North Willow Glen Neighborhood Association
Word of Faith Church
June 22, 2004
7 – 8 pm

Minutes

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Welcome and Introduction Tom Smith 7:00

Tom welcomed everyone and, in the interests of keeping our meetings short (we're trying for one hour), he gave the floor over to SJ Police for our police report.

June Police Report
Officers Ted Vasquez and Richard Link

Little to report (yay!). Burglaries seem to have tapered off, but neighbors should be vigilant, especially to protect from crimes of opportunity (front door or window left open) and from intrusions into back yards, again looking for vulnerable or open doors or windows.

Police have begun to crack down on homeless, especially drunk, disorderly or belligerent individuals. One neighbor reported a panhandler on Bird at the freeway that pounded on her car.

Neighbors on the west end of Fuller reported what sounded like gunshots at about 8 pm on Monday June 14. Police had no information about these. Ted remarked that almost all incidents like these turn out to be fireworks of some kind, but urged residents to call 9-1-1 if they're heard. The police want to check out reports such as these, to make sure everything is under control (even if it's just fireworks).

Neighborhood Improvement Day
"MAKE IT CLEAN FOR MARTIN"
Tom Smith, Dan Erceg, plus Martin and Victor

Tom described how the association decided to change "service day" to "improvement day" because the new name more accurately defines what the day is all about. Dan described the June task - to clean up the railroad property behind the houses on the north side of Fuller. The task was brought forward by Martin, a Fuller Avenue resident who's 11 years old. Martin was present to answer questions, along with his friend Victor, and the association lauded his energy and activism.

Upcoming project: "Paint-A-Pole" will target the faded and unsightly streetlight poles in the neighborhood. We'll ask neighbors to take care of the streetlights near their homes.

July 4th Planning Update
Mike Gaines, Jim Moore, Heidi Le Vell and others

Mike Gaines reported that activity chairpeople were pulling things together and the event looks good to go. Flyers are being distributed this week and will be distributed again early next week. Budget-wise, the event looks to be covered by money left over from last year's CFSV grant.

Jim Moore reports there will be 5 kid's games - they all sounded very interactive and fun. Heidi has procured a number of old trophies to be given away as prizes, but neighbors should feel free to donate more!

The kid's parade was cancelled for this year, due to a lack of anyone to pull it together.

The July 4 Committee pushed hard for volunteers to step forward - helping hands are needed for every phase of the operation. The team got several volunteers but more are urgently needed. People can find a breakdown of tasks here. People are welcome to arrive and help wherever is needed.

Next meeting of the July 4 Committee: Thursday, June 24, 7 pm at Thursday the 24th at Mike's office (Windermere, 1087 Meridian Ave, Suite 60, next to Starbucks) at 7:00pm.

Treasurer's Report
Ken Eklund and Dana Rysavy

Brief outline of the Association's finances. We have dedicated funds from a CAP grant, sufficient to allow the association to continue mailing out postcards for another 8 months or so, plus money to start up a newsletter. We have monies sufficient for a first printing of neighborhood T-shirts, to be used as rewards for "neighborhood day" volunteers and to help solicit donations; these shirts should be ready by July 4. We have a fund to continue constructing our "signature fence" on public spaces around the neighborhood. We have discretionary money left over from the BRICC Award and augmented by donations by neighbors; the discretionary funds are usually used to supply the volunteers on work projects.

Thanks to Clark Williams, the Association has applied for an additional round of CAP grants, and a late report confirms that the grants have largely been approved. Thanks, Clark!

Fuller Park Update
Dan Erceg

Dan attended the City Council meeting earlier this day, and waited for hours to speak on the issue and urge the Council to approve funding for the Park. The Council did so, shortly after he left. Woo-hoo! So Fuller Park has approved funding, but still must get over the hurdle of actual funding during budget allocations later this year. If the City funds it, construction will begin in mid-2005 and the park may be complete by fall 2005.

Land Use
Harvey Darnell, in absentia

Harvey Darnell was attending the City Council meeting, speaking on the issue of exempting neighborhood volunteers from upcoming lobbyist rules. Tom relayed Harvey's notes on the Del Monte project on Auzerais (proposed plans are being revised, to be resubmitted to Planning) and the Albertson's renovation on Minnesota (revised plans to be shown to the community on July 20, 6:30 pm at the Willow Glen United Methodist Church).

New Business

Annette Boyer: Annette announced that the Willows Smokehouse Deli is opening, and would feature a neighborhood bulletin board inside the deli (the front area of Ralph's Smokehouse on Delmas, next to Starbrite Market). The neighborhood has long lacked a central place where announcements and bulletins could be posted, so this is a positive step forward. Annette also mentioned several other community-oriented plans by the Deli, including having bocci and horseshoe sets for check-out when the courts are built as part of Fuller Park. The deli will be serving barbecue from 5:30-8 pm during the Fourth of July Block Party. It will also serve coffee during the ice cream social (8-9 pm) with proceeds to go to the Association.

Liz Ortiz: Code Enforcement will be doing a sweep of the Greater Gardner SNI area in July, looking for code violations. If you know of a code situation in your area, call the address in to Code Enforcement and alert them of the problem: 277-4528. You can also email us, as the association is working with Ken Yeager's office to make sure code complaints in the neighborhood are not ignored.

Kevin Christman: Come to the SNI meeting next Monday, at Esperanza Pensione on Bird and Columbia (just south of San Carlos). At issue will be the design of streetscape improvements for Virginia and Delmas Avenues. Kevin also reports that the new Gardner Community Center, west of Biebrach Park on Virginia, is looking fabulous and should open in September.

Conversation, networking, chitchat and scheming 8:00 pm

That's all, folks!