Author: elaine

6/21, 7 pm, New Bridge Community Church
Minutes taken by Elaine Nelson in lieu of Secretary Carol Wilson

Attending:
Board members: Elaine Nelson, Chad Akins, Mark Bergeson, Ann Mataczynski, Jody Suhrbier, Luke Bowerman, Nathan Allan
Guests: Don Stark, Bob Vadas Jr., Eddy Willingham
Minutes approved.

I. Introductory discussions
Chad’s idea: 1 minute open mic at the beginning of the meeting? Airport email discussion.

Bob’s concern about dog poop, people aren’t cleaning up. Chad volunteered to take pictures, talk to city about getting more of the blue bags boxes in the park.

II. Madison Scenic Park plans
Pea-patch? Nathan’s not here, Chad was hoping to put him in touch with Todd [vols in parks guy]…and then Nathan walked in with some small person. (Beckett, friend’s kid)

David Hanna replied to email that he sent before going to Australia, said they should have coffee. Decatur Park on the westside might be similar in terms of amenities, restroom, playground, walking trail. Nathan’s going to lead this project and will keep the board informed, find out what guidelines the city has for us. We still have money for a park project that hasn’t yet been spent, still waiting for the city to tell us what they need.

Nathan & Casey went to the park with 13th ave pea patch folks, who want something really long term. They have money saved up for a move, and they like the spot.

Nathan will tell him that we’re still very interested, might just show up at David’s office.

III. Neighborhood entrance signs
Reviewed email with Jennifer. Jody and Nathan said they’d gone through all that with Public Works. Maybe a situation of talking to different people? Write to city council? Use the 3 minutes. Not going to install them on private property! Talk to city manager? In meeting, Lee approved the sign, but after going to CPD it all went sideways – he suggested above 11 feet on the poles. Present the whole chronology, who we talked to, original grant info – to Jennifer. Some things changed based on phone conversations with Ken. Jody will try to write up a timeline. Start with Jennifer and work it out from there.

Jody asked if it would help to have photos of similar signs in Olympia. Could be.

IV. Walkability project
Active neighborhoods grant, halfway thru cycle. since last meeting: school bike day, spent some of the grant money to buy 30 bike locks. More kids rode than expected – 45 total – but all who didn’t have bike locks got one. [newsletter!] put together booklet, trying to get approval from [?] for route map for kids, showed map, simplified routes (safe, sidewalks) with pedestrian safety rules on the back, plus a letter to go with it. wanted to get mayor, superintendent to sign letter, but no dice. survey to go with, missed some details. might put the survey (but NOT the map) online. “how can we make the map more useful?” feedback on safety will go to the city, could push us up the priority list, otherwise 20 years out. last element will be to take feedback, revamp map, put out new packet at the beginning of the next school year with fun incentives. looking to partner with PT(A? O?) on “pride time” — walking laps?! — at certain levels get prizes. how can we help with that next year? Madison has 170 kids walked 1800 miles this last school year. we asked if we could reward them, talked to South Sound Running, gave 8 pairs of shoes, drawing for each class. “Random acts of kindness” — at the end of year school giving 16 kids a prize, attempting to get 16 bikes from Build-A-Bike, but fell through days before! We tried to get ahold of some things. First United Methodist bought brand new bikes. Through safe kids coalition we bought 16 helmets. Will buy some more things to help throughout the year in order to spend the remainder of the grant by August 31. The kids need really tangible stuff. Chad suggested outreach to email list for additional donations, and is willing to approach Fred Meyer about donation/price break. Bob asked about vandalism, Jody said that a lot of kids were worried about having bikes stolen, but nothing about vandalism. “Please write for — fund” on the check, suggestion from Mark.

Intermission
Katie showed up with painting for Jody!

V. Picnic
We can afford to buy food, thanks to Don’s generosity with the newsletter.

Options for games: http://www.partyoutfitters.com/index.cgi?cat=%2FI%20Want%20to%20RENT%20Games&rm=listitems&loc=WA

Eddy just bought that company. ask other churches to help donate the cost or staffing. he’ll look into availability for that weekend, how much he can.

Put it out early, contact other churches. Until something happens with the sign project, Chad can be lead on this.

One “thing” is probably enough to keep kids who show up busy.

What about croquet? Disc golf? All good!

Make a flier to take around to all.

Ann gave a quick update about the St. Mike’s groundbreaking.

Luke suggested a letter to all, to be inclusive. Jody suggested framing it as “we’d like you to come”, mention NB donation, but not make that the focus. [get printer cartridge] eddy and his folks will help deliver. Elaine asked if there’s any other groups, nobody could think of any. Chad asked about summer education, Luke said not a good idea.

Was anybody in particular looking into finding musicians? eddy thought perhaps we should hold off on organizing, a lot of work. he’ll be bringing a good system. chad suggested just letting people know that they could bring instruments etc. invite via the notice “bring your own” eddy will be contact person, cut-off date Aug 1? Mark brought up that the notice won’t be out in time.

Discussion of the content issue. Stress family event.

Decision not to worry about music, no invitations, etc.
VI. Newsletter
Ann reminded everybody that she’s not going to be coordinating as of Winter 2008.

Luke and Elaine will meet next week and set deadlines for the newsletter and send them. Ann emphasized earlier is better. Chad suggested a big email in mid-July reminding people of the picnic.

