Board Meeting: September 9, 2008

PRESENT: *Gregory A Hession (President) Chair, * Tony Anthony, * Jeri Gardiner, *Chip Gorra, *Jim Llewellyn (Vice Pres.), *Stephen Gray, *Walter Kroll, *Denise Moccia, *Demetrios Panteleakis, *Rodrick Shubrick, *Liz Stevens, *Ben Swan Jr. (Secretary), *Marianne Winters (Treas.), Frank Buntin, Jesse Carman Jr., Archie Emmanuel Jr., Lisa Gaudreau, Sandra Hession, Eunice Kirby, Mary Kirby, Ceil Lewonchuk, Dimry Lovejoy, Filicia Mack, Phylicia Mack, Dimry Mack, Karan Parkin, Ricardo Rodiji, Stephen Thibeau, Kat Wright (*Members of the Board)

Guests: Darryl E. Moss, Springfield Mayoral Aide; Norma Hicks, Donna G. Seymour

Meeting called to order 7:10 p.m. 13 Board members present

PRESIDENT'S REPORT: Pres. GAH announced formation of new board committee, Good Neighbor Committee (see below); Looking for people to volunteer.

GUESTS: Neither scheduled guest was present.

SECRETARY'S REPORT: Minutes of Aug 12, 2008: DP moved to accept minutes as written, SG seconded. Motion passed.

TREASURER'S REPORT: Treas. MWinters: Reported MNC received $6,000 from the City, representing the 3rd & 4th quarters of last fiscal year. No written report submitted; her computer is down; will send report when computer is running again.

OLD BUSINESS:

· BROWN STREET: Re: S Thibeau's proposal to block off Brown at Bay: Referred to Public Safety Committee to find out what the City requirements are.

o Several Brown Street residents were present to oppose the proposal; presented a petition in opposition signed by several residents; believe it is unsafe to block it, need access for ambulance and fire trucks; cited 13 elderly residents; changing Brown to one-way has slowed down traffic; SPD has equipment to keep drugs & drinking down.

o ST argued in favor of blocking, citing stopping drug traffic would improve property values.

o LS described the process of getting this kind of change, including homeowners' petition, notification by Traffic Commission; and suggested asking someone from the blocked streets in Forest Park how they did it and how they feel about it now.

o WK proposed a meeting between Brown St. residents and Traffic Commission, SPD Lt. Trites (Sector F liaison) and Public Safety Committee to work out a solution that makes Brown Street safer.

o BS Noted Sector F Police beat team meeting, which he chairs, meets on 3rd Thursday of the month; also available is Sheriff's neighborhood watch group on first Wednesday of the month; argued for responsible ownership of our own community, cleaning up, cutting overgrowth where illegal activities can hide, etc.

o TA moved to move the question of blocking Brown Street to the Public Safety Committee to discuss and report back; LS seconded. Motion passed.

Mayoral Aide Darryl Moss was introduced at this point.

· MASON SQUARE LIBRARY: (Liz Stevens, Chair, MSL Advisory Committee):

o Reported MSLAC, a committee of the 5 neighborhood councils surrounding Mason Square, has been meeting since 2004 with one goal, To get a library back for this neighborhood.

o Recently Mayor Sarno made a site selection, Mosque #13, and announced and then went to the Library Foundation for money from the Annie Curran Trust Fund, which the Library Foundation was set up to manage.

o Library Foundation approved an architectural report on Mosque #13 be made on possibility of renovation, at what cost, and whether there are any environmental concerns. The building has a large open ground floor space and a second floor in the back. We will know all of that with the architect's report, due in a month or so.

o JG asked about the architect's figures in the Library Site Search Committee report; LS noted there were general figures included, but it was not an actual architectural report

o Question was raised about eminent domain taking of the former library building; D Moss responded that eminent domain could be a long process and the issue is getting a library as soon as possible.

o CL asked, since Domenic Sarno was a City Councilor when the original sale of the library was done in secret, why was he so secretive about this deal; he could have notified the MSLAC. LS concurred that a press conference was held in public without telling anyone in the MSLAC and the deal was announced before he asked for funding, although he has now talked with the Library Foundation; D Moss responded that we had every right to be hurt, but that a number of things were happening that were politics & not on the up and up, that the Mayor had to proceed that way so other elements would not destroy the deal; Mayor worked off the package from the site search committee.

o DP noted private parties were involved in the transaction & probably had a confidentiality agreement.

o JG asked about cost, with a purchase price of $950,000 plus renovation, is there a limit to cost? Also noted Springfield citizens are still paying off the bond for renovating the library building.

o CG moved that in the interests of time the chair not entertain any additional comment from the floor and recognize only board members. TA seconded. Votes 5 Aye, 6 No; motion failed.

· FOLLOW-UP C.A.P.E.R. (Consolidated Annual Performance & Evaluation Report FY08): Annual report filed by the City with H.U.D. on disbursement & outcomes of the CDBG grant. Treas. MW reported she read the report and does not think there is anything we need to comment on, except that there ought to be more transparency on the work of each neighborhood council. The entire CDBG grant to Springfield was $7 million.

· STRATEGIC PLAN PROCESS - Treas. MW called for volunteers to develop and do the survey; second meeting of the committee scheduled for next Thursday; charged each committee of the board to name key pieces of the process. Hopes to have a draft plan ready in 5 - 6 months and completed this fiscal year.

· SPRINGFIELD KIDNEY WALK - RS & KW reported: Sat., Oct. 18, from 9:30-Noon, Forest Park - MNC board has voted to support and has a team.

