October 15, 2009
Island Home Park Neighborhood Association Board Meeting
7:00 PM
Tennessee School for the Deaf

Members present: Greg Congleton, Stephanie Welch, Chris Field, Katie Hannah, Jessica Rodocker, Taryn McLean, Kurt Zinser, Jim Staub, Matt Teglas, Laura Barton, Rachel Craig 7:07 meeting began
Greg: We need to approve the past minutes.

Katie moved to approve the minutes, and Taryn seconded. All were in favor. Minutes stand as approved.

Greg: I'd like for us to introduce ourselves, tell about our family etc…(since there are lots of new board members). Greg read something about Connie Vogt (who was not present).

Stephanie, Chris, Katie, Laura, Jessica, Taryn, Kurt, Jim, Matt, Rachel and Greg introduced and shared information about ourselves.

Greg explains that this IHPNA grew out of a neighborhood watch started by Joe Hultquist back in the 80's. IHPNA is here to deal with issues that come up (condos being built nearby, social events,) and keeping IH the way we want it to be. Let's go through some other organizations that we interact with.

Rachel talked about COIN (Council Of Involved Neighborhoods). The close-in center city neighborhoods meet once a month. The dues are $25 a year. It is a place where we get together and talk about issues that are common to all of us-like KUB tree cutting. We can have 2 representatives on COIN, which are presently Rachel and Jessica. Rachel is the current COIN secretary. The neighborhoods have persuaded Mayor Haslam that he needed to focus more on Knoxville's neighborhoods. David Massey is the Neighborhood Coordinator. He is the liason between the neighborhoods and the city administration.

South Knoxville Neighborhood Association group: an umbrella organization for all the neighborhoods in South Knoxville, such as Southhaven, Old Sevier, Lindbergh Forest, Island Home, Colonial Village. We held a forum for candidates on Monday night. We are about to tackle the closing of the Henley Street bridge, which will probably be closed for 2-3 years beginning next year. We are trying to be proactive.

TSD: Laura spoke about Elaine Alexander, and how she helps IHPNA book the auditorium and conference rooms for board meetings. Community service award: once a year, IH presents this award to a senior. TSD selects the student, IHPNA does the plaque, and we present it to them. TSD also does a pancake breakfast. The annual Run For the Deaf is a 5K, which goes through IH (first Saturday of May).

Katie: Craig Davis is the manager of the IH airport. He is very mindful that there is a neighborhood here and people do speed through sometimes. He is easy to work with and is very helpful.

Greg: the quarry across the river, and the noon explosions-is this hurting our houses? The quarry has had a couple of open houses so you can see what they are doing. They have agreed to leave that scenic view and not turn it into crushed limestone. This was about 15 years ago (that they agreed to keep the scenic view). Vulcan Materials operates the quarry.

Connie Vogt is the KTC (Knoxville Track Club) neighborhood rep. (for upcoming races). The Knoxville Marathon runs through here in March.

Katie: goes over our committees-wants to put the committee information on the website so other people can get involved. The committees are:

1. By-laws (Katie is chair)
2. Childcare- provides a list of local schools/preschools for new neighbors.
3. Communications (website, e-groups list-serve, newsletter, David Ratledge maintains the e-groups). Katie is now going to chair this.
4. External Affairs: works with people outside IH that might affect IH (COIN, Gumpert project outside the pillars etc..) Jessica is chair.
5. Historical- NC1 designation overlay -maintain the history of IH. David Drews wants to do an oral history/documentary. Rachel is chair.
6. Membership: collects dues, updates the directory (Katie is working on directory). If you pay your dues, you get a directory. If you live in the IH, you get a newsletter, but you must pay your dues to get a directory.
7. Parks/Recreation- we got the grant!!!!! We want to fix the steps in the park. Laura is chair.
8. Safety and Security
9. Social Committee- plans parties! Gina is chair.
10. Traffic committee: (just a temporary committee). Jessica is the chair.

