Everyone is welcome to attend our BHNA Board of Directors meetings held the first Thursday of each month at 7:30 PM at the Ashford Club Apartments, 2055 Thomasville Road--just north of Betton Road--in the common room by the pool. Meetings usually last 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Occasionally, the time and/or location is changed, so please double-check the Event Calendar before coming.

To become a member of the Betton Hills Neighborhood Association, send a check for $10 (yearly dues) to the Betton Hills Neighborhood Association, P O Box 15612, Tallahassee, FL 32317-5612. Include your name (and your spouses), address, telephone number and email address.

You may also include donations to one or all of our three funds: The Carol Bellamy Trust Fund provides money for beautification of the public areas of Betton Hills; The Jack Robertson Partners for Excellence Fund provides assistance to our neighborhood public schools: Kate Sullivan Elementary, Cobb Middle and Leon High; The Bill Mansfield Fund recognizes exceptional Leon High student writers and journalists.

Dues cover printing and postage for newsletters, costs for our fall and spring get-togethers at Winthrop Park, hosting our new website, maintaining the Betton Hills Markers and much more.

With hurricane season underway and the risk of other disasters (pandemics) continuing, BHNA members would like to recommend the following websites as references for your preparation:
http://www.doh.state.fl.us/rw_webmaster/prepareenglish06.pdf
http://www.floridadisaster.org/
http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/0,1082,0_601_,00.html

Two of our board members, Bonnie Gaughan-Bailey and Tom Vickers attended the recent Red Cross table top exercise on pandemics for neighborhoods. Several other board members attended the Red Cross table top exercise for hurricane prearation and recovery for neighborhoods in 2006. BHNA is aware of the importance of being prepared and being ready to assist if disasters occur. If you are interested in being active in disaster planning for the neighborhood, please contact us. (See contacts page)

You can also contact local government officials and the Red Cross directly using the following numbers:
City of Tallahassee Emergency Management: 891-6201
Leon County Emergency Management: 488-5921
Capital Area Red Cross: 878-6080

Board Members respond to complaints by referring possible code violations to Code Enforcement. However, individual residents can also make these calls either on-the-record or “anonymously” by calling the City’s Code Enforcement Hotline at: 891-2633.

http://www.talgov.com/dncs/code.cfm

It is up to the property owners on individual streets to initiate a “petition to study” with the City for traffic calming or speed humps. They are highly controversial. The BHNA is neutral on this issue but will support the efforts of a given street once those homeowners have collected the required signatures. Details on how to begin the process are available at:

http://www.talgov.com/pubworks/traffic_calming.cfm

Everybody wants one on their street but they are very hard to come by--a lesson we learned with the Armistead Road sidewalk, which took more than 10 years to make happen. The most likely candidate currently is the completion of the sidewalk on Mitchell Avenue from Anne Street to Betton Road. If you want to lead an effort for a sidewalk on your street, contact the BHNA at: bettonhillsna@hotmail.com.

To report dead trees or request trimming on City right-of-ways that does not involve power lines, call: 891-5300; to report limbs on power lines, call: 891-5009

The BHNA is proud of the canopy roads, tall pine, live oak and other trees in the area and encourages residents to make an extra effort to preserve the green beauty of Betton Hills by removing only diseased trees and re-planting whenever possible.

The City of Tallahassee requires permits to cut specimen (living, non-diseased) trees under the following situations:
--Residential property with an existing structure, a permit is required to remove any tree that has a 36 inch diameter at the 54 inch height mark.
--Residential property without an existing structure, a permit is required to remove any tree that has an 18 inch diameter at the 54 inch height mark.

For more information, call Growth Management: 891-7100.

The afternoon traffic on Betton Road is an on-going problem. Several years ago, the City wanted to four-lane it but the BHNA vigorously opposed that plan. We prevailed and Betton Road was not widened. However, with our victory to keep Betton three lanes has come the long line of backed-up cars every afternoon.

The BHNA continues to oppose the widening of Betton Road, which we believe would only attract more cars, make Betton an even busier thoroughfare, and—in a way—divide Betton Hills in half, which would threaten our sense of a cohesive neighborhood.

One positive is that in 2006 Traffic Engineering re-timed the lights at the intersections of Betton and Bradford Roads at Thomasville, Meridian and North Monroe which has helped the flow of traffic to some extent.

During elections, many residents place small 18” by 24” campaign signs in their front yards. The maximum allowable size is 4 ft by 4 ft or 16 sq ft. Although these larger signs are within Code, the BHNA feels they are inappropriate within a residential neighborhood and encourages residents to use the traditional smaller-size signs. Please note: political signs must be outside the City right-of-way, i.e. at least 10 feet from the curb.

Tallahassee Police Department has a zero tolerance policy toward noise complaints and loud parties. Call: 891-4200 or go to:

http://www.talgov.com/tpd/party.cfm

Leon County Animal Control: 606-5400 or the Tallahassee-Leon Animal Service Center: 891-2950 or visit their websites:

http://www.leoncountyfl.gov/Animal/

http://www.talgov.com/dncs/asc/faq.cfm

Call St. Francis Wildlife Association: 386-6296.

Our traffic islands need periodic T.L.C. and only a few have been adopted by residents. If you're interested in tending one, please contact the Board at: bettonhillsna@hotmail.com. The committment of time is fairly minimal and we will pay for the plants, provided by our friends at Native Nurseries.

Call City of Tallahassee Solid Waste Operations: 891-4968.

The BHNA asks everyone to be thoughtful of their neighbors and—if possible--to wait and put out unsightly large bulk items as close to the pickup date as possible.

Call Leon County Solid Waste Department: 922-0400.

Call Streets and Drainage Division of Public Works: 891-5300.

The original “covenants and restrictions” as set forth by Guy Winthrop in the 1940’s lapsed in the 1980’s. Issues about what is or is not allowed on a property or within the neighborhood are governed by the ordinances of the City of Tallahassee. Therefore, the BHNA refers potential code violations to Code Enforcement with the City’s Neighborhood Services Division.

Call Streets and Drainage: 891-5300.

To report an electric power outage, call: 891-4968.

Tallahassee Police Department: 891-4251

If you have any questions regaring the primaries and the general election this fall, the Leon County Election Office will be more than happy to help you out with answers. Their office can be reached at the following phone numbers: for the main office dial 850-606-VOTE (8683); if you are interested in receiving your ballots through the mail call our absentee ballot information line at 850-606-8606. All the information that can be gathered over the phone is also available on the web at: www.leoncountyfl.gov/elect/.