FHNA Board Meeting 3/13/06

Board Attendees: Kenny Dalsheimer, Courtney James, Jay Levy, Julie Maxwell, Cindy Moylan

Neighbor Attendees: Lee Richardson, Susan Levy, Chris Carrington

General business:

There was a motion to approve the minutes from the last meeting, it was moved, seconded, and approved unanimously. 

Treasurer’s Report:

Revenue of 699.89 consisting of:

     59.89 in interest income

     55.00 in one new Patron Membership

     200.00 donated from the Forest Hills Garden Club for the Memorial Garden

     385.00 collected in Firewood sales

 

·       Expenses of 19.26 for printing costs associated with Golf Prints.

We are now up to 188 memberships (103 Patrons and 85 Regular).  With 23 non-renewals we are still 11 memberships ahead of last year (and 20 ahead of last year at February 28th). 

 

Trees and Park:

DIGGING: Kevin Lilley is directly in charge of the digging project near Beverly and oversees Landscape Services now.  He said that the digging going on in that field is an urgent project because there is a storm drain that empties into the creek somewhere close to Andy Seaman's house that was damaged possibly as a result of the erosion that happened in the creek there. So the first part of the project is to open that up and make repairs as they find are needed. They hope this will prevent further erosion. Second as part of the project is a new "experiment" to see if tiling the field will help improve the drainage of the playing field. They plan to empty the water that comes from the "tiling" (an agriculture/horticulture term involving laying subsurface tiles to direct water efficiently) into the storm drain since they would not be permitted to route it directly into the restored creek. (The water ultimately and fairly quickly would go into the restored creek anyway, just downstream a few feet.)

Kevin said that they are treating the grass/sod in a way (by cutting and rolling it rather than just gouging into it) that will minimize damage to the playing fields.  Regarding any plans for improvements of the turf such as seeding, designated uses, etc, he said we'd have to ask Beth Timson with Parks & Rec about that.

If the drainage program is successful, they also plan to look at the area between the playground and the creek, as well as the area between E. Forest Hills Blvd and the creek near the footbrigde to the playground, as well as a host of other Durham parks that have drainage issues. Forest Hills is apparently the pilot project.

BUFFER MOWING: Kevin said they are required by EEP to mow the area between the no mow signs and the bollards down to 5 inches twice a year, in spring and fall. He said that they will be carefully measuring the distance between the bollards and the no mow signs to set them at exactly 30 feet as required by EEP. He said that currently/previously, they were further apart in many cases, creating a larger than required buffer zone.

  VINE CUTTING: Kevin said that they had a prison work crew out in Forest Hills park recently for about 5 days cutting down kudzu and wisteria. If we have areas that we would like such a crew to focus on in the future, he said bring it to his attention. He gets a call from the prison every so often asking where they can take a crew out to work.

  TREE PLANTING: Confirmed with Kevin Lilley that the trees we've requested as part of the city's street trees program will be on hand this month and many will be planted with gator bags to help keep them watered through the summer. Dub and/or Tania will meet with them to identify exact placement once the trees are on hand. We're concerned that they are going in late in the planting season and will not have a chance to establish before the hot season. We'll be asking neighbors living near the new tree plantings to keep the gator bags filled with water this year.

Walking Trails:

·       Susan Levy reported on the current status of the walking trails.  There will be a call for volunteers in the next few weeks and after the city planning application is approved there will be a neighborhood-wide meeting to discuss status. 

·       There are two specific needs: (1) someone with some surveying and/or landscape architect experience to help in physically planning the trail, and (2) an attorney to assist in submitting the contract with the city for the right of entry.

Stream Restoration:

·       There was a meeting between Public Works and EEP the Friday before the board meeting.  We hope that this meeting will result in the long-awaited report analyzing the east side stream restoration that is supposed to be made public.

Community Renewal:

·       Rebuilding Together Holiday Fundraiser job training program has fallen through due to their lack of additional funding.  The board discussed other places to which we could direct these monies (like Self Help or Durham Land Trust).  The general consensus was that it should be a local institution doing direct work in St. Theresa.

·       Jim and Kenny will conduct some additional research in this regard and email board with specific options. 

Communications Committee:

·       Spring newsletter scheduled to be mailed this month.

Social Committee:

·       Continued discussions regarding plans to host a “volunteer recognition” dinner sometime this spring (perhaps the beginning of May).  There will be a nominal fee to attend the dinner and all neighbors will be encouraged to attend.  Look for more information about the party in the coming weeks.

Recreation Committee:

·       Committee will schedule date for neighborhood meeting focusing on adult recreation and will report to the board after this meeting.

Other – Neighborhood Watch:

·       Successful Neighborhood Watch meeting hosted by Ginny on Hermitage Court.

·       Neighborhood Watch areas will be listed on the website and in the next newsletter.  Please contact Courtney James (birdrjames@yahoo.com or 489-3101) if you are currently leading a neighborhood watch area.

Other – Durham UDO:

·       Board discussed whether getting a Protective Overlay is something that residents of Forest Hills should be worried about and if so, what steps should the FHNA take to help facilitate the process.

·       The Board invited Aaron Cain to the April meeting to discuss this in greater detail.  Aaron presented information to the board on the UDO at a meeting in early 2005.

Other – Directors and Officers Insurance:

Treasurer is going through the process of getting quotes for insurance covering board.  This is typical for non-profits to have this level of coverage.

Nominating Committee:

The Board is looking for volunteers to serve on the board staring in June 2006 for a two year term.  Please contact a board member if you or someone you know wants to serve.

Logo Contest:

FHNA will be announcing a contest to design a logo that will be the official logo of the neighborhood.  We will use this logo in newsletters, the website, to design the neighborhood sign, and perhaps things such as t-shirts.  Contact a board member if you are interested in submitting a proposal.