July 20, 2009

RUN Meeting Minutes - July 9, 2009

Minutes of the RUN meeting July 9, 2009


The meeting started at 7:00. Billy was at work receiving an award so Norma and Scott ran the meeting. The first order of business was what to do for the Night Out Against Crime. BG said someone had moved into the yellow house and the burned down house at 6108 New York looks too dangerous to enter. Buddy said that house is to be torn down. We decided to clean the alleys around the church. So we plan on meeting near the church in the vacant lot on 60th and New York Ave. The date is August 4 and the time will be 6:00.


In new business, Buddy said the Maytown plan has been deferred indefinitely after it was turned down by the planning commission.


Sean dropped by to say he wants to run a food market from local farmers at Richland Park on Saturday mornings. After a a few questions like where exactly and when the market will be open, the group seemed pleased with the plan. Sean spoke about a food security meeting July 26 that Angela was familiar with.


Norma talked about all the work going on at I 40 and White Bridge Road. Bernadette talked about her involvement with protest rallies. Angela said she has a program to help people in the recession and needs us to get the word out.

July 9, 2009

Scott's Blog

MEDIA MAVENS
It was good to see a couple of our RUN members in the Tennessean recently. Bernadette Ash was quoted at a tax protest rally downtown and has been on the local radio as I understand. Then I saw Norma's photo in the paper in a story about the Phase II construction on I-40. You go, girls! More people should be as politically active as the two of you.

OH CANADA
Well I'm back from my two week vacation to British Columbia. I had a good time but I'm glad I'm back in good ole West Nashville. I'm sick of travelling and won't be going anywhere for a while.

51st RENAISSANCE
Seems to me more small businesses are coming back to 51st Ave and Centennial Blvd. Wayne Greer has opened an arcade by the Stop and Shop and Fast Freddy's is expanding. We should encourage more small business to locate in West Nashville. The next clean-up for 51st is July 11.

R.I.P. MAYTOWN?
So I hear the planning commission voted against Maytown and the motion will be deferred. That's good but I hope we can move on from here. We've been arguing this for 18 months now and everybody has had their say. I hope we can work out some kind of land swap with the fairgrounds or even the old Bruce Hardwood Floor land. And why can't we get the Ferry to Bell's Bend re-opened?

RUN Meeting Minutes - June 15, 2009

Minutes of the RUN meeting June 15, 2009

See Blaine for attendance.

The new business was about the Night Out Against Crime coming up on August 4th. Norma said it was hard to get any donations from businesses this year compared to previous years. People were dissatisfied with the Block Party at the church and wondered how much it really did help to stop crime, so other ideas were brought up.

Norma suggested a walk around the neighborhood to get people more involved. Jamie and Audry talked about getting the Red Cross for classes and maybe a blood drive. Scott talked about targeting drug houses and abandoned properties and fixing them up. After some debate we voted to clean up derelict property. We targeted two right on New York near the church. That will make the block look good for the Fall Health Fair on September 19th. (Scott's update: the burned apartment building looks too dangerous to enter, but we could at least clean up the yard.)

Jonathan asked about the codes and we told him where he could get help identifying violations. Lamar talked about clean-ups they have done along 63rd avenue.

Angela told us about the job fair and free haircuts going on at St. Luke's. I hear that now they are helping people with mortgage issues. It's a great example of more good work from those people in these tough economic times.

July 7, 2009

RUN Meeting this Thursday!

Don't forget to attend our meeting this Thursday, July 9th at 7pm. We'll be at St. Luke's in the gym!

July 1, 2009

Billy's Blog - Last week's Maytown Meeting

“Seriously?” That is the only word that I can use to describe last night’s meeting/meetings. Really “seriously” with something this big like the May Town center, there are still a lot of unanswered questions. At the meeting/meetings last night a lot of people did not know that there was one meeting not even two meetings being held in the same place, mind you to talk about the same thing. Yes, I said in the same place, Cohn High School. I know that Cohn has a lot of good memories for a lot of people, but last night, baby, if "the walls" could talk.

One meeting was in the library called by Councilman Buddy Baker at 6:00p.m. and the second meeting was in the auditorium called by Mrs. Hand at 6:30p.m. both to talk about the May Town Center and the effect on District 20. Council Lady Emily Evans suggested before the meeting/meetings started that the two meetings should join together to give both time to talk and state why the meetings were called in the first place. So the meeting started out by Councilman Baker saying that the two meeting will be together. I was thinking to myself I smell trouble and folks you know that this is serious. But back to the meeting. A lot of people asked Councilman Baker questions and some people were just making comments. One of the questions was, “We are not in favor of a bridge in the Charlotte Park area at all, are you???” Councilman Baker answered, “No, I’m not, but I'm going to vote the way the majority of the people in District 20 want me to vote but I'm not in favor of a bridge in the Charlotte Park area at all.” Another question was a two part question, "OK, so you are not in favor of the bridge in the Charlotte Park area, okay good, but are you saying that it's okay for the bridge to be in the Cockrill Bend area "The Nations"?” He answered, “Yes.” Now the second part of the question was more like a comment than a question, the person stated "how can you say that it is okay for the bridge to be in one part and not in the other because both the Cockrill Bend area "The Nations" and Charlotte Park area are both in District 20." I was thinking to myself, “The Nations”, wow, that’s an interesting story on how the Nations got it's name, you know and it is not because the streets are named for states. Bet you did not know that. But that’s another story for next time. Okay, I know ,sorry, I will get back to the meeting.

So now it's about 6:30p.m. time for Mrs. Hand's meeting to start. She started out by talking about the planning commission staff recommendation "on page 44 it states “At the risk of over simplification of a very important proposal, not every impact can be determined, nor can every contingency be anticipated." Then there were more questions and comments both for Councilman Baker and Mrs. Hand. One was “are there any other Council Members here tonight?” Yes, there were Councillady Evans, Councilman Holleman and Councillady Wilhoite. Another question was, “okay, do y’all know how y’all are going to vote on the May Town Center?” Councillady Evans said, "I'm voting no", Councilman Holleman said "I'm voting no" and Councillady Wilhoite said "I'm voting no, but I'm still open to hear from both sides". One of the comments that was made "why is it that a former Council person and the present Council member for the same district are holding two separate meetings on the same night at two separate times but in the same place to talk about the same thing." Okay, I know what you’re thinking "seriously" right? But again I know, I know, back to the meeting, sorry. So now it's about 7:30p.m.- more questions and comments was made and then brace yourself folks "seriously" brace yourself. Mrs. Hand stated "If you originally came here for my meeting we need to leave because Councilman Baker just asked us to leave because his people wanted to meet alone without us here, so let's go to the auditorium." Remember what I said in the beginning I smell trouble "seriously". I knew that it was a bad idea in the beginning for both meetings to be together.

Okay, so let me tell you what I got from both meeting/meetings .You need to call, write or e-mail the Councilmembers all forty, the Planning Commissioners all ten and the Mayor to let them know if you are in favor of or if you are against the May Town Center. Remember if you favor the Center, you favor the bridge in District 20 whether it be one bridge or two. Your voice needs to be heard.

Billy Walls is the president of the RUN Neighborhood Association.