Brookfield Heritage Neighborhood Association
Board Meeting Notes
October 3, 2016
Roll Call
The meeting was attended by current board members Jennifer Castner, Mike Benedict, Alan Munn, Bill Martin, Kathy Prince, Robert O’Meara, Philip Eisenlohr, Jeff Johnson, Kay Ruekberg.
Treasurer’s Report
Alan Munn provided the Treasurer’s report. To date, $720.00 in dues has been collected for the current fiscal year. When broken down by street, 57% of Oakland, 32% of Roseland, 32% of Maplewood, and 0% of Hagadorn/Grand River residents have paid their dues. Dues will be discussed in the next newsletter in an effort to encourage residents to pay dues.
Board Officer Selections
Board officer nominations were solicited and the following people were elected:
- President: Jennifer Castner
- Vice President: Mike Benedict
- Treasurer: Alan Munn
- Secretary: Kay Ruekberg
- Communications: Jeffrey Johnson
Board Attendance at East Lansing City Meetings
The board discussed whether a board member should be in attendance for weekly City Council meetings. Rather than attending weekly, it was decided to monitor the meeting agendas and have a member attend pertinent meetings as needed.
Jennifer Castner will represent Brookfield Heritage Neighborhood at the East Lansing Council of Neighborhood Presidents on October 24, 2016.
Board Email Accounts
The elimination of the current 5 board member email accounts was discussed and the board voted to eliminate them and replace with direct contact forms on the neighborhood’s website.
Neighborhood Directory
The neighborhood directory will be updated and made available on the neighborhood website only AFTER resident login and password entry. Mike Benedict will check with Nancy Knupfer and Alan Munn re: accessing the current directory list and then update it.
Listserve to Forums Transition Update
It was previously decided to replace listserve and set up individual resident accounts for the dissemination and sharing of information through forums on the neighborhood website. Alan Munn reported that 25 new accounts for residents have been changed over or set up since the Sept. 11th picnic. Alan will get a list of remaining residents who have not yet switched over from Carl Lira and contact the residents to ask their permission to make the switch.
Deed Restrictions
A committee was established to look up the history and documentation of the original deed regarding race restrictions in the neighborhood. Kathy Prince, Robert O’Meara, and Bill Martin volunteered to be on the committee. Jennifer Castner will check with other neighborhood associations on this at the Council of Neighborhood Presidents later this month.
Neighborhood History Project
Mike Benedict will continue to write up the history of the neighborhood and Kathy Prince will assist him. Once completed, it is recommended to make it into a document that can posted on the neighborhood website.
Sound System for Picnic
It was decided that some sort of sound system is needed for the annual picnic for the speakers at the meeting. Philip Eisenlohr will check on systems and pricing and report back. It was also proposed to seek the donation or use of a resident’s sound system and possibly post this in an upcoming newsletter.
CATA-BRT
CATA held a public meeting in East Lansing prior to the board meeting on Oct. 3rd and board members Kathy Prince, Mike Benedict, and Philip Eisenlohr were in attendance at the CATA meeting. They reported that CATA discussed the 5 alternate plans that have been created that might replace the original BRT proposal. At this point in time, CATA has no timetable or funding in place with proceeding on this project, so as a board, we will monitor the project closely.
Other Business
- Picnic: It was decided to keep all picnic supplies together in one location from year to year and to take inventory right after the picnic and replenish supplies at that time. Jeff Johnson will keep the supplies at his home.
- The 2017 picnic will held on Sunday, Sept. 10th.
- Future board meeting dates were selected: 16, 2017, May 8, 2017, and July 31, 2017.