BUENA VISTA NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
Minutes of the Meeting Tuesday, October 27, 2009
At the Home of Sally and Ken Henning at 347 Menker Avenue
Meeting called to order at 7:05 PM
PRESENT: [9 people present]
Robert Solis (President)
Loui Tucker (Secretary)
Sabine Zappe (Treasurer)
Ken Henning
Sally Henning
Linda Solis
Jerry White
Ruth White
Melrose Cacal, representing City Council-member Pierreluigi Oliverio's office
MINUTES - Approved as presented and posted.
TREASURER’S REPORT Sabine Zappe reported that the bank balance is $530.48. Theseare all BVNA discretionary funds.
STATUS OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD
1.
The two trees on Willard just north of Scott that were lifting the sidewalk, curb, and streethave been removed by the property owner. The street has been repaved and the sidewalkhas been repaired.
2.
Ruth and Jerry White reported that their home looks finished on the outside, but it is notfinished on the inside. They still have no heat and the rooms are mostly unfinished.
3.
Brian sent an email which Loui read in his absence that reported that there is a tree thathas overgrown the sidewalk at 1480 Douglas Street. It makes it hard for anybody over fivefeet to be able to walk without ducking. Perhaps someone from Code Enforcement canlook into this.
4.
Also in an email, Brian reported that there is a desperate need for “NO PARKING ANYTIME” signs along the east side of South Willard. Additionally, the “NO PARKING” and“NO TRUCKS OVER 7 TONS” signs were knocked down in front of 1498 Douglas, aboutthree weeks ago and have not been replaced.
5.
Robert reported that an Environmental Impact Report regarding the 880-280-17interchange has been published and is available at www.vta.org if anyone is interested inreviewing it.
6.
There is a discussion about the new “pot ordinance” because the Pierreluigi Oliverio andthe Rules Committee is looking into adopting an ordinance. While people have compassionfor those needing medical marijuana, it was felt that we did not need a concentration ofmedical marijuana centers or shops in our neighborhood.
7.
Robert also shared a memo from Pierreluigi Oliverio’s office about making all availableredevelopment funds should go to “economic development” because of the currenteconomic downturn we are in. There was a (in Robert’s opinion) poorly worded andmisleading questionnaire sent to community members. The SNI believes the funds shouldfocus on bringing lower-served communities up to par with other areas. Monies should bespent based on merit.
8.
A comment was made that if you’re going to be out of town, you can request extra patrolsto go by your home. Call 277-4631.
9.
The property owned by Green Republic that it plans to develop on the corner of Meridianand West San Carlos had an appliance store that now has pianos in it. The thought is that
Minutes of BVNA General Meeting 11/24/09
they might as well get some rental income while they wait for the economy to turn andmake developing that corner more profitable.
10.
The Environmental Impact Report on the VTA project at Sunol has been published by theNAC thinks it is incomplete. There are height issues, possible contamination issues on theland being made into a park, and Green Republic has many more hoops to jump throughbefore this project breaks ground.
11.
There were some concerns voiced regarding the expansion of the Buena Vista Park(Robert provided a copy of the current plan), principally over the issue of lighting at theback of the park.
12.
All those gigantic poles at San Jose City College along Meridian are finally gone. They arein storage pending placement elsewhere. There are plans to re-plant the trees that wereremoved.
13.
There was a discussion about getting San Jose City College to open its facilities to thepublic – pool during the summer, library, tech center, etc. The NAC has tried in the past butSJCC claims high costs of providing security.
OLD BUSINESS
1.
Spirit Night was a success! All of the glow necklaces were passed out and used all the filmwas used. We have a few glow bracelets left over. Robert estimated over 200 people cameby the house. Film for the Polaroid cameras may no longer be available in the future. AGerman company bought the rights and may produce the film in the future as there are stillplenty of cameras out there and people who want to use them.
NEW BUSINESS
NONE
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The next BVNA meeting will be on Tuesday, Decmber 29 at the home of Loui Tucker andSabine Zappe at 153 Race Street. There will be a potluck before the meeting beginning at6:00 PM. Mark your calendar and plan to attend. Loui will send out a specific invitation witha request for RSVPs so that enough people will know how many to plan for.
Meeting adjourned at 8:12 PM.