Annual meeting held at the Wykagyl Country Club on November 6, 2019 at 7PM.
The following items were discussed at the annual meeting:
Update on current state of association
Association has been active since 1981, serving the neighborhood and the community, however this year has seen the loss of several officers and members of the board. Currently the positions of President and Treasurer are vacant, with the current Vice President and Secretary acting as President and treasurer, respectively.
We currently don’t have access to the bank account but are working on it, and based on the outcome of today's meeting we will be going to the bank and add the necessary people to the account and get a handle on the finances of the association. The idea of opening an account similar to the existing was discussed. This would allow the association to deposit the dues collected in 2019. Upon access to the existing account, we would transfer the funds to the new one.
Of the 416 households in the neighborhood, we have received only 39 letters with dues. The association needs to increase membership and engage more members of the community to continue the work of the association.
Recap and thanks for this year
1. David Gallagher and Van Thomas have adopted two islands. In addition, David planted a tree on the island in honor of Jonathan Halpern, we will be adding a plaque to it. Chris McGuire is also spearheading the clean up of the island on Webster and Seacord Rd.
2. Samuel Heilman lead the effort to install a crosswalk on Webster Ave and Bon Air Ave. Police presence has also been seen there to enforce this. However, we will request that the mayor continues to have a police presence there to ensure the crosswalk is respected.
3. Berrian Rd is next on the list for a temporary speed hump, we will continue to follow-up. We will also request an update on the paving schedule and if necessary, send a petition to the city to have the street paved.
4. Van Thomas hosted the first of what we hope will be an annual Nature Woods Clean-up day this April, in celebration of Earth Day.
Future plans
Membership
We are working on creating a better database for keeping track of all members. We hope to continue to increase membership. We will talk to local realtors to get information on new neighbors to welcome them to the community and introduce them to the association.
We want to have more than one meeting a year to keep the members engaged. It was suggested that we have at least 2 meetings, one that will be the report out and elections and one to have special guest and discuss issues affecting the neighborhood.
Communications
We are adding all new member's emails to a distribution list where we can communicate with everyone about events or important information given to us by the city. Members can contact the board through the email as well. We have a website that we hope to use more this year where we will be announcing upcoming events, posting photos, pay dues and where members can reach out to us as well.
Finance
We will provide all members an update on the finances before the end of the year, once we have access to the account and we deposit all of this year's dues.
Plans for 2020 include:
a plaque for Jonathan Halpern
Another nature woods clean up
Permit for closing off Seacord Rd for Halloween
Printing and mailing of annual newsletter
Annual meeting, planned for the summer instead of late in the year
Cleaning and maintenance of un-adopted islands
Charitable contributions
We will communicate with the membership which activities we will be able to fund
Election of new officers and board members
As it is customary and since there are vacancies in the board, an election was conducted to fill the positions and to continue the work of the association. The outcome of the elections was as follow:
President: Johan Tolosa
Vice President: Judy Aqua
Secretary: Ana Bolivar
Treasurer: Deirdre Swagerty
Board Members at large:
§ Ben Ouedraogo
§ Chris McGuire
§ Dennis Starr
§ Dianne Heim
§ Keith Singletary
§ Lynn Halpern
§ Mary Jane Reddington
§ Richard Grayson
§ Shelly Goldfeder
§ Tara Fishler
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