GROVE PLACE ASSOCIATION March 25, 2001 4:00PM
General Meeting YMCA
Present: S. & P. Pineo, B. Keck, N. Macon, K. & M. Pier, M. Burgeson, K. & H. McDonald, L. Fyles, D. Hershkowitz, S. & J. Bovay, B. Strasenburgh, G. Yount, K & D. Parse, E. Green, L. Garrenton, G. Weyerts, C. Kowolsky, M. Buonocore, E. Isaac, T. Belcher, B. Wager, K Lynch, J. Gregory
1. President Sue Bovay welcomed everyone and introduced new neighbors Dave and Kathy Parse who purchased the Jenkins’ home. Sue also pointed out a number of media articles of interest to the group, including writeups of future development in the East End area.
2. Sue reported that Mayor Johnson’s recent State of the City address stressed working collaboratively to attain regional goals. She also discussed results of a recent planning meeting of the Genesee Transportation Council she had attended, at which the Council stated it would focus on maintenance of highways, bridges, buses, and pedestrian and bike paths, but offered no interest in proposing any visionary projects for the future. Sue felt that GPA may want to draft a petition requesting that the GTC explore the Inner Loop project put forth at the Downtown Charrette event which advised raising the Inner Loop in certain areas in order to reconnect neighborhoods and extend Downtown. Public comments are due by March 30th,
3. Secretary Judy Gregory read the minutes of the last meeting which were approved by the assembled group.
4. Treasurer Elta Green reported a balance of $6442, having received grant money of $1000 from the Arts Council and spending $229 to set up a GPA website.
5. Paul Pineo updated everyone on his committee’s efforts to explore the possibility of having GPA become a special City Enhancement District. This would require individual homeowners to pay an added tax for certain maintenance projects agreed to by the City within a determined area. The conclusion reached by Paul’s committee was that most issues that would fall under this kind of plan (i.e. trees, garden areas, sidewalks, plowing, parking meters, etc.) were already being taken care of in a satisfactory way. The only problem area seems to be the damaged brick sidewalks in the neighborhood. It was felt that since these were all in the vicinity of the YMCA and the ESM, perhaps some residents from Symphony Terrace could meet with reps of those two organizations to encourage them to establish their own district if needed to get this taken care of. Sue responded that the City is planning to spend $250,000 to repair the brick sidewalks, but there will be no more money to maintain them once that’s done.
6. Paul also reported on a meeting he attended regarding the Housing Initiative Program being promoted by the City. He was very impressed with the goals the City is setting for this project which include: A) Improving home sales by getting more realtors involved with City properties. B) Working with private contractors on projects such as the current City Expo construction under way on West Main St. where homes are being built which will sell for $70, 000 to $80,000. C) Actively trying to entice mid and upper income families back to City living. D) Buying up HUD foreclosure houses and putting them back in the marketplace as either owner-occupied or rental units.
7. In the absence of Beautification Committee Chair, Marilyn Klass, Sue reported that the dates for the neighborhood spring cleanup have been set for May 5th and May 19th from 9:00 AM to Noon. Marilyn has discovered that GPA can get Americore volunteers to assist with these jobs through the Damon Center. Benches will be reinstalled during May, and GPA homeowners may order mulch through the Committee when it is ordered for the public beds.
8. Sue introduced Windsor Street neighbor, Barbara Wager, who spoke to the group about gardening in the Grove and about the possibility of entering the GP neighborhood in the 11th annual City Garden Competition this summer. Barbara’s garden won first place last year in the multi-unit residential category, at which time the City Horticulturist described GP as a “Horticultural Gem”. Barbara felt that it was time for GP to once again (the neighborhood has evidently been a previous winner) compete in this competition, and offered tips as to how to go about it.
Application would require photos and written material and would need to be completed by July 31st for the August judging. Six finalists are chosen in each category (we would enter in the “Community” category), and are then judged by a team of about 20 jurors. Barbara felt that to be competitive, GP would need to have plantings such as perennial ground covers under all trees, use colorful annuals that would be in bloom most of the summer, encourage a second neighborhood cleanup in August before the judges arrived, do a mailing to all residents and non-residential business owners and landlords regarding the need for extra attention to this year’s gardens, stress some form of uniformity to tie everything together (i.e. mulch and repeated flower varieties).
Barbara described her own winning garden as being a delightful haven off an ugly parking lot. The goal she established for her own yard was to create serenity in the middle of the City through a variety of spaces which included a rock garden, container gardens, hanging plants, an herb garden suspended from a stockade fence, and a water garden. She felt it was important to offer the visitor to the garden a number of surprises to discover when walking through the site such as small sculptures and even furniture.
She concluded by saying that beautifying one’s surroundings makes everyone who experiences that beauty feel good.
9. Bob Keck reported that the GPA website (www.groveplace.org) has expanded to include the Art in the Grove flyer, and he is looking for additional material to make the site a neighborhood resource. Meeting notices, announcements, minutes and photos are all items he would like to start featuring on a regular basis, and asked for members’ help in gathering this kind of information. On behalf of the Association, Sue thanked Bob for all the work he’s done and the contributions he’s made to the website. Additionally, she thanked him for the wonderful job he’s done plowing Selden Street sidewalks this winter.
10. Sue alerted the group to printed handouts available on events and topics of interest to the group.
11. Officer Tom Belcher introduced Earl Isaac from the Sector V NET office, and announced the start of a bike pac tac program in the Cornhill area. He asked GPA to consider being involved in a similar program in our neighborhood.
12. The next GPA General Meeting will be held on April 22nd. The meeting was adjourned at 5:00PM and a reception was held at Mike and Kim Pier’s home.
Respectfully submitted,
Judy Gregory, Secretary