Vecinos del Bosque Neighborhood Association
Board Meeting Minutes

June 28, 2007

Time: 6:45 – 8:54

Attendees: Irma, Lesley, Steven, Dory, Chris, Robert, Adrian

I. Welcome Irma Ruiz

**Time Keeper – Stephen Picha

II. Presentation on proposed Landscaping on Central Ave. Elizabeth Reardon/

- Sunset Rd. to Cypress Dr. (35 min.) Barbara Taylor (City of ABQ)

* The City wants to tie the landscaping together from Old Coors all the way to the river. This project will continue the landscaping that has already been done just West of Rio Grande.
* Medians just West of Cypress has already been landscaped, mostly with perennials including yarrows and day lilies. Crusher fine mulch, cobblestone, bark. Want to pave the noses of the medians with scored warm-tone concrete.
* Further West, there are existing medians with concrete and dirt All are too thin for trees based on City statute.
o Want to remove paving from West-most and put in shrubs
o Want to add shrubs to dirt paving
o Want to change skinniest medians (which are grey concrete) to the scored, decorative paving like what is on Central between river and Rio Grande. Too narrow to landscape.
+ Irma asked if it was possible to consider working with local artists or youth to create decorative tiling and provide it to the City for installation.
+ Dory suggested green or blue glass
# City will confirm with Kevin Broderick that these possibilities are considered
* One median East, just West of Sunset, is just large enough to add some trees or a vertical shrub. Want to take out existing concrete from this median, and add decorative concrete here.
* Plant materials - use both true native plants and low-water use that are well-adapted to this area.
o Ornamental Grasses – The group chose Regal mist
o Trees – The group voted for that single-trunk desert willow.
o Perennials - Elizabeth and Barbara will choose.
o Small Shrubs – The group chose Lavendar and Dwarf rabbit bush
o Large Shrubs – The group chose Sotol
* Timeline – a couple of months to get into construction, 3-4 month construction period. In 6 months they’ll be finished.

III. Neighborhood Night Out (15 min.) Board

* Consensus at the last meeting was that we want to participate with collaborative celebration hosted by Weed and Seed on August 7.
* Weed and Seed wants all neighborhoods to participate in the planning.
o They have already had one meeting. Richard attended, but was not present to report.
+ Want all neighborhoods to set up a table and have a banner, membership materials, and literature.
o Next meeting is at the end of July. Irma will distribute meeting notice.
* Site will be Atrisco Plaza
* Group voted to be a part of the event.
* Action items:
o Need to schedule booth coverage when more is known.
o Steven volunteered to update the Vecinos brochure if needed.
o Dory volunteered to bring photos.
o Stephen volunteered presentation board and printer.
o Vecinos will hold another separate event in September.
+ Do ribbon cutting for walking guide.

IV. Treasurer’s Report (5 min.) Robert Sanchez

* Last month, $1376.90 - - Current Balance $1495.19
* Made a deposit of $18 in memberships- Stillpoint and CAC business memberships
* Bob Turner Ford - $100 donation

V. Extend N.A. boundary to add Poplar Lane-Vote (5 min.) Board

* Stephen Picha with Poplar Lane brought up idea of joining Vecinos.
* Proposal is to extend neighborhood boundaries to go from Central to Bridge and Rio Grande River to Atrisco. After Jeanette, hooks back to Sunset.
o Five Points has an existing association, but it is considering joining in the future.
* The group decided to table the vote until the next meeting.
* Action items for next meeting:
o Irma will bring By-Laws with current/proposed boundaries to the next meeting.
o Poplar will also bring a letter of intent to the next meeting.

VI. Sunset Rd. speed issues (10 min.)

- Mtg. with County/City update I. Ruiz/R. Sanchez

* Robert reported about concerns regarding speed on Sunset Rd.
* Meeting was called by Commissioner Cordova at our request, attended by Public Works, APD West Side Commander Candelaria, Councilor Benton,
o They will assess traffic, do speed counts, and explore temporary solutions
* City traffic engineer suggested the possibility of speed signs along Sunset like those on Central near the freeway; the City has a couple available for loan
* 8200 cars travel along Sunset each day.
* The speed limit is 30 miles per hour on Sunset Rd. from Central to Gonzalez, and 25 from Gonzales to Bridge
o Councilor Benton promised to put the signs back up
* City and County will look at accident reports along Sunset to analyze the design of the corner at Jeannette and Hooper.
* There will be another meeting in late August with the City, County, APD, the Sheriff’s Office
o Prior to this meeting, Irma will write a letter back to the group to document the promises made, and give the group deadlines for promised activities.

VII. Ditches with Trails Update (10 min.) Subcommittee

* The group has been meeting and making a lot of progress.
* Next step is to present the document to the Ditches with Trails Steering Committee
* Want to hand out a draft at the next neighborhood association meeting

VIII. Other Business/Updates (15 min.)

o Update on WCCDG and Meeting Dates (Richard)
+ Richard was not in attendance.

o The Albuquerque Partnership (Adrian Pedroza)
+ You can learn about the Partnership at www.abqpartnership.com
+ Adrian passed out notes from the retreat, which members of our association attended. The notes listed the actions that members of Vecinos expressed interest in.
# Adrian would like to finalize an action plan to set goals for next year.
+ Irma reported that we purchased tents, tables, and coolers with last year’s $400.
+ The group discussed how the Partnership can help us as a neighborhood association grow:
# Want to create an awareness of what we’re doing within our active membership
# Consider Board Member orientation
# Consider engaging the community via signs and subcommittees
+ Action items:
# Discuss retreat with Partnership at the next meeting

o S.V. Coalition of N.A. (Greg/Gary)
+ No update.

o Other
+ Stephen expressed interest in the Membership Committee, and was signed up. He volunteered to:
# Send letters to new members
# Produce a newsletter
# Send notifications for membership renewals
+ Cynthia is having a hard time with family situations, and can no longer be a Board Member.
# Lesley will create a Thank You certificate for Cynthia.

Next Meeting: Thursday July 26, 2007, 6:30pm at Center for Action and Contemplation

Agenda Items:

* Vote on extending neighborhood association boundaries to include Poplar Lane Neighborhood Association into Vecinos Neighborhood Association.
* Discuss retreat with the Albuquerque Partnership.
* Developer of homes behind Holy Family will visit with us. This development has already been approved. They will talk with us about management and interaction with Ditches with Trails.