BPNA Meeting Tues. May 25, 2010

Our May meeting will be this Tuesday, May 25. As usual, we'll meet at 7:00p.m. at the Free Methodist Church at the corner of Grimes and S. Lincoln.

AGENDA

Bryan Park Neighborhood Stormwater Issues

Many neighbors have commented on the recent HT article reporting on sewage overflows after storms, which identified a manhole near the Walnut/Davis St. intersection as the most common overflow location. The storm water that causes these overflows drains through our own yards and streets. Guest speakers from the City of Bloomington Utilities will address issues of storm water management at the meeting on Tuesday. Our City Council Representative Isabel Piedmont-Smith will also attend. Come learn about what the city has done to date as well as options for future remediation.

Blooming Neighborhoods Sign-up

Again this year, we'll have a table for Bryan Park at the June 5 BloomingNeighborhoods event at the Farmer's Market. The city will provide a table, map and sign, and we'll bring our canopy. We need volunteers to sit at the table and chat about BPNA to people who stop by. Please sign up for a time on the sign-up sheet, or contact Mary to sign up.

Davis St. Garden

Ria Collee has offered to walk the Davis St. garden after the meeting. Lots of activity and hard work have gone into the garden this year, and Ria will point out some of the special things growing--as well as work that still needs to be done.

Neighborhood Leadership Series

The next session in the series will be held on Thursday, June 10. It will take place in the City Council chambers from 7-9pm. This session is called a "Round Table Discussion with Proven Neighborhood Leaders in the Area of Land Use." One of the speakers will be our own Jan Sorby. Mark your calendars!

Incident Report

Regular monthly report from Dick and Mary Lou Mitchell, our Neighborhood Watch representatives.

Please let me know if you'd like to add anything to the agenda.

Bryan Park Neighborhood Plant/Seed Exchange Postponed

Bryan Park Neighborhood Plant/Seed Exchange Postponed

The annual Bryan Park Neighborhood Plant/Seed Exchange scheduled for today, Sunday, April 25th from 2:00-4:00 p.m. at the home of Ria Collee, has been postponed due to rain. It will be held next Sunday, May 2 at the same time, 2:00-4:00 p.m. For more information about this event contact Ria, at 336-2512 or mcollee@indiana.edu.

Plant Exchange, Davis St. Gardens Update, and Isabel Piedmont-Smith Constituent Meeting

Annual Bryan Park Neighborhood Plant/Seed Exchange

The annual Bryan Park Neighborhood Plant/Seed Exchange will take place on Sunday, April 25th from 2:00-4:00 p.m. at the home of Ria Collee. The address is 932 S. Henderson St. (on the North corner of Allen and Henderson). Please bring any garden plants that you want to share, or seedlings (flowers, vegetables, etc.) that need a home. Tables will be set up on the Allen Street side to place the plants on. Ria has a Backyard Wildlife Habitat garden and is a Habitat Stewart. If anyone is interested in making their yard/garden more wildlife friendly and starting a Backyard Wildlife garden, she can help you. She will have native wildflower plants to give away, such as echinaceas, penstemons, lance-leaved coreopsis, false blue sienna, blue vervain, sundrops, goosenecks and black-eyed susans as well as vegetable seedlings. If you don’t have anything to give away, come anyway and give some plants a home or take away some seeds to start a garden. This event is a great way to meet the other gardeners in your neighborhood and it has always been a great deal of fun. For more information about this event contact Ria, at 336-2512 or mcollee@indiana.edu.

Davis Street Gardens Update - April 2010

The Davis Street community garden is located on the north side of Davis Street, and located between Grant and Palmer. The garden consists of 24 plots of land, each 10 feet square. Residents of the Bryan Park Neighborhood can sign up for a free plot, or more, by contacting the Garden Coordinator Ria Collee. E-mail mcollee@indiana.edu, or by phone 336-2512. The lots are numbered with the numbers painted on a stone that marks each lot. All of the plots have some sun, but the lots on the west side are sunnier than the lots towards the east, which have semi-shade at different times of the day. Currently, lots 4, 6-9, 13, 18-19 and 21 are available. The soil is in pretty good shape, plants and flowers have been doing well. There is mulch available on the east end of the gardens by the creek’s culvert. It came mostly from pine trees but has now aged for a year and should no longer be too acidic. The full guidelines for the garden are available at: http://bryanpark.blogspot.com/search/label/Gardening. Please join us to make the gardens more beautiful than ever by adopting a plot this year.

District 5 Constituent Meeting with Isabel Piedmont-Smith

Isabel Piedmont-Smith's monthly District 5 constituent meeting will be this Saturday, April 24, from 11:00am-noon at Rachael's Cafe, 300 E. 3rd St. (corner of 3rd and Lincoln). Get involved in your community, enjoy free coffee, and meet interesting people! Isabel will provide a summary of city council activities. As well as serving as Bloomington's City Council President, Isabel has been busy working on behalf of Disctict 5. You can see her lastest report on City Council activities on her Web site: http://www.piedmontforcouncil.org/UP%20Mar27-10.htm.

BPNA News and Annoucements

Neighborhood Leadership Series, April 8, 7pm-9pm

"The ABC's of Land Use"-Tom Micuda, director of the Planning Department, will provide an overview of the Planning Department's role in protecting neighborhoods. During this presentation, Mr. Micuda will address the following topics: the City's Growth Policies Plan, the Unified Development Ordinance, zoning code enforcement, neighborhood involvement in the land development process, and neighborhood action plans. Mr. Micuda will also discuss some strategies neighborhoods can use to get issues resolved by different City departments. Class will be held in the City Council Chambers from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 8.

Atwater/Henderson Traffic Light Presentation-April 9th at 4pm

From Jenny Southern:

For those of us wondering, whatever happened to that plan to put in a light? I can now tell you it really is happening and construction should be starting this year. The funding is in place and Engineering is ready. I have arranged with Justin Wycoff to show us the City's most recent plan down at City Hall on April 9th at 4pm in the Mclosky room. I have included a link below that you can take a look at but it really will take a City Engineer to answer your questions and comments. Looks like the separate (non-stopping) lane for turning on to Atwater from Henderson has been removed and some other aspects have been scaled back.

Most recent plan that I can find on-line for the intersection:

http://bloomington.in.gov/media/media/application/pdf/5842.pdf

IU Electronic Waste Collection-April 10, 9am-2pm

IU Electronic Waste Collection Day, a free electronic waste recycling drive hosted by Indiana University Bloomington, will be open to the general public on Saturday, April 10, , from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The collection will take place in the Purple parking lot to the north of Memorial Stadium. The event location is sponsored by IU Athletics. Staff will be on hand to unload e-waste from vehicles. Complete information, including maps, hours and a list of accepted items, is available at ewaste.indiana.edu.

Church on S. Washington

From Jane Walter:

Skip, who did a lot of renovation including the new front and interior shell, is in the process of selling it to a couple from Ellettsville, who will use it as a residence.