Willow Wood Neighborhood Association
Board Meeting - February 7, 2012
Directors Attending: Kathy Burns, Ben Menard, Gail Bradley, Alan Blumer, Cassandra Destefano
Guests Attending: Jon and Betty Neil

• Minutes – January 2nd meeting minutes were approved as published on the web site.
• Treasurer Report: There were no transactions during January. The checking account balance remains at $374.34. There are outstanding bills for web site hosting related expenses which total about $101.00. These bills will be paid in the near future.

OLD BUSINESS:

• Kathy Burns distributed a revised “New Neighbor Welcome Letter” that was approved by all attending Board members. As new residents move into Willow Wood, Kathy will mail the letter to the new neighbors.
• Ben Menard reported that the Parks Department has not contacted him regarding the replacement of the damage park sign for the West Park. He will follow up with Brook Bench via email.
• The Board confirmed plans to hold the annual meeting on March 20th, 2012 at 7:00 PM at Saint. Michaels Lutheran Church. Gail Bradley has received permission to use the meeting space from Debbie at Saint. Michaels. Councilman Tom Mulligan has tentatively agreed to attend the meeting and speak briefly. Gail will confirm the date with him in the near future. About two weeks before the meeting Alan Blumer will send an email invitation to all the Willow Wood residents in the WWNHA address book. Alan will include a request for new Board member candidates in the invitation. He will also encourage residents to submit questions to be discussed at the meeting. Ben Menard will place the meeting announcement signs at the three entrances about two weeks in advance as well.

NEW BUSINESS:

• Two neighbors contacted the Board regarding the owner of 13049 Patrick Circle regarding his use of the West Park as a dumping ground for the waste from his two large dogs. Ben Menard contacted the Humane Society who then visited the owner to warn him that a continuation of the behavior could lead to a civil complaint and a fine. Ben Menard will contact Brook Bench of the Omaha Parks Maintenance Division to discuss the possibility of installing “dog waste” signs throughout all the parks.
• The Willow Wood Association sign at the 123rd Street entrance was vandalized. Although Kathy Burns recovered the sign, it may not be repairable. Ben Menard will investigate repairs.
• The City Of Omaha has contacted the Association regarding the contact information we wish to publish in their Neighborhoods Directory. Currently, ex-president Donna Christian is listed. Gail Bradley agreed to email the city regarding our new contact information.
• The Annual Spring Clean Up program is now open for registration. Gail Bradley will respond to the City’s invitation and keep the Board informed of her progress.
• The Mutual Of Omaha Foundation has informed the Association that grant applications are due by March 31st. Ben Menard will look at the application to determine if we qualify for their program.

Willow Wood Neighborhood Association
January 2012 Board Meeting Minutes
January 3, 2012
Board member attendees: Cassandra Destefano, Kathy Burns, Gail Bradley, Alan Blumer
Guest attendee: Phil Vandecar of the Montclair, Trendwood, Georgetown and Parkside Neighborhood Association Citizens Patrol

• Minutes of December 2011 meeting were approved as published on wwnha.org.

• Treasurer's report: beginning balance for December was $539.26, ending $374.34; disbursements were $51.25 to Physicians Mutual for printing costs and $113.67 to Kathy Burns for components of door hanger packets.

• Some door hanger packets remained to be distributed. Kathy Burns will complete.
• Alan reported that one new e-mail list signup had been received in the past month.
• Phil Vandecar offered his neighborhood group's experience that their bank had printed envelopes which were delivered with the group newsletter. This envelope was printed with a delivery address of "Neighborhood Group, c/o Bank..." to solicit donations from residents. He stated that they had good success with this method, around $3600 from a resident base of about 1400 homes. Gail will contact our bank for any similar possibility.
• Kathy brought the latest draft of the "new resident letter" for further editing. Much discussion and good suggestions were offered. Kathy will make the edits and resubmit.
• Alan was reminded to reexamine the 2010 Census website to see if detailed information about Willow Wood demographics was available yet. He also suggested further investigation of Dwolla (http://www.dwolla.com) as a low-cost method to receive donations via the wwnha.org website. He will determine what would be required to create an account for the Association.
• Although Ben Menard was not in attendance, he sent an e-mail to Board members earlier in the day. He included the following for members and attendees:

I am having trouble securing a "paid" receipt for the Citizen Patrol radio we purchased this summer. I will try to contact Motorola directly to see if I can get one before the end of the month.

I have not heard anything from Brook Bench regarding the replacement of the park sign on Erskine. Nor have I heard whether or not the license plate information we provided led to the person responsible for the damage.

The deadline for a Kiewit grant application is February 1st. The mayor's grant application deadline is April 1st.

The city cut down a couple of dead trees in the Erskine park. I am not sure if they removed any dead trees in the other parks. It may be time to complain again about the shabby job they have done the past two years in hopes that we will get more attention in 2012.

• Gail believes that she has the receipt for the Citizens Patrol radio in her possession and will investigate.
• Alan reminded all that the annual meeting is on Tuesday, March 20. He suggested thoughts for a featured speaker or two, and do away with the business portion of the meeting and to keep the complete schedule to an hour. Gail volunteered to contact St. Michael's Lutheran Church for meeting space and Tom Mulligan as one of the featured speakers. A suggestion was made to distribute a newsletter with a fiscal report and list of accomplishments to attendees.