Brookfield Heritage Neighborhood Association
Board Meeting Minutes
Date: January 28th 2024
Board Members: Steve Beckman (Secretary), Nella Davis-Ray (Communications), John Hays, Matthew Kazmierski (President), Gail Lytle Lira, Denise Moore, Pat Poli (Communications), Alice Schehr (Treasurer), Mark Warner
Call to order: Steve Beckman called to order this meeting of the Brookfield Heritage Neighborhood Association Executive Committee at 4:32pm ET on January 28th, 2024 in an online meeting via Zoom.
Roll Call: Steve Beckman (Secretary), Nella Davis-Ray (Communications), John Hays, Matthew Kazmierski (President), Gail Lytle Lira, Denise Moore, Pat Poli (Communications), Mark Warner
● Absent: Alice Schehr (Treasurer)
● Quorum present: Yes
Approval of Past Minutes: A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes from the Board meeting held on October 22nd, 2023 as presented. The motion was carried without objection.
Treasurer Updates:
1. Alice provided a report that stated the association’s current account balance is $2,455.09 after $2,513.97 of expenses from the replacement of three trees ($773 each), materials for luminaries($164), and website hosting ($32.97 for three months). The collection of some association dues after the annual picnic and donations for tree replacements brought in $913.
a. The board recognized Alice’s efforts to become a notary and to visit neighborhood residents that needed to pay their annual dues and sign renewal forms.
Old Business:
1. Luminaries review
a. The board recognized those who helped set up and pick up the bags. Several bags were able to be saved for reuse.
b. The candles did not burn as long as expected. Will attempt to research and purchase candles that last longer next time.
2. 2024 Neighborhood Garden Tour
a. Alice and Nella will form a planning committee and may consider selling tickets as a fundraiser for replacement trees
3. Neighborhood covenants modification and renewal
a. Steve reported that 25 addresses still need to sign consent forms to modify the covenants
b. Alice provided a report that stated 35 renewal forms were notarized by her during her door-to-door efforts and 31 forms were notarized at the annual picnic. John reported that he received 2 additional notarized renewal forms. The 68 notarized renewal forms meet the 2/3rds threshold required for filing for the renewal, but some additional forms should be collected in case some are rejected.
c. John will meet with Alice to determine a timeline for completing the documents needed for recording the renewal of the covenants with the Ingham County Register of Deeds
4. BHNA website transition to https://www.eastlansingneighborhoods.com/
a. Matt is still exploring options for transitioning the content of https://brookfieldneighborhood.net/. He sent questions to the hosting company, Civic Plus, requesting answers about how our existing content could be transferred to their platform, among other things.
5. Tree maintenance
a. Tree replacement decisions have typically been made by Pat Robinson, who is not a current board member, and then payment authorized by the Treasurer. The board would like to create a committee to assist with those efforts and provide oversight.
b. The BHNA Bylaws identify several potential committee names and their purposes. An“Environment Committee” would be appropriate for efforts related to tree maintenance and a “Social Committee” would be appropriate for planning and executing events such as the Garden Walk.
c. Matt will propose the creation of an Environment Committee and approach Pat to be its chairperson and to lead the effort to add members to the committee.
d. Matt will propose the creation of a Social Committee and post on the BHNA Facebook Group asking for neighbors to volunteer to join it.
New Business
1. Council of Neighborhood Presidents Meetings
a. Matt attended the January meeting and shared his notes with the board
2. Hagadorn Road Diet Project
a. East Lansing City Council approved the project during their meeting on January 22nd
Open Discussion: None
Action Items:
Name Action Deadline
Matt
Identify specific pros and cons for transitioning the https://brookfieldneighborhood.net/ website to https://www.eastlansingneighborhoods.com/ and email the details to the board.
2024-06-01
Matt
Contact Pat Robinson regarding the creation of an Environment Committee.
2024-03-01
Matt
Post on the BHNA Facebook Group asking for volunteers to be members of a new Social Committee.
2024-03-01
Alice, John, Steve
Gather signed covenant renewal documents and deliver to the Ingham County Register of Deeds.
2024-04-01
Adjournment:
● A motion was made and seconded to adjourn the meeting at 5:25pm ET. The motion carried without objection.
Next Meeting Date, Time, and Location: Sunday, April 21st, 2024 at 4:00pm ET. Location to be determined.
Minutes submitted by: Steve Beckman
Minutes approved by: Board motion during meeting held on 2024-04-21.