Up – dumpsters are reserved for the clean up on April 29. Ben Alford is coordinating the clean up – others are helping but more volunteers are needed.
Blossoms – the plant sale, auction and breakfast event will be May 13. They are looking for donations of gift cards and other items for the silent auction. If neighbors have plants to donate to the sale, they can be brought to the church at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.
Sue mentioned that she would like to form a committee to investigate ordering a large College Hill sign from Hutton Monuments to place on 17th Street. Brenden reported that he still has 3 other smaller stone signs in his yard that need to be placed somewhere. Sue will gather a committee to oversee all of this.
On a similar subject, the neighborhood flag at 17th and Boswell is missing. Brenden will ask the city to fix the broken pole and a new flag will be ordered.
Garage Sale – Carol Christensen will ask her neighbor Cletus if he would be willing to be a contact person for the Garage Sale as he always participates. We will publicize thru social media and signs. The tentative date is the second weekend in June, although some discussion was held about the weekend before when the Art Fair on campus is scheduled since that draws so many to the area.
National Night Out – the date for the event is August 5. The movie last year was a big hit so we will repeat that. Katrina moved that we buy an inflatable screen with the $200 grant from Safe Streets instead of renting one each year. Brenden seconded the motion and it passed. Food for the event is usually donated; we need to be sure that will happen this year before we spend the Safe Streets money on something else. Many volunteers are needed to set up, serve food, and clean up.
Newsletter – Erin passed around a draft of the next newsletter, which will be distributed by volunteers again in late March or early April.
Recycling – about $66 was raised in the last recycling drive – an improvement over the previous one. Discussion was held about ways to encourage folks to participate more, including signs, more use of social media, emphasizing that it is a fundraiser for the neighborhood, etc.
Other business – Sue reported that Joyce Smith isn’t able to serve as chair of a historic process group; she suggested that the issue be brought up at the annual meeting and see if anyone is interested.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting is May 15.