Many thanks to the Naropa students for volunteering!..next meeting January 31

Eight Naropa students showed up to clean up the neighborhood and distribute Goss-Grove Neighborhood brochures.  Did you get one?  There were 195 of them distributed across the neighborhood.  I have 5 left to bring to the next meeting for feedback for the next meeting, January 31st.  Hope to see you there.  I will be sending out an updated agenda Monday next week.
Jenny, Goss-Grove co-chair

Love our neighborhood with Volunteer Naropa Students on Monday, Martin Luther King Day

I have been delighted to see that some of you would like to join in the Naropa Students on Monday, January 21 to make our neighborhood cleaner and brighter, and pass out brochures describing our neighborhood.  Many people who live here have not yet learned that we have an active neighborhood community. I have been finalizing the brochure and will provide Amy with 200 copies, which will have to be folded before delivery. 

Amy, the Residence Hall Director, will start setting up in the pocket park at 19th and Grove at 8:30 a.m.  Students will start filtering in around 9 a.m.

The tasks which have discussed include:

· Trash pick-up (creek beds, pocket park, alley ways, etc).
· Distributing flyers
· Painting park benches (our only concern was we weren’t sure if it might be too cold to do this in two-weeks)
· Letter writing campaign to get trash/recycling service added to pocket park (not sure who these letters should be addressed to – I’m looking online now) or any other efforts we can make to prevent litter

Amy L. Soehngen

Residence Hall Director | Snow Lion Housing Office | Suite 100 | 1900 Goss Street | Boulder, CO 80302

303.447.3846 (O) | 303.245.4795 (F) | 303.319.9793 (RA on duty after 7:00pm) |asoehngen@naropa.edu

Civic Center Redesign--Borders Goss-Grove

Last month, the city called on architects, planners, designers and artists from around the country (and globe) to submit idea proposals for the Boulder Civic Area project.  The Ideas Competition closed on Monday, Jan. 14.  More than 40 proposals were submitted. 

Seriously though.  We need you opinion.

Here's how to give it ..

Competition Idea Gallery  

Starting Monday, Jan. 21, competition finalist submissions will be available online for viewing and comment on the

Inspire Boulder website.  

Beginning at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 22, the finalists' ideas will also be showcased at the Boulder Public Library (in the Canyon Gallery) for public viewing and commenting.  The Idea Gallery will give the community a chance to provide feedback on competition finalist proposals. RSVP on Plancast! 

 

Winning Ideas: Competition wrap-up and award ceremony 

On Tuesday, Jan. 29, at 6 p.m. in the Boulder Public Library Canyon Theater, City Council and competition jurors will announce the Ideas Competition winners. Much like the Academy Awards, competition winners will be selected based on 'best' designs in various categories.  This public event will take the place of the regularly scheduled council study session that evening. RSVP on Plancast! 

This is city's notice that the Civic area that borders Goss-Grove is being re-designed. Jon and Jerrie Hurd have been attending the meetings and following this. Here's a chance to also participate and see what's being considered. It's worth watching.

Naropa Students looking to do Good Deeds! Let's give them some ideas!

 

We received the following notes from Amy L. Soehngen, Snow Lion Residence Hall Director -  what does our neighborhood need..we have ready hands!  Please email your suggestions to me jenny.devaud@gmail.com.

 

Here at Snow Lion we are welcoming students back from break and helping new students get settled. Many of our residents have expressed enthusiasm to be more involved neighbors and have the desire to do service in the community. As a result, Snow Lion is working with Career and Community Engagement office (who I cc’d on this email) at Naropa to offer a service project on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January 21).

We were hoping to do the service project in the morning in the Goss-Grove neighborhood, before joining the City of Boulder march/rally in the afternoon. In the past I’ve heard that students have helped with doing the street mural, bike repairs, etc. Our students could also help neighbors with painting, yard work, etc. We think this could be a good way to serve our neighbors while learning more about them.

Do you have any project ideas or needs? We’d love to develop something that would be practical and beneficial, rather than pushing forward something that may not be useful. Please let me know your thoughts and feel free to ask me any questions that may have come up about this idea!

Thanks so much!

