Overland Park

March 2014 - Minutes

Overland Park Neighborhood Association (OPNA) – March 24 2014

 

Meeting called to order at 6:37 pm by President Catherine Sandy

Present:

Catherine Sandy, Ronnie Crawford, Terry Pasqua, Tracey Hardeman Paul Bodor, Jim Sample, Ray Ehrenstein,  Helene Orr, Brian Sanchez, Mara, Andrew, Judy Greek, Patrick Bramley

Agenda

 

• Minutes from February meeting
• Treasurer Report
• Police Report
• Chris Nevitt’s Office
• Compassion
• Announcements

 

 

Business

• Minutes from February meeting approved as read.  See note below.

 

• Treasurer Report

            Beginning Balance              $419.05

            Deposit February                   105.00

Ending Balance of               $524.05

 

-       Tracey presented some Budget items which showed that based on last year’s expenses, we are currently operating in the red for the year.  We will need to find ways to increase the revenue.  Money for John Collins church is usually given in October.  We paid the church $150 last year for the prior year 2012.  Since no payment had been made for 2013, it was discussed that based on having 8 meetings of 2 hours each during the year, that a new amount should be considered.  $100 was proposed and passed.  Tracey will issue check to the church for 2013.

 

 

• Police Report

No police present

 

 

• Chris Nevitt’s Office update (Nathan Batchelder)

Nathan recommended to sign up for the District 7 monthly newsletter here at www.denvergov.org. and to take advantage of their office hours and find a Link to their calendar. 

 

• Update on Field Trip to Eastern Plains (Brian Sanchez)

 

-       Brian provided an update on the field trip to the Eastern plains on Saturday, April 12.  Please email Brian directly it you are still interested at brian_c_sanchez@fws.gov.  The plan is to leave from Rocky Mountain arsenal around 7:30am and travel out to visit 2 sites, Fort Morgan and Crook to be back between 4-5pm.  Please bring a lunch and water.  Also binoculars are recommended for bird viewing. There will be at least one biologist on site who will discuss the benefits of this project and how it is helping the migratory birds.   

 

 

• Announcements and New Business

Helene raised questions regarding the February meeting when the resolution for compassion was passed and included in the by-laws.  She felt that although there was some discussion before voting, more time was needed to better understand the proposal and how it is to be included in future meetings.  She is asking that in the future,

before inserting any new sections into the by-laws, more time should be given for review so that more people will better understand the proposed changes. 

 

Catherine read aloud the compassion resolution and the points which were added into the by-laws for those who were not at last month’s meeting.  You can also find this information attached to the February minutes.  She also mentioned that if anyone has a question or concern regarding the compassion resolution please contact Jack Unruh (j.unruh@comcast.net)

 

-       Denver Digs –

The Park People and Denver Digs Trees will be holding its annual Earth Day Tree Sale on Saturday, April 19th from 9am-12pm.  The sale will be held at City Park (just west of York St. on E. 23rd Ave) and at the Sloans Lake Park Boathouse on the north side of the lake off Byron Pl. & Wolff St.  We will have a selection of fruit bearing trees (peaches, plums, cherries and apples) and small ornamental trees for your yard.  After 10:30 we may have a small selection of larger shade trees left over from our distribution. Trees will cost between $45 and $65 per tree.  Any remaining trees will be sold on Sunday, April 20thfrom 1pm-4pm and on Monday, April 21 from 8am-10am. For more information and details about the trees we have for sale, you can go to http://www.theparkpeople.org/Programs/DenverDigsTrees/YardTreeSale.aspx  or call the park people at 303-722-6262.

 

-       Catherine gathered together 19 boxes of Shattuck history and is still searching for a home.  Although the EPA said they would hold the documents, we hope to find a more suitable place for them.  She will contact Steve Fisher from DU and the CO history museum. 

 

-       Ray provided a pamphlet for the 19^th Annual Dollar Dictionary Drive (DDD).  The drive is a national award-winning project of Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation (INC) whose goal is to improve the quality of life for Denver residents by providing dictionaries to third grade students in Denver Public Schools.  Visit www.dictionaryproject.org for more information.  OPNA has contributed for the past 12-14 years.  A motion was made and passed to donate $50 to DDD.  We marked this as our first act of compassion.

 

-       Jim presented a flyer for the Great Denver Cleanup which happens on Saturday, April 26 from 9am – 2pm.  This is for Denver Residents only.  There are designated drop sites and lists of acceptable items.  To find out more, contact Keep Denver Beautiful by calling 3-1-1 or visit www.denvergov.org/kdb

 

-       Ronnie aka ‘trash nerd’ is continuing to meet with Charlotte Pitt and city council members on the project to do away with the metal dumpsters in alleys.  Last week went on a field trip with the group where they first visited the Waste mgmt site.  Mountains of trash 150-200 ft tall, with large tubes used for venting methane emissions. Second stop was the Compost area in Kingsburg.  And third stop was at the recycling waste site which consists of large conveyor belts where workers sift out those items which don’t belong and sorting out all the cardboard.  Magnets are used to capture metal cans and other items while electricity is used to shoot out the aluminum cans into other bins.  Needless to say, a very educational day.  He has invited Charlotte to come and speak at our monthly meeting, tentatively scheduled for May.

 

-       Ray brought attention to a new business item which he read in the Denver Post ‘Your Hub” section regarding Grants going out to groups to make micro-arts projects.  Grants will be given to neighborhood organizations who make proposals to Denver Arts and Venues for specific projects.  Arts and Venues will begin accepting proposals on April 14 at http://artsandvenuesdenver.com/  Awardees will have to match the grant money by putting up money or by donating supplies and labor to the project.  Ray believes the newly completed Evans overpass which has four concrete walls could be good candidates for an art project.  He would like us to consider this for further discussion in our next meeting. 

 

 

 

Meeting adjourned at 7:50 pm.

Next neighborhood meeting will be on Thursday, April 24, 2014, at 6:30 pm at John Collins Church, 2320 South Bannock.  Come join us and find out what is happening in our neighborhood. Also, check us out and Like us on Facebook.

  Overland Park Neighborhood, Colorado

 

 

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