MHCA Area Directors' meeting minutes

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Midvale Heights Community Association Annual Meeting
Tuesday, November 24, 2015 – 6:45 p.m. – Sequoya Branch Library

Area Directors Present: Chuck Kreimendahl, Jane Sherwood, Ed Rogers, Greg Fischer, Jenny Chipault, Steve Fitzsimmons, Denise Lamb, Jonn Lager, Paul Haskew, Jim Thoreson, Ron Rotter, Tim Trapp, Wendy Weber, Tom Jarvis, Peter Schell

1. Call to Order & Introductions - C Kreimendahl
2. Prior Minutes Review/Approval - Board
   1. Notes from annual meeting are a lengthy account of speakers. Business was recorded.
      1. Motion to approve. Seconded.
         1. Motion to approve carries
3. Holiday Caroling - J Sherwood
   1. Someone on J Sherwood's block approached her about using the neighborhood association as a way to get people together to do Christmas caroling, perhaps to visit shut-ins. Could suggest names to her if know people who appreciate caroling. Woman willing to spearhead this lives Odana and Wedgewood. Just started talking about this so might not have time to do it this year. Have we done it before?
      1. T Jarvis and R Rotter don't remember the neighborhood association doing caroling before
   2. She knows her daughters would like to do it too so could do an afternoon over the weekend and make it a family event
   3. D Lamb says it's a great idea. If don't have enough shut-ins could just wander and sing
   4. J Sherwood suggested piggy-backing on Santa visit program somehow but could also put it on website or through word of mouth to recruit people. The idea is trying to get to a few houses of elderly or other people who can't get out for the season.
   5. Does she anticipate any costs?
      1. No
   6. E Rogers recalls from when he was a kid that they could put a candle in the window if wanted a caroler to stop
   7. D Lamb brings up the fact that Midvale Heights is a huge neighborhood so would have to drive from place to place. Might make sense to split into groups
      1. P Schell says for Santa visits they get a room from the church and meet and get suited up and then head out in cars. It'd be fun to have more people there when suiting so it would be more festive. Have done it both weekend and week night, not sure what's best. Could do hot cider or cookies at church
      2. D Lamb asks if they use the church kitchen
         1. Not last year.
   8. Does the Neighborhood Association support this?
   9. Can give person willing to organize this P Schell and C Kreimendahl contact information
   10. J Chipault brings up that it might be best to not promote it as singing to "shut in"s because people might not want to be labeled that way.
       1. Could just sing as travel
   11. P Schell says they don't have to meet at the church for Santa visits because it was a small number of people. A house might be a better environment than an empty church. Used to be that a red light bulb in the porch light would bring Santa to your house, similar to a candle.
   12. J Sherwood asks if there is a flyer that goes out for the Santa visits
       1. It's in the newsletter (but not this year). And emails get sent to people we know have kids. Used to send out postcards but didn't do that last year.
   13. J Sherwood suspects if she does anything this year it would start small.
   14. P Haskew has some objections to using association as a vehicle for Christmas caroling. Ok to have private project announced in the newsletter. Can have private individual write it up for the newsletter. But caroling has a religious basis.
       1. Could make all songs secular.
       2. J Chipault agrees with P Haskew's concern
       3. R Rotter says it has come up in the past regarding Santa visits
       4. C Kreimendahl disagrees. And thinks can use our newsletter and website to get the word out. Not endorsing anything religious per se.
       5. Seems easy to not dissuade volunteers, but not stamp it with neighborhood association brand
       6. P Haskew says we just might want to be cautious about the way it's announced so we're not beating drum for Christianity.
       7. D Lamb says if it's a group from the neighborhood organizing it, seems fine
       8. J Thoreson doesn't want to discourage it
       9. W Weber says she hasn't been in the neighborhood all that long but has there been a letter ever to the neighborhood saying that we have a lot of activities and we recognize that there are activities that some of you might object to so that we're addressing it up front. Just might be a way to clear the air.
          1. R Rotter says there's been complaints about the Santa visits but there are volunteers that do it. If someone wants to have a menorah lighting or Ramadan celebration, then they can do it.
          2. D Lamb says only complaint she's gotten was about a church that ran ads in the newsletter. Doesn't think we need to write a letter to address it
          3. W Weber wasn't just thinking about this issue
       10. J Lager suggests we can invite people to join a wassailing walk around the neighborhood. If we wanted to, the association could provide some wassail drink.