 

 

 

Police Change Affects Goss-Grove

Happy New Year,

My name is Ron Gosage. I am the watch 2 and 3 ( swings and graves) Commander for the Boulder Police Department. Many of you have heard that changes are being made within the police department to include the dissolution of the “Hill Team” and nighttime “Mall Team”. This is true with a big, however. Instead of having two small units assigned specifically to the hill and to the mall, we have created the Neighborhood Impact Team that will be responsible to police both areas in addition to the municipal campus, the downtown area bike paths and the Goss/Gove neighborhood. We have increased staffing and assigned 12 officers and a sergeant. (Currently however, because of staffing shortages one position will remain vacant until mid summer) Jim Byfield, who many of you know, will remain as the primary supervisor for the team. Jim MacPherson, a watch 2 sergeant, will also be heavily involved in the team and responsible to coordinate with Byfield and me for supervision when Jim is not available. This team will have the opportunity to address many of the issues we face in the early evening and late night hours with a true problem oriented policing strategy. The team will police in cars, on bikes and on foot. Expanding our resources and combining both teams will give us the opportunity put resources where resources are needed to effectively address these night time issues. In no way should you expect the level of service you’ve grown accustomed to diminish. We do, however, recognize that many of the problems you deal with on a nightly basis are the same, or least related, problems we deal with on the mall and in the downtown area of our city. We hope to address these issues with a broader brush to enhance the quality of life for our citizens.

The Neighborhood Impact Team began its new assignment tonight at 5:00 pm. During the school months all members of the team will work Wed-Sat from 5:00 pm to 3:00 am. During the summer months, about mid May through mid August, four of the team members will work Monday-Friday allowing for 6 day a week coverage in our newly created 3 central district. I have attached a map of 3 Central for you to look at. 3 Central is outlined in bold.

We are excited about this new team and look forward to the challenges ahead. I will ensure that Jim Byfield brings the team to an upcoming hill neighbors meeting so you will have the opportunity to meet and dialogue with the officers. Some of them you will recognize as former Hill Team officers and some will be new faces, but all of them are great hard working folks ready to make this team a success. If at any time you have questions or comments please contact me. My office phone is 303-441-3478.

Sincerely,

Ron

Commander Ron Gosage

Boulder Police Department

1805 33rd Street

Boulder, Colorado 80301

gosager@bouldercolorado.gov

Neighborhood Dessert/Wine and Meeting, January 31st

Note the date change!  January 31st, 7 p.m.,  1919 Grove Street
For those of you who have never attended,  please come!  We'd love to meet you!

Agenda:

1.   Lexi Winer of the CU Student Government Director of City and Neighborhood Relations would like to visit with us to discuss student/resident relationships, joint projects, etc.
2.  Michele Bishop and I, long time garden leaders for the Community Garden at 20th and Grove, would like to transition the Garden from being under the umbrella of Growing Gardens to being a Goss Grove Neighborhood Association project in parnership with the Transportation Department (which has been de facto the case anyway).  Growing Gardens has been notified that is our intent; we need to discuss as a neighborhood whether there are any reasons NOT to do so.  Growing Gardens is demanding more and more from us and gives us essentially nothing;  all the fees go to them, none to us.  We could do alot with $700/year to keep up the Garden and do our own improvements!
3.  Chris Schutze, a very talented carpenter and craftsman in our neighborhood has designed a Little Free Library that he has offered to build for us.  He would like to show up his design and we would like to discuss location.  Transportation Department has offered to help  with install if needed in the Community Garden.
4.  Discuss brochure (that Jenny will have by then) for neighborhood.
5.  Refresh on street mural?  Who/when/if?

Other items?
Let Jenny know at jenny.devaud@gmail.com

Meeting Minutes: October 18, 2012 , including election results

The meeting was convened at 7 p.m. by co-chair Mary Hey. Eight neighbors were present plus two city staff to talk about the Arapahoe reconstruction project.  Awesome poppy seed cake  and still warm cookies were provided. 

Minutes from last meeting were approved.

Bryant Gonsolves, City of Boulder Transportation Manager, and Noreen Walsh, Senior Transportation Manager, discussed with us the Upcoming construction project on Arapahoe. We had a chance also to give our input and experience.  You can find all kinds of information (history, plans, who to contact, comment form)  here. The new road surface will be concrete.  All the sidewalks will be widened to 6' (except in cases where big trees prevent this, or lack of space, such as by Folsom and Arapahoe by Subway or gas station).  Paving will take place summer 2014 and will take 10 weeks.  One lane will be closed; only eastbound will be allowed.  A storm drain has to be constructed down the center of the road and the road has to rebuilt all the way to its foundation.  Underneath all that asphalt is actually a concrete roadway! 

We gave input on the light placement.  Those of us who were there voted for the stop light to be moved to 21st where most people cross anyway.  Our input was that the light does not really give a time advantage anyway since it doesn't turn until all the traffic is stopped anyway.  We also proposed a pedestrian island where there is currently a third lane that is not used (it's not a turn lane).  You can leave comments on the link which is provided above. There will be another public meeting Jan/Feb 2013. We'll get mailings.

