Meeting Minutes, July 2, 2014

Preservation Station, Bonnie Anderson, presiding.  Start Time:      6:30 PM

Board Member Attendance:

Term ending August 2014		Term ending August 2015
Anderson, Bonnie	x	Karafonda, Mary	x
Boyd, Joe		Carson, Ann
Fink, Zoey	x	Grassel, Kathy	x
Gonzalez, Moisés	x	McGivern, Elaine
Grant, Steve		Neutra, Greg & Joni
Spittler, Lee	x	Thornton, Karla	x
		Trefethen, Salley	x

June minutes were read and approved.

Block Party/Annual Meeting—Mary Karafonda updated the board on party planning progress. She’s already procured the band Pawn Drive, and still needs a keg donation. Moisés stepped up once again to provide the keg(s) this year. The newsletter will be printed by July 11 to satisfy a month’s public notice of an annual meeting, per bylaws for neighborhood associations. The newsletter will contain at least the annual report and a sample ballot. Karla’s and Moisés’ son Paco will distribute door-to-door. The board voted in favor to pay him $50.

Walkable Cities—Moisés reported that Jeff Speck will be back in town and is doing a talk on walkability. He said he would write a short announcement to include in the newsletter.

Bylaws Rewrite—Elaine McGivern has proposed many changes to the existing bylaws, the board having agreed that many of the bylaws are wordy, irrelevant to our association, or outdated. While the whole package is reviewed, the board voted in favor to propose that at least two changes be presented to the membership on the ballot at the August annual meeting—one eliminating a designated day of the week to hold monthly meetings, and a second to eliminate term limits. Changes to bylaws must be approved by the membership.

Annual Report—Bonnie read the annual report, which is a summary of all neighborhood activities plus expenses and revenue for the year. Our ending balance is low because a sister neighborhood held the Mother’s Day house tour this spring. The tour is our biggest moneymaker. Bonnie distributed the summary, which will be also be posted on the HHHDA website.

Bus Rapid Transit—EDo is taking the lead re rapid transit on Central Ave. HH wrote a letter favoring two lanes. Mayor Berry’s first choice is different, preferring a dedicated right-of-way. We want Option A that from Broadway to I-25 Central remain three lanes rather than four, and include a bike lane. The bus loading platform will probably be located at Broadway. A motion passed for Bonnie to write a letter.

Highland Park—Park renovation started in 2010 with a grant. The architects designed a plan, but the City ran out of money. Now the renovation is back on track, with a setback that the Press Club is vigorously opposing removal of the parking lot at the top of the hill, as per the original plan. The state historical society has a say and opposes the parking lot. The parking would be relocated to Locust, which is otherwise a dead end street. The playground is still to be moved to the general park. A public viewing of updated revised plans will be held at the Special Collections Library on August 7. We will announce the event in the newsletter.

HHHDA Sign—We learned that the City again has grant money. We dropped the ball in past years; Jackie and David Smee agreed to write the grant for signage.

Meeting adjourned at 7:35. Next meeting is Wed., Sept. 3, 2014. The August meeting will be superseded by the annual meeting on August 17.