Overland Park

September 2007 meeting minutes

Oct 05, 2007

Jim & Ray subbing for Secretary Charley Samson:
Even though President Catherine (with the same determination as her namesake) was uNder the wEather, she had soldiered on to set up the hall ahead of arriving help and even provided hot ham & bean soup with french bread for us laggards!------------------------------
President Catherine Sandy called the meeting to order at 6;45 PM. In Attendance were Karen Wick of the "Better Denver Campaign" with her speaker, Wendy Wiser. Also Sharon Procopio from Denver Parks and Recreation. Jennifer Reddies was present representing our Councilman Chris Nevitt. Kevin Dickson, (Co-Chair of the ONA zoning committee) was also in attendance.

President Sandy opening as Treasurer as well, elucidated us to the fact that "Sage Printing" gave a $50 check to ONA. Her voice was weakened but her spirit strong as Cath introduced guests in attendance and we started the meeting with remarks by Sharon Procopio...who told us that Ruby Hill Park was included in a 2004 Master Plan for city parks.
Ms Procopio said she should have told us in June that Ruby Hill was to have 15 acres of blue grass replaced by low-maintenance native grasses. Then Wendy Wiser spoke. Jack Unruh asked for further clarification about grass types. They will consist of eight types of "warm season" grasses...to find out which do the best.

The areas of changes are at the base of Ruby Hill to either side of the RR tracks and both sides of Florida Avenue. The killing of the bluegrass in those sections of the park had already been remarked on by nearby residents and it was interesting to find out the whys and wherefores.

The killed grass would be left as a base since "Parks" had learned that this would provide a "strawbase" to seed the new grasses in winter and again in spring.
There is a three year contract for maintenance. R.H. is one of three parks to be so improved this year with six more next year. This is considered a form of Xeriscaping.

The Ruby Hill money comes from Denver Water ($190,000) and they will upgrade irrigation too. All of this is to be found as part of Green Print Denver/ Sustainable Parks. Ms Wiser said we could observe mature results in Denver's Bible Park. (She also told us we could contact Jill Coffman who is Parks Supervisor for our Southwest District.)

Karen Wick spoke next. Representing Mayor Hickenlooper's "Better Denver Commission" Ms Wick spoke to the needs addressed by Amendments A thru I. These she deemed necessary because of years of deferred maintenance. She began by noting where Denver had "fallen behind" due to tight budgets on maintaining streets and roads, parks and rec centers, police and
fire facilities and buildings like the one with impossible conditions which houses the crime lab. She pushed the crime lab needs in particular as well as the City Parks and streets in sad disrepair. (To read all of these amendments please Google "Better Denver Commission".)

Then Jack Unruh spoke on the proposed Illiff Pedestrian/Bike bridge. He pointed out that Overland had lost 460 homes due to the widening of Santa Fe and the construction of the Overpass. He had an attractive visual of the proposed bridge (equiped with a big sign board) to pass among us. He also touted TOD or Transit Oriented Development ahead of Kevin Dickson and they both further directed us members to view a DVD on TOD at a business location across from the Light Rail Station.

After noting that October's ONA Meeting will be a Pot Luck...Come all Ye Creative Cooks!...President Sandy adjourned us at 8:45. Amazing!

Only a few of us went to view the DVD after the meeting, which is a shame since the well made effort by A.I.A. (Denver architects) and with thoughtful input by planners from the Netherlands, Montreal, Canada and Denver as well as numerous other cities was an hour well spent on learning what is possible with well considered plans for development surrounding Light Rail Hubs. (Email Kevin at kevdickson@gmail.com if you would like to be on the circulation list for this awesome documentary.)