VNA Quarterly Meeting
Tuesday, 1/29/2019
Development Update:
Update to agenda: no update to Uptown project, as the plan is being adjusted. Demolition phase was to begin in March, but that date has been pushed back. Once they have more finalized plans, they will come back to the neighborhood with updates. Chris Jordan (development chair) – no other development updates.
Valentine Porchfest Update (Krissy Pratt)
- Valentine Porchfest Committee introductions
- Summary of mission – community building, bring together community and local talent, tapping into grassroots foundations of the Porchfest concept May 18th is official date of Valentine Porchfest
- Call to action: volunteer sign-up sheets (for porch hosts and day-of event volunteers) passed around the meeting
- Valentine Porchfest website will be updated soon (please pick up business card for information), so people can submit questions, inquire about volunteering, suggest bands.
- VNA has agreed to be not-for-profit umbrella for Valentine Porchfest so that the Committee can accept donations.
Holly Sticken – Neighborhood Liaison from KCPD
- Crime rates in the neighborhood are fairly steady over the past month; stealing incidents down by 5 from last month.
- Recommendation to reduce thefts from auto- put even small things in your trunk
- Recommendation to watch neighbors’ properties. Let neighbors know if you’re going out of town and how to reach you.
- Crimes in Valentine tend in outlying area of the neighborhood, not in the core (e.g., Broadway, near 39th St.)
- Holly will update her maps to show our neighborhood extending to 40th St. (her current maps show the neighborhood ending at 39th St.).
- Inclusion of MCCC campus for stats purposes depends on police reports (if KCPD is called, if walk-in reports are made at KCPD, or if MCCC campus police sends over their reports to KCPD). Holly will request that MCCC campus police send all reports to KCPD.
- Chris Jordan – some garages broken into on Wednesday before November. Can KCPD share any information on this? Holly not aware of these stats, as she checks stats from current month and month before when reviewing for these meetings. She will check reports to see if there were others.
- If you have a camera on your property, please register it with KCPD; this footage can be used by KCPD to identify offenders. Watch KC is another way for those with cameras to pool footage. KCPD cannot look at footage live, but camera registration allows the police and prosecutors to contact people later on to seek information. Watch KC website will bring you to a registration form. A detective will contact you if footage is ever requested (on a voluntary basis). No need to testify. Link: http://kcmo.gov/police/watchkc/
- KCPD has partnered with Ring and is working to get them to set up a special promotion for installation. Ring has a free app (Ring Neighborhood) that allows users to track pictures/videos in their neighborhoods.
Upcoming Valentine’s Event (2/9) and Membership update (Bonyen)
- Time to renew membership dues ($30 per year) – covers access to dumpster days; helps pay for neighborhood gatherings (July 4th, Progressive Dinner, etc.); keeps neighborhood association going. Not just for homeowners; membership from renters is also encouraged.
- Neighbors can sign up for/renew membership on the VNA website or sign up at Valentine’s Day event: Saturday, February 9th, 11am-1pm at Freshwater. Appetizers served, with champagne bar. Neighbors can pay membership dues at the event via card, check, or cash. VNA will also be presenting annual Love Award at this event.
Dumpster update (Drew)
- The city has determined that we will get the dumpster in the 3rd week of the month that we request. Pam is still working on the request; will likely be requesting May.
Agenda for upcoming meeting will include:
- Progressive Dinner (please e-mail VNA at [email protected] to host a course.