Minutes - October 27, 2009 Meeting

The Bryan Park Neighborhood Association met at the Free Methodist Church in Bloomington, Indiana, on October 27, 2009. Mary Miller, BPNA President, presided and Jenny Bauer was acting secretary.

Old Business

1. Variances. Mary Miller reported that the Schertz variance was approved and they will proceed with the construction of the new shed. Mary also reported that she was not sure of the status of the variance sought by Scott Ackerson. Jan Sorby said that she thinks Scott will need more variances than just the one for the size of the garage. Mary asked that Scott Ackerson be contacted to ask that BPNA be kept updated on his requests.



2. Templeton Playground Project. Angela Lexmond reported that the deadline for the grant application is November 2nd. She said that the new principal is helping with the budget and Bob Woolford from HAND is also helping with the application. The grant request will be for $16-20,000, with the same amount in matching funds. If the grant application is successful, work on the playground project will begin in the spring. The Templeton students are having a walk-a-thon to raise money on November 7th at Bryan Park. The grant money will be used to purchase equipment that emphasizes fitness and wheel-chair accessible mulch for the playground surface.



3. Welcome Bags. Mary Miller reported that the “welcome bags” made by Corrine contain goodies from local businesses. She asked for members to let her know when there are new neighbors so the bags can be delivered.



4. Incident Report. Dick Mitchell reported that George Martin had an attempted break-in at his house during Homecoming Weekend. Dick said that BPNA’s representative on the Bloomington Police Department has not been responsive to contact from the neighborhood.

New Business

1. Advertising on the Blog. Mary Miller asked the members if advertising should be allowed on the BPNA blog. Jan Sorby said that Prospect Hill advertises neighborhood businesses in its newsletter. Mary suggested forming a subcommittee to study the issue.



2. BRI Home Tour in Bryan Park. Jan Sorby reported that the BRI Home Tour featured homes in Bryan Park last weekend. She said that about 300 people bought tickets for the tour and that BRI raised more money with this tour than they have with any other tour. She also said that BRI received many positive comments about the Bryan Park neighborhood.



3. Conservation District. Mary Miller led the discussion about a possible conservation district designation for Bryan Park. She said that the first step is a survey of the neighborhood housing stock. Nancy Heistad from HAND is willing to work with BPNA to explore the issue. Mary said that another step in the process is for a neighborhood history to be written. After the survey is completed, it is submitted to the State. If the State approves the district, demolition delay becomes effective and permission must be obtained from the State Historic Preservation Commission before a building may be demolished. Mary stated that she will invite Nancy Heistad to attend the BPNA meeting in January. Mary asked Jan Sorby and Joane Henriot to get copies of the conservation documents of McDoel Gardens and Prospect Hill and to invite their representatives to attend a future BPNA meeting to discuss their experiences with the process. This information will be presented at a future meeting.



4. Church food drive. Mary Lou Mitchell reminded everyone to bring an item to the Free Methodist Church’s holiday food drive as a way to say thank you for allowing BPNA to hold meetings at the church.



5. Next meeting. Mary asked that the November meeting be changed to November 17th to avoid a conflict with members travelling for the Thanksgiving holiday.