       11. R Rotter says we invested money in Santa suits at one point. Bought them a long time ago.
       12. T Jarvis asks if someone writes something up and gives it to him for the website, then it would it be "MHCA news" or "other news"
           1. Multiple people suggest "other news"
4. Treasurer’s Report - R Rotter
   1. R Rotter handed out hard copies. We have about $42,000, minus any bills to pay.
5. Legislative Reports - Maurice Cheeks/Carousel Bayrd
   1. Not present
6. Officer Elections - C Kreimendahl
   1. Made nomination for E Rogers to be president and he also inquired about other positions. R Rotter and J Chipault willing to continue serving. S Fitzsimmons offers to be Vice President. Open floor for further officer nominations.
   2. J Chipault points out that she's giving her one year notice on being secretary, only because she does this 3x per week at work.
      1. Motion to nominate slate of E Rogers, S Fitzsimmons, R Rotter, and J Chipault. Seconded.
         1. No opposed.
            1. Motion carries.
7. Santa Visits - P Schell
   1. Reaching out to see how many Santas he's got. Haven't contacted families yet. Will go out week before Christmas. Has been a week night in the past but he's interested in trying to do a weekend, or offering two options. Limited by Santas' availability.
   2. D Lamb asks how many suits there are
      1. Lots. Hanging and boxes. The thing that is true is that once you get the bells ringing and it's dark out, it looks like Santa. Very effective for kids of a certain age. Doesn't matter what you look like with the suit off. It's BYO pillow. Would like to expand into Mrs. Santa so won't turn down any eager female volunteers
   3. S Fitzsimmons asks what they do
      1. You show up at meeting place, you suit up, you get in a car with a driver, and you have a list of about 8 houses to visit and then on the way to each house you get coached on the note sheet of the names or some information about the kid that you get from the parents. Dropped off a few houses away and ring your bell, sing, and say "ho ho ho" as you walk to the house. Parents know when to expect you. Say you're there to inspect the chimney or the tree. Say hi to the kid and ask what they want. Give them small gift. In and out in a couple of minutes. They visited his house and he heard later from his wife that the kids couldn't believe it and it was all they could talk about for weeks. His son still knows exactly which toy he got from Santa. Some families have been doing it forever. Santas have visited family with kids in their 20s.
   4. Is Pete still doing it?
      1. P Schell says he IS Santa. He fills his yard with sheep - 1 new every year. Been doing Santa since before P Schell was born. His daughter comes with him as an elf now.
   5. P Schell says get a bit of an adrenaline rush when doing this so would like to add a pre-party and after-party. Mention it to anyone you know that has kids that might be of a good age. Would like it to grow.
      1. S Fitzsimmons says could add this to the neighborhood watch newsletter
         1. Might also be good to note that people shouldn't call the police on Santa
         2. P Schell notes that you have to word it in code.
   6. P Schell's wife will help him organize it this year
8. Neighborhood Watch Update - S Fitzsimmons
   1. Growing still. 472 members. Bookings into January with canine unit giving a talk, February it's identify theft, March's topic is domestic violence. Another busy year. Couple of good things. Now have more volunteers helping T Jarvis with website. People with new and fresh ideas taking reigns to get meetings and speakers arranged. They become more involved and active. Being approached by people who want to help out. Doing tours of training center and 911. Getting interest from other neighborhood associations, like Hill Farms. Talked to Hill Farms last week and talked about merging neighborhood watches a bit so when we have meetings at church, they could join. Could also share cost. People from 2-3 associations interested so that might build it into more. We've got by far the best neighborhood watch in the city. We're also the victim of our own success because when crime goes down, interest goes down. Meeting attendance is 35-40 and up toward 100 when chief is there.
      1. R Rotter says meetings are always good. Good speakers and he learns a lot.
         1. S Fitzsimmons says he is looking to educate and empower neighbors. And then we end up getting in the newspapers because we actually did something instead of pretending like nothing is happening. S Fitzsimmons gets calls from neighbors too afraid to go outside. This is a learning experience because you interact with all types of people.
   2. Now on the radio at 9am and 12pm every day. Low power station that is 2-3 miles from Midvale Heights. Sent email to the chief to see if he could go on radio too. Don't know how many people hear it.
      1. 99.1 FM. J Thoreson gets it at his house. P Schell and D Lamb don't.
         1. S Fitzsimmons would like to tape it for youtube, our website, etc.
9. Park Concert Series - D Lamb
   1. We need to do more advertising this summer. Had 35 people at first concert last year and then maybe 80 people at second concert. Part of it was working things out with the city. City is understaffed and there was confusion about what she was able to do; that will be resolved so she can look for groups sooner. Also, it was probably too late in the year and the last band that played was packing up in the dark. Thinking of doing three concerts on consecutive Friday nights. Do it in July for longest days of the year. Still will ask if they do it on Friday if they'll save Saturday for a rain date. Cut it to 90 minutes; 7-8:30. Try offering $400 since smaller time slot. Advertising: if we know the dates and groups early on we can do a better job of advertising and piggy-back on Make Music Madison and the picnic. Can put flyers in the library. Maybe buy a banner to put on Segoe Thursday afternoon: "Live Music Here, 7:30pm, Friday". Thinks she can get three groups lined up early. Can ask them for tapes. The husband of the head of the Friends of Library has a bluegrass group and wants to play. Might look into doing food carts.
