January 2015

Treasurer’s Report: Same as of last month $765.73

Announcements

Public Hearing from the Planning Commission for Grant Rd. Alignment on Feb 4

Tour de Little Free Library (starting in our neighborhood) will happen Sunday Feb. 8th

Library events – Master Gardeners talk about Bees and other Pollinators Tue. Feb. 3 noon-1 p.m.; Seed Packing Party Sat. Feb 14th 10-1; Bike in Movie –TED talks about romance and relationships and Blues Dancing lesson under the stars Sat. Feb 14th 6-8 p.m.

Whistle Stop Depot is applying for a Level 7 Liquor License – for beer and wine only. This will make it easier for special events and fundraising events that want to serve beer and wine. If you have questions you can contact Nancy Bender 882-4969

Ward 1 Alliance and Nonprofit is moving forward. Five neighborhoods (ours, Barrio Hollywood, Barrio Kroeger Lane, Menlo Park, Enchanted Hills) will move forward with the formation of a nonprofit to act as an umbrella for grant applications and larger donations. Separately, the Ward 1 office will coordinate meetings for neighborhoods within the Ward 1 area quarterly to talk about events/issues happening in the neighborhoods and to get to know folks in surrounding neighborhoods.

Harrison is our rep on the ADEQ committee looking to remediate sites with a plume of contamination. The project to work on the plume under the Mission Linen Plant on South Park Ave. is moving ahead.

Brad is hosting a home tour on Feb. 28th ($15/person, more info at harvestingrainwater.com) He is donating proceeds from the tour to neighborhood efforts. The first donation was made to hire someone to repair the bulletin board on 9th Ave. Thank you Brad for your donations!

Concern about herbicide being sprayed in roundabouts and chicanes. Brad will send an e-mail to Gary Whitwer (City Transportation Dept.). Also concern about plants/trees being removed from the chicanes, for example at Main and 2nd Ave, everything was taken out except for one tree. The city is prepping before the gem show and we may need to mark what plants we want to keep. If anyone sees city workers doing such work, please ask the supervisor who sent them out so we can figure out some better communication.

Discussion

1. Salvation Army Open House – The new building is 34,000 sq. ft. They will be open to clients on Feb. 23rd. The open hous tour will be Feb. 10 from 3-6 p.m. The city won’t take the land being donated along 11th Ave until it has been cleared of skeletal remains. Currently there are 20 grave sites on the property that have been found. They may create a memorial garden with no pillars instead of removal. The cost for the new building was $7.5 million. They used capital reserve money and will be asking the community to assist with the costs and reinvest. Currently they have collected $4.4 million. The main entrance to the Salvation Army is on Main St.
2. Sister Jose Women’s shelter – Jean Fedigan is main contact (jfedigan@cox.net). They want to purchase 821 N. Main (it is currently in escrow) to create a day shelter for women open from 9 a.m – 2 p.m. M-F. It will provide a place to rest, laundry, shower, use the restroom. In the winter they are an emergency shelter if the Salvation Army is full. They currently are located at 18 W. 18th St and see 25-30 women/day. The move to Main would increase their space 2-3 times. They work with Caridad for food and they are working with the U of A women’s studies department. They want to work with the neighborhood. Many concerns were brought up. There’s a concern that we already have the Salvation Army and lots of other social service organizations operating within the neighborhood. There is a concern about where the women will go after the place closes at 2 p.m. – will they be hanging out in the neighborhood. A suggestion was made for all of the social service agencies within the neighborhood to work together with reps from the neighborhood to work together to figure out solutions for spillover issues within the garden, parks, etc. Open defecation in the neighborhood is a major issue. The Salvation Army currently turns away people who are drunk, high, etc., but then that leaves them to roam the neighborhood. The Salvation Army does work with detox centers as needed. Concern that our neighborhood is more impacted by these services because we have such a high density of organizations serving the homeless in such a small area, plus our proximity to downtown. One idea is to have shelter participants do work in the neighborhood, perhaps in the garden or tree planting or chicane/traffic circle maintenance. The property is zoned as C-2. They are trying to create a home-like atmosphere. Karen will ask a neighbor of the current location to talk at the Feb. meeting.
3. Conserve to Enhance presentation (C2E). The U of A started the program which now includes the Sonoran Institute and Watershed Management Group. They are trying to increase awareness of the program. Essentially when you sign up for the program, when you save water at home (either with shorter showers, low flow toilet, etc.) you would then donate all or part of the savings to a C2E fund which is used for grants to enhance urban washes. If 5% of the Tucson population participated, lots of money could be raised. You can also donate through the website or on your City of Tucson water bill, check the box for open riparian donation. Currently there are 200 online participants who have saved 60 million gallons of water. There are 7 projects funded by the grant, and the next round of grant applications is open in the next few months. Priority for grants is given to projects within 400 ft of a waterway. Claire will investigate what kind of projects the grants will cover. Last year ave. amount of grants was $5000. More info at conserve2enhance.org/Tucson
4. Walkability report is available on Dunbar Spring website. Table discussion until February.
5. Chicanes on 1st street. Table discussion until February

Committee Reports

DNARC – report already sent out – lots of new business’ opening up downtown; El Presidio neighborhood concerned about heights allowed for buildings within the Infill Incentive District to include 14 stories in parking lot across from El Charro. Discussion at Jan. 21st Mayor and Council meeting.

Downtown Links – Deck Park meeting - still looking at the possibility of composting toilets (Pima County has allowed one at the Mason Audubon center). Still questions about who maintains the plaza – Parks and Rec, Dept. of Transportation, the neighborhood, WAMO, etc. There is still concern about Ash Alley and city trying to meet up with trash and fire to figure out the concerns. There will be a water filling station as well. Maps and color palettes were presented. Lots of concerns brought up about maintaining the park, and water harvesting as well as concern about Ash Alley. Brad e-mailed his list to our rep on the Downtown Links committee

Neighborhood Garden – someone needs to step up to get a work party going.

Dunbar Coalition – no report.

Motion to approve Dec. minutes passed 12-0.

Meeting adjourned.