VOL VIII, Issue 5 Printed Compliments of Pioneer Valley Montessori School May, 2003
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NEWSLETTER
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Clodo Concepcion
413-783-4807
Vice President
Richard Greenberg
413-782-9300
2nd Vice President
Willis M Schoof
413-782-9850
Secretary
Ruth Moorhouse
413-783-4887
Treasurer
Ann Hadank
413-783-1811
Directors
Helen Boyle
413-783-3828
Walley Brown
413-783-4378
Judy Fleury
413-782-7236
James Gregory
413-782-3422
Denise Kelcey
413-783-1438
Ted Knee
413-783-1982
Carol Lewis Caulton
413-783-9513
Edmund Mack
413-782-0576
Ann Ryan
413-782-4370
Ex-Officio
Jean Masse
413-782-0339
From The President
Finally after a long winter we can now see the flowers, and the birds singing all over the place, I think we should be happy for that.
What is happening in the area?
Some signs came down, some are up. We now have two new signs at the intersection of Wilbraham Road and Parker Street giving pedestrians the right of way when crossing the street. If you drive on parker street you can see that the sign in front of the three new houses is down, the fence came down, and the trailer is gone, I had to do a lot of calling but finally it is done.
At the last board meeting it was decided to have a drawing at the meetings to try to entice people to attend, and also to have some revenue for the organization, I know that some of you do not like it, but we can not please everyone no matter how hard we try.
I will continue to do the best I can to make our organization one that you can be proud of, and for that I am counting on your support.
Board meeting.
The next board meeting will be held on May 7th at 6:30 pm at Childrens Study Home, 91 Old Acre Rd. Springfield. Please try to be at the meetings and to be on time. It is your duty as an elected representative to attend all meetings unless I excuse you for a valid reason. I am very flexible with it.
Regular Monthly Meeting
The regular monthly meeting will be held on may 20th at 7pm at the Church In The Acres. Our guest speaker will be The Chief Of Police from Springfield. Chief Paula Meara. It took me a long time trying to have the chief come and talk, but finally she agreed. I would like to ask those attending to please come on time, and to refrain from having a separate meeting while we are conducting our monthly meeting as it becomes very annoying when we are having a meeting.
AARP MEETING
AARP meeting will be held on May 1 at 1:00 pm at the Goodlife Center at 1600 West Columbus Ave., Springfield. We always have entertainment or guest speakers. The public is always welcome.
Crime Watch Meetings
The Mallowhill Road Crime Watch
Will be meeting at a new location at the Colonial Estates on Grayson Dr. off Parker St. in the community room at 7:00pm on the third Monday of the month.
If you are interested in starting a crime watch in your area please contact officer Peter Fett at 261-2911, they do a good job helping our community becomes a safer place for all to live.
PICNIC
Representatives from the Park Department at Camp Wilder have indicated we can have the August picnic there. They plan to have the new facility up and running by June 14th, more details to follow.
91 Old Acre Road * Springfield, Massachusetts * 01129-1832
SABIS Traffic
The last meeting indicated Neighborhood concern with the Sabis School and traffic. The executive committee has been talking with representatives of the school about the matter and we will see some changes coming to alleviate the problem. Sometimes it takes a little longer than we expect, but the end result is what matters.
SWAMP
The SWAMP program that was sponsored by the City last summer to sample the Greater Springfield area lakes and ponds has been cut back as funds are unavailable to pay laboratory fees. However Sechi Disc (a black and white device used to determine the amount of sediment contained by the water), depth, temperatures and other observable factors are to be monitored. We have taken the first readings this season from Mill Pond.
The Planning Department plans to erect signs at the ponds and lakes that are under this study. The signs are not entirely readable from a moving vehicle so it will require close up reading. The sign carries a lot of information, for example whether swimming, fishing, or boating are allowed and about feeding of the bird population etc. I am proud to be part of this effort. Thank You, Willis.
Planning at the Center
Pursuant to our letter to the City about the future of the16 Acres Center, members of the Executive Committee met with Linda Petrilla of the Planning Department. Ms Petrilla shares our concern, but like so many departments is short of funds. She suggested that it might be possible to get the Center included in a traffic study similar to the study done for the Outer Belt at Five Town Plaza and that this could serve as the basis for discussions about future development. She noted that part of the problem is the great variety of ownership and zoning for the center and has offered to provide us with aerial maps which show the owners and present zoning to aid us in contacting and organizing the owners at the Center. She also stated that there have been queries about the site from developers but these may be discouraged unless some consolidation of ownership can take place. With regard to the signs and development in general, she indicated some concern that the shortage of staffing in zoning enforcement might lead developers to believe that they will not be called to task for non conforming development. We will need to be vigilant.
NEW ADDRESSES
Please note that we have a new mailing address: Sixteen Acres Civic Association, 91 Old Acre Road, Springfield, MA 01129-1832. We also have a new email address: mail@16Acres.org. Our Website remains 16Acres.org.
TIME OUT
The schedule of time allotments at the regular monthly meetings is important. Our president carefully allots time to each speaker or presenter. If an unscheduled speaker takes the floor and overruns the few moments expected he or she ultimately forces scheduled speakers with important messages to be eliminated from the roster of speakers. Please make your point concisely & quickly. Thank You, Willis.
CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations to City Councilor and member Jose F. Tosado for being honored by the Tri-County Youth Programs, Inc. It issued its "Public Leadership Award" to Councilor Tosado in appreciation of his leadership and direction for the State's mental health system. Tosado is the Greater Springfield manager for the Western Massachusetts office of the Department of Mental Health.
Congratulations to long time member Anthony J. Pellegrino for his recent election as Chairman of the Springfield Fire Commission. This is his second appointment in 18 years. Mr. Pelligrino has been on the Commission since 1984. He recently retired as vice president of Holyoke Community College in December 2001. He said his goals were to hire back the 53 firefighters who were laid off because of budget cuts, promote firefighters who had been demoted because of the cuts and to hire additional firefighters. We wish him well and hope that he succeeds as Springfield needs their firefighters back at work.
Welcome New Members
Beth and James Conway
DUES IS DUE AGAIN
| -------- Please cut here --------- -------- Please cut here --------- 2003-2004 dues are due: $12.00 per individual $14.00 per multi member household or business per year starting July 1st. We have filled in the information from out database for current members. Please correct if it is in error. Member #1 First Name: ________________ Last Name: _____________________ Member #2 First Name: ________________ Last Name: _____________________ Address (Street): ________________________ Address(City) ,______________, (State) ___ (Zip): ________________ -______________ Telephone: _____________________________ Email: __________________________ Date: __________________________________ Check here if this is a renewal [ ] Sixteen Acres Civic Association 91 Old Acre Road Springfield, MA 01129-1832 |
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