BA122: Sept. Monthly Meeting Minutes
Block Association 122 Inc.
Meeting Minutes
Sept. 15, 2009
7:30pm
I. Roll Call Cator Sparks (President), Fialka Semenuik (Treasurer), Rod Keenan, Haja Worley
II. Adoption of Meeting MinutesRod moved that the June 16/09 minutes be adopted as submitted; Fialka seconded that motion.
III. Board Report
a. Treasurer’s Report - see document posted below.
IV. Ongoing Business
a. Continued Discussion of Goals for BA
i. General Maintenance of Block
-Penny sent a letter to the DOT regarding speed bumps on April 24th and re-sent it via email in June. Awaiting further update from DOT.
ii. Support for Education
Flyers were printed and posted in the Spring, advertising that BA 122 has a financial gift available for students (grades 6-12) on the block. Original deadline for essay submissions was May 31/09; deadline was then moved to early September, however no submissions were received. Consensus was that support for education would be best achieved by continuing to contribute to Project Harmony’s programming in the J.D.Wilson Garden, with our recent $500 donation being case-in-point. Haja expressed formal thanks on behalf of Project Harmony for the donation and explained that it helped to fund this summer’s Environment Rangers session for teens. Activities that they undertook included: field trips to ReBuilders Source in the Bronx and Union Square Farmer’s market, canning of CSA produce, installation of rainwater harvesting system in the Garden, demonstration by BeeKeepers of the Garden, and plenty of thought-provoking discussions on the environment.
iii. Partnering with CSA via Project Harmony
We had considered helping to pay the costs for some kids to visit the CSA farm, however due to liability and logistics concerns, have decided not to pursue this. The CSA has scheduled a trip for CSA members via carpool to the farm on Sept. 28/09.
iv. Membership Drive to Help Fund Above Goals
We will send out another email blast to remind residents that membership fees are needed to help fund our charity efforts on the block and in the neighborhood. Rod suggested that email reminders also be sent out for meetings on the ‘day of’ the meeting. All agreed.
b. Letter to MTA calling to retain all services - Fialka explained that our email blast in early June which called for support yielded only 13 responses. She will send out another email blast to the block and reach out to Community Pride for contact info of other Harlem block/tenant associations. Cator noted he had a few other block association contacts he would reach out to.
c. Meetings of the Block/Tenant Association Leaders at Community Pride. Fialka has been unable to attend the last couple of summertime meetings, but understands that the group has started to self-organize.
V. Block News
a. Precinct Meeting - No news. Precinct Meetings are held the third Wednesday of every month. If anyone is available to attend, please do and then share your report with us!
b. JD Wilson Garden Update - Busy time ahead! Please mark your calenders for the following:Upcoming workdays in the Garden: Sat. Oct. 10th and Sat. Nov. 7/09.Upcoming Street Tree Care Workshop: Sat. Oct. 24/09and…the annual Kids’ Halloween Party on Oct. 31/09 from 3-5pm!!
VI. Old Business
a. Fill BA122 executive committee positions: A reminder of upcoming elections in November and to consider taking on a position.
b. Block Party Recap - Saturday, July 25/09: Everyone agreed that the Party was a great success! CPSR had funded the children’s games so that they were free for non-stop fun. Plenty of kids stopped by the BA raffle table to make drawings and our first ever flea market table yielded $50.75 in revenue. 3 other resident-vendors participated in the flea-market initiative and we hope this will grow next year. The BA paid for $15 of each $25 resident-vendor registration fee to CPSR. There was a miscommunication with regards to how many tables the BA had requested from CPSR, however we made do with what we had and thoroughly enjoyed the day. Thanks to all who helped out at the BA tables: Doris, Nathaniel, Penny & Paul, Cator, Fialka, Rod!!
VII. New Business
a. Vote on childrens’ artwork from block party: Designs were narrowed down to a few which will be posted on the blog for everyone to see. Vote is to take place at the next monthly meeting.
b. BA122 totebags have arrived and are available for only $15! See the BA blog for images. 10 totebags have been sold so far and one was given to the winner of the featured design: Cheray Castro.
The meeting was adjourned around 8:30pm.
Minutes submitted by fialka semenuik.
