West Norwalk Association Board Meeting
November 3, 2003
Minutes West Norwalk Association Board of Directors Meeting
November 3rd, 2003
President Penny Hoffman called the meeting of the West Norwalk Association to order at 7:31 pm at Norwalk Community College.
Board Members Present: Peter O’Hara, Chris Bryan, Frank Bolton, Robert Wagman, Penny Hoffman, Jim Hirshfield, Peggy Yff, and David Frishkorn.
WNA Presenters: Norwalk Tree Alliance
Presentations:
Norwalk Tree Alliance: The NTA declared that they are trying to create a 100 year tree management plan in the Norwalk area to leave something for the future generations and are looking for support from the West Norwalk Association and other community groups to help.
Overview: The NTA actively engages with the community for the purpose of initiating and supporting programs in promoting a healthy urban forest in Norwalk. Working with the City of Norwalk on an inventory of the city’s street trees is an example of this mission.
The alliance asked for suggestions for locations of trees to plant and for a list of possible Norwalk champion and memorial trees to honor. They are working on the Norwalk tree inventory plan with the goal of entering a large number of Norwalk trees into a tree database and connecting that to the internet for a list of Norwalk assets to see in the Norwalk area. They are also looking to setup a possible tree tour for hikers or walkers.
Volunteers are a big part of their organization and they are asking for local support.
No experience necessary.
For more information please visit their website.
http://www.norwalktreealliance.org
Regular Meeting
Acceptance of Board Meeting Minutes of October 7th, 2003: The minutes of October 7th were presented and reviewed. Bob Wagman made a motion to accept the minutes which was seconded by Peggy Yff. The motion passed unanimously.
West Norwalk Association Attendance
Treasurer’s Report: David Frishkorn presented the month’s activities where $50.00 was added in membership dues ending the month’s balance with $2,092. Peter O’Hara made a motion to accept the financial report which was seconded by Chris Bryan. The motion passed unanimously.
Dolce: The board discussed the upcoming party with Dolce International and the layout of the invitation. The estimated mailing cost is approximately ~$900. Penny submitted the outgoing mailing for the Dolce Holiday Party. The board discussed other possible mailing options with the limited time frame and their cost effectiveness, the hope being to track future mailings.
An idea of a possible agenda or lack of one was discussed with the question arising to keep the event more social or political for the WNA.
During the discussion it was mentioned that the WNA can not be called a “non-profit” organization, but could be categorized as a “not for profit” organization.
A motion to approve the mailing was made after the discussion by David Frishkorn, and was seconded by Bob Wagman. It was unanimously approved.
The discussion then continued about creating an agenda of things to discuss at the Dec 1st party, in order to get the community motivated and acting as a neighborhood. The question arose whether to keep it as a social function or as a political one. The hope seemed to be to keep a mood that was social but to get the messages of the community across. A suggestion of name tags was mentioned.
Fundraising: A discussion followed about the idea of mentioning outstanding contributors to the West Norwalk Association and giving them some type recognition, whether in the newsletter, website, or somewhere else. Some ideas of rankings for donation amounts are:
$25 Resident
$50 Good Neighbor
$100 Community Builder notable
Website: Chris Bryan gave an update on the website re-construction and talked about the use of the phpBB based message board system as well as the board members only section now available. He mentioned that “westnorwalk.org” and “westnorwalk.com” were now registered as WNA domain names. Chris stated that he could possibly add banners when needed and a photo gallery. There will be a ~$130 approximate annual recurring cost to maintain the hosting.
Planning and Zoning: The discussion of other committees continued with the mentioning that Bob Wagman would be stepping down from Planning and Zoning and would need someone to attend the meetings in his place to report back to the board. Jim Hirshfield said that he would be willing to attempt to go to the Norwalk city meetings in place of Bob Wagman when needed.
Road and Public Works: Alan will be asked to stay on for the Road and Public Works committee.
Community Outreach: Penny asked Bob Wagman to take over the community outreach committee, with the hope of unifying other local community groups.
Newsletter: It was then suggested that Penny Hoffman, Peggy Yff and Chris Bryan work on the upcoming newsletters, with a March 2004 scheduled release.
Questions then arose about how to maintain the West Norwalk neighborhood list. It was suggested that either a bi-annual list be purchased from the city or perhaps the WNA maintain the list in some way itself. The estimated cost of purchasing the list from the city was ~$160.00. The question arose about how to find entering and leaving neighbors.
Advertising: Frank Bolton then put forth a plan to approach local businesses for WNA support. He stated that there are 160 types of businesses in the WNA area and wanted to put together a mailing program to solicit donations. He suggested either giving them advertising or a banner on the website with the solicitation. The idea grew great interest. Frank said that he would like to next draft a letter and send it to the whole board for review before the mailing.
A motion to adjourn was made by Manuel Llorca. It was seconded by Penny Hoffman and unanimously approved. The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Chris Bryan
Upcoming Calendar:
December 1st,, 2003 Dolce International Holiday Party
Subject to change without notice
Please send all notices of upcoming West Norwalk events to the West Norwalk Forums: