Sunday, December 14, 2008

Beautiful yard award for Christmas decorations

This week the judging will take place and a very deserving award will be given. There are so many to pick from so this won't be easy.
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I hope to also have a picture of the finalist here along with the winner.
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Carl

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Its been awhile...

I know its been 2 months since I've posted anything, but there really isn't much going on right now. We've had our annual meeting with the poorest attendence that we've ever had. Only 1 out of 12 street representatives even showed up. And only 2 residents showed up, they were spouses of board members.
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I wrote a letter to all street rep's and reminded them of their commitment. I hope our February meeting is better attended.
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Our 4th district city councilmen, Mitch Harper, is going to do a heighborhood walk this spring with us. We hope to use this opportunity to get more people involved with our association.
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Its hard to know what needs done here if we don't get any input from our residents.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Hello again...

Sorry for the long delay in that Picnic follow-up post...
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I would like to thank the volunteers who gave VERY selfishly of their time, talents, and money! Just about averyone on the association board put in lots of hours from planning, setting up, cleaning up, making gifts, cooking, face painting, and just plain making this a success.
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Thanks to Fernwood street rep Steve Adams for arranging for FWFD to bring a firetruck so the kids could climb through it and 'fire up' their imagination.
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The weather was fabulous, Dave Smiths' cooking was great, and the desserts were awesome.
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I hope everyone will plan to be at the assocation general meeting in November...I will have all the details for that soon.

Carl

Friday, August 15, 2008

PICNIC - PICNIC - PICNIC

Well, the date has been set and plans are being made. It will be September 20, 2008 from 1:00pm to 4:00pm at Foster Park in Pavilion #2 (right next to the playground). The association will be providing burgers and 'dogs, buns, lemonade or other drink, and plates and cups. Each neighbor should bring a covered dish, desert, or salad and serving-ware, as well as any other drinks they might want. By city ordinance, alcohol is NOT permitted in the park.

The last get together was VERY WELL ATTENDED and we hope that this one will also. We will have a Moon-Walk and Face Painting for the kids plus have the playground and entire park at our fingertips. There aren't any places better for walking, biking, or skating in town, so come out and enjoy Foster Park with us and your neighbors.

There will be lots of door prizes too!

Anyone needing a ride to and/or from the picnic, contact Barb Herring at 747-3826 during normal good-neighbor times and arrangements will be made for you.

We hope to see everyone there.

Carl

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Yard Beautiful Contest

This Friday is the deadline for ALL street reps' to give their two choices for best yard. My hope and intention was simply to tally up to many choices and pick the top two, but as of right now, I only have two houses!! Please get your choices in by Friday.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

SWAP Meeting June 18, 2008

The meeting started off with FWPD Deputy Chief Luker commenting that there are ALOT of people being released on parole right now. Just the odds of these people re-offending are frightening. He again asked that all residents be vigalant in our neighborhoods - and call 911 should anything not seem right. Also, thefts from garages and sheds are up.

A representative from the Parks department presented the Cultural Landscape Report for Foster Park and Rudisill Blvd. This report is VERY extensive and is available online at www.cityoffortwayne.org. Click on the Parks department link and look around. This plan is only a recommendation and is still being tweaked. So get involved and help the decision makers make a public responsive plan! Foster park truly is the crown jewel of the Ft. Wayne park system, and is named as one of the best parks in the state!!!!

Citilink (PTC) made a very informative presentation of the tough financial situation our public transportation system is facing. The biggest change is the reduction of service in the form of increasing the pick up times from every 30 minutes to 1 hour. The fare increases are modest but will help increase revenue. Congressman Souder has appealled to the FTA to try and recover some federal monies to help at least for the immediate need but possibly long term as well. All buses are handicap and wheelchair accessible. They also have easy to use bike racks that allow you to bike to the nearest stop (Engle and Tielker) then take youinto downtown and then you can bike anywhere!! Pretty cool.

I announced that we will be having our annual picnic at Foster Park Pavillion #2 on September 20, 2008. We have not set a time as of yet.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Garage Sales

Driving around the neighborhood I seen many of us trying our luck with our annual garage sale. I hope all went well and we couldn't have had better weather.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Tips on building a Great Neighborhood

