MHCA Area Directors' meeting minutes

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Midvale Heights Community Association Board Meeting
Tuesday, January 26th 2016 – 6:45 p.m. – Sequoya Branch Library

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

Other neighbors present: Andrea Domek

1. Call to Order & Introductions - E Rogers
   1. Did introductions.
2. Prior Minutes Review/Approval - Board
   1. C Kreimendahl suggested amendment via email that J Chipault already made live on the website. The change was to capture the fact that the officers as a slate were elected (not just vice president).
      1. Motion to approve minutes as amended. Seconded. Approved
3. Treasurer’s Report - R Rotter
   1. R Rotter handed out hard copies. Almost $42,000 in the account.
   2. Question about where PayPal account information is?
      1. P Haskew found it under "Other Accounts"; has $2,000
      2. E Rogers suggests maybe once a year have a maintenance withdrawal of about $2,000
   3. Still have about 20-30 cases of history books to sell
      1. D Lamb suggests could give to new neighbors
         1. P Haskew says we could include them in new neighbor packets
      2. C Kreimendahl brings up Oakwood Village resident got a Westmorland book and loved it so maybe other retirement centers would like them donated. C Kreimendahl can ask
      3. R Rotter says we could put them into little libraries
         1. J Chipault suggests adding a membership form into the history books
   4. E Rogers asks if Mike Pressman is starting t-ball registration
      1. D Lamb says application is usually available sometime in January/February. Will do big thing in the paper next time.
4. Legislative Reports - Maurice Cheeks/Carousel Bayrd
   1. Not present
5. Santa Visits Recap - P Schell
   1. Quick recap. Went really well. Had slight increase in every category compared to last year: more Santas, more kids. Last year P Schell stepped in and it was his first time heading it. Last year there were around 22 kids and this year had closer to 30 kids. Went more smoothly this year. Getting the message out to more people. Had some new volunteers, expanding volunteer base and the families that use it. And financially, was well under budget of $500; spent a little over $100 this year. Improvement was to make it more fun for the volunteers by having pre-suiting-up party with some refreshments and got together afterwards and that made it extra enjoyable for volunteers. 4 new people volunteering. Think program has the potential to grow in the coming years
   2. S Fitzsimmons says we need to advertise more. Can help get word through media when he talks about neighborhood watch, but have to make sure to do it so as not to tip the hat
      1. Missed the newsletter this year
   3. P Schell says historically, it has always on same day (Thursday the week before the week before Christmas) and last year he was emailing the volunteers to see when they were free to figure out how to pick a day so it helps to just do it that day.
   4. P Schell says had some broken zippers so might spend some money to fix or replace suits before next year.
      1. R Rotter asks how many suits we have
         1. About 10, they look old, but they're ok but they are starting to show age (e.g., zippers and elastic in wigs)
            1. J Chipault suggests volunteers to repair
            2. J Thoreson suggests using the alterations company on our neighborhood discount card
            3. D Lamb has friends that are on Monroe St. that use a local tailor
            4. J Thoreson suggests ask Mallatt's for repair or to buy new ones.
6. Neighborhood Watch Update - S Fitzsimmons
   1. As many know, up to 482 members. Kudos to T Jarvis for his help on the website.
      1. T Jarvis says had many people that didn't click on verification link. T Jarvis sent them a follow-up message indicating that they had dropped off so T Jarvis offered to re-send the link.
