South Park Neighborhood Association

SPNA Meeting Minutes 11-6-2006

Quincie Douglas Community Center

The meeting was called to order at 6:35 by co-chair Maggie Gerring. Introductions were made and the dues basket was passed.

The minutes for the combined annual meeting and regular meeting held on October 2, 2006 were read by Pat Garcia and approved.

No one was present from the police department to make a police report.

Reenie Ochoa, Director of the Southwest Parks and Recreation District, was introduced and discussed progress at Silverlake Park. She presented a revised master plan based on community input, but noted none of the additions shown in the plan are currently funded. Estimated cost to complete the plan would be approximately $10-12 million. Silverlake Park has been listed in numerous funding source options, including a Pima County bond initiative. Residents are strongly encouraged to attend the meetings and support the bond initiative and funds for Silverlake Park. Meeting dates are available at www.bonds.pima.gov. The City of Tucson has no plan to do a bond initiative soon, but the park could benefit from impact fees established 18 months ago (additional fees added to new home construction to fund parks). Some components of the Silverlake Park plan, such as lights for the soccer fields and expansion of the building, are on a city-wide list of phased in projects and could be funded from other sources. Reenie encouraged SPNA to apply for grants and alternate funding for park projects and offered assistance with cost estimates and meeting Parks and Recreation criteria for painting and graffiti control. She then addressed several questions posed by residents, including the following concerns.
Trees in the park that were lost to drought and storms will be replaced with good quality trees from the approved plant list beginning in the spring, as the budget allows. Irrigation problems that contributed to some tree losses have been repaired.
A calendar of events scheduled in the park is available at Quincie Douglas Center but it changes daily as different types of events are booked at different offices.
Lights that are burnt out in the park can be reported to Reenie's office at 791-5909 or email Reenie.Ochoa@TucsonAZ.gov and be as specific as possible about the location of the light. It was recommended that the light poles could be numbered to ease this process. Lights can also be reported to staff at Quincie Douglas Center.
Trash left by sports groups can be reported to Reenie's office on weekdays and to the city communication number 791-4144 on weekends. Report trash as soon as possible to help identify responsible parties. No glass containers are allowed in the park and groups must have a permit to drink beer. Permits are available from Reenie's office, at Quincie Douglas Center or any Parks and Recreation facility.
The city has taken over maintenance of an unkempt-looking area north of the library, so improvement should be seen in the next 6-8 months.
A dog park is not in the plan for Silverlake Park. Mirasol Park might be a better location to focus on if residents feel the need for another dog park.

Maggie Gerring reported that 5 adults and 6 children attended the adopt-a-park trash collection in October. The cleanup is held the third Saturday each month and the next date is November 18th at 8:00 a.m. A $10 stipend is awarded to the first five people or families that attend. Residents are also encouraged to pick up any litter they see while they are using the park.

Maggie also reported that she attended the City Team South meeting last month at El Pueblo. Major topics were graffiti control and meth labs. Strange odors are one indicator of a possible meth lab. These should be reported immediately to 911 because the labs are moved frequently to avoid detection. Graffiti, zoning and code violations, and wildcat dumping can be reported to 792-2489.

The Holiday Dinner will be held on the regular meeting night, December 4th. Pat Garcia is in charge of the menu and obtained the group's permission to provide cold ham and potato salad. Everyone is asked to bring a side dish or dessert.

Maggie Gerring reported on the Pro Neighborhoods grant for beautification. SPNA received $400 last month for a total of $1600 thus far. The adopt-a-park project is part of that grant. Maggie said that there are beautiful tile mosaic murals in storage and locations need to be identified to display the murals. Locations suggested included the Park Avenue underpass, the swimming pool, and on the side of the library building. A committee or subcommittee is needed to work on this project.

Maggie also asked for volunteers or a committee to read through the Southpark Community Development Plan and see if there are any recommendations that residents want to act on. Some of the recommendations have been done and others no longer apply, so the plan needs to be reviewed.

Announcements of upcoming events were made and residents were reminded to vote.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m. The next meeting will be December 4.