April 5th Minutes

Toya was home sick, so Maliza organized the April 5th meeting.

We started out the meeting with a reminder about dues.

The goal of the block association for 2008 is block beautification. Maliza is putting together a budget for planters, including soil and plants. We're looking at plastic planters because they last longer than the wood ones, and they're lighter. April is the deadline for Green Guerrilla's plants. Perhaps other homeowners would like to piggyback on the order of planters.

We're looking for a grant for block beautification. Mailza is writing a letter asking for homeowner help in watering and caring for the planters once they're finished.

We'd also like to organize a planting day to put together the planters. Perhaps it could be in front of Toya's place, since there's enough room there. We'd also like to distribute information about what to plant over the summer to keep the planters looking nice all year around.

Next was an update from the garden committee. They're thinking of organizing the garden by plots, to encourage people to tend a plot and grow their own plants. We'd also like to enter the competition for the greenest block in Brooklyn again this year. June says a new member of the garden is building a planting box. There will be clean-up happening in the garden, lot-by-lot. The open hours for the garden will probably be flexible, at least ten hours a week in the summer.

We then dealt with Old Business. 186 Madison is owned by a bank and currently in forclosure. It's currently being marketed and waiting for plans.

There's currently an old building being torn down on the corner of Gates and Bedford. Word is that there are plans to develop the property along with an adjoining property for a large, L-shaped condo building.

We then dealt with New Business. Rebecca Broughton said that Transportation Alternatives is looking into a "Parking Swap" near the Franklin stop on the C. A "Parking Swap" is a project in which two parking spaces are changed into parking for many bikes, making it easier for commuters to bike to the subway. She was looking for input about a location for the project.

There's a new cafe on Nostrand, across from the Girl's School building. We haven't had a chance to check it out to much, but it's nice that there's another place to grab a coffee on the way to the subway!