Monday, December 01, 2008

We had a Britannia Neighbours meeting on Wednesday, November 19th. Those present: Karen, Helen, Jane, Pat, Penny. Here's a short summary of what transpired.

The bench-around-the-tree
Erin Macdonald is the new Green Streets Coordinator and she is arranging to get the bench-around-the-tree re-installed and also to get pavers put in around the four poster posts so people are walking on the pavers instead of on the plants both when they are putting up posters and when they are reading them. Someone pointed out that the bench-around-the-tree is in need of legs (in its previous incarnation, it was perched on tree rounds) and that we should tell Erin that.

The Victoria Oginsky mural on the south side of Drive Organics
We talked about how the mural needs repairing, cleaning up, graffiti-removal. Jeff Proseilo, the manager of Drive Organics agrees that it needs work and will contribute to the cost. I have called Victoria left a message for her about it. Her partner says he's sure she will be interested; she will be out of town until December 4th but will get in touch soon thereafter.
We also talked about installing a swath of nice looking stones alongside the mural to prevent mud from splashing up onto the mural. (I'll mention to Jeff; maybe he could contribute to the cost of the stones as well.)

Lots of Oak Leaves
The City Park Board (Jay Vanderpas) agreed to come and clean up all the oak leaves in the Greenway. (A crew did come on November 26th and they raked up every leaf! Fine job!) The City provides two clean ups per year. This is excellent because a big job like this one would have taken many Sundays with a handful of volunteers but the City crew did it in a half day and did a splendid job of it.

Mosaic Creek Park
Karen mentioned the problems at Mosaic Creek Park. People sleep and camp there and also have loud drinking parties. They seem to walk down the lane from Grandview Park to gather at Mosaic Creek. We discussed who would be the person to talk to in the City about how to mitigate problems. Are there things that we could do as an organized community group? How about enforcing the "No Trespassing after 10:00 p.m." sign that's posted there? It was also suggested that all the dead tress and plants and bushy shrubs (suitable for camping under or hiding behind) be removed and that good lighting be installed.
What about if there were a high but attractive fence around the site with a GATE and someone in the neighbourhood could volunteer to lock the park at night and open it up again in the morning?

Our annual Britannia Neighbours Holiday Celebration
December 17th at Pat's ... Bring treats ... 7:00 or after.

That's all for now! Happy Holidays.