The President s Message

Transcription

1 Greenbriar News w w w. m y g r e e n b r i a r. o r g Spring/Summer 2009 The President s Message Our Officers: Hello All! There is so much to cover this issue that we ve had to expand to multiple pages and have a new look for the newsletter! First of all, thank you to the more than fifty attendees at the annual meeting, despite coinciding with the NCAA finals. We covered a lot of information and got wonderful feedback from those in attendance. We have inserted a summary of the meeting in this issue. Please take a moment to review and provide the board with feedback. Member participation is key to our success as a neighborhood; we have a number of new developments on the volunteer front. Vice-President George McMullen asked to return to his former position of just block captain and Marilyn Yurk stepped up as nominee to take his post. Ms. Yurk was duly elected as our new Vice-President. Many thanks, George, for your service above and beyond the call and usually at the last minute. Thank you, Marilyn, for your willingness to step up and serve our community. We have many other neighbors who have indicated on their membership forms that they are interested in volunteering with certain tasks. I m sure many more of you would be willing to volunteer for various projects if we can give you a fair description of what is involved and how much time it might take. We ll be doing our best to give you just that kind of information in the coming weeks and months as we work to tackle projects for improving our neighborhood s look and feel. On a different note, we will be organizing Zone Parties soon for the neighborhood, one per month from May through September (July will be the entire neighborhood for the annual 4 th of July parade and picnic). We will soon be contacting block captains and individuals who volunteered to help. Anyone wishing to help in any way, please contact the board so we can put you in touch with the appropriate zone committee. The website now has a calendar of events on the main page where you can see if there are any events or meetings that may be of interest to you, including Board meetings, local township and school board meetings, library events, etc. If you do not receive a copy of the newsletter online this month as well, we still haven t received the appropriate confirmation from you at our use service. If you would like to be contacted with electronic newsletters, Neighborhood Watch alerts, and the occasional general notice, please go out to the website and sign up (again) including clicking on the confirmation link that will come to your after you sign up. The confirmation step is the critical one that cannot be missed if you wish to receive s from the Association. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at info@mygreenbriar.org and we will be happy to answer you promptly. Finally, I would like to remind everyone that it takes a village to keep our neighborhood a safe, peaceful, strong community. It is the responsibility of every neighbor to watch out for each other. This means keeping an eye on our neighbors who are older or in poor health who live alone; keeping an eye out on your neighbors homes when they are at work or out of town; not putting your yard waste in the street and counting on the storm run -off to take care of it ; keeping storm drains clean; being able to talk civilly to your neighbors about disagreements; moving someone s trash can that has blown into the street back onto the curb; and a host of other little things that make such a difference every day in our neighborhood. It takes more than just a few people elected to the Board to make our neighborhood a success. Take up your own role and be part of the success story. Darien Tropf Darien Tropf, President ( ) Marilyn Yurk, Vice- President ( ) Bonnie Shute, Secretary ( ) Karen Yakovac, Treasurer ( ) Upcoming Events: May 2 Plant Sale Pick-up; 8 to noon 8210 Lieber Rd. May 3 Spring Plant Swap 2 pm 8209 Lieber Rd More info soon! Summer Zone Parties July 4th Parade and Picnic

2 2 Safety and Neighborhood Watch Membership News Dues paying members receive membership cards that entitle them to discounts at area merchants. Monday: $.99 coffee at Lulu s Café Tuesday: 10% off at Mr. Mike s Ace Hardware S h o w y o u r membership card to receive the discount on the respective days. M o r e b u s i n e s s partners coming soon! A core committee of roughly 10 individuals are creating the processes, p ro cedures and educational information for our Neighborhood Watch. Although Greenbriar is still one of the safest neighborhoods in the city, vigilance will assure it stays that way. More information will be available in the coming weeks and months as we develop better warning systems for incidents that could affect our neighborhood, what is expected of each neighbor, how to handle incidents, and more. We will also be creating a web page with information regarding the Neighborhood Watch, local crime statistics, and related information. We want to make everyone aware that as the weather warms up, so do the petty crimes around the neighborhood usually by kids. Be sure to lock your cars when they are parked outside. We generally have about a dozen incidents a year of people having their cars ransacked and items like change, sunglasses, and occasionally after-market stereos or electronics taken. There are also usually a few incidents of vandalism mostly in the form of graffiti on mailboxes, light posts, etc. Report ALL incidents to local police, no matter how minor. If you see something suspicious, like a possible burglary in process, call 911. If you are not sure about a situation, but feel something isn t right, call the non-emergency number and ask for an officer to investigate (we will soon have refrigerator magnets with this information). After reporting to the police, please contact the Association either via or telephone to let us know the details of what has happened. Reporting to the police assures that they know if crimes are escalating and that if they catch perpetrator(s) they can link them to other cases and prosecute them fully. Reporting to the Association allows us to see any developing patterns, coordinate efforts between our Watch members and the police, and generally be more effective at helping prevent further incidents. WATCH YOUR SPEED! Many neighbors have been complaining about speeding vehicles and drivers who fail to stop at stop signs. Members of the Association Board have been in contact with North District Police to increase their presence in the neighborhood with regard to catching speeders and people running stop signs. The posted speed limit is 20 mph, please remember to observe the speed limit and remind your teen-age drivers to do so as well Accomplishments and 2009 Goals At the annual meeting, the association highlighted neighborhood accomplishments from the past year and discussed goals for The past year included: the Fall Tree Planting, a new web site, a regularly published newsletter (every other month), the new 2009 Directory, a new electronic communication system, putting financial systems in place for more accuracy and accountability, and maintaining our property values in relation to the rest of the city. On the to-do list for 2009 are: a well organized Neighborhood Watch, the annual Flower Sale, Block Parties, the 4 th of July Parade and Picnic, curbside cleanup cleaning debris in the streets and maybe edging all the sidewalks and curbs, trimming low tree branches over the streets, replacing the signs to our neighborhood along Ditch Road, organizing a call in a pothole day, and getting some of the worst of the sidewalk areas fixed.