* Get to know your neighbors and watch out for each other
* Watch for suspicious activity and people
* Be particularly alert during vacations, hospital stays, and other periods when neighbors are away
* Be courteous and keep noise to a minimum (City code Chapter 96)
* Keep your grass cut and weeds in control (City code Chapter 100)
* Keep trash containers and bags OUT OF SIGHT until pick up day (City code 51 - requires containers to be set out AFTER noon day before and removed by BEFORE noon the day after scheduled pick up
* Maintain trees, shrubs, and landscaping so as not to obscure vision of roadways, intersections, or damage vehicles (City code 99)
* Be considerate of others with seasonal displays. Check to see that your holiday lights don;t shine or glare in your neighbors bedroom windows. Remove lights and displays promptly after the holiday period - allowing for weather conditions. (City code 154)
* The same code also applies to security lights, landscape lighting, porch lights, etc.
* Keep your pets inside fenced areas or on a leash comtrolled by a responsible person, pick up after them, and keep their barking under control. Excessive barking after 10pm is a FINE. (City code 91)
* Maintain residential building standards. Apply for all necessary permits for improvements (City code 157)
* Observe all parking regulations. Do not block driverways or obstruct intersections (City code 72)
* Be aware of zoning regulationswhen planning to operate a home based business or day care (City code 157)
* Review city ordinances for adandoned vehicles (City code 72 & 90)
* Watch for and report speeders and reckless drivers...And don't be one yourself! (City code 70-71)
* Keep current with your neighborhood association dues (KRNA is $5/yr)


Keep checking out this site, I try to keep it up to date.

LEAVE FEEDBACK AND COMMENTS

Transportation Planning FY 2009-2012

Thursday May 29, 2008 from 4pm to 7pm at the City-County bldg, room 250 (omni room)

Everyone is welcome to see what is in the works for the next 5 years as pertaining to ALL transportation in Ft. Wayne. The Ardmore project is in the middle of this. The Ardmore project was supposed to be completed by 2009, but delayed every step of the way. Right now, the 4-lane widening project does NOT have a completion date!!! Come and see why, and give 'em your input!

Monday, May 26, 2008

Newsletter Delivery

Well Bob just dropped off my copy of the newsletter. I don't know about the rest of you, but I do look forward to receiving it. After seeing how our meetings go, and to look at the finished product, Barb is a miracle worker!! Many, many, thanks to her for her work for OUR assocation!!

Now that this address is out to the masses, keep checking back here so we can stay current on the goings-on around our 'hood!!

Carl

Monday, May 19, 2008

Great American CleanUp




Rain, Clouds,sore muscles, Poison Ivy, or tires kept us from enjoying a great day. Proud to clean up the area and learn about others. Thanks to all.

Friday, April 18, 2008

News from SWAP!

The city and County are starting a campaign to remind residents NOT to put any liquids into the storm drain system. Any and all material that goes into a storm drain goes right into a creek, stream, and them river without any processing.

Neighborhood Code is in the final stages of getting an ordinance passed that will also include all commercial, industrial, and institutions. So now those places will have to live within the same rules as we do. I encourage all of us to watch for houses in need of a little 'persuasion' to keep things looking good. It seems tht our neighborhood is getting more and more rental properties, and it seems that these occupants don't take as much pride in their homes as the rest of us, so lets keep on top of issues as they happen - for all or ours sake!

Officer Battershell ahd another of his Crime Prevention presentations also. Even after seeing it in November, it was good to see it again and pick up even more good information.

Nationwide, only 8% of all burglaries are ever solved!!!! In Ft. Wayne we are just above that at 9% solved! So if you see ANYTHING that LOOKS different, CALL 911 and be sure that the matter has been taken care of. Once crime starts to move into an area, it spreads. So next time it could be YOU!

Identity theft is on a dramatic increase. Mostly from setting up utility services IE: NIPSCO, AEP, telephone, cable, etc. Most utilities never ask for I.D. and even set up accounts over the phone. Checking with your utility companies to verify how many account you have now can save you a headache later.

The city has brought a nationally recognised authority on bicycle and pedestrian facilities and programs to the Cinema Center for May 7, 2008. The event will be at the Cinema Center at 437 E. Berry Sreet from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. Everyone is invited to come and give their input on what they feel is important.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Sidewalk on Engle road

I am still working on getting a sidewalk on Engle road from Tielker road to Kekionga road, as well as one on Engle road from Manito Blvd (Indian Village area) to Bluffton road.

This will give our entire neighborhood safe, protected access to Kekionga Middle School, Indian Village School, as well as access to the entire Ft. Wayne Rivergreenway system.

I am also working with all the active neighborhood associations in Waynedale to extend the Rivergreenway path along Bluffton road from Foster Park to Lower Huntington road. Right now everyone seems to be excited to see this happen but rather sceptical about getting this done.

Any help or input on this will be greatly appreciated.

Contact the City

The city has been implimenting a simple number to contact most city agencies. This number is 311. Right now this number only works from about 8:00qm to 5:00pm, but they hope to get the funding to be able to staff this 24/7/365. The people who answer this number can at least get you to the right agency, but how quickly problems get resolved depends on the staffing and available manpower.

I have used this number several times last summer to report tall grass and the city did get the notice posted in the yard in about a day.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Street lights

We need to keep the city advised of the lights that need attention and let them know of them. I have called on a few but they haven't geen fixed. There is one Sandhill and one on gardenview. Maybe if another would call on these, maybe it would get fixed faster?

Welcome to our 'hood

Greetings to all who come through here!



This site is intended to keep all of our neighbors informed of the goings-on in our association, as well as share our beautiful corner Ft. Wayne with others.



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