September 28, 2010
Minutes
The Bryan Park Neighborhood Association met at the Free Methodist Church in Bloomington, Indiana, on September 28, 2010. Mary Miller, BPNA president, presided over the meeting.
1. Block Party. Mary Miller reported that the block party was held on August 20th. She said the new location on Palmer Street was a success and the party had big attendance again. Nick’s English Hut provided the hamburgers, hot dogs and veggie burgers, and Craig Brenner’s band provided the entertainment. A new feature of the block party was an appearance by BPNA member Joe Lee as his clown alter-ego, Jolee’ the Magnificent. He delighted and entertained the children, as well as the young at heart. Mary also reported that BPNA shirts, aprons and neighborhood history books were sold and many new BPNA memberships were filled out. As a result, the BPNA treasury currently has $1100-$1300. Mary thanked all of the volunteers who worked at the party and thanked the neighbors on Palmer Street for hosting.
2. Proposal to open BPNA Google group. Mary Miller reported that she would like to open the Google group so that any BPNA member can post a message. Under the current format, posts to the Google group can only be made by Mary or Jon Lawrence. Mary said that she will set up instructions on how to make posts and suggested trying it for a month to see how it goes. The topic will be discussed again at the October meeting.
3. Neighborhood Improvement Grant. Mary Miller reported that last week was the deadline for a letter of intent to submit a neighborhood improvement grant. BPNA filed a letter of intent for bridges across the creek in Bryan Park and a kiosk in the park. The grant application will be due in early November.
4. MCCSC referendum on ballot in November. Nancy Lumbley attended the meeting on behalf of a group advocating for the school referendum. She explained that the school system is having a serious funding issue because schools are now funded through sales taxes rather than property taxes. The school board cut $5.7 million from the budget last year and will have to make more cuts without additional funding. She said that the board asked for the referendum, which could add up to 14¢ per $100 of assessed value on a property’s tax rate. If the referendum passes, the additional tax would be effective for 6 years. Ms. Lumbley distributed handouts that showed the impact on property taxes and asked neighborhood members for their support of the referendum.
5. Stormwater Runoff. Mary Miller reported that she, Jack Horton, Peter and Isabel Piedmont-Smith met with Mayor Kruzan and several department heads to discuss the problem with stormwater runoff in the neighborhood. She said the meeting was very good and that the group will meet again on October 7th to see plans from the utility department.
6. Food vending in Bryan Park. Angela Lexmond reported that the issue of food vending in the Bryan Park parking lots has been tabled by the Bloomington Parks Board. She said that Jan Sorby wrote a nice letter to the editor on the issue and that another good letter written by Deborah Myerson appeared in the paper on September 27th. Angela also said that the Herald-Times has been very critical of Bryan Park and Elm Heights residents on this issue.
7. Incident Report. Dick Mitchell reported that a house on Washington Street had a window broken by vandals and that a con man has been asking people for money.
8. Next meeting. The next BPNA meeting is scheduled for October 26, 2010.
