Carrollton-Riverbend Neighborhood Association (CRNA)

Attending—Board: Marilyn Barbera, Pax Bobrow, Kevin Brown, Betty DiMarco, Tilman Hardy, Marshall Hevron, Julianna Padgett, Jerry Speir, and Jim Stratton,

Absent Board Members: Gordon Cagnolatti, Rodney Dionisio, Rudolf Garrison, Todd Leavitt, Judith Miranti, Amanda Smithson, Gary Smith, Llewelyn Soniat, and Betsy Weymann

Residents/Guests: Annettte Bak, Camilla Franklin

Crime—Jennifer Jenkins reported a car-jacking in the 8500 block of Freret at 7 p.m. on Feb. 11. [A subsequent e-mail from NOPD reported an arrest in the matter, and the recovery of both the vehicle and the weapon used.] The CRNA Crime Committee will continue to hold “porch parties” as the primary get-togethers within our CRNA boundaries, but is also hosting meetings with representatives of the Crime Committees of other associations within the Carrollton Area Network for the purpose of coordinating our various efforts to combat crime. The focus of the moment is on improving the information that we get from NOPD.

Planning for a General Meeting and Election of Officers—Julianna Padgett, Betty DiMarco and Jerry Speir agreed to serve as a Nominating Committee.

Leonidas House—The “work day” on the previous Saturday drew 20+ people and accomplished quite a bit. A second work day is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 21. The State Historic Preservation Office has provided some very nice renderings of a possible renovation of the building. A Community Advisory Group is being formed. Leonidas House meetings are on the 2d Tuesday of each month at 5:30 at the Keller-Williams offices, 8601 Leake. Persons wishing to be involved should come to the meeting and/or contact Tilman Hardy (tilmanhardy@kw.com) or Annette Bak (annettebak@chevron.com) directly.

Schools—Annette Bak reported that a recent Literacy Fair at Johnson School was very successful. Kevin Brown noted that a clean-up at the school, by AmeriCorps volunteers, in conjunction with Martin Luther King Day was also very successful. Jerry Speir reported on a recent conversation with School Board President Woody Koppel re: the Priestley school building. It was agreed that further conversations should be initiated to bring Mr. Koppel and other school system personnel up to speed on the potential for renovating the existing building, rather than demolishing it. (Annette Bak and Tilman Hardy expressed an interest in such further discussions and suggested that Jean Fischer and Mary Green should be included. There was also discussion of the broader need in the area for a discussion about schools in the Greater Carrollton area and how future plans relate to each.

Citizen Participation Program—There will be a breakfast meeting on Saturday, Feb. 28 [place/time] to discuss the latest developments with the CPP.

Newsletter—Pax Bobrow is willing to put together another edition of the newsletter—IF others will do the initial writing. She will edit, produce and distribute the newsletter, but needs articles. Anyone with anything to contribute should contact Pax directly at paxbobrow@yahoo.com

Oak Street—The actual street work on Oak is scheduled to start on the Monday after Mardi Gras. The work will be done in two-block sections, starting at Carrollton. If all goes according to plan, the work should be completed by November 1.

Carrollton Audubon Renaissance, Inc. (CARI)—Jerry Speir reported that the four public meetings for public input into CARI’s neighborhood planning process have been well-attended and have generated lots of ideas for the planners to sort through as they develop a draft land-use plan for the area. That draft will then be open for further public review before being finalized.
The planning discussion led to reflections on past efforts to establish a local historic district in the area. Jerry Speir volunteered to attempt to sort out the hold-up in that process.
Tilman Hardy suggested that we need our own planning committee to deal with green space issues as they relate to zoning. Pax Bobrow, Jim Stratton, and Camilla Franklin volunteered to help with such an effort.

There was general discussion of the value of having a joint meeting of the boards of all the associations that operate within CRNA boundaries. The idea was generally supported, with the caveat that some work toward planning an agenda should precede such a meeting.

NEXT CRNA Board Meeting: Thursday, March 12 at the Keller-Willliams offices, 7 p.m.

Filed under: meetings, minutes, Uncategorized |