Meeting - October 23, 2016

35 in attendance1. Vice President Mark Brandon introduced Mayoral Candidate Jack Berry, Maymont Park CEO Parke Richeson, Lt . Woo from 3Police Precinct, a representative for Mayoral Candidate Jon Baliles, and 5 District School Board Candidate Dr . Patrick Sapi-ni. All of whom gave a short updates to those present.2. Secretary Libby Germer spoke about the history of the neighbor-hood, credited the strong commitment of several elderly neigh-bors who can’t be with us tonight, and shared the May 16 meet-ing minutes.3 . 5 District Councilman Parker Agelasto spoke about his candida-cy for a second term in office. He mentioned successes as ourneighborhood clean-ups, sidewalk creation, and budget reformsin the area of schools and park funding, as well as tough talk fordelinquent tax payers who are now paying up.4 . Gloria Bouldin introduced our Maymont Civic League Nominat-ing Committee process and requested three volunteers . Thomas Hansen, Joy Rogers, and T oni Halsey volunteered their time andenergy to select community members for the Maymont Civic League Board . Elections for the board will be held at the No-vember meeting.5. RRHA Real Estate Devt Rep. Marcia Davis came to update us onthe status of RRHA-owned homes in our neighborhood and allover the city . As of May 2016, a decision has been made that 33homes will be purhcsedby either Habitat for Humanity or Project Homes and the other 33 will be auctioned off at market value(public bidding) . RRHA is now waiting 120 days for HUD’s ap-proval. Ms. Davis then took questions from the floor. All houses inour neighborhood will be owned by one of the non-profits (Habi-tat for Humanity or Project Homes) and will be sold at low-cost toqualifying buyers . Parker Agelasto’s office will follow up when HUD approves the disposition. The list of homes being sold by RHHA is uploaded to the Civic League website here.6. Treasurer Leah Nevada Jean read her financial report.7. Leah Nevada Jean also introduced two guests from the Richmond Area Skate Alliance and updated us on the status of the Riverview Community Park . Councilman Agelasto spoke aboutrdththth the strong possibility of the City’s easement being lifted, so thatthe Parks Dept . can officially name the Riverview Community Park and begin the community garden, walking trails, and play-ground . The Kiwanis Club and other partners will be contributinglabor and materials. Creation of the park’s footprint will begin asearly as this October. Great news! The skate park portion of theproject may take more time as expanding the skate park will ex-pand the impermeable surface in the park and will require chang-ing the current conservation easement boundaries . Leaders ofthe Skate Alliance spoke about the long timetable of their projectand their interest in speeding up its closure.8 . Woo spoke about a greater police presence at T exas Beach. Sixmajor operations, one involved a water landing, ended in 45 ar-rests at one point but only 12 at the last “sting” , a sign that themessage is getting out that alcohol and off-leash dog laws are be-ing enforced . The only remaining issue is a nudity violation thatwent all the way to court and if we, the neighbors, see “The Yeti”at T exas Beach, we need to report him because he is banned fromall city parks.9 . Crime Alert: We have had 8 stolen vehicles found in our neigh-borhood in just the last month and folks at the Skate Park havenoticed the contents of stolen cars dumped by trash cans.10 . Financial Secretary Daria Christian spoke about the purpose ofmembership fees and asked folks to pay tonight ($5 for individu-als/$10 for household).11 . Vice President Mark Brandon invited neighbors to participate inour Neighborhood Cleanup on Saturday, Oct . 15. He also spokeabout local physical improvements to the neighborhood. Fromthe floor, the issue of dead branches and trees was raised. A localtree steward may come and help us identify trees needing prun-ing. The public works budget needs to be raised, so that they canaddress these issues. But in t