         1. S Fitzsimmons says can change wording to indicate that they should click verification link right away
   2. Just set out crime alert today because cars broken into just this morning. Mostly it's open doors, open garages, and if they find remote access within the car then they take it the next step. We have about 25% of neighborhood involved in the neighborhood watch. Making a difference though because people are helping police catch the bad guys, which is raising our property values and lowering our insurance costs. Have volunteers now helping with neighborhood watch, allowing it to expand. When we first started watch, the main goal was to reduce crime but it's morphing into a caring community of citizens watching out for each other. Lot of positive feedback from people coming to meetings. They want us to do more. There's a lot of potential there. There's crossover between MHCA and neighborhood watch and we should be conscious of that. One of the things that he would like to ask for is something we talked about last year and that is either a way that we could raise money for ourselves through 5013c in Midvale Heights or do we have to get a raffle license so that we could raffle off tickets for restaurants, etc.. Looking to raise a couple hundred dollars. Don't need thousands yet. Would like to raise some of our own funds. Want to give things out to people. Like to give community member a star every time they come to a meeting and then after they come to several meetings they get a mini flashlight or something that costs minimal. But if they attend, they could help us fight crime. Can we budget something like this within MHCA. S Fitzsimmons feels strongly about this. People have brought up that it might help get people interested.
      1. E Rogers really values what S Fitzsimmons has been doing with the neighborhood watch and acknowledges that it's of value to the neighborhood and he feels comfortable with this association giving financial assistance. We have a line item for the neighborhood watch in the budget because we want to help you succeed. Personally, reluctant to give out small fungible tokens of appreciation insofar as you should want to reward people for attending but they're mostly there for the benefit it incurs on them by helping them take part in their community and being helpful to others. Think we should be careful with benefit someone gets for showing up. That said, if raffles make meetings more fun, maybe that's an avenue.
      2. D Lamb notes that we don't reward other volunteers for working on gardens or organizing picnics. They're coming to neighborhood watch meetings because of the advantage they see for themselves.
         1. E Rogers acknowledges that for gardeners on Tokay, they don't all live on Tokay and don't benefit
         2. S Fitzsimmons says that they benefit their community by showing up to the meeting. Can teach things about identity theft, voting, fires. And can bring people into the community. This is not an investment in volunteers, investment in people who come to the meeting. Screenwriters club he was in used to give away screenplays or movie tickets. Bird watchers club does giveaway too.
      3. R Rotter says we used to give away ice scrapers or keychains. R Rotter would always volunteer but it's the other people that won't necessarily be there without incentive that you want to get to attend. For example, annual meeting is the same 50 people every year. Maybe we should buy Midvale Heights flashlights or something. We have ample funds. You want people to attend these meetings. That will bring the people in but then they'll keep coming. Want more people at these meetings for when group like canine team comes to make it worth their time. S Fitzsimmons has done such a fantastic job, we've been trying to get this going for years.
      4. Question if S Fitzsimmons would spend money in his line item in the MHCA budget; has $1000 left
         1. Yes
            1. E Rogers understanding is that we allocate money and let you decide on how to run that program. Neighborhood watch is sort of your domain
               1. S Fitzsimmons notes that if it doesn't work we could look at other reward programs
            2. P Schell says that S Fitzsimmons has tapped into something special and we want him to do what he needs to do to keep enthusiasm going, which includes being creative and making meetings fun. Regarding money, the way he believes the money works is the board approves the budget for the program and then S Fitzsimmons doesn't need an approval to spend within that budget. R Rotter does a review process by looking at receipts. You don't need pre-approval for spending within budget.
               1. Group agrees
      5. R Rotter says we could make a motion to increase Neighborhood Watch budget
      6. Going to incorporate Midvale Heights Community Association into watch meetings so that could get word out
      7. J Thoreson brings up that we could possibly help fund speakers because we have a hard time getting members every year and if neighborhood watch is getting people that aren't in MHCA, we get exposure.
      8. S Fitzsimmons is for sending postcards to whole community and could advertise both entities. Need to make it an ongoing thing every year.
      9. D Lamb asks if the watch program is separate from MHCA. Sponsored by MHCA, right?
         1. Yes, but there's not a lot that ties it together. J Thoreson says we'll now incorporate an introduction to MHCA at the watch meetings. Want to keep the two entities working together.
