Overland Park

April 2014 - Minutes

Overland Park Neighborhood Association (OPNA) – April 24 2014

 

Meeting called to order at 6:40 pm by President Catherine Sandy

Present:

Catherine Sandy, Ronnie Crawford, Terry Pasqua, Tracey Hardeman Paul Bodor, Jim Sample, Mara Owen, Andrew Gehauf, Judy Greek, Casey Davenhill, Diane Johns, Janet Poth, Ian Harwick

Agenda

 

• Minutes from March meeting
• Treasurer Report
• Police Report
• Chris Nevitt’s Office
• Eastern Plains field trip update by Casey Davenhill
• Trash removal study update by Ronnie Crawford
• Compassion
• Announcements

?—‹     La Cour

?—‹     Notification of Zoning

?—‹     Johnson Habitat ribbon cutting

• Art project – Evans Bridge

 

Business

• Minutes from March meeting approved as read. 

 

• Treasurer Report

            Beginning Balance              $524.05

            Deposit/Payments                 120.00

Ending Balance of               $404.05

 

 

• Police Report

Officer Scott and Mike gave an update on stats of reported offenses in the neighborhood.  They reported an increase in some areas comparing Jan-Mar 2013 with same time period in 2014.  Theft from vehicles and theft of vehicles is up.  They advised everyone to lock your cars and don’t leave items.  Severe crimes are down. No reported arson this year.  Scott has been patrolling around Overland pond and the golf course, usually up until 10pm.  Some dumping has been happening but is cleaned up.  There was an explosion in the area of grow operation which happened in nearby district 4.  This was caused by people cooking pot using butane canisters.  If you see any empty butane canisters in trash around the neighborhood, please call and report.  There was also a search warrant which they were involved with on Cherokee.  This came about by neighbors working together to alert the police to a potential bad situation.  In the end, 4 weapons were found in the house.  So, if you have a tip – bring it and stay on it. 

 

• Chris Nevitt’s Office update (Nathan Batchelder)

No report this month from Chris Nevitt’s office

 

• Update on Field Trip to Eastern Plains (Casey Davenhill)

Casey gave a brief update on the field trip out to the Eastern Plains.  About a dozen people attended which included the South Platte river, Jackson Reservoir and

Drakeland farms. Improvements to this area were complete with some of the Shattuck funds.  They observed the water fowl habitat which was not affected by the flooding this fall.  Vegetation plantings are continuing to be done to attract the birds.  Although this is a hunting area part of the year, it is mostly an area for migratory birds and animals.

 

Casey also mention the latest news regarding Overland Pond where the parks department will be using the final grant money to further improve the peripheral area of the pond which will include seating rocks to improve fishing safety.

 

She also would like to recruit some volunteers from the neighborhood to go out to the pond 3-4 times this summer to help with the ongoing maintenance of the area.  Please contact Casey at casey@nilenet.com.

 

Report graffiti.   Bridges that span the river – dull and grey.  Talked about using them to paint with fishes.  Permission from the city for that type of project.  Denver parks – supportive.  Under the bridges under the river. 

 

Compost

 

• Trash talk with Ronnie Crawford

 

Ronnie reported the next meeting regarding trash and dumpsters was to happen April 25.  Mara was planning to attend and will report back next month.

 

Ronnie also reported that on Saturday, May 3^rd Denver Recycles’ is having their Free mulch giveaway from 8am to 2pm.  For more details call 720-865-6810 or go to denvergov.org/DenverRecycles.  Compost will also be available for sale.  And if you are interested in learning how to compost, classes are held in the Gove Community Garden at 13^th Ave. and Colorado Blvd  Call 303-292-9900 or visit dug.org/compost to sign up. 

 

Update on the River and Pond included Brown trout fingerlings being put into the River, hopefully to eat the carp babies.  Later, small mouth Bass will be added into the Overland pond.

 

 

• Announcements and New Business

 

-       First a warm thank you to Janet Poth who provided wonderful appetizers from La Cour.  Janet spoke on behalf of La Cour to let us know that they are hoping to establish a Dance Cabaret license which would allow them to have live Jazz music and dancing in their location.  They are currently working on getting approval from the city (early June) and would appreciate any support we can provide towards this approval.

 

 

-       Denver Zoning Code - Text Amendment to allow for the Sales of Fresh Produce and Cottage Foods as a Home Occupation.   

The Denver Planning Board will hear and make a recommendation on the text amendment to the Denver Zoning Code on Wednesday, May 7, 2014 at 3pm. 

 

The Planning Board Adoption Draft is now available at:

http://www.denvergov.org/cpd/CommunityPlanningandDevelopment/Zoning/TextAmendments/tabid/438089/Default.aspx

 

 

-       Diane Johns reported offensive Graffitti found on and around South Cherokee the Church last week.  The police were notified and if anyone sees anything please contact the police or email Diane - denverdi@msn.com.  Be alert and aware. 

 

-       River Vision Ground Breaking Program will be at Johnson Habitat Saturday 10:00-11:00.  This is to kick off the activities starting to happen on the River front. 

 

-       Jim Samples reminded people of the Dining out for life program which happens on Thursday, April 24.  Please see diningoutforlife.com/Denver to find participating restaurants.

 

-       Ian Harwick a visiting neighbor from Athmar Park spoke about the community garden on Ruby Hill, located west of the playground.  See http://dug.org/ruby-hill for more information.

 

• Compassion Action – Arts Project

 

There was a lively discussion around the idea of moving forward with a proposal to apply for grant money for an art project in our neighborhood.  Catherine explained that in 2012, the group OPAL – Overland Park Arts League was founded to provide a gathering of all artists in the neighborhood.  She proposed to have this group represent the project and lead.  Tracey, who has started to read the rules to submitting the proposal found that according to the application, it must be submitted by a valid neighborhood association. 

 

There was discussion of where the art project would be.  Possible places include Evans bridge and Florida bridge and underpass.  Also, there was discussion of using stencils as templates which could be easily repeated as a background, for example grasses, then adding creativity with artistic flowers, fish, etc.  With the River improvements happening and Ruby hill, it was thought that an ‘easy sell’ could be the bridge pedestrian walk.  Since Evans bridge is state property, will need to find out about approval.

 

It was decided to form a committee to move forward with Arts project where Paul Bodor will be the main contact.  Since the deadline is May 30^th, he will be working with the group to quickly come up with viable proposal.  Please contact bodorp123@gmail.com for questions.

 

 

 

Meeting adjourned at 7:50 pm.

Next neighborhood meeting will be on Thursday, May 22, 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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