GGNA Board Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes by Carl Wasielewski

Attended by Board Members Carl Wasielewski, Sally Hamann, and Bryan Hill

The Chairman of the Zoning Committee, Clarence Fraher, passed along a letter for the Board's approval rejecting the proposed 30 unit townhome and 6 unit condo development for Talman and Medil. This development proposal had previously been rejected by the zoning committee as being too dense (30 townhomes, 10 condos). The developers new plans only reduced the proposal by 4 units, and was hardly a reduction at all. It still required an upzoning from R3 to R4.5.

The Board strongly supported the letter rejecting the proposal. The developer is requesting a major upzoning of the property, and giving almost nothing in return. This is unacceptable for the neighborhood.

The Board then discussed moving the board meetings to a more public place. In GGNA's 2 years of existence, board meetings have always been held at the private homes of board members. Neighbors have always been welcome to attend, but due to the private nature of the homes, the meetings have primarily been attended by members of the board, not neighbors in general.

In an effort to generate more interest, Board meetings will be moved to a more public place, most likely the Bob Inn, and attendance by the wider neighborhood will be encouraged. Once a quarter, the meetings will take place at a more traditional venue, like Goethe School, and will be heavily publicized with special guest speakers to attract large audiences, but the Board meetings at Bob Inn will also be public.

The board also discussed hosting a large fundraiser for GGNA, most likely sometime in the winter. The Congress Theatre was suggested as the host for the event as it is, by far, the largest and most interesting venue at the center of the neighborhood, and as they have offered to host meetings and help out the neighborhood in advance. We have a number of very creative people in the neighborhood. We should assemble a team to put the event together and create something that is unique in the City and will raise money to support our neighborhood.

The next meeting is Tuesday, September 13, 2005. Most likely at the Bob Inn.