· GIRARD AVE. CLEAN-UP - LS reported: Thurs., Sept. 18, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. - In place are trash pick-up, yard work on tree belt, painting 7 garages; white paint donated by graffiti task force (Mike Cass), also lending brushes & rollers; still need ladders. WK reported: idea came from Public Safety Committee; Park dept will cut grass, City will take trash; partnering with Springfield College students, Bergen Circle residents; good example of our walking the walk; did get letters of permission from owners for the work.

· McKNIGHT RAIL TRAIL - LS reported: She & DP met with UMass professor & students, sent specs re trail surfaces; date will be set for public presentation, focus is to get a design package and field measurements; 2-mile ‘linear park'. DP offered staff at MassMutual to do engineering; need to go back to City for FY09 budget inclusion.

· NEW: Complaint about overgrown lot behind River Inn (State St.) between Thompson and Westminster, and back to the duplex on Thompson. BS moved to contact Code Enforcement to cut & clean up that lot; TA seconded. Discussion - lot is being used to park large trucks. BS amended the motion to refer to Housing Committee to take action; TA seconded. Motion as amended passed unanimously.

· REBECCA JOHNSON SCHOOL PLAYGROUND - LS, nothing yet to report.

· 380 BAY ST. - Update: ST reported it is in the process of being shut down. Noted this is key to the rail trail.

· 25 ST. JAMES AVE. - DM asked if Mr. Bruce would be present at another MNC board meeting to present his plans for this property. GAH will look into it.

· DEP. DIR. OF NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES - Pres. GAH noted new Dep. Dir. will be present at next MNC board meeting; job description attached. Asked that members get any issues to GAH so that questioning is done in an orderly fashion.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

§ OFFICE RELOCATION - LS - No report.

§ PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE - WK reported: Vandalism rate has gone up in late afternoon, the time of day when kids are walking home from school, does not want to see repeat of last year; noted MNC has a good relationship with SPD through Deputy Chief Cochrane and Lt. Trites; have done good job responding to complaints; still have to get issues reported and we will follow up; welcome participation from the people in the neighborhood. Report attached.

§ HOUSING (Denise Moccia, chair): DM suggested dividing up responsibilities to monitor code enforcement by neighborhood districts, each person to give her a short list to forward to City, in order to relieve her of covering the whole neighborhood; noted she is more focused on moving abandoned properties. GAH offered to coordinate with the Good Neighbor Committee to address issues before code enforcement is brought in. JL noted Housing Office has become more responsive over past few months. No written report.

§ GOOD NEIGHBOR COMMITTEE: Pres. GAH reported: Divided G.N.Com into 3 parts: (a) Welcome, CL will coordinate, asking for volunteers to prepare welcome packets, get funding from local businesses, welcome new neighbors; (b) Emergency Help, ST will identify emergencies arising for people (elderly, infirm, truly needy) who need help with their property (cut grass, paint, clear sidewalks, shovel show, etc.); (c) Neighborhood Improvement, GAH will chair subcommittee to beat Code Enforcement to the problem (litter, overgrowth, junk & trash, etc.), will present items to MNC board to approve any letters citing code problems to owners/renters before they go out. Report attached.

§ FINANCE & FUND RAISING - Treas. MW reported this committee is open to any new volunteers; will be working with auditor to audit last 2 years before we make the case that we are viable; There is a parallel track between Fund Raising and Strategic Planning efforts. No written report.

§ DEVELOPMENT & PLANNING - DP reported: D&PCom now meets 3rd Thursday of the month, but may have to move it; Met with David Panagore (report attached); Met with Al Chwalek (Spfd DPW), will meet with him & WK re crosswalks and flashing lights on Bay, Worthington, St. James at entrances to neighborhood, noted that time-frames are behind but money is in place with state matching funds; Also addressed paving of Worthington, St. James, Dartmouth & Bay; will meet with WMECo on street lighting. BS suggested we could volunteer to paint traffic light poles. Report attached.

§ COMMUNICATIONS: JL reported there is a dire need for more volunteers on this committee. Committee raised price of newsletter ads (from $25 to $35) with no objection from regular advertisers, found it non-productive to leave piles of newsletters at advertisers' places of business; agreed compiling the neighborhood business directory is a high priority, goal is to publish a booklet as soon as possible, including neighborhood businesses, at-home businesses and trades people; began exploring MNC conducting other events and activities. Report attached.

NEW BUSINESS:

§ 104 PRINCETON ST. - BS asked that since the house burned down & it's now a hole in the ground, do the owners have a grandfather clause to rebuild a 2-family; DM noted the property is not in the local or national historical district, so there is no design review process at all.

§ ARISE - Pres. GAH asked if MNC should invite this community activist organization to make a presentation; tabled to next meeting.

§ FORMAT - DP asked if agenda could put committee reports first; agreement was to put guests first.

§ McKNIGHT N.C. - Sec. BS noted MNC is seen as one of the most organized of the 17 neighborhood councils - all volunteers - & therefore have strength in the City; encouraged all to come back, join committees, participate.

§ BUCKINGHAM ST. PARKING - SH noted the letter of complaint from Ms. Sypher; WK has spoken with her and will meet with her to try to resolve the issue.

§ PRIMUS MASON LOT - DP reported that Development Dept wants to know if we will re-address what to do with this city-owned property; JL reported he brought the question to the Springfield Preservation Trust for consideration, & they are interested.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

· PRESERVATION TRUST House tour, Sunday, Oct. 19, 4-7 pm, 5 houses around Thompson Triangle; registration a JL's house, 108 Dartmouth. Need one more house.

BS moved to adjourn; TA seconded. Motion passed.

9:10pm - Adjournment