Members present: 39 plus board (Steve Beer, Jane Byrnes, Jim Byrum, Jan Decker, Carla Lee, Ron Nutt, John Poettker, Joyce Wood). Board absent: Sheryl Nutt, Amanda West. President Ron Nutt opened meeting. Due to the illness of the secretary, Jane Byrnes read the minutes of the member meeting of 1-15-08, which were accepted without corrections. Treasurer Jan Decker presented the treasurer's report (current balance $1,077); and the budget for 2008 (income from membership, Link Letter ads, grants and T-shirt sales, plus expenses for supplies, postage, filing fees, mailbox rental, and various projects, $3,830). Ron stated that all residents within the boundaries (Tyler-Central-Maize-13th) were automatically full members of WNA; in addition many households are invited to pay $10/household. Carla Lee, as chair of Ways and Means reported on a workshop she attended on obtaining grants, and resigned as chair. Volunteers to serve on this committee included Joyce Wood, Charles Thompson and Pat Ream. John Poettker, immediate past president, reported on the training for our September Clean Up Day on the area between Westlink Ditch and Tyler. The city sends dumpsters, trash trucks and a truck for tires, and he will need a dozen volunteers for light and heavier jobs. Heather Frazier volunteered (in addition to the eight volunteers recruited 12-07 and one phone call). John stated, "It brings out the �community' in a neighborhood. The exact date in September will not be announced until just before the event. Speaker Judge Bruce Brown presented on one of the Wichita municipal courts, Domestic Violence. One reason DV should be stopped is that children are not resilient to DV. In fact 50-75% of boys and girls in these households go on to inflict or to accept DV as adults. DV victims often cannot leave these relationships due to love, financial ties, children and fear. One important solution is the reporting by neighbors of DV abuse. Community Policing Officer Bradley Haught reported that crime in the WNA area was very light, but surrounding us in Beat 199, car thefts increased from 7 last year to 17 this year. Out of those, 7 were cars left running and 12 were recovered. He announced that he will be deployed in his Army reserve unit 6-1-08 and will not return until August 2009. Tony Decker, chair of communications committee, reported that 37 volunteers delivered the March Link Letter to our 1669 households. For the December Link Letter, our police officers delivered to all businesses on our perimeter. Jane Byrnes, board member, distributed a tentative 2008 calendar for WNA meetings and events. The list, which did not include the timeline for the proposed community center, follows these minutes. Volunteers for the Ice Cream Social on Memorial Day afternoon included Steve Beer, Joyce & Richard Wood and Carla Lee. The planning committee was to meet 3-19-08: Beth Devins, Leslie May, Linda Shinogle and Jane. Ron and Rob Munson of Commerce Construction Service, Inc., presented drawings that may be appropriate for the proposed WNA community center, drawn for a potential buyer Oct 7 07 of the building a block west of the southwest corner of Tyler and Central. After purchase, improving the building will cost $1,140,000 including air conditioning. Ron and Rob Munson answered questions on flooding, asbestos removal, building codes, zoning, access by the disabled and the liability of the WNA board and members. WNA will need to create a 501c3 entity in order to offer the seller a much lower purchase price plus the tax deduction, and to receive tax-deductible donations. Ron and other fund-raisers will pursue large donors and invite WNA members to assist. There are few public buildings west of the Big Ditch. Click here to see some potential uses for the building. Final announcement was by a retired IRS employee and volunteer with Wichita EITC Coalition Disability Initiative Volunteers. To receive a $300 or $600 economic stimulus payment, it is necessary to file an income tax return. The EITC Coalition will help those who have not filed a tax return in recent years due to Social Security or disability benefits. They will be at the Salvation Army, 350 N Market, Friday 3-29-08, noon-7pm and Saturday 3-29-08, 9am-4pm.
Westlink Neighborhood Association 2008 Meeting and Project Calendar tentative 3-18-08 Get involved! Check each Link Letter for updates and corrections to this schedule These activities are in addition to full support of the proposed community center Informal: Clean up Little Ditch on last Saturday morning of each month |