HSPI General Meeting, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, 7-8pm at Hope Lutheran Church, 500 Hickory
Meeting called to order at 7pm by President Mark Manovich; Introductions and Social Time Invite
Community Reports
No Police Report.
Martha – City of Dayton, Community Engagement: Martha congratulated our neighbors for coming together and having a large showing of volunteers for the Earth Day Neighborhood Clean Up event on Saturday, April 20th.
Tim – City of Dayton, Inspector: Round 2 of legal orders will be going out to 45 homes from multiple streets throughout the neighborhood. A legal order is a citation on the structure of the house for things like door frames that are coming off, windows not sealed, chipping paint, not getting a Certificate of Appropriateness for exterior projects. It does not go on anyone’s record or require an appearance before a judge. Judge Logan is working with the city inspectors to make sure that details and the files are correct. The city is working to discover the responsible party for the blighted neighborhood buildings listed as being owned by an LLC (a Limited Liability Company is a separate entity from its owner) rather than an individual.
General Meeting Minutes of the March 2024 meeting were approved without changes.
President’s Report
Liberty School Developments: The construction of a new school building at Wayne & Wyoming is moving along, but there are some hiccups occurring that Mark will address in a future meeting.
Earth Day/Neighborhood Clean Up: Thank you to more than 75 neighbors, the Veritas congregation and the Macy’s volunteers sent by the Living City Project coordinators. A huge shoutout to Bill Daniels at Pizza Factory for donating pizzas.
Blommel Park New Toddler Playground Update: The second set of new equipment was just installed and will be ready in a few days to play on. The city provided fencing to block the area until the cement sets under the new spring riders. We are in our final phase of fundraising: $10,000 for updating the swing set area. Katrina would like to make a motion that HSPI spend $1,289 to buy the planned balance beam. The motion passed. This leaves $9,100 to raise.Total raised by many families coming together so far is over $70,000. The children of the neighborhood are helping raise funds as well, with a cookie and lemonade sale and a talent show.
Emerson Academy Parking: All the parent drop-off cars that have been clogging traffic and causing accidents will move from Hickory Street to Buckeye Street by the 2024-25 school year. Public school buses will be dropping off and picking up students on Hickory Street because Dayton Public Schools will not allow parents and buses to drop off and pick up at the same spot.
Neighborhood President’s Forum: The city will be hosting this event on Monday, April 29 for all neighborhood Presidents. If you have any issues or concerns you would like Mark to bring forward on behalf of HSPI, please contact [email protected]
Committee Reports
Social: We are planning to host two Porch, Patio, and Deck (PPD) neighborhood parties this summer. Beverages are provided by the neighborhood and we ask neighbors to donate $5 if you are a HSPI member/$10 if you are not a member. We ask everyone to bring a potluck item and enjoy time at a local neighbor’s home. Sarah Dugan is working on a grant submission to help support the Murder Mystery event planned for October 5, 2024. If you would like to sign up and be put on the map for the June 8 neighborhood garage sale, please make sure you sign up via Facebook.
Housing & Development: Thanks to Tim, our housing inspector, for all his efforts and his promptness in working with HSPI. If you have any issues you would like to have addressed in terms of blighted or excessively trashy buildings, please email Karin at [email protected]
Preservation Dayton: On June 21, 2024 you can sign up for a sneak peek of the Delco loft apartments next to the Dragon’s Stadium, the former Mendelsons Warehouse Building. A guest speaker who worked with Charles Kettering will be presenting and he is a very dynamic speaker, so we invite you to buy a ticket.
Parks: (1) THANK YOU to all the Gazebo hedge volunteers who helped install 50 new plants on April 13 th . And a thank you to neighbor Phil Henry who was concerned enough about the City mowers girdling the trees on Park Drive boulevard that he dug a dirt circle around several trees and placed wood chip mulch circles around them. (2) If you too are concerned about trees, PLEASE ATTEND the Arbor Day Program, Saturday April 27 at 9am at Park Drive near Jay Street. The City of Dayton Forestry guys will demonstrate how to plant and mulch two trees and answer your questions and concerns. (3) Regarding Adams Park, the City has agreed to reseed half of the park at a time, and will bring wood-chip mulch for the swing set. Because the Park is stressed by off-leash dog use, the City can’t guarantee the grass will last. They strongly recommend neighbors make use of two nearby dog parks, Highland Dog Park (Steve Whalen & Wyoming) Creager Field Dog Park (210 Shafor Blvd – near Kramer’s) (4) Regarding the Adams Park garden bed which is now in full shade, the Parks committee is welcoming your donation of shade-friendly plants: Fern, hosta, caladiums, impatiens. Again, we can’t guarantee plants will thrive due to the Park’s usage but we can try to beautify that spot as intended with your help. (5) The Parks committee was just awarded $1000 from Keep Montgomery County Beautiful, to be used to plant a perennial pollinator blooming hedge at the Gazebo. To prepare for that hedge we’ll be removing the old concrete pads for more sun and space (east of Caleb). (6) The Parks committee is applying for a 2024 City of Dayton Mini-grant to beautify the circle garden bed in the middle of the 200 block of Park Drive with a raised bed and planter and eventually two park benches. Design and budget are underway.
Block Captains: A pamphlet regarding HSPI and membership will be distributed soon.
New Business
Blommel Park Grand Reopening Party: June 1, 2024 from 4-6pm at Blommel Park. Food trucks, ice cream, bounce house, fire truck, pinatas, and a great community time!
Announcements
Phyllis Tonne is hosting Monday May Music in the Park from 5-6pm at Blommel Park. Families and neighbors are welcome to join for music, singing, and fun!
There will be a Monday, May 27th, 10am Annual South Park Memorial Day walking tour in Woodland Cemetery led by Betsy & Galen Wilson. Each year they research four or five HSPI “ancestors” with a themed tour and mark their graves.
The South Park Lady mosaic at the Gazebo may be installed by The Mosaic Institute prior to the June 1st Blommel Park event.
David Esrati/The Next Wave, host of the Historic South Park website, announced he has a WordPress plugin available that would allow for membership auto-renewals. It might be of interest to HSPI.
South Park Cat Care Collective is planning a cat and dog microchip event to help return lost pets home. If you have cats that need to be spayed or neutered the team will be going throughout the neighborhood with a sign up sheet.
Meeting adjourned at 7:51pm.