MINUTES FROM JANUARY 14, 2009


The meeting opened at 7:05 p.m. The minutes from the October 2008 meeting were read and corrected by Susan Carroll. A function originally scheduled for January 28th at the Legends sponsored by CHWC has been postponed. The corrected minutes were approved with a motion by Tom Boeding and seconded by Rich Davis.

The current officers serving were re-elected with a motion by Susan Carroll and seconded by Jody Boeding. Patty asked for volunteers for the Board, as Mike Peterson had already volunteered via e-mail. Caroline Metzger volunteered Jon Engelman for the Board. The following Board members were approved with a motion by Anne McDonald and seconded by Rich Davis: Nancy Burns, Anita Bautista, Mike Peterson and Jon Engelman.

Patty reported that there is a balance on hand of $1625.84. This includes $900.00 grant we received from Liveable Neighborhoods/Community Policing for our community garden, and a $25.00 deposit for participating in the tree decorating contest through the Mayor’s office. We still are paying monthly for our website out of funds received from last year’s grant. Patty attended CHWC meetings, East Patrol Advisory Board and participated in training through Liveable Neighborhoods which is required in order to receive grant monies.

Susan Carroll from CHWC gave a report on the status of CHWC and introduced Donnie Smith, Anne McDonald and Nestor Zuluaga, their realtor from Reece & Nichols. She reported that although things are slow because of today’s real estate market, CHWC is still committed to our area. Mr. Zuluaga reported that he had already sold a house at 13th & Barnett and they will be holding open houses for the remaining available homes.

Mayor Joe Reardon was in attendance and was invited to share some information with the group. He was proud to announce that crime had decreased 17% overall last year and jobs in Wyandotte County were up 2.2 %, ranking our county 17th in the nation for new jobs. He also announced that Prescott Plaza was 60% filled and we should see a convenience store/gas station and fast food chain coming soon. He announced that ground has been broken for the new Children’s campus at 5th & Minnesota and hopes that we will get another proposal for the Casino in western Wyandotte County. He remains optimistic that this will happen. He also was asked and confirmed that he has filed for re-election for Mayor.
Officer Ruben Rodriguez reported that he has been able to respond to and take care of issues regarding graffiti and illegal parking causing traffic problems in our area. He is available if we have any problems, just let him know through Patty.

We were supposed to have a speaker from the U.S. Census Bureau about job opportunities however the representative was unable to make it. If you would like information about a full or part time job, you can call 1-866-861-2010.

Rik VanDyke, who lives at 701 N. 17th Street talked to the group about an idea he has for Halloween on 17th Street. He would like to form a committee to work with him to get sponsors for the neighbors to purchase candy since there are so many kids that come to the neighborhood. He had several ideas about making this a big event, and the group agreed that it was a plan that should be looked at. Several people volunteered to join the committee and Rik was going to send out an e-mail to others and set a date for a meeting.

There will not be a meeting in February because Patty will be out of town, so the next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 11, 2009 in the Parish Center.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m.