Ruby Hill-Godsman May 2015 Meeting Notes

Present

Officers: Sharona Thompson, Ruby Hill President; Scott Bolt, Godsman President

Members: List to be added

Also Present: City Council candidates Jolon Clark and Aaron Greco. District 7 Council Member Chris Nevitt.

Discussed

• Opened with a potluck dinner. Thank you to all who contributed!
• City Council candidates Jolon Clark and Aaron Greco spoke about the upcoming run-off election. Ballots have been mailed out and are due by 7 p.m on June 2nd. You can vote even if you did not vote the first time and if you didn’t get a ballot, you can call 311 or go down to the election division to get one.
• Johnson Habitat Park ribbon cutting will be held June 1st at 11:30 a.m.
• Sharona asked about interest in the neighborhood garage sale. Majority said yes. Erin volunteered to lead the committee to organize the garage sale. Peter, Miriam, and Scott volunteered to help.
• Sharona asked about interest in the Denver Days neighborhood picnic. Majority said yes. Sharona will lead the committee to plan for the picnic, which will take place on Saturday, August 1st. Alaida, Erica, and Marie volunteered to help.
• Brandy spoke about the Ruby Hill Community Garden. There are at least 12 plots still available. Cost is $35 to grow there all year long, which covers water, compost, plus some transplants and seeds. They will work with you on payment if that is an obstacle. Contact Sharona, email rubyhillgarden@gmail.com, or go to the Garden’s Facebook page if you are interested.
• The Community Garden is having six cubic yards of great compost delivered on Thursday at 6 p.m. Bring shovels, wheelbarrows, etc. and help spread the compost. It’s a great way to meet neighbors!
• Erin spoke about the Ruby Hill Urban Farmers group. They have been having monthly meetings at Chain Reaction Brewery. This month’s meeting is Saturday at 7 p.m. There will be a pizza truck for food or you can bring your own. Several neighborhood association people confirmed they will attend.
• Erin announced that the Ruby Hill Urban Farmers are holding a garden tour. Seven people have shown interest in hosting and 15 people have signed up to attend the tour. There is still time to sign up, either on the RHUF Facebook page, through the sign-up link Erin provided, or talk to Erin or Holly. The event is May 31st starting at 12:30 p.m. The location may be changed to meeting at Erin’s house, which will be a closer walk than Chain Reaction Brewery; details will be sent out to those who’ve signed up when finalized.
• Peter Heim was introduced. He is one of the two pastors at Garden Park Church. He works with neighborhood outreach and leads a Wednesday night ministry. On the fifth Sunday (of any month with five Sundays) the church does volunteer projects in the neighborhood during normal service time. They have worked with Schmitt Elementary School, have done gutter cleaning and sidewalk shoveling and more. If you know of things that need to be done around the neighborhood, contact Peter or the church to arrange.
• Scott re-introduced the owners of the Indus Mart (who spoke to us for the first time at our last meeting). The hearing for their liquor license has been set for May 27 at 6 p.m. The Jains will have a reception at the Indus Mart for those who wish to support them starting at 3 p.m. and will provide transportation to the hearing downtown via bus at 5 p.m. They would especially appreciate support from those who live within the Julian and Canosa (west-east) and Ohio and Florida (north-south) area. **Update 5/27/15** The meeting has been cancelled. The distance between the Indus Mart and a nearby school will be measured and more information will be available after that.
• Chris Nevitt spoke. He has represented District 7 for eight years. He answered a question about the franchise agreement with CenturyLink and how the Mayor and City Council were able to negotiate getting CenturyLink’s above-ground utility lines undergrounded along with the Comcast and Xcel Energy lines. Ultimately, a bill was passed that requires above-ground utility distribution lines to be undergrounded, and this will happen whenever street work is done.
  • A question was asked about how to get line maintenance addressed.
  • A question was asked about how to go about getting the Iowa section of crumbling infrastructure from Florida to Broadway repaired. Councilmember Nevitt explained that it’s been part of the capital improvement plan for years and has progressed down the design road but construction hasn’t been funded.
  • A question was asked about whether the potholes created by the construction on Platte River Drive between Mississippi and Evans would be addressed, as well as the overgrowth in that area.
• The association voted to continue the tradition of hiatus during the summer months of June, July, and August. The next Neighborhood Association meeting will be held on September 15th, although the association will meet for the aforementioned garage sale (date TBD) and picnic on August 1st.