HPCC - February 1999 Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes by Paula Flaherty

Meeting called to order at 7:30 P.M.

President's report

Mitch provided a followup to last month's discussion with Lynda Conway, Director of Operations Analysis from Port Authority Transit and her colleagues. She is looking into continuing problems of bus layovers, etc. She has reported that changing the routes would be too difficult. She encourages anyone with any problems, such as buses not pulling to the curb, etc., to contact her. Her direct phone number is 237-7225. (Editor's Note: See front page article.)

The coffee shop is official and should be open by May. All legal actions have been dismissed. Amy Enrico thanks the community for the continuous support.

Committee Reports

Beautification: Del Ziegler needs some people to adopt gardens. Due to people moving there are several available. Please contact him if you have a green thumb.

Highland Park Business District Committee (Formerly Bryant St): Muzz Meyers reports that an exciting project is underway to renovate the Peppi's building complex, with the combined efforts of the committee, the URA, the Community Development Corp, Councilman Jim Ferlo's office, and Jim Trebac, the building owner. Also reported: plans for the Marathon are underway and a 24 hour (outdoor) MAC machine will be installed. Thanks to National City Bank! Cafe Bacci has been approved to feature live music to complement dining. A motion carried favoring a free coupon to the featured monthly business in the newsletter.

Safety: Officer Scalise reports she is focusing on abandoned cars (those with expired license plates, undrivable, on blocks, etc.) She will issue a warning then report them to the tow pound. The driver has an allotted number of days to remove the vehicle before it is then impounded. A club member made a complaint about the slow response time to her burglar alarm. Officer Scalise explained that the calls are prioritized and perhaps that alarm occurred during response to a higher priority call; generally the response time is considered good. The Community Oriented Police (C.O. P.) station phone number is 665-3644. She tries to be there from 3:30 to 5:30, Monday through Friday; at other times messages can be left on the answering machine. Officer Scalise's pager number is 690-6008. Her normal shift is 3-11. She encourages you to contact her about ANYTHING but she emphasized that emergency calls should be placed to 911. She reminded the club members that we are the eyes and ears of the community and can be very helpful to her. She can also provide silent complaint forms to maintain anonymity. The issue of panhandling at the A Plus Mini Mart across from Peabody was raised. This will be looked into.

Education: A question was raised regarding the annual donation to Fulton School which began a few years ago. The donation was not made last year and a motion was made to get back on track and also consider a donation to Dilworth School as well. The finance committee will meet and the issue will be revisited at the next meeting.

House Tour: Looking for houses, and goods and services for the silent auction. Please contact Norma Lipscomb. The date is June 13.

Treasurers: Some funds have been moved from savings to a CD for a better rate.

Newsletter: Diane DeNardo will send a notice to all former members who did not rejoin in response to last summer's membership drive and the several notices in the Newsletter.

Program Committee: The March meeting will feature Bill Woodward from Peabody High School speaking on the new Information Technologies Academy program which is sponsored by Microsoft, among others. This program is open to any student but does give preference to Highland Park students. The April meeting will feature Bob O'Keefe, the principal from Dilworth Academy.

Welcoming: Maureen Emerling has resigned and Bob Staresinic is now the chair. Please advise Bob if there's a house on your street that's been sold.

Children's Committee: Tania Grubbs will be taking over the children's committee.

Meeting adjourned at about 9:15 P.M.