Katie: I am working on the new directory. I want to create a directory that is organized alphabetically and by street (so you can look people up different ways). I will also include e-mail addresses, if desired.

Greg: We need someone for the Membership committee and Safety and Security committee. I can also go to the COIN meetings (and take Jessica's place). COIN meetings are the first Monday of every month. Chris Field will be on the By-Laws committee.

Rachel: the overlay has been on the shelf for over a year now. All the research has been done, all the pictures are done, all the background has been completed, and we were having neighborhood discussions about the overlay. Some people got very upset and we decided to give it a break. After the first of the year, we will probably get it going again, and we will need some new people to be on that committee.

Greg: the Membership committee is tied directly to the directory. After we get it updated (and in digital form) we need to go around with it and get dues from people who want a copy of the directory.

We need to combine membership and directory. Rachel moved that we combine the two. Katie seconded. All members are in favor.

Safety and Security: on the alert e-group. We used to put it on orange paper and put it on the kiosk. Who can do this? Greg will investigate who can be the "alert" person for the kiosk. Possibly Chloe?

The Fisher Pl. kiosk is nasty and the cork is bowed up and falling off. Can we replace it?
Greg will talk to Wayne Williams about repairing it.

Jim Staub: passed around the Treasurer's report. Since we got the grant, we need to come up with $2500-$3000 for our part. We really need to emphasize the paying of dues. 45/200 homes have paid dues at this point. Jim has created a spreadsheet for each district, and he has noted which people have already paid dues. He passed around the sheets to all the board members, and we discussed the collection of dues.

Kurt: When we collect dues, do we need to also get updated information for the directory? Katie: yes. Rachel: We need to tell neighbors that the directory does not get distributed outside the neighborhood. Katie: No kids are listed in the directory.

Katie: The newsletter! I am going to collect information for the newsletter and work with Kurt. Taryn is the designated photographer for all of our events. I may ask you to write a story, or if you have anything for the newsletter, please get it to me the first week of November.

Traffic Committee: Jessica passed around maps. Dave Watson (East TN Community Design Center) is the person that we have been working with. The map shows rumble strips in certain areas, reduced speed limits, Neighborhood Enforcement Zone w/ Residential placard. Jessica will get Rick to put the map on the website, the kiosk, and inform the neighbors. Jessica will field questions from neighbors. Oliver Lang is the TSD connection, and the city has signed off on and is supporting this traffic-calming plan. We will give the neighbors ways to comment and see the plan. Jessica will write something for the newsletter. IHPNA will probably give neighbors until the middle of January to weigh in with opinions of the upcoming traffic-calming plan.

Social: Katie is speaking for Gina. Let's talk about the tailgate. Jim had it in his garage. 6-7 neighbors came. It was lots of fun, but the rain kept most neighbors from coming. We will definitely do this again! The lesson learned here is that we need to have a back-up plan/venue in case of bad weather (for outdoor activities).

The Halloween party will be Sunday, Oct. 25th from 4-6. It will be a potluck at the park. There will be a costume contest and games!

Date for Christmas party? It is usually first Saturday in December, which would be Saturday, December 5th. We need to start talking it up and getting neighbors to host a leg of the party. Chris said he would ask Casey. Maybe Nicole Wilson? We need 3-4 houses for the "progressive dinner."

Gina suggests that the IHPNA buy some tables for social events (instead of borrowing). We could possibly get tables from a used office furniture store? Can someone go check the prices? Matt said he would go and check prices.

Roundtable:
Rachel has one thing. We are supposed to let the neighborhood know when we are having meetings, and we need a schedule of meetings for the year. The board usually has 5 meetings a year. Maybe we could put the months that we will meet, but not the date (since that may change). Let's establish when we are going to meet. IHPNA board will meet in January, March, May, August and October of 2010.

Meeting adjourned at 8:47.

Submitted by Laura Barton- IHPNA Secretary

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