The Meeting on 8/21/2012 at the MVG space was facilitated by Cameron Hickey
At this meeting we instituted a sign-in sheet so that attendees for each meeting can be recorded.
Attendees:
Cameron Hickey, Eric Weil + Family, Jannette Young, Adnia Saperstein, Stephan Von Muehlen, Ben Neusius (Mercy Home), Robyn Smith, Simon Weisen, Motty Hohn, Ben Honig, Meghan Richards, Drew Kiriazides, Zack Joslow, Paula Crespo, Rivka Buchinger
Agenda Items/Projects Completed:
Signs were added to the notice box which display the weekly meeting and workday times.
MVG Project Updates:
1) Bank Account — Cameron reported that setting up the bank account may be complicated if established with his own SSN — researching alternatives and/or using a Federal EIN to open the account
2) Phone Lines — Jerry wasn’t available to provide an update on his research regarding phone lines. Drew mentioned that the DEP rep was interested in helping and offering his support. DEP Rep will be invited to successive meetings and will be asked what support he can provide in getting the phone lines lifted up and what else he can do.
3) Workday Progress — the team who came the previous Sunday was only 2 people, but they managed to collect and organize rocks for the base of the compost area, and bring more supplies on site. Cameron donated a BBQ Grill which was used to grill hotdogs at the meeting.
4) Feedback Farms — no representative was present and no update was known. Follow up email to be sent today to check on status.
5) Sukkot Festival – No update came for the request/proposal to use the space for a Sukkot Festival.
6) Picnic Area / Seating / Shade discussion
Adina noted that the plan for a table / seating / shade area should take into consideration accessibility. No formal terms for what constitutes accessibility were defined, but it was noted that standard picnic tables with attached benches were not fully accessible and so when the seating plan is finalized and items acquired, standard tables and chairs should also be included.
7) Party / Screening on Sept 22nd
Cameron volunteered to buy and prepare grilled food to sell before and during the event to raise additional funds for supplies for MVG. Others affirmed support for the idea. At the next meeting logistics and volunteers will be established.
A detailed proposal for the 22nd event should be prepared by 596 Acres for presentation at an upcoming meeting.
Required items for the event include:
- Projector – 596 Supplied
- Generator – Someone owns one
- Sound System
- Lights
- Chairs – Offered by Father Loui
- Tables
- Coolers
- Drinks (Non-Alcoholic)
- Food to be prepared and sold – Cameron offered labor and up-front expenses
8) Shopping List / Donated items
A discussion of how to acquire donations from Home Depot, Lowes and Build it Green resulted in a working shopping list, which is included below. A separate discussion thread will be started to allow everyone to contribute additional ideas for the shopping / donation list. Jannette noted that HD and Lowes do their donations at the beginning of each month, so we should prepare our first list request for them this week to see what can be acquired.
- Gas powered weed wacker
- Garbage can(s)
- Garbage bags
- Large Umbrellas w/ bases (for shade)
- Picnic Tables
- Benches
- Tables (without attached benches)
- Chairs
- Storage Shed
- Big Rake
- Plants
- Potting Soil
- Shovels
- Garden Hose + Accessories for watering, etc.
- 5-Gallon Buckets
- Wheelbarrow
- Lumber
Upcoming Agenda Items:
1) It was recommended that the workday schedule move from just 2pm on sunday to keeping the site open from 10am – 6pm Sundays.
2) A discussion about requesting and bringing in wood chips that can be donated from Parks and Rec was tabled because it became clear that selecting a site for wood chips should happen as part of the site layout planning process.
3) Open discussion of changing meeting schedule — changing date/time, making it bi-monthly – thread to be opened on google group to discuss
4) Meeting RSVP System — in order to get clear idea of attendance for meetings and what to expect to cover, it was proposed that we establish an RSVP system for meetings. Final proposal for this to be presented at the next meeting
5) Master plan status — a follow up needs to be made to Angelo to determine what the right order of next-steps is for the Master Plan for the space. The discussion at the meeting determined that Angelo may/should be waiting for the interim planning process to conclude and a final set of proposals for the plan to be made before doing additional work on the master plan.
6) Creating a key-holder list — a list will be posted to the google group where everyone who has a key and wants to be contacted for access will be able to provide their information
7) Fundraising — a brief discussion on future fundraising took place. Ideas were tossed out for doing another kickstarter / ioby style direct fundraiser, grant applications, and possibly other forms of sponsorship. No one in attendance was an expert, so future meetings need to flesh this issue out.
Next Meeting: 8/28 AGENDA
Introduction
Read Agenda
Collect additional agenda items
UPDATES
- Bank Account / Accessing Money
- Finalizing Shopping List
- Update on Feedback Farms
- Update on Composting Plan / workday
- Plan for RSVP system
- Sept 22nd Party
- Sukkot Festival Proposal
Develop plan of action for requesting donations of supplies
Continue fundraising discussion
Begin discussion of a park feature list
- Raised beds
- Seating area / shade
- Dog Run
- Feedback Farms
- Children’s play area
- What else?