The proposal that Neighborhood Parking Zones be reviewed every 5 years has passed the first hurdle.  It still has to go before City Council, but it looks like that will be what comes out of this. Most neighbors wanted this.

The Community Garden is finishing up its season.  We had a very good group of gardeners who showed up to weed and maintain all the flower beds that all the neighborhood enjoys.  Currently, only the gardeners are taking care of the Park and flower beds adjacent to the Community Garden.  We'd like to see more community volunteerism.  It's a great way to contribute, does not take much time, and makes you feel good.  Usually 3-4 plots open up every year.  If you want a plot, it's time to put in a request to Growing Gardens. 

Projects for 2013.  We discussed various projects which have been raised.  Of course, for something to happen, someone needs to have the passion/initiative to lead it. 

• Little Library.  This is part of a nationwide movement for neighborhoods/individuals to build very small libraries for free take/leave books.  You can read about it here There is one up on 6th close to Chatauqua, which is completely adorable.  We could put it in the Community Garden by the benches, or in front of someone's house.  The Transportation Dept has approved placement in the Garden, but there is concern about vandalism.  We do have a location in front of someone's house, too, if we decide Garden is not the right place.  We could also trial it in the Garden.  Chris, one of our talented and creative neighbors, has volunteered to design and build it.  Jenny is spearheading this effort to get it off the ground in Spring 2013. 
• Kiosk for Community Garden:  Oh my gosh, has this one been on the list forever.  The idea is to have a welcome arch/kiosk as the entrance to the Community Park/Garden.  Wade, who attended the meeting is a builder/carpenter, and he agreed to a one hour brainstorm on this, along with a couple of other people we have in mind.  Plan is to have meeting sometime in January/February 2013.  Jenny to call meeting.
• Meditation Garden:  This is another idea that has been floating about, especially since Naropa is part of our community.  The park at 19th St might be a good location. Jerrie has volunteered to have some discussions with Naropa, as it would be great to have a community project with them. 
• Street Mural Maintenance:  We want our beautiful street mural to stay beautiful! Mary will follow up with Jan on what needs to be done. 
• Neighborhood Brochure:  Be great to have one to pass out to new neighbors.  Jenny wrote one before and has located it.  She'll update it and bring to next meeting for review and comments.
• Other Projects: we do not have sufficient passion for within the volunteer community that attended:  Social events:  These are great but need to be planned by individual neighbors.  There have been several impromptu events around. Neighborhood Cleanup:  Things look pretty good. We see the mural upkeep as important but no one had enthusiasm for organizing a separate cleanup.  Hispanic history in Goss-Grove:  Loren brought up the rich history of the African-American and Hispanics in Goss-Grove.  In recognition of this, an Hispanic group is proposing to the City to rename Canyon Park (across Canyon from us, on 21st) to Emma Martinez Park.  Emma was the reason that that spot of land is a park!  It was going to be developed into apt buildings, but Emma stood up first to save the children's playground and then to have it become a full park.  Loren would like to introduce a motion for the neighborhood to support the renaming at the next meeting.

We have let police visits to the meetings lapse because frankly, we have very little crime here. 

And finally, election results!

First, we thank Mary and Maria for their service as co-chairs over the last year, including the delicious desserts and wine at their home.  This last year was a challenging one for us with all the zoning and we made it with critical help from Jerrie, Michele and others.  We also thank Jerrie as treasurer and Michele as our loyal secretary.

The new officers for the next year are:

Stephen Haydel and Jenny Devaud, co-chairs
Jerrie Hurd:  treasurer
Michele Bishop:  secretary
Diane has offered to provide desserts for our meetings.  Yummy and thank you!

Be sure and thank each of them for volunteering for this service.  Goss Grove is the oldest neighborhood association in Boulder.  Without the volunteers who step up to lead this organization, we would not have the zoning we have, the parking program, a community garden, a street mural or any of the other things you all enjoy.  Think about how you can step up and help out in this community.

Don't know Stephen or Jenny?  Jenny has been a garden leader for the last several years.  She rides her bike every day to Ball Aerospace where she works on physics problems.  She writes poetry and plays flute in her spare time. 

Stephen is often seen in an orange cycling jersey.  He's a software engineer, currently employed but seeking new opportunites!  He also promotes bike races, loves bikes and all things bikes.
They have a little black dog named Portia.  Jenny calls her Pork Chop, with love. 

We hope to see many more of you at our quarterly meetings!  They will continue to be at 7 p.m. and will be wine/ dessert affairs.  We'll let you know when the next one one.  You can contact us by email at jenny.devaud@gmail.com or stephen@haydel.com.
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