3 3 Annual Meeting Information and Financials The annual meeting started off with a presentation of the finances and 2009 budget. The financial information is below. Many items discussed at the annual meeting are included in this newsletter. [In December of 2008 the Association purchased Quickbooks software to track income and expenses and provide better recordkeeping for our volunteer treasurers (who typically do not have an accounting background). Data for most of 2008 was taken from existing treasurers records and does not reflect 100% accuracy in recording. From Dec onward, there is accuracy, verification of data, and accountability of neighborhood funds.] Annual dues collected for 2009: roughly 56% of the neighborhood has currently paid dues totaling $9980. Dues tend to trickle in at one-two checks a month for several more months. Advertising sales for the directory last year covered all but $231 of the layout and printing costs of the directory (total cost $1109). Interest on our checking account and CDs totaled $47.16 We more than covered the costs of our annual plant sales, but data specific to those figures was not kept separate from other monies (ie, membership dues received) so we do not have accurate figures for how much money was received above the costs incurred for this program. Our yearly expenses for 2008 were: Snow Removal: $ Liability Insurance $ Printing, copying, general mailing/postage $94.34 Expenses related to printing and mailing dues notices $ Other operations: signage for events, office supplies, etc. $ Program expenses: 4ht of July, Plant Sales, Garage Sales, Political Forums, other $ Accounting fees: $ Taxes (state and federal) on interest income $7.00 Facility rentals ( school meetings rooms) $40.00 Awards (most beautiful yard, etc.) $75.00 Other fees (membership fee for Nora Northside Community Council) $50.00 Web site and other electronic services ( management system, electronic newsletter, etc.) related costs totaled $ for the year, and will be an on-going yearly fee of $322. We hope to off-set most or all of the yearly fees with advertising arrangements with local businesses for on-line advertising on our site. Total 2008 Expenses: $

4 4 Annual Meeting Information and Financials As of March 26 th, we have 5 CDs for our rainy day funds totaling $3766. Our interest bearing checking account had $12, in it. Total assets: $16, Budget Anticipated Income: Membership Dues: $10,800 Flower Sales: $2000 Web Advertisements: $360 Total income: $13,160 Anticipated Expenses: Snow removal: $3480 Insurance: $2234 Electronic Services: $322 Flower Sale: $1700 Directory: $1109 Printing/ Postage (including membership drive): $600 Facility Rentals: $200 Other Programs: 4 th of July, Zone Parties, etc. $800 Total expenses: $10,445 This leaves us with an additional $2715 of income that can be allocated to other unexpected expenses. Those present at the annual meeting heard a proposal by the Board to address the issue of the decaying signage at the entrances to the neighborhood off of Ditch Road at the Hoover Lane and 81 st Street Entrances. The Board continues to research costs and service providers for replacing the current wooden signs with brick and cement signage that looks more like the signage off of 79 th street. Current estimates for costs are roughly $ per sign. These costs are within the ability of the neighborhood to pay out of the current account balances we now have. Members present indicated they believed new signage to be a priority and approved the Board continue with this project. We hope to have a final design and several estimates for construction by the end of May and select a contractor by June. Construction is hoped to be finished by the end of September.

