Thursday, May 1, 2014

Minutes of SON Meeting: April 26, 2014

Minutes of Sherwood Oaks Neighbors Meeting
April 26th,10-11:30 AM, Sherwood Oaks Christian Church, Room 361. 

In attendance: executive committee members Bob Boch, Juan Carrasquel, David Hart, Brenda Ogborn, Lisa Wrasse, and approximately twenty Sherwood Oaks neighbors. Meeting chaired by Lisa Wrasse.

Guest speaker Carmela Garcia from Habitat Restore explained the mission and products of Restore and invited neighbors to shop, donate and volunteer.  She explained that profits from sales go to fund Habitat housing.  So far six houses have been built through store income. For those not at the meeting, a very good overview of Restore is available on the web site:
On June 14, 2014 Restore will have a ten year party, open to the public, from 10:30-5:30.

Tisa Bowden,a resident of Sherwood Estates, proposed that her neighborhood and Woods Edge join Sherwood Oaks Neighbors. These are the two neighborhoods just south of Sherwood Oaks.  After some discussion, neighbors in attendance voted in favor of adding these neighborhoods to Sherwood Oaks Neighbors. Lisa Wrasse pointed out that we will have to amend the SON map on file with the city of Bloomington, and that we will need to have a representative from Sherwood Estates and Woods Edge on the SON executive committee.  Tisa will meet with residents of Sherwood Estates and Woods Edge and will report back to the SON exec committee on whether the consensus is to join SON.

Lisa explained that SON bylaws state executive committee commitments are for two years, and that two years have passed since our last executive committee election. She announced that current members David Hart and Ellen Lyon have chosen not to stay on the committee and thanked them for their service. Lisa then asked for volunteers for the 2014-2016 executive committee.  Judy DeVore, Pat and Jim Jeffries, and Lauren Pester volunteered to join the committee. Current committee members Bob Boch, Juan Carrasquel, Brenda Ogborn, and Lisa volunteered to continue serving on the committee. Lisa noted that Ceci Schrock is continuing on as SON’s Neighborhood Watch liaison. Neighbors in attendance voted in favor of electing the new executive committee: Bob, Juan, Judy, Pat, Jim, Brenda, Lauren & Lisa. If Sherwood Estates becomes part of SON, Tisa Bowden will represent that neighborhood on the SON executive committee.

Lisa announced that SON has applied for a Little Free Library 
(see www.littlefreelibrary.org for info) through a grant Monroe County Public Library is pursuing with Duke Energy.  Lisa should hear from the library sometime in June about whether we will receive the grant and will report to the neighborhood. Neighbors in attendance agreed Little Free Library would be great for our neighborhood and made plans to pursue purchasing one or two Little Free Libraries if we do not get a grant. 

Neighbors discussed plans for a spring/summer neighborhood activity. Lisa suggested that next year we start an annual social activity in May but that it is too late to plan something for May of this year.
Neighbors decided that a neighborhood garage sale would be good this year, perhaps followed by a picnic at the park.  Neighbors agreed on the garage sale date of September 6th, with a rain date of September 13th. More planning will occur in the executive committee. If anyone wants to help plan this event, please e-mail sherwoodoaksneighbors@gmail.com.

Bob reported that SON has $187 and that we rely on voluntary donations to fund our activities. An additional $50 was donated by neighbors at the meeting (thank you!), bringing our current total to $237. SON members are requested but not required to make an annual $5 donation. Bob stated that it is cost prohibitive for SON to become a non-profit organization. So, unfortunately, contributions are not tax deductible.  Donation checks should be made payable to Sherwood Oaks Neighbors and can be mailed to our treasurer: Bob Boch, 1032 East Jennifer Court. 

The meeting closed with general questions and discussion, and thanks to those in attendance.  A neighbor on Laura Way reported that around 5:30 AM on Tuesday, April 22nd, someone on a moped got into mailboxes and opened & scattered mail all down the street.  It is unknown whether this was reported to police but it has since been reported to Neighborhood Watch. 

Bob inquired about whether the Sherwood Oaks would be receiving street trees from the city this year.  Lisa indicated she would follow up on this with Barb Fisher.  Post-meeting, Lisa contacted Barb who referred her to Lee Huss with city of Bloomington. Lee stated that we should get the requested trees mid-May and that since it is a small request neighborhood volunteers will not be needed for planting. Neighbors receiving trees will have to water them, however. Tree species and standards can be found in the city Tree Care Manual: www.bloomington.in.gov/treecare.  Lee indicated the city can usually work small neighborhood tree requests (six trees or fewer) into the schedule at least once a year in spring or fall.  But he added that with the arrival of the Emerald Ash Borer, more city resources will be spent on replacing Ash trees in neighborhoods for the next four years. Lee said that Sherwood Oaks has very few Ash trees but Peppergrass, Tamarron, and Southern Oaks neighborhoods have a very high number. Lee said he prefers that requests come from neighborhood associations (as opposed to individuals). So, if you are interested in a city tree for the area between the sidewalk and street in front of your home please e-mail sherwoodoaksneighbors@gmail.com


Neighbors discussed additional ways of connecting and getting the word out about SON.  One idea was to have block captains responsible for small sections for the neighborhood. Another idea is to have a welcoming committee that would make sure new Sherwood Oaks residents receive information about SON.  Plans were made to develop these ideas in the executive committee.  If anyone wants to help develop block captains or new neighbor outreach please e-mail sherwoodoaksneighbors@gmail.com . Thank you.