March 18, 2004 GGNA Minutes

March 18, 2004 GGNA Minutes
02/26/05by david secunda
Summary of the 18 March 2004 Meeting of GGNAWe met at the home of Mary Hey and Maria Krenz at 1919 Grove St. for potluck and GGNA’s bimonthly meeting.
Visitors included Chrystal and Robbie from CMI, Beth Smith of La Iguana restaurant and chair of the Responsible Hospitality Group, Officer Curt Foster and Sergeant Rob Burkman, and Ferne Parmenter, our city-neighborhood liaison and a resident of Gross-Grove.
1. Officer Foster (from the 9:00 pm to 7:00 am shift in our neighborhood) reported that the number and severity of crimes in our neighborhood declined from the previous two month. There were only six incidents in January and February. They included breaking a washing machine for change, squatting in an empty apartment at 1719 Canyon, and some burglaries without forced entry. He reminded us that most burglaries are opportunistic and that we should lock doors and be generally aware. For example, notice and report suspicious prowling around student apartments, especially when the students are away (Christmas break, Spring break, etc.).
2. Dave Secunda reported on the progress of the community gardens project. There were two work days held, during which the irrigation system was installed and the vegetable beds were built. There will be a third workday on March 28th to drop the dirt in and make adjustments. The plots will be ready for planting in mid-April, applications are available at the site or from Dave by emailing david_secunda@yahoo.com. Dave especially thanked Crystal and Robbie for the 100+ people/hours work provided by CMI clients doing their community service or just volunteering. We couldn’t have done it without them!
So far, the community garden project is under budget. The first priority is to get the plots ready for planting. In the next phase we hope to improve the aesthetics, build a fence around the garden, provide a bench, etc.
3. Beth Smith informed GGNA about the Responsible Hospitality Group, a group of bar owners and city officials working on serving alcohol responsibly. She is the owner of La Iguana on the Hill and the chair of the group, which was formed in response to the Boulder Liquor Authority’s attempt to crack down on under-age drinking. The clientele of these establishments is very young (21-24), older people drink elsewhere. The group tries to be proactive and puts out posters and coasters about predatory drugs in drinks, drinking and driving, penalties for false IDs, etc. They also collect and turn in fake IDs to the police. They have also agreed not to serve discounted drinks on graduation morning and no drinks under $1.00. However, there are still happy-hour enticements (Tuesday nights on the Hill and Thursday nights on the Mall), which result in drunken prowling and excessive noise in our neighborhood. They are cutting down on the duration of happy hour. Thanks Beth for the wonderful chips and salsa from La Iguana!
4. Dana Lobell requested a letter of support for Naropa from GGNA for the renovation of historic Lincoln School. They will start by repairing the facing brick wall and rebuilding the bell tower, as close to the original as possible. The letter is not required for permission but is helpful for funding. There was unanimous approval for such a letter. Co-Chair Dave Secunda will write the letter.
5. Carmela Weber reported on the proposed Boulder Occupancy Rate changes. The proposal is to make the definition of family “marriage neutral,” that is, to allow two heads of household not legally married. This would potentially increase the number of people not legally related who may live in low-density zones from three to four. It would have no effect on the Goss Grove Neighborhood, because we are zoned for high density. It was approved by unanimous vote that 1) we support making the occupancy rate regulation marriage-neutral, 2) that we don’t support any general increase in the occupancy rate. Carmela will attend the City Council meeting regarding this issue.
Carmela attended the sofa ordinance meeting. There was no controversy about keeping the ordinance going on the Hill. Some were surprised that GGNA had no interest in applying the ordinance to our neighborhood. However, during the period when there were 81 sofa-related fired on the Hill, there were only 9 in Goss-Grove. We can join in later if we have a problem.
6. GGNA was invited to send a representative to the Community Value Conference on April 1st or 15th from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the Community Mediation Center at 2160 Spruce. This conference is a sentencing tool related to community-type crimes. No one volunteered. If anyone is interested, please email carmelaweber@yahoo.com.
7. Spring clean-up for organics is April 19 – 23.
8. Our community clean-up (hopefully coordinated by Greg Mulligan) will take place on May 15th. This is the city clean-up day and the city provides gloves, etc., but we’ll try to make our clean up day more festive.
9. The Strategic Planning Committee, approved last January, will start meeting monthly on alternate months from the GGNA meeting. It will develop a vision for the next 3, 5, 10 years for the neighborhood, bring the ideas to the GGNA meeting and eventually take them to the city. Dave asked if there were more people interested in joining the committee. None volunteered. If you are interested, please email david_secunda@yahoo.com.
10. We discussed the best way to distribute the GGNA newsletter.
a. We agreed to have on each block one fence to hang a plastic holder with the newsletters. Deb and Terry Danko agreed to do it at their house (1602 Grove), Peter Hess at 1802 Grove, Mary Hey and Maria Krenz at 1919 Grove. We’ll ask Deb or Marty to do it at the 2000 – 2100 block, and Peter will ask someone on Goss.
b. We agreed to try to deliver it to every residence as we used to. Deb and Terry agreed to do it in the 1500 and 1600 block, Mary and Maria in the 1900 block, Dave in the 2000 block. Maria agreed to work with Dave to find additional volunteers for the 1700 and 2000+ blocks.
c. Dave is working on having a GGNA website where the newsletter will be available and old records will also be accessible.
11. Jenny Devaud proposed having a magazine swap. Bring your old magazines to the GGNA meeting and pick up new ones of interest. Magazines not picked up will be donated to Boulder Community Hospital.
12. Send a posting to the listserv if you are looking to share your talents or request assistance from others, or just are looking for someone to go to a movie with, etc. If you would like to subscribe to this group send email to Goss_Grove-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
13. Ferne Parmenter relayed an invitation from Jennifer Korbelick (CU-neighborhood liaison) to participate in CU homecoming weekend by having a neighborhood float, or some other way. If interested, we should contact Jennifer. No interest was expressed at the meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 8:27 pm.
Respectfully submitted, Maria Krenz Secretary
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