   2. J Chipault wonders about doing 4 concerts, to fill a month and make it more of a big deal. Looked at calendar and, if skip Friday July 1, because that's 4th of July weekend, then there are 4 more Fridays in July
      1. Would cost more
      2. No objections
10. Announcements - Board
    1. After the annual meeting in October, someone at the library was commenting on the newsletters - they're always running out of copies at the library. We used to print 500 but as more and more people want just online version, we cut back.
       1. D Lamb is convinced that we were sending 75-100 to the library but Kelly counted 35 this last time. Don't know how many library would need. Area directors get 3 extras in case one blows away and D Lamb keeps 5-6 for archives. Would like to send at least 75 to the library. Over last couple years, we've printed 500 but there are more people who want it online. Could kick it up 50 for next time and count how many she has leftover.
          1. J Chipault wonders if area directors use 3 extras
             1. Yes, give to neighbors
       2. D Lamb would like to do profiles on new board members W Weber and T Trapp for upcoming newsletter. D Lamb will send them a few questions.
       3. Each newsletter costs $0.66.
       4. J Thoreson says he reads the newsletters of other neighborhoods and asks where ours is when they've been gone at the library
       5. Would be nice if on the box that the library puts our newsletters we could list our website in case the hard copy is out
          1. D Lamb might look into that
    2. S Fitzsimmons wants to reach out to new neighbors. There was talk at last meeting that C Kreimendahl took over on that. Is there a process to getting outreach material?
       1. It used to be more formal. Charles used to read the property sales in the newspaper and approach new neighbors; now could use Zillow or Trulia to get that information. C Kreimendahl put it on Area Directors to notify him that there was a new neighbor in their area if they wanted a welcome kit. He's heard from very few people over the last couple of years. Possibly 20 packets went out. Lots of sales this last couple of years now that recession is over. He didn't have time to take the step to contact all those people but does try to keep packets up to date. Packets have information from the Chamber of Commerce, Hilldale, etc., basically pamphlets from different organizations. Was throwing in a bumper sticker when we had a stack of those.
          1. P Haskew says still plenty of bumper stickers.
    3. C Kreimendahl notes that people who live on Orchard contacted Parks Dept this summer because they noticed that at Piper Park in particular the rubber tire chips they use had either never been enough or had worn thin and they were concerned that it was a safety hazard under the playground equipment. Her husband brought this to attention of Parks who told them surface is fine, they sent a picture, Park sent someone out to dig up ground with a shovel, after several more emails still no progress. They contacted Maurice Cheeks and he didn't respond. They called "Call for Action" which is a TV station that tries to get government agencies to respond. Parks says the playground equipment is slated to be replaced in 2020. If they have rubber left at end of season, they'll put it down, don't know that they did. C Kreimendahl brings it up not because we necessarily need to take an action but he does want to respond and wonders if have suggestions.
       1. E Rogers knows who to cc on emails to get the attention of Maurice Cheeks and Parks. C Kreimendahl can give her E Rogers's contact information
       2. P Haskew brings up Friends of Parks Foundation - have they tried that sort of approach?
          1. E Rogers says for individuals it can be useful to use a foundation because if you have funds that you want to give for a parks project you can give it to this group, which makes it tax deductible. While individuals can get a tax deduction by donating to the Friends of Parks Foundation, MHCA has no such incentive, since we are, ourselves, a 501(c)3 nonprofit. Friends of Parks don't have any pressure to respond to requests. Do we want to fund a couple of hundred dollars for shredded rubber and have volunteers put it there?
             1. C Kreimendahl says that would probably be a liability issue.
       3. J Thoreson thinks rubber is toxic and disgusting and really they should put in something else
       4. J Thoreson asks if there is someone from the Common Council at each monthly Parks meeting?
          1. E Rogers says board is 6 reps, at least 2 of whom are alders, designated by mayor and they discuss and vote on matters related to parks. Superintendent of Parks and Vice Superintendent of Parks are also there. Public comment opportunity exits but Board chooses topics to discuss for the month; some is handed down by Common Council but they often will start each topic by asking the Superintendent what is going on with the agenda topic and he'll lay out where Parks is and what the city plans to do and what questions they have and then Board gives suggestion.
11. Adjourned 7:52

Notes recorded by J Chipault, secretary