Draft minutes of Nov. 13 General Meeting

Minutes of the Mason Mill Civic Association Meeting

November 13, 2011, Intown Community Church

Submitted by Mary Hinkel, Secretary

President Patrick Noonan called the meeting to order at 2:40 p.m. Approximately 20 individuals attended the meeting. New neighbors were welcomed. Two residents from Avondale Estates and Medlock Park also attended the meeting in order to learn about the traffic calming process.

Patrick Noonan reported that the minutes for the May 15, 2011 meeting were available as handouts and had been previously emailed and posted on the MMCA blog. He referenced a handout at the meeting that referred people to the Association on social media. This handout said:

            Track news and review archives on our blog: http://masonmill.blogspot.com/

            Friend us on Facebook (Search on Facebook , or click the link on the blog)

            Email us at MasonMillCA@gmail.com

He then called for any changes to the minutes. Hearing no changes, he called for a motion to approve the minutes. The motion was made and seconded, followed by a unanimous vote of approval.

Treasurer Pat Brittain reported that MMCA has $9,524.83 in the treasury and 34 paid households. Since the last meeting, expenditures have been made for the fall picnic (including renting the park for $100) and for copying associated with getting information out to the neighborhood about the traffic calming process. A question was asked about how to encourage neighbors to pay dues when the treasury is so healthy. A point to be made is that we ran a deficit last year between income received and expenses incurred. Also, paying your dues connects you more strongly with the association and its work and represents an endorsement of the community of which we are a part. Thirdly, it’s important to have a healthy Association treasury if and when we are faced with a crisis or serious issue. For example, the Lenox Park/Cheshire Park neighborhoods came together and hired their own traffic engineer to advise them during the Clifton Corridor Transit Initiative planning process.

The President’s report followed: Patrick Noonan reported that the Association has been actively representing the community at various public and special groups meetings, such as the Clifton Corridor Community Partnership and the Clifton Corridor Transit Initiative stakeholder group, and passing along news from these groups to area residents. He asked association members to let us know if there are other special issues or groups we should be following. He also called for more volunteers to help with these and other community-related efforts, and reminded everyone that new leadership will be needed next May when Association elections are held.

A question was raised about the proposed Walmart development at Surburban Plaza. Patrick Noonan referred everyone to our Association website, which links to the Medlock neighborhood site.

Committee Reports

Traffic & Transit:        Committee Chair Mary Hinkel reported on the current status of the traffic calming initiative. She talked about the petition process and reported that a straw poll being conducted by street captains and volunteers reported some 70 households in favor of the initiative to date. This represents approximately 71% of the 98 households we need to pass the initiative. Our grassroots community outreach effort continues, but a motion was made to go ahead and notify the county that we are ready to proceed with the petition process. The motion was seconded and approved by those present.

She reminded everyone to check their ownership listing on the county’s property records. Only those individuals listed as owners of the property can vote on the petition.

(This report was preceded by a meeting held thirty minutes before the Association’s business meeting to present background information to those neighbors who may have missed handouts, the walkabouts, or other communication about the issue.)

           

Real Estate                  Resident (and former MMCA President) Henry Zuver spoke about the real estate market, saying homes in the area are selling, but for less than most homeowners are initially asking, due to the current economy.

Patrick Noonan then asked for any questions or comments about the work of the Association. Vice President John Bugge suggested that a group of volunteers be identified to prevent in 2012 the type of icing of Mason Mill Road we experienced this past winter. After some discussion of the safety and efficacy of this strategy, John was authorized to investigate the potential of hiring an outside commercial resource for this purpose and placing sand barrels in the area. He is also to talk with the County about this matter.

The meeting adjourned at 3:40 p.m.