VIEW PLACE CIVIC ASSOCIATION
www.ViewPlaceNews.blogspot.com
ViewPlaceNews@yahoo.com
View Place Drive • North Bend Road • Wellesley Drive • Georgetown Court
Ipswich Drive • Commonwealth Drive • Beechtree Drive • Shelley Lane
Blossomhill Drive • Pinebrook Court • Keats Lane • Deanview Drive • Brucehills Drive
General Meeting
11/14/05
President Donna Saul called a general meeting of the neighborhood to order at the Covenent Apostolic Church on Monday, November 14, 2005, at 7:40 p.m.. She led those present in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Officer Elections
Donna introduced officers who have been elected. The following were elected at the previous reorganizational meeting.
President—Donna Saul
Treasurer—Jeff Dean
Secretary—Sue Hummer
Two other officers, Civic Vice-president and Social Vice-president, were not elected then because nominees were not at the reorganizational meeting to consent. A vote was taken by mail and on-line. Christa Criddle has withdrawn her name as a nominee for both positions and agreed to be a communication director including editing a Grapevine newsletter. Electees for the other offices are:
Civic Vice-President—Bill Merusi
Social Vice-President—Katie Garrett
"Street captains" have volunteered for most streets. Needed are front section of View Place, Keats, and part of Beechtree.
Donna also reported that she attended the recent Springfield Township Trustees meeting to update them on the status of the VPCA and expressing our concerns on safety and the Kendall landfill on North Bend.
Treasurer
Jeff Dean reported a bank balance of $902 + $180 in dues not yet deposited. Dues of $10/household are currently being collected.
Safety Issues
Some safety issues had been brought up at the previous meeting: parking which requires drivers to drive on the opposite side of the street where the view of oncoming cars is obstructed; speeding, particularly on View Place; and running the stop signs at View Place & Wellesley and View Place & Beechtree in particular.
Opinions on suggestions of speed bumps, reducing the speed limit, no parking on some hills were gathered via website and Grapevine returns, and center lines to make drivers more aware they are driving on wrong side of street.. Donna reported mixed responses from survey. Those against the "no parking" were those that lived on the hills and who would be inconvenienced by the "no parking" restriction. There was also a very mixed response to the idea of speed bumps.
Police Chief Dave Heimpold and Sgt. Clayton Smith were present to address these issues. The Chief will place the Township’s speed monitor sign on View Place in the near future to remind drivers of their speed and will also take a traffic count at the same time. They will periodically monitor the stop sign to issue warnings/tickets if called for Speed bumps are not an option because of snow plowing, street maintenance. Center lines would be a good idea. Discussion followed that the visual reminders of speed and stopping and VPCA publicity can both be a deterrent. Publicity could include:
1) It costs $104 for a moving violation ticket.
2) If the police issue any warnings/tickets for speed or not stopping, we could make that known as a reminder to other drivers.
Other discussion: View Place is a "county road" and speed is set by county guidelines. Christa Criddle agreed to contact the County Engineer to find out about those guidelines.
The Chief also suggested that a general meeting topic be "Neighborhood Watch."
Reorganization
Sue Hummer reported finding copies of previous association bylaws dated from 1977. She has volunteered to write a basic set of Bylaws for operation of the association; they would cover purposes, officers and elections, and membership. Discussion followed about whether membership and dues collection should be by household or by individual member: Some households could have multiple adult voters while others might have only a single adult. Should only the "heads of household" be allowed to vote? Is it more fair to allow each property a single vote? There was no clear consensus. A survey will be taken on the website to help in drafting the bylaws.
Beautification
There is concern about the appearance of the entrance to the neighborhood and the old sign board . Resident Lori Lang had volunteered to suggest some ideas. She shared two pictures (attached). One is a planter box with "View Place" lettering that she suggested to replace the flower box at View Place and North Bend. The other picture is a replacement sign board with a bench for View Place and Wellesley. The planter box would cost about $200 with volunteer labor and would be constructed of treated wood. The sign board would be similar to existing one except larger with better shelter; Lori suggested this for the same location except parallel to the road to make it easier to use and not be in the drainage ditch. Estimated cost would be at least $500. Lori did not have a suggestion about what to do with flower boxes that are deteriorating.
Lori will talk to St. Xavier H.S. to see how they would feel about an entrance sign/planter placed on their property. Additionally, the sign board is on the road right-of-way and might require County approval; Lori will also check into this.
Some discussion followed: The planter cannot obstruct the line of sight down North Bend. Perhaps we don’t want to invite "robbery" by calling attention to the fact that we are a nice neighborhood. Maybe a better placement for sign would be on NE corner of Wellesley to obscure the ugly phonebox. Since the VPCA does not have much money to invest, we could set up a separate fund to take donations expressly for this purpose. The scale of the planter box would not fit the location with the wide expanse of St. X’s front lawn.
There are no decisions on any of this. Pictures will be posted on website for comment.
Communication
Christa Criddle passed out a draft Grapevine newsletter which invites news for future issues, shares names of neighborhood "street captains," and asks for household information for an updated neighborhood directory.
Kendall LandfillJeff Dean reported about a recent meeting with Springfield Township Administrator Mike Hinnenkamp regarding the Kendall landfill. Attendees were Bill Merusi, Donna Saul, Sue Hummer, and Jeff. Discussion was on neighborhood concerns and the multiple jurisdications who deal with these concerns:
The landowner may accept "clean fill" by obtaining a County Department of Health permit which has been done that indicates fill will continue through December, 2006. The Department has no enforcement duty however.
The County Soil and Water Conservation District requires the sediment basin to prevent overflow drainage from leaving the property and such things as seeding the dig areas not in use. They have enforcement duties but not much manpower to do this.
The stream through the property is on the Army Corps of Engineers maps; it flows into the Mill Creek. Any disruption of the stream should require a permit from them and they have a long backlog.
Springfield Township only has zoning authority over the property. If the Kendals would want to build on the land in the future, they would need to apply for a zoning certificate. The Township concurs with the neighborhood that the zoning should remain R-1.
If the Kendalls would want to build on the land, they would also need building permits from the County. Hepefully, the County would require proof that the fill land is stable before issuing any permits.
None of these entities formally communicate about such a project. However, the Township is willing to help us communicate with them about concerns and can monitor the situation by sending a Township car to observe periodically. Because neighborhood residents are in the best situation to monitor the site, we need to continue to do that and report any concerns. Comments should be funneled to either Jeff Dean or Bill Merusi who can follow up with the Township.
Other
The street light at the corner of Wellesley & View Place has been out. Cinergy is responsible and will be called.
When the County recently repaved View Place, the stormwater grates at Beechtree and at Wellesey were both installed above the drainage level. Christa Criddle will follow up with the County Engineer on those drainage questions.
AdjournmentDonna stated VPCA goals of 4 general meetings per year and 4 Grapevines per year.
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:15 p.m.
Sue Hummer
Secretary
Here's a first draft offered at our last neighborhood meeting. Give Donna a call or write us if you have any suggestions or comments. There have been many offers from our neighbors who will lend us their expertise in developing a new look for our neighborhood. viewplacenews@yahoo.com. If you have any comments or suggestions, please forward them on as well. For those of you not yet on our e-directory, please identify yourself by street name. We cannot accept or respond to anonymous e-mails.