         2. Name of watch is Midvale Heights Neighborhood Watch
      10. Do you have to be MHCA member to see website?
          1. T Jarvis says no, but not many people log in. There is additional information on the website that is only available if you are logged in to the website and you have to be a MHCA member to log in.
             1. So can join neighborhood watch email list without being a MHCA member? No requirement for MHCA membership?
                1. J Chipault thinks this is appropriate. Don't want to put financial burden on people to participate in watch.
          2. J Thoreson says have troubles keeping block captains and have trouble getting word out about break-ins. We should be working together.
             1. S Fitzsimmons says car that was broken into on Coney Weston last week found out about neighborhood watch from neighbors.
      11. The other thing that S Fitzsimmons needs is with regard to new neighbors to Midvale Heights - how to reach out to them and give them welcome packet and introduce them to the watch. It's a way to keep the numbers growing on both sides
          1. E Rogers says hold this thought for our later agenda item
      12. J Chipault wants to make sure we're clear on budget. We approve budget and you spend within that. What would be best frequency for budget review: every 6 months, every year?
          1. S Fitzsimmons thinks annual budget is good.
             1. R Rotter notes that currently have $1,700 MHCA funds tagged and in the past twelve months spent $950 so if you spent at same rate and did $300 for speakers and $100 raffle prize, still be in the black. I think it is your sense and don't' think we need motion because it's a line item. But if at any point it needs to be adjusted, let us know
                1. S Fitzsimmons does want to purchase some sound speakers for use at meetings
                   1. R Rotter was talking about people that S Fitzsimmons invites to speak, but sound speakers a good idea too
      13. T Jarvis says when people register we ask them for an email address and even if they gave us an email address they could sign up for the watch with a different address. There's 482 in neighborhood watch and 259 of those match email addresses of current MHCA members. 283 match an email address that we have so possibly not current members so ~20 people that had been members that aren't now. Over 50% of our members are in the neighborhood watch group.
      14. P Schell asks about fundraisers? Is there an issue for S Fitzsimmons hosting fundraising. If checks are written to us then it's tax deductible but are there laws against that
          1. T Jarvis says have to have license to run a raffle.
          2. But totebag style if you donate $100 dollars you get a totebag should be fine. Need to note who got gifts.
             1. R Rotter thinks it's up to them to deduct things like totebags.
      15. R Rotter says we could perhaps buy speaker system for MHCA and it would come in handy at the picnic. Music doesn't provide speakers.
          1. J Chipault notes that if in the future we did art in the park could have speakers for announcements there too
7. Westmorland July 4th Celebration - E Rogers
   1. Westmorland started celebration in 1941 so this year is 75th annual and they wanted to "blow up the budget" on this one. Dave Blouin from Westmorland neighborhood association had a pretty convincing case that in decades past this event was quite the show. Talked about how they had fireworks until the late 1980s, until Elver Park took over. Had a beer tent. Softball games. In times past it wasn't just Westmorland running the show but it was us and Sunset Village, too. Dave Blouin is hoping that we can co-sponsor this event and, when pushed, financial support is welcome but not the only way we could support. He also talked about providing business sponsors or if we wanted to help promote this event (newsletter). It's going to be a big two-day plan of tents going up July 2 and big band concert on Sunday July 3 (them is back to the 1940s when this celebration started). Also throw-back games. Hoping to bring back the fireworks. They were thinking of having a Ferris wheel. They are trying to make it big. They are looking into insurance and riders. Their budget right now is fluid. Previous year's events that have been much smaller (essentially just a morning celebration) they've been $2,000-$2,500. There's no motion, in that we don't need something done, this is more just a heads up that Dave Blouin hopes to come to our February meeting and wants this seed planted. He has done some digging into old paperwork and he found document that says that Westmorland paid 40% of budget and MHCA paid 40% and Sunset paid 20%. If you want to get involved in this discussion, Dave and Ed and Sue (from Sunset Village) are emailing each other
      1. R Rotter says fireworks stopped because it scared the zoo animals
      2. D Lamb thinks it's a great idea but wonders if there's some way to agree to run a booth or sponsor a performance, especially if we come up with some good throw-back events. Maybe between now and when Dave comes to the meeting we could come up with some defined part of the event that could be from Midvale Heights
         1. E Rogers says that he mentioned that in previous years we've had Pizza Extreme come and that's not been so great for vegetarians so this year they are rolling a food truck up to the park. This caught E Roger's ear because we want to know how that works. It's the first Sunday and Monday of July and every Friday later in July we'll have concerts at Segoe so we should see how it goes
