Meeting with the Mayor, in conjunction with EDo—Amberley asked who would be available to meet with the Mayor in a few weeks during lunch at the Artichoke.  There will be a pre-meeting with EDo representatives to discuss the talking points the group wants to share with the Mayor.  Moises, Steve (via a previous conversation with Amberley), and Amberley committed.  Liam, Ann, and Karla will check their calendars.

501 c3 status for HHHDA

Advertising—Amberley shared the letter created by David Chamberlain and distributed to area businesses.  So far the response has been low.  David Donaldson agreed to work with David C. to make personal contacts with neighborhood businesses.

Advertising  Joni Nuetra has generated a list on names to be contacted as possible advertisers in 2011.  She got some additional suggestions from the Board.

Block Captains  After a review of the purpose of block captions (to build a sense of community and increase neighborhood participation in community events), Karla volunteered to be the person listed on our website as the contact for this project.  If she

Schedule of Events

Amberley encouraged the Board to plan events one year in advance as a strategy for improving participation:

• The December 1 meeting will not be a formal neighborhood/Board meeting but rather a final planning session for the Dickens event
• Dickens of a Dinner – Dec. 4 (see article in this newsletter)
• No meeting in January
• The Easter Egg Hunt may be held on Saturday, April 23, 10:00, if we have a neighbor who will volunteer to head this up.

Election of officers—Our bylaws state that an officer can only hold the same position for two consecutive years. Elected unanimously through email

• President – Amberley Pyles
• Vice President – Karla Thornton
• Secretary – Bonnie Anderson
• Treasurer – Joaquin Garofalo

This was the annual meeting of HHHDA, so the format was changed to accommodate elections.  Upon entering, people turned in a membership form and paid their dues in order to receive a ballot and a copy of the annual report.

Community Garden—Bonnie thanked recent donors to the garden:

• Penny Spittler for the lovely cast iron bird bath
• Lee for supplying electrical out to the new bird bath to run a fountain feature
• Salley Trefethen and Lissa Hammett for the wrought iron glider bench and large cobalt blue planter

Adopt a Park—The Grants led the clean-up in June which went well with the hula hoop activity following drawing several families.  David

Design Guidelines—Landmarks Commission lead, Mary Ellen Hennessey, reviewed the next steps for implementing the proposed design guidelines for our neighborhood and other area historic neighborhoods.  She needs to schedule a public hearing now that our Board has approved the guidelines and suggested that August would be the best time to do that. Mary Ellen will post the proposed guidelines on the City website and Salley Trefethen, the HHHDA webmaster, will create a link on our site to the guidelines.

Historic Tree Project—Nick Kuhn, the forester for the City, explained a new project he hoped we would help him pilot.  He wants to create an online tree tour of our neighborhood, featuring special trees and their stories: oldest, biggest, most unusual, etc.

HHHDA leadership—Joaquin announced that he needs to pull back his work for HHHDA due to family and business obligations.  He is willing to step aside or, if the Board wishes, he would continue to conduct meetings but will not be able to do any work between meetings.  Amberley declined when asked if she would be willing to take over leadership. No one else was willing to take over leadership.

Lead Coal Project—Construction is still slated to begin in May and continue for 18 – 24 months.  Environmental soil samples along the corridor tested “clean.”  The only remaining decision is the color of the light standards: fir green, black-red, or black.

The first vote was split between fir green and black-red.  After a brief discussion, the Board agreed on black-red.

First Baptist Church – Art School—Albuquerque Public Schools has an option to buy this property to use as an art school. The Board supports this use for the property.

OLD BUSINESS

Dickens—Ann reported that although profits from this year’s event were still not finalized, it was clear that less profit was made than in previous years.  In addition, guests reportedly missed the ambience created by visiting historic homes that had been decorated for the season.  Kay reported that certain aspects of the event were easier for volunteers: using a professional kitchen; not having to arrange for houses to host the dinner.