HPCC - March 1998 Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes

The meeting opened with a report from law enforcement. Our regular officers were unavailable but substitute officers report things are fairly quiet. Some counterfeit bills are being passed in the area. Some juveniles were arrested in Morningside for car theft.

Committee Reports

Education: Upcoming events: Super Safety Fair featuring First Aid courses for kids & adults plus fire safety. Also, Zoo privileges have been restored so Fulton classes may attend for free.

Beautification: We still need volunteers for unadopted beds. We received grant of $2000 from Jim Ferlo for the East End area.

Bryant Street: Planning Pittsburgh Marathon party with music and petting zoo. (Good luck running, Tom Dickson!) Jennifer and Joe Mico plan to open the new Pino's around August 1st. Cafe Flora is now Cafe Bacci under new ownership. The space next to Augie's Tailoring is leased to a group of faux finish painters.

House Tour: The tour does not have enough houses and may not proceed if three more are not found by end of week. The date for the tour is June 14.

Membership: Bob O'Connor is reviewing a complete list of membership to determine if any of the 54 complimentary memberships can be terminated. There are 389 dues paying households. A proposal was made by Diane DeNardo after a committee meeting to:

1. Do a 15206/Highland Park mass mailing in July 1988 with a membership card stapled inside of that newsletter issue. A neon label will be attached offering a first time only one year introductory rate of $5.00 to new members.
2. Offer a reduced HPCC membership fee of $10.00 for low income households.

The first proposal passed unanimously. The second passed with a vote of 8 in favor, 1 opposed and 2 abstentions. (According to the Bylaws, these proposals to change the dues require further consideration in future meetings.)

Newsletter: Welcome Oliver Rieley as the new editor. The last newsletter went out late.

Reservoir Covers: The lower reservoir is currently being covered. There are many trees being removed. Debbie DeAngelis pointed out that the workers are overstepping the plans. Representative Joe Preston, who sits on the Water and Sewer Authority Board, reported that in past negotiations with the City, he offered to "give us the upper reservoir". The Mayor claims he is in favor of saving the reservoir, but did not act on this. Residents are encouraged to contact the Mayor's office.

Old Business

Leslie Reicher at the last meeting asked us to join the newly forming consortium group East End Neighborhood Forum. All were in favor.

New Business

Next month, Steve Mahoney form The Allegheny 2000 Citizen's Commission will discuss the upcoming vote on Home Rule Charter, which would eliminate the current three county commissioner system and replace it with a one person county executive.

Program

Tonight's program featured Linda Eberhardt from the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, who showed a slide presentation featuring the poor condition of the city's four major parks: Frick, Riverview, Schenley, and Highland Park. The newly formed Conservancy will concentrate on upgrading and restoring our parks to their previous condition.