Old West End Neighborhood Association

General Membership Meeting Minutes 2005

May 1, 2005 Meeting

General Membership Meeting Minutes – May 1, 2005

The OWENA has a board position available. This is a nominated position that the General Members will vote on at the next General Membership Meeting.

The next board meeting will be June 7, 2005 at David Sherrill’s house at 6:00 pm.

Board activities have been as follows: The president of OWENA, Stephan Howick, has had meetings with the Mayor of Muncie and Gretchen Cheeseman to discuss the neighborhood and CDBG grant application. OWENA did not receive any grant monies and will apply again next year. The Mayor has initiated more Police Patrols for our neighborhood.

Vice President, Josh Williams, will be attending the Unsafe Housing Committee meetings monthly for OWENA. Stephan gave a report on Newsletter Progress. The `

Newsletter has been distributed twice this spring and has been received positively. It is very informative on news and activities in the OWE. We do have a need for more volunteers to distribute the newsletter. Please contact Connie Higgins or Lezlie McCrory if you are interested. (conjo8@netzero.net or Lezlie81@hotmail.com)

There was a Pre-Clean Up held on April 30, 2005 and several attended to bag trash in alleys, gather piles of debris and clean up streets for the Spring Clean Up. Thank you for your participation!

Clean up call to action was given by Stephan Howick. We need everyone in the neighborhood to attend the OWENA Spring Clean Up on Saturday May 7, 2005. Coffee will be donated by The Blue Bottle Coffee Shop. Coffee and donuts will be served at 7:00 am. The Spring Clean up is scheduled to begin at 8:00 am and we will meet at the corner of Howard and Council Streets for breakfast and the clean up. We will have 3 trucks from the Sanitary District from 8:00 am to 11:45 am. We hope all can attend.

Proposed date for the next General Membership meeting will be August 28, 2005 at Gillespie Towers. We also discussed having a social event. This will be held Sunday June 26, 2005 at Tom Guinop’s residence, 110 Council Street. Details to be posted on website.

Thanks to all for attending the General Membership Meeting. Any questions or comments can be posted on Neighborhoodlink.com/Muncie/OWENA or sent to oldwestend@hotmail.com

January 16, 2005 Meeting

OLD WEST END NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

OWENA General Meeting Minutes for January 16, 2005

1. 2005 Community Development Block Grant application submitted.
The three major components are:
• Abandoned houses with Muncie Code Enforcement - $3,570
• Street trees with the Muncie Urban Forester - $10,000
• Cop Shop with the Muncie City Police - $5,000
• Total request is $18,570

2. Board Member Activity
• Three Board Meetings since reorganization.
i. Secretary Report
1. General membership list is inputted and available to members.
2. Visit our Website: www.neighborhoodlink.com/muncie/owena
3. Our E-mail contact: oldwestend@hotmail.com
ii. Treasurer Report
1. The bank account has approximately $1,250.00
• The Mayor of Muncie has written a letter in Recognition of OWENA’s reorganization.
• The board decided on committee formation based on identified priorities. These committees are:
i. Beautification Committee
ii. Membership Committee
iii. Fund Raising Committee

3. OWENA Standing Committees
• Membership Committee – Connie Higgins and Lezlie McCrory – will begin an outreach to residents in the neighborhood. Block Captains will assist in letting them know when new folks move in.
• Beautification Committee
i. Trash Committee – Stef Aegisdottir - will conduct a survey of the neighborhood. In coordination with the Abandoned Houses committees, OWENA will prepare and mail Two letters to property owners: one Good thanking the landowner for positive care of property and the other Not-so-good, indicating that the property is not a positive contribution to our neighborhood. Both letters are intended to raise awareness of OWENA and our interest in improving the neighborhood. We have a list of property owners thanks to the work of Phil Carey.
ii. Abandoned Houses – Josh Williams – will maintain a list of abandoned homes. There are currently 70-80 houses that are abandoned or in very poor condition. He will work with Chet Taylor on maintaining this list and prioritizing neighborhood requests for action. We want to work with the City to identify houses that need to be addressed. Please contact josh if you see activity in an abandoned house.
iii. Street Trees –Stephan Howick and David Sherrill – will work with the Muncie Urban Forester. Need is very evident following ice storm.
• Fund Raising – Stephan Howick – will address the Regional Neighborhood Council Conference being held at the Muncie Horizon Center in September, 2005.

4. General Members Forum
• Neighborhood Crime Watch - we will be working with Debbie to establish block captains. She will present at the next board meeting on February 15. There is a neighborhood crime watch meeting on February 10 at 5:00 PM in the church located on Howard and Council.
• Stephan recognized the Bill and Cindy Britton for their lasting contribution to the neighborhood through their efforts to keep the semiannual trash pick ups a success. We all hope that they will continue to work on this effort.

5. Storm Recovery Discussion
• There is a general feeling that the neighborhood can become more prepared for future storm events. Simply knowing our neighbors and their special needs is a positive start. The block captains will be a part of maintaining a knowledge of elderly and others that may need assistance when the power goes out.

6. Next General Membership Meeting- To be held on the Sunday prior to the spring clean up. Date is tentatively scheduled for Sunday May 1, 2005 at 2:00 at Gillespie Towers. The trash clean up days are one of the following Saturdays, May 7th , 14th or 21st.