MINUTES FROM MARCH 11, 2009


The meeting opened at 7:10 p.m. The minutes from the January meeting were approved with a motion by Tom Boeding and seconded by Susan Carroll.

Patty made the following announcements: Jim Schneweis wants everyone to know that the KC Blues Rugby team will be playing on March 20th at the park by Sandstone. The young kids play at 5 and the adults at 7. Admission is free, but you have to pay for parking. They are trying to get enough interest in Rugby to get a field to use from the UG/Parks Dept. There are supposed to be some recycling changes, however we have not found out for sure. The K.C.Star reported that Deffenbaugh is now accepting plastics up to #7, but Patty will find out and try and get a handout for next meeting. CHWC is going to be involved in the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, where monies from the stimulus designated for the State of Kansas can be used by CHWC to purchase homes for resale to owners who want to live in the neighborhood. These homes must be in foreclosure and other requirements must be met. We are to submit a list of houses that we think might qualify and CHWC will do the investigative work to see if they do in fact quality. This is a great way to get people to buy into our neighborhoods.

Mollie Hill from the D.A.’s office gave us some information as to how graffiti problems are handled. She said that there aren’t too many defendants for this charge, however if prosecuted, they usually don’t plea bargain with them and they are required to perform community service work, usually cleaning up the graffiti. She reports that it is a big problem, not just in our area but all over the City.

Officer Ruben Rodriguez is still out on medical leave, but Officer Wilt from the East Patrol Division and Officer Doleshal from Community Policing were on hand to answer questions. They too emphasized that graffiti is a big problem, but the bigger problem is the gangs and unfortunately the activities from these gangs are starting back up again.

Marty Thoennes from CABA talked to us about the David Alvarado Scholarship Fund Dance on Saturday, March 14th at St. Pat’s. Tickets are $25.00 and the proceeds go to scholarships for kids in our area. Last year, 3 students from our area were recipients of these awards.

Mollie Hill updated us on the 17th Street Halloween Committee. They have met and are trying to work out details as far as soliciting candy and setting up areas along other streets in the neighborhood. More meetings will be held, with the next one scheduled for March 16th at Susan George’s house.

We were supposed to have a guest speaker from the Citizens Against Reckless Driving, however Mr. Roberts did not appear. Unfortunately Patty did not check out his organization before agreeing to allow him to speak, and his plan has not been approved by the UG Legal Dept., so it was probably just as well that he did not attend.

Patty announced to the group that one of our goals this year will be to cut down the size of our neighborhood group. It is just too big to be effective and get people involved. This will have to be passed by the Board. We also will work on block captains, which is one thing the Halloween Committee suggested and is willing to help with. Patty also announced that she turned away several politicians from coming to our meeting, which was appreciated by the group.

The community garden committee will be working next month to divide up the garden into 10 small plots. Hopefully they will have a landscape architect working with us on this project. People can sign up at the next meeting which will be on April 8, 2009.

Janet Leverich announced that the Cathedral Parish is sponsoring their famous Dinner Theatre again this year on May 1 & 2nd. Tickets are $20.00 each and you can contact Janet at 321-0070 to purchase tickets.

The property at 1411 Orville was brought up, which is the meat market that caught fire last week. The Health Dept. has been called in to investigate. Also, the property at 14th & Orville owned by George Breidenthal was mentioned again, and Patty was to find out where this matter stood in Municipal Court.

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