      3. P Schell thought it was just for people in the neighborhood.
         1. Always open to everyone
         2. T Jarvis says we started in 1963 listing it as a function we sponsored.
         3. R Rotter says used to give money and volunteers
         4. Last time we gave is 2001
      4. If want to get involved with the discussion, email E Rogers
8. New Neighbor Welcome Packets - E Rogers
   1. C Kreimendahl has been sole distributor over the past few years and E Rogers thanks C Kreimendahl and notes that sometimes we let this go. E Rogers looked through the packet and notes that we put a Midvale Messenger in the packet but maybe we could just create an undated messenger that's a welcome to say what the MHCA is about. And maybe a similar note from the neighborhood watch.
      1. D Lamb suggests maybe the membership one that's done annually
         1. R Rotter says how about things we always do
         2. C Kreimendahl says what was in there was a photocopied membership messenger and membership form
   2. E Rogers says in a previous life he did some computer programming and he put together something that hopefully should send an update from the city assessors website that will let him know when properties change ownership and it's set up as a newsletter for anyone that signs up for the monthly notification.
      1. T Jarvis didn't set it up as E Rogers described. There's no place we can go to subscribe. He forwards it to, right now, just E Rogers but other people can email T Jarvis to get added to distribution list
      2. Is the MHCA areas mapped?
         1. E Rogers says its' only Midvale Heights based on addresses.
         2. T Jarvis can provide a look-up table to E Rogers and he can divvy it by area
         3. T Jarvis says doesn't want to send 15 emails but can tag each line of data with area
   3. P Schell says the undated membership messenger could then be used not only in packet but also music in the park, neighorhood watch, picnic, etc.
      1. D Lamb can print out some copies of what she did last year and we can think about what should or should not be included.
         1. J Chipault suggests emailing them out ahead of time.
9. Announcements - Board
   1. P Haskew says that tucked behind Rushmore at Research Park there is something earth-shattering in its impact. Company is working on cloned skin for the armed forces and after that for burn or other victims where skin graft seems appropriate. Generated at Research Park facilities that in the past was under high security because was producing toxic stuff; new facility needs security because of its potential impact so they're happy to take over this facility, which isn't very big. Like small ones at end of Manor Court. Don't need a great deal of space but what they do is extremely pure. If you were paying attention to admissions because this building has an enormous amount of hardware on the roof, not that this new company is no longer toxic, we don't have to worry about all. Stratatech is name of company. They got a nice grant from the feds to get going on this. That's the news from the design review board of Research Park; he represents the neighborhood on that board.
   2. D Lamb contacted parks board for getting permit for this summer's performances. Haven't heard back. Expect it to be pretty painless. $100 last year and probably in that ballpark this year. Putting together list of bands but if anyone has suggestions, let D Lamb know. If anyone knows of an Irish group, that would be good. Hopefully will have acts lined up in time for picnic and fourth of July events and Make Muisc Madison so can advertise. If know who is coming and dates can do better job of advertising.
      1. E Rogers says Make Music Madison had 6 bands. E Rogers says half of them were interested in doing summer concert series at Segoe.
      2. D Lamb wonders about how to vet bands
         1. E Rogers says this year if someone does Make Music Madison we could do last-minute vetting of the band.
10. Meeting adjourned 8:00

Notes recorded by J Chipault, secretary