Betton Hills Neighborhood Association Minutes

November 6, 2008

 

President Andy Fink called the meeting to order at 7:35 PM.

Other attendees included:  Tom Vickers, Peter Butzin, Dean Hansen, Melissa Jacoby, Mike Brezin, and Donna Legare

 

The minutes were approved.

 

Donna Legare presented the Treasurer’s Report as follows:

 

Treasurer’s Report, November 6, 2008                 

Submitted by Donna Legare, 386-1148

dlegare@comcast.net

 

Balance as of November 6, 2008:  $8015.90

Checks written since last report:

1230   10/02/08         615.00                        Mike Brezin               newsletter exp.

1231   10/12/08           53.75                        Andy Fink                  Fast Signs annual mgt.

1232   10/12/08         150.00                        Leon High                 Lion Steel annual mgt.

1233   10/12/08         311.00                        Friends of Park         McCord flowers 1 year

1234   10/20/08           42.00                        USPS                         box rental 1 year

Bounced check fee     7.42                                   

 

Deposits:

10/07/08          1011.00                       dues and funds

10/10/08         2525.00                      dues and funds

10/21/08           880.00                      dues and funds

10/21/08             10.00 actual deposit (20.00=10.00 dues, 2.58 dues, 7.42 bounced fee)

11/05/08             20.00                      t-shirts at annual mgt.

11/05/08           958.00                      dues and funds       

 

 

The Board agreed that donations to the Bill and Marge Mansfield Scholarship Fund would probably increase if we required the recipients to provide a letter indicating how the scholarship will enhance their careers and education. The letters will be published in the BHNA newsletter. (Traditionally we award a scholarship to the editor of the Leon High School newspaper and the other to its yearbook editor). Mike agreed to express this requirement to Judy Crews, guidance counselor at Leon.

 

Tom Vickers reported that so far we have 267 dues-paying members. Membership is slightly ahead of last year, when we had a total of 258 member and $5,079 in total revenue.

 

Dues and donations totals are Bellamy Fund (for neighborhood beautification) $1,361, Partners in Excellence (for neighborhood public schools) $713.50 and the Bill and Marge Mansfield Journalism Scholarship Fund ($508.50). Dues and undesignated donations are $2,755. The total amount received is $5,338.

 

He also reported that Roberts Jewelry at Betton Place submitted $10 dues and a $50 donation. (We do not usually received dues and donations from merchants who help us in other ways, such as providing gifts for our new member welcome kits.)

 

Dean reported on behalf of the Welcoming Committee, which has decided to reduce the number of distributions of new member welcome kits from quarterly to twice yearly.

 

Melissa reported that she had attended CONA’s Town Hall meeting on October 13th. The entire meeting was devoted to the topic of code enforcement. The next meeting will be on December 8th (the second Monday, every two months).

 

Dean pointed out that the ease and generosity of the City’s energy conservation program for homeowners.

 

After some discussion we agreed that our next newsletter will be published in time to promote Arbor Day, which we will celebrate on January 31st. Suggestions for additional stories included: reporting BHNA’s gift of re-cycling containers in Winthrop Park, results of the member survey, suggestions for residents taking more personal responsibility for keeping our neighborhood beautiful, the possibility of a tour of energy efficient homes in the neighborhood and the traditional “President’s Message”.

 

A question was raised about a number of board members who have not attended meetings. Residents may be reluctant to serve on the board because they assume that with so many board members listed, there is no need for volunteers. We therefore agreed that more than six unexcused absences will result in the automatic termination. We also agreed that the starting date for the new policy will be retroactively applied to September, 2008.

 

Peter reported that he has not been able to post minutes and newsletters to our website because his computer “crashed” and he has not been able to obtain the necessary document conversion software without re-purchasing it. The board passed a motion to authorize up to $90 for conversion software, should no other alternatives become available.

 

It was also suggested that BHNA be willing to pay for the services of a Webmaster. Andy indicated that someone had volunteered to be involved with the website. He will follow-up.

 

Donna suggested that we hold off on helping the City with costs associated with maintaining the rose garden in Winthrop Park. She talked to a City staff person who is trying to save the City’s funding for the garden.

 

We discussed plans for Arbor Day, agreeing that we will focus more on maintenance and replacing previously planted items that have died, rather than new plantings.

 

The Vickers will host the December 4th meeting at their home, 2404 Winthrop. This will include our traditional holiday gathering at 7 PM, followed by the regular business meeting. Peter will send out a notice with the minutes, requesting three desserts to serve 6-8 each and wine and beer. (Tom pointed out that last year almost everyone brought a dessert for 6-8 people, resulting in having much more refreshment than necessary.)

 

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:25 PM.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Peter Butzin, Secretary