2008 Annual Meeting Minutes from El Cortez Heights
MEETING MINUTES EL CORTEZ HEIGHTS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
DATE: Tuesday, January 8, 2008
LOCATION: Northwest Neighborhood Center, 2160 North 6th Avenue
The Annual Meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m.
Tori introduced the representative from T.P.D.-Operations West. Officer Dan Roberts reviewed the crime statistics for our area. With the exception of Fry’s Shopping Center and Avenida El Capitan our neighborhood looks good. El Capitan is under the watchful eye of the police. However, given the difficult layout of the area it is taking longer to get a resolution to the problems there. There was a brief discussion of the upcoming Safety Fair scheduled for Saturday, January 26, from 2 pm to 6 pm. Tori asked if someone from the department would give a short talk on “how not to be a victim of vehicular break-ins”. Officer Roberts said if he had a room, it would take about 30 minutes. Tori asked if there were any other questions for the officer.
Emila Sutton from the Tucson office of The United Way spoke of the free tax preparation for working families program. She distributed brochures for the neighborhood. The Ward III Council Office will be one of the sites helping.
Tori announced the election of officers and called for volunteers for the officers of the association. No new volunteers came forward. All of the current officers volunteered to accept their positions. A motion to retain all the current officers was presented, moved and passed by the membership. Tori Stypula is president. Dennis Caldwell is Vice President. Cheryl Caballero is Secretary.
Tori gave a more detailed descriptions of the events slated for the Safety Fair. There would be representatives from various safety organizations attending. There will also be VIN etching and two bicycle rodeos for the kids, as well as the lecture from the police.
Tori informed the membership of the upcoming rezoning public meeting scheduled for this Thursday, January 10th. The proposed site plan was discussed. The membership voted not to approve the rezoning request. Tori said she would represent the neighborhood at the meeting. However, anyone interested in attending was welcome to come.
Warren C. Humphrey let everyone know about the MLK breakfast for the whole city. The cost is $35 per person. The NWNC is also having a free breakfast on Tuesday 1/15/08.
Tamara Prime from Council Member Uhlich’s office updated the membership with news from her office. The February meeting will deal with landlords and vacant properties. February 5th is the presidential primary election. She encouraged all to attend the upcoming Grant Road Widening meetings. These will be expanded from the original meetings. She also reminded everyone that Karin would be delivering the annual “State of the Ward” address Wednesday, January 16, at the Woods Library. A request was made of the Ward Office to investigate the possible acquisition of riprap and/or wood chips from the City’s Dept. of Transportation. These would be used in the easements and the Third Avenue wash.
Tori appraised the membership on the Neighborhood Reinvestment grant application submitted Monday, January 7. This grant was for one the coverings for the children’s playgrounds at the center. This was one of the urgent items for improvement at the park previously discussed and voted upon.
The Drachman Institute’s “Building Healthy Neighbor” program should start again soon. The University is back from holiday break January 16. There will be some meetings to further discuss improvements to our neighborhood itself and to Mansfield Park.
The membership voted to have a May clean up. Saturday, May 3rd, was selected as the date. As with the fall clean-up only one dumpster will be requested for that day only from 8 am until noon. Tori asked the membership to scope out the worst areas in the neighborhood for cleaning.
No further business. Meeting was adjourned at 8:00 pm.
Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 8th, 2008.