Overland Park

May 2014 - Minutes

Overland Park Neighborhood Association (OPNA) – May 22 2014

 

Meeting called to order at 6:35 pm by Vice President Ronnie Crawford

Present:

Ronnie Crawford, Terry Pasqua, Tracey Hardeman Paul Bodor, Jim Sample, Judy Greek, Jack Unruh, Diane Johns, Mike Acosta, Kevin Dickson, Ray Ehrenstein

Agenda

 

• Minutes from April meeting
• Treasurer Report
• Police Report
• Chris Nevitt’s Office
• Trash removal study update by Ronnie Crawford
• Compassion Art project – Evans Bridge
• Announcements

 

Business

• Minutes from April meeting approved as read. 

 

• Treasurer Report

            Beginning Balance              $404.05

            Deposit/Payments                  10.00

Ending Balance of               $414.05

 

 

• Police Report

Officer Sharon reported of decreased burglaries in the Wash Park area.  Police identified 2 groups and have made arrests which led to the decrease.  Just a reminder to call the police any time you see something that doesn’t look right in the neighborhood.  Making eye contact and engaging in conversation can discourage bad behavior. Remember that the longer you wait, the longer it takes the police to respond.  Lock doggy doors along with regular doors when away. 

 

 

• Chris Nevitt’s Office update (Nathan Batchelder)

Nathan presented a letter of support from Chris’s office for the grant proposal we wish to submit for the Arts and Venues program. 

A reminder about available office hours to talk to councilman occurs every month at the following locations

Breakfast King on Santa Fe

PJ Baking Company on S. Pearl St.

Black Crown Lounge on S. Broadway

 

Call for times and dates or find the calendar in the monthly newsletter.

 

Also informed us that the Cottage Foods Act has passed thru the committee and

now waiting on a second reading.  This act is to allow individuals to sell produce from their front yard.  This act is to provide fresh affordable healthy food and provide income to homeowners.  There will be a 1 time permit of $20 used for tracking. 

 

• Trash talk with Ronnie Crawford

 

Charlotte Pitt gave a talk on the Solid Waste Implementation Committee who has been working on ways to make improvements to the current system. Anyone interested in reviewing their plan can visit www.DenverGov.org/SolidWastePlan

 

The plan is to standardize the trash system from 3 to 1 system using a Trash cart system which is the industry trend and doing away with the dumpsters.  They are planning to phase this into different neighborhoods over the next 3-5 years.

 

Regarding Elderly and disabled and how they can get assistance with the new cart system, Charlotte informed us of an existing assistance program or porch service, where they will first look for volunteers from the neighborhood to assist, or arrange assistance on a 1on1 basis. 

 

Currently our recycling rate is 14% which is well below the national average of 43%.  This is due to it being a volunteer system.  Also since Colorado has never had a landfill crisis and because of our heavy clay soils, the landfills do not require install liners.  Also there is no charge for residents for trash collection it is easy to forget about recyling.  So there has not been a big incentive to push for recycling although we all know it is the right thing to do. 

 

Regarding illegal dumping, she advised to report any all incidents to DenverGov by provided a license plate number of the vehicle.  If found guilty, the abuser’s car will be confiscated.

 

She also let us know about a Special electronics recycling day on June 7^th in North Denver.  $5 per car or 2 screens. 

 

 

• Announcements and New Business

 

The following notice comes from Michael Bouchard – Denver Parks and Rec.

 

-          I wanted to make this group aware that we will be doing some tree pruning and dead tree removals at Grant Frontier per the attached diagram in the next few weeks.  As I hope you all will remember, we had several meetings and a site walk regarding these trees and the ultimate re-design of Grant Frontier park.  We are NOT removing all of these trees at this time.  What we are doing is selectively removing some of the dead Cottonwood and Siberian Elm through this stretch.  In addition, we will also be doing some selective pruning to remove dead limbs in trees that overhang the regional trail (this is a routine safety procedure).

 

-          I’m informing this group of these tree plans because we don’t want to raise any alarms.  All of the work we will be doing is in line with the 90% Design Plans that were presented last summer and fall.  Those plans have not changed.  We are simply taking advantage of some very good pricing to remove some of these dead trees now, ultimately saving more money to put back into the river and the parks.

 

But I realize that it has been many months since we shared the design with you all, so I want to extend an invitation to review the design and look at the specific trees we are planning to remove next Wednesday May 28 @ 12:30 at Grant Frontier North parking lot.

 

 

-       Kevin Dickson announced a new city council committee for the sharing economy.  This includes Car rentals and short term house rental.  Currently it is illegal to rent a house for less than 30 days.  He along with Ray Ehrenstein have volunteered to attend meetings for zoning committee and bring back any updates to the group. 

 

• Compassion Action – Arts Project

Paul Bodor gave an update on the proposal to put artwork on Evans bridge.  He presented the artwork to the group and called for a vote to approve the final draft.  11 members approved and no opposed.  He plans to submit the proposal on Friday, May 23.

 

 

 

Meeting adjourned at 7:45 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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