VII. Closing discussion
A couple of things from eddy: neighbor down the street came up and said something about raised garden beds, wondering if there was a possibility of doing it on the field. Aymellie? Mark has the name, should pass it along to Nathan. In preparation for the move, they want to introduce neighbors to the church group(s?) — what can they do to communicate to their folks? neighbor interviews? on video?! Jody and Ann would be willing to volunteer. Could go on the website or in the newsletter. Suggested Walt. Nathan was volunteered by the group. Mark suggested a taping at the next board meeting, July 19. Eddy will be in touch.

Chad mentioned Elaine’s idea for simplifying/redesigning the site. Will be sending sketches.

Meeting adjourned.

Following are notes taken by Elaine Nelson, board member, at the May 10 2007 general meeting.

About 20 people were in attendance, including board members.
Board president Chad Akins opened the meeting, welcomed all.  Also suggested that perhaps at the next general meeting (November) we might have a brief open mic period.  Feedback on this idea welcome.

Ursula Euler from the City’s Solid Waste division presented on Zero Waste initiatives.  The notes below were taken during the meeting; ask for clarification.
zero waste resolution
has anybody heard about it? not too many.
“impossible?” what else can be done?
put sustainability to work to save the planet
seems pretty impossible, but what it really means is that we have to take responsibility to pay attention. we are a major contributor to climate change. one way to reduce greenhouse gases is to reduce waste & increase recycling. better management is one way to contribute.
zero waste is not a goal but a vision. something to strive for.
once they started thinking about that in waste mgmt, there are some things that can be done. 6 year waste management plan. keep looking at the website, for the next study session, public hearing, and so on. likely study session in june, hearing in the fall. all opportunity to provide your input. if you feel comfortable with the plan, they have a chance of being successful.
using less, using longer, reduces waste w/out recycling.
when we throw away…we can only recycle for so long, and eventually it all ends up in the landfill, and not just a dirty place, but an emitter of greenhouse gases! (CO2 & methane) and to reduce the use of raw materials.
product stewardship? also called cradle to cradle, seeing it now with e-waste laws here in WA (and other states), to design products that are recyclable or compostable. turn to the original manufacturers, make them responsible for taking back products for appropriate disposal.
they’re helping to put that into action, help us get the equiment to wherever the manufacturer says it needs to go.
keep watching, reading, going to the website. she has cards, take her email & phone.
what can we do today? very simple things we can all do, that she’s doing. backyard composting. some places collect food waste (and papers) at curbside for composting, and they are thinking about doing this as well.
comment from audience: two weeks is a long time to have organic waste sitting out.
can pizza boxes go into backyard composting? yes, but it takes a long time. where they would take it is to a commercial composter, with temps close to 100 degrees. and that would also take bones & dairy products, which are NOT recommended for backyard composting.
[missed a question about the proposed facility]
question about zero waste: you didn’t mention energy, is that part? yes. energy is part of the whole cycle. trash goes from transfer station (no longer a landfill) @ hawks prairie; then trucked to near chehalis, then by train even further south! but the biggest impact is not the transport, but the gases generated in decomposition.
another thing you can do now is buy newer CFLs, bring your own bags to the grocery store. last not least, buy recycled. if we don’t buy it, then there won’t be a market, and it’s not getting us as far as we’d like to get.
our residential rate in 2006 was 56% including yard waste, which is very well in comparison with other localities.
has anything ever be done about what to do with plastic bags around papers/magazines? 46 different kinds of plastic! that’s “film” and the manufacturers don’t make it easy. only the bottles are really developed as a market. Seattle takes plastic bags; how do they have a market and we don’t? can take some to Fred Meyer. their goal is to take recyclable to recycled — they may have a really good processor, and that’s often limited locally. they’re still researching & struggling.

Elaine Nelson got up to announce the current status of the sign project and to ask for volunteers for a work party on Saturday, May 12.  The focus of that event is scouting and marking locations.

Then followed a discussion of the board’s idea of “adopting” the Madison Scenic Park.  The idea most discussed was for a community “pea patch” garden.  Several members of the local group Grub were in attendance.  Real-time notes follow; “Nathan” refers to board member Nathan Allan.  Again, feel free to ask if you need clarification on any notes.
Is it really a city park? city has money for it, still working out the details, but it will be city property.
top 3 ideas: path, stage, pea patch garden.
Nathan started talking about the garden idea, maybe work with Grub, who has members here at the meeting. Chad talked to WSU master gardener people, they could be really interested.
Apparently the old stage has already been demolished. City is planning new plantings. Mark F. mentioned that there’s already water service. City council has voted to increase amount of neighborhood matching grants to $4000.
Asked to recap.
Some people from existing community garden, concerned about moving out of their current spot. they have some money that they’re hoarding for their move, good tools, regular work parties.
Nathan: we figured it was centrally located.
Chad: do a walk through? and approximate how many spots.
Points to me about square foot garden.
grub rep: concerned about vehicle access. Chad: would be fun to think about an innovative solution. Nathan: spot where people walk through near duplexes at the bottom.
size of park is 2.2 sq. acres, approx. how much as pea patch? (didn’t answer!) could also do terracing of the slope.
Nathan: once the church is moved in, we can use their parking during the week to get to the week.

After this item, the formal meeting broke up, and people ate snacks provided by volunteers and chatted before departing.