North Limestone Neighborhood Association Meeting 02.08.10

The following notes were taken by Kathleen Burke, a member of CETA:

6:25-We enter Al's Bar and are informed that the meeting has moved next door to Sidecar
6:29-We enter Sidecar, great Marty and meet a red bearded man whose name I miss.
6:31-A police officer, Archie, and unnamed woman enter. Proceeding this follows a story about a crack house on Upper in which a girl earlier that week had stabbed her boyfriend (possibly ex-boyfriend) to death.
6:34-Two more men enter and the meeting starts. The agenda centers on historic homes and which homes in the community should be pushed to receive Blue Grass Trust plaques.
6:36-The officer report is given. There were 352 calls and 52 reports made in what I assume to be the last month. The crime breakdown is as follows: 4 robberies (all with suspects named), 6 residential burglaries (2 involving electronics, 1 domestic, and 1 copper), 2 LFAs (I'm not sure what LFA stands for). The analysis is that there were less calls that before and most of the calls were for weather related collisions. Eight calls were for narcotics. Panhandlers are discussed. As well as threatening messages left on a car that parks on the street (legally). Discussion follows: Could this be Charlie? Charlie has lived here since 1975 and may have a sense of personal ownership over the street.
Marty begins talking about negative image and the role of 4th street as a safe corridor. The following was in reference to placement of people in refurbished homes without really considering the consequences: If people come into a community to help it they need to have a good understanding of the community. Sometimes good people with good intentions can cause lots of harm.
6:50-Bill Pickering of the Bluegrass Trust talks about the Bluegrass Trust. BGT is a private organization that raises awareness. Having a BGT plaque does not require the owner of the property to do anything in addition. It is a self-imposed title. It signifies that the owner desires to maintain and preserve the property.
6:52-Enter an unnamed latecomer.
6:54-Enter another unnamed latecomer.
Talk continues about BGT and the discussion involves tax credits, grant money, and specific historic homes. Some of these homes are the Morton House and Thorn Hill. Duncan Park is also discussed. The last weekend in May BGT will place a plaque on the Morton house. Can the North Limestone Neighborhood piggy-bag off of this good PR event for the mounting of plaques on homes in the neighborhood? Marty suggests pushing for 10 homes.
7:25 Donna, last name not mentioned, speaks about realty. She is a Realtor for the MLK Neighborhood. She states that the best way for a community to remain strong and affordable is for there to be a mixture of big homes and small homes.
Following Donna Marty calls out for names of homes to be put on a list of potential homes for the BGT trust plaque.
Monty and I talk about the folklore project. Everyone gets excited about Spalding and instantly we have at least 3 offers of people to share stories. These will be collected at a later date.
8:01 Meeting ends.
Total in Attendance including Marty and us Transy folks is 13.