Updates from September NWGNA meeting

For those of you who weren’t able to make the last NGWNA General Meeting, held on September 28^th from 6:30-8:00 PM at Word of Faith Church on Fuller and Delmas, here’s a brief recap.

We talked about the very successful Fruit and Vegetable Share. Residents have enjoyed sharing and sampling delicious organic produce and baked goods and neighbors have had a chance to get to know one another. There was discussion about which other things we could share and how best to continue the momentum. The continuous improvement of the Share events be a subject of discussion at future meetings.

Franklin Maggi, an Architectural Historian from Archives and Architecture, spoke at the meeting.  His company is under contract with the City of San Jose to perform an architectural survey of this neighborhood. This survey could lead to designating our neighborhood as a historic conservation area if the residents were interested in pursuing this (think Palm Haven and Shasta Hanchett as examples.) The study will be completed next summer and the Planning Department will then present it to the neighborhood.  Harvey Darnell is the neighborhood contact and he will be sharing more information with us in the General Meetings as it becomes available. 

Also discussed was the Holiday Decoration Contest.  Pam Shukait will once again be distributing yard trees.  The price is a phenomenally low $16 per tree!  More details will be forthcoming about the decoration contest as we get closer to the Holiday season.

A big item of discussion was the Walgreen’s proposal to start selling alcohol. The majority of attendees were opposed, with some folks feeling neutral on the subject. Our neighborhood does have a voice in the matter. The Planning Department will be conducting an information meeting at the Willow Glen Library at Willow Glen Branch Library Community Room, 1157 Minnesota Avenue, San Jose, CA on Monday, October 18, 2010 from 6:00-7:00 PM .  This is our opportunity to weigh in about what we think is best for our neighborhood. 

Harvey Darnell, President of the Greater Gardner NAC (Neighborhood Action Committee), gave a brief presentation on what’s going on with the Strong Neighborhoods Initiative.  Given the Redevelopment Agency’s budget situation things are not looking good. Half of the SNI staff have been laid off due to budget constraints and all improvement projects that have not yet broken ground have been canceled.  One piece of good news is that the current draft of the City’s 2040 plan still shows our neighborhood as single family residences.

Lastly we discussed problems in Fuller Park.  Individuals have been congregating in the park in the late evening and consuming alcohol.  (The park is closed after sunset and alcohol is never allowed).  They have been leaving trash and graffiti including gang tags.   For increased police patrols in this area, call the 311 non-emergency number if you observe this kind of activity. Updates to the situation will be discussed at the next General Meeting.

Following the meeting, many of us gathered outside the facility to get acquainted with other neighbors in attendance before heading home for the evening. But not before sampling Bill's apple crisp made with neighborhood apples from the Fruit and Vegetable Share.