March 16 Meeting Minutes

University Heights Neighborhood Association Meeting Minutes
March 16, 2010

Thanks to those who distributed flyers to announce the meeting.

18 in attendance.

Minutes from the February meeting: Gary Loveless’s last name was corrected.

IndyConnect project:
Gary Loveless, Mayor’s community liaison, discussed last time. They are collecting data on what people want for transportation. They want information about what we want (bicycle paths, sidewalks) and funding ideas. Ruth passed around brochures. You can go to Indyconnect.org for more information.

Old inter-urban property line along Madison, question about who owns that. Perhaps it could be used.

Reviewed bylaws voted on last meeting. Second vote was unanimous and the neighborhood bylaws were adopted.

Need nominations for the election of (2) co-coordinators, one to serve for one year and one to serve for two years, so that the terms are staggered. People can self-nominate and should encourage neighbors to run. Ruth Soper is willing to run for the one year term. Gabe Granger is possibly interested in serving. Send your nominations to Ruth at ruthsoper@yahoo.com before April 9.



The Great UIndy Clean-up is April 10
Students will pick up trash from 10-Noon, then will be doing projects in other places. Anyone interested in helping, contact Nancy Collins at ncollins@uindy.edu [note: Nancy sends out the minutes and announcements]. Students will also be making dog toys out of T-shirts, so if you have t-shirts to donate, contact Nancy or bring them to her in the lower level of the Stierwalt Alumni house.

Summer camp is being offered at the Montessori Garden Academy on East St., across from Southern Plaza. Camp is available for ages 18 months to 10 years old.

Great Indy Cleanup – not participating as a neighborhood this year, but you can spruce up your own yard!

Neighborhood Garage sale: We won’t be collaborating with the University on this. Do we want to have one? Suggestion that it be the same month and weekend every year. Have the committee get feedback from neighbors, develop a plan, and report at April meeting.

KIB tree planting – May 15 – TREES ARE FREE.
KIB is seeking to plant 100,000 trees in 10 years. Have planted 18,000 trees so far. David Wiese made arrangements but is moving, so Jim and Greta Pennell will take over. We need neighbors to volunteer to plant trees, and we will recruit some students to help. Those who are interested in having trees planted in their yards, along the street, or in the front yard, or want to assist in planting, should contact Jim at jpennell@uindy.edu or come to the April meeting.

Neighborhood Park Plan
University faculty and staff who also had various ideas met. The neighborhood committee’s sketch was shared by Greta Pennell. Kevin McKelvey, an English professor interested in working on the project, wrote a proposal for an internal university grant to do additional planning. The university group will consult with the neighborhood committee. According to Nancy Collins, David Wantz is also working on getting a landscape architect, who would need to do a detailed design for the university board of trustees to approve.

Question about broken down cars in yards should be directed to the Mayor’s Action Center, 327-4622.

Concerns about crime in the neighborhood since the probation office opened were addressed. According to Nancy Collins, David Wantz met with the probate judge responsible for the office to express his concerns. Could set up a neighborhood crime watch. We would need volunteers to participate. IMPD has good resources and a liaison. These are usually organized by blocks.

Hanna Ave. report:
They are doing work on the north lanes and will then switch to the south lanes. Phase II is supposed to be done by November 2010; landscaping by May 2011; and asphalt by August 2011. Final project should be completed November 2011.

At the next meeting, we will ask Gary Loveless about getting our alleys resurfaced.

The next meeting is April 20, 7 p.m., in the Stierwalt Alumni House, corner of Windermire and Otterbein.

Minutes submitted by Jim Pennell.