Report on Meeting 3 (May 18th)

Hello Neighbors!

We had a smaller group, but everyone present was part of the action. Here's the report:

Land Use Committee - Erin Salazar has started a blogsite (gtalanduse.blogspot.com) to follow the potential use of the West Venture Building as the future police headquarters. Please check it out. Also, we're interested in changing traffic and pedestrian issues as the Shasta Community Health Center expands and the new medical building is constructed on Continental, just across the freeway. We are also hoping to obtain a list of home foreclosures in the area, so that we might know where a little lawnmowing and yardtrimming would be a welcome effort to keep our neighborhood looking nice. Please contact Monique by phone or email, or post to this blog if you'd like to help.

Traffic Control/Pedestrian Safety Committee - I received news of a grant opportunity for neighborhood organizations interested in assessing and improving pedestrian safety, but have since decided the effort (short time frame to prepare application) and focus of the project (evaluating a handbook) are not well-suited for our group. However, we will use the guide to help us create a pedestrian safety assessment and plan our future actions.

Neighborhood Cleanup Committee - Our first annual Neighborhood-Wide Yard Sale is on Saturday, June 13th, from 8:00am - 1:00pm. It will be advertised in the newspaper, and signs will be put up. Please spread the word to your neighbor and collaborate to make sure a few yard sales are on each street! Also, we will have our first Neighborhood CleanUp Day on Tuesday evening, June 16th. Interested neighbors can meet at 620 Lincoln St at 6:30 pm to participate and we will conclude with a small party at 805 Lincoln St. We will focus on collecting garbage or any items left at the curbside for City pickup the following day. We will be equipped with orange bags from the City. Please contact us by email or phone (229-9348) if you would like any help moving something or to have something picked up. This will be a small fun cleanup day in preparation for a larger effort we hope to make in late September when it is cooler!

Crime Prevention Committee - We are very excited to report our newest Neighborhood Crime Watch Group on Canal St. Don Jacobs, Canal St's fearless Block Captain, noted how much he enjoys knowing all his neighbors for the first time in the few decades he has lived there. Our Crime Watch Groups will celebrate National Night Out on Tuesday evening, August 4th. Canal St, Gold St, and Lincoln St will have block parties. We would love to have more streets/blocks participate. Please feel free to coordinate with a few neighbors and have your own block party. This would be a great opportunity to start your own Crime Watch Group or begin discussing it. Also discussed at the meeting was the collection of funds to replace Crime Watch signs. Because this is a street-specific decision, we decided to discuss this with our neighbors at the block parties and take up a collection for a new street sign order. The signs cost $31/piece, but we will make a group order in September to bring the price down a few dollars per sign. Please contact me at 229-9348 for info on this.

Starting in September we will begin holding monthly meetings on the first Monday of every month. To avoid Labor Day, our first meeting will be on August 31st, followed by October 5th. I do hope to send out reminder emails a few days before our future meetings.

I look forward to getting to know more of our neighbors and I hope you are beginning to see and enjoy the fruits of our efforts as well.

Sincerely,
Monique
moniquegaido@gmail.com