BHNA Annual Meeting Minutes
September 10, 2017
1. Roll Call established a quorum.
2. Minutes of last meeting were approved.
3. Neighbors introduced themselves. Newest resident member is Diane Kearns (277 Oakland).
4. Treasurer Alan Munn (164 Oakland) summarized the financial situation of BHNA as listed in the distributed report. No substantial changes relative to former times.
5. Alan Munn discussed the unenforceable racial restriction in the neighborhood’s covenant and outlined plans of the Board to finally remove those by seeking expert legal counsel.
6. Councilmember Erik Altmann explained future plans to amend the City Charter of East Lansing with the goal to reduce the property taxes by 10% while levying a tax of 1% (0.5%) on income generated by residents (non-residents) in East Lansing. The city projects to generate additional income of about $5M (mostly from non-residents). Erik Altmann outlined that the city does not see much further potential of reducing expenses to avoid the measure. Mike Benedict added that Southeast Marble will hold a town hall meeting on the topic—contact him for further information.
7. Patricia Robinson (1523 Roseland) presented her annual tree report and thanked all neighbors who directly contributed to the tree fund. Last year, 3 trees were replaced. Currently, 3 to 4 trees are scheduled for replacement but, to have them grow in the same spot as the former trees, time is still required to have the old root systems rot away. Pat reminded neighbors that young trees require care, in particular regular watering, after being planted.
8. Wes Reedy (155 Oakland) informed the neighbors about the upcoming tree replacement of the downed conifer in Musselman-Ledebuhr Park (corner of Grand River and Hagadorn) and listed possible substitutes. Pat Robinson suggested an evergreen as a replacement.
9. The presence of coyotes within the bounds of East Lansing and the presumably associated missing number of cats was brought to the attention of the neighborhood.
10. The issue of speeding within the neighborhood, in particular on Roseland, is discussed. The board is seeking ideas from neighbors on how to address and improve this situation.
11. A motion to include absentee votes (collected by Treasurer Alan Munn) in this year’s board member election passes.
12. Members elected to the board by paper ballot (35 valid ballots) were:
* Jennifer Castner, 205 Oakland, 32 votes (three-year term)
* John Hays, 1645 Roseland, 28 votes (three-year term)
* Jeffrey Johnson, 144 Maplewood, 28 votes (three-year term)
* Hassan Alizadeh, 120 Maplewood (two-year term), 25 votes
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
Minutes recorded by Philip Eisenlohr