5 5 N e i g h b o r h o o d W o m a n G o e s f o r N a t i o n a l T i t l e Hi neighbors! You have probably seen me rolling across your sidewalk or heard me at a neighborhood meeting railing against the inaccessible sidewalks of the Greenbriar Apartments. Perhaps you also opened the Indianapolis Star and read about my recent crowning as Ms. Wheelchair Indiana Darien asked me to share with you a little about the title, its responsibilities, and, of course, its perks. I am very honored to claim the title of Ms. Wheelchair Indiana. On March 28, women from around the state and of a twenty-year age span gathered at the Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana to compete for the title. After personal interviews, platform speeches, and a series of extemporaneous questions, the panel of judges awarded me the sash and tiara. I was also privileged to have spent the day making valuable connections with disability advocates and my very qualified competitors. During the next year, it is my responsibility to travel the state and increase disability awareness. Thus far into my reign, I have testified before the State Senate and have been invited to preside over a disability essay contest award ceremony at a Fort Wayne elementary school. More particularly, I will work to share my platform, Wheel Be Ready: Emergency Preparedness within the Disability Community. In August, I will go to South Dakota to compete for the title of Ms. Wheelchair America. Entry fees alone are $1,500; accordingly, I would be greatly appreciative if anyone would like to make a contribution to my fundraising efforts. I am also available to speak to any organizations about relevant disability issues. Thanks for your support, Emily Munson President s Note: Anyone wanting to get involved in organizing a fundraiser to help Emily and her family make it to the National competition in August, please c o n t a c t t h e A s s o c i a t i o n a t info@mygreenbriar.org or All Association members are encouraged to provide material for the newsletter. Neighborhood news, views, and announcements may be communicated via , info@ mygreenbriar.org Plant Sale Update and Spring Plant Swap You may pick up your plant sale orders May 2 from 8am to 12am at 8210 Lieber Road. If you cannot pick up your order during those hours, call Kurt at to make other arrangements. Spring Plant Swap (organized by Marian Carey) Come to Give and/or Get plants! Sunday, May 3rd (rain or shine) at 2pm in the d r i v e w a y o f L i e b e r R o a d. Please pot and label each with plant name & color (popsicle sticks are usual labels). Small starters up to bush size are welcome. There will be a prize given to the most beautiful, fragrant, and/or unique flowering plant(s)! Your daylily, iris, or? could be the winner! Please NO aggressively growing pest plants. When you arrive at the plant swap, place like things together (ex. hostas with hostas). Then sign in for a name tag. First choices of plants will go to Greenbriar Members who bring plants. Please park on the Odd # side of the road. If you just want plants, no problem, there is always enough for everyone to enjoy. There has been some discussion about starting a Garden Club in Greenbriar. Anyone interested in more information or in volunteering to lead such a club, please contact info@mygreenbriar.org.

6 6 Maintaining Property Values b y P a t C h a n g TOXIC TRASH V i s i t h t t p : / / g/toxdrop.cfm to find out more about what refuse is toxic and how to dispose of it safely so it doesn't end up in your drinking water. Greenbriar has been fortunate to maintain property value during the downturn in the economy. In part, this is due to the convenient location with ready access to schools, hospitals, and shopping. Most of the homes have been well-constructed and well-kept over the years. And ours is one of the few neighborhoods in the area with sidewalks. Another big selling point for Greenbriar is the mature trees and landscaping. Over the years, beautiful evergreen and deciduous t r e e s h a v e e n h a n c e d t h e neighborhood. The value of trees in relation to property values is often overlooked by home owners. According to local realtors, mature, healthy trees of good quality will increase the value of a property by 25 percent. While there are many factors that go into the decision to cut down a tree on your property, please consider that cutting down healthy trees will decrease your property value and the value of those properties around you. The value of a home is dependent not only on the condition of that home and yard but also that of the surrounding properties. The overall condition of the neighborhood determines the selling price for everyone s home. Weeds, a shabby exterior, and brush or junk in the yard also affects surrounding property values. It is up to all of us to take pride in Greenbriar and keep it an attractive place to live with good property values. Sometimes there are personal circumstances that can cause a homeowner to get behind on maintaining their property. If you need some help catching up on maintenance, please contact the Association and we can make arrangements to have some volunteers lend a helping hand. Neighborhood Ads: Got something to sell? your ad to info@mygreenbriar.org to post it on the website. List an ad for your business or service in the Greenbriar Newsletter, next distribution date: June 22 nd. Or put it online info@mygreenbriar.org today. Learn Arts and Crafts! Classes for ages 6 to 60. Most classes include 2 hour instruction, all supplies needed and a snack for $12. Marian Carey at dcarey7@juno.com for a full list of classes and type "ART" on the Subject line. Time to mulch, mow and generally clean up the yard. Call Roger at Down to Earth Landscaping today FREE introductory consultation for baby boomer women thinking about starting new businesses. For an appointment, Sheryl@BusinessStartupSuccessClub.com or visit SherylSchuff.com (look under the tab that says Free Stuff ). Duck Brothers Painting For all your painting needs inside and out